> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.emaillove.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Design mode

> Design mode turns a brief into two original email designs, made for that email. Choose one and it replaces the email.

Design mode designs an email from scratch. It reads your brief and your brand, then makes two different designs, each with its own layout, for you to choose from.

Use it when your components don't have the layout you want, for a launch or a one-off campaign. For everyday emails, the [Assistant](https://help.emaillove.com/builder/ai/assistant.md) is faster and builds from the components you already have.

| | The Assistant | Design mode |
| - | - | - |
| Builds from | Your design system's components | New sections made for this email |
| You get | One draft | Two designs to choose from |
| How it runs | In the panel, while you watch | In the background, while you carry on |
| AI credits | 1 for a draft | 10 for a job |

## Design an email

1. Open the email and click **Assistant** in the right panel.
2. Type your brief in the box, or attach one with the paperclip. It needs at least 40 characters. Include the brand's website address if you want Design mode to look at it.
3. Click **Design it from this brief** at the bottom of the panel.

Design mode works in the background. A status line shows where it's up to, such as **Reading your brief**, **Reading the brand's site** and **Designing A and B**. You can leave the panel and come back. Click the **X** on the status line to stop.

> [!TIP]
>
> Click **Design it from this brief** before you send the brief to the Assistant. Sending clears the box. An attached brief stays.

## Choose a design

When it's done, you see **Choose one. It replaces this email.** Each design shows its title, the idea behind it and a phone preview. Click a preview to see it at desktop size.

* Click **Use this** on the design you want. The email now uses it.
* Click **Not now** to keep the email as it is.

The email's earlier version stays in [Version history](https://help.emaillove.com/builder/editor/overview.md#version-history).

The sections Design mode makes belong to that email. They don't appear in your component list.

## Limits

* Design mode makes emails, not templates.
* It can't change an email made from a template with a **Fixed** layout.
* One design at a time for each email.
* If neither design passes its checks, it says so. Try again, or change the brief.

## AI credits

A Design mode job uses 10 AI credits, whatever happens inside it. If you stop it before it finishes reading your brand, or it fails before it starts designing, you get the credits back. See [AI credits](https://help.emaillove.com/builder/ai/credits.md).


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