Save your own layouts

When you want full control over how your content is styled and reused, you can create your own custom layouts in Descript. Some common use cases include canned intros, outros, sponsored ad segments, or fully custom animations.

Custom layout packs are available on paid Descript plans. If you're on a Free plan, upgrade your subscription to unlock this feature. See pricing and plan details

This article covers:

Prefer to learn by watching? This short video walks through how to build layouts from scratch:

You don't have to start from scratch

Use one of Descript’s ready-to-go gallery layout packs or remix a pack with your fonts and colors—no design skills required.

Save a scene as a layout

As you design scenes in your compositions, save the ones you want to reuse as layouts. Build your custom layout pack by adding scenes one at a time.

saveSceneAsLayout.png

To save a scene as a layout:

  1. Right-click the scene thumbnail in your script.
  2. Select Save as new layout.
  3. Name your layout. Choose something short and descriptive.
  4. In the Layers section, choose what to do with each layer in your scene (this is what makes a layout smart-fillable later on):
    1. Keep as is (default) - The layer stays unchanged in your layout
    2. Don't include - The layer will be removed from the layout
    3. Turn into placeholder - Replaces the layer with an appropriate placeholder based on its type so it can be automatically filled when the layout is reused
      Note: Audio layers can only be kept or removed; they cannot be converted to placeholders.
  5. Click Save to and choose an existing layout pack or click Create new layout pack.
  6. (Optional) Choose a type to categorize your layout - Intro, Outro, Captions, Text, etc. The default is Other.
  7. Click Add to create the new layout and add it to your layout pack.

You can also save a layout from the properties panel. Select your scene, then click Save as new layout and follow the steps above. Layouts only auto-fill when they include one or more placeholders.

Create a layout pack from scratch

Use this method if you want to build multiple layouts at once or organize them in one place.

  1. From the Drive view, go to Layout packs and click + New layout pack.
  2. Give your pack a name.
  3. Each scene in the project becomes a layout. Use one scene per layout.
  4. When you're done editing, click Publish layout pack in the top-right corner.
  5. Give each scene a name and layout type (optional).
  6. Choose who can access your pack:
    • Private
    • Share with Drive
    • Share publicly
  7. Click Publish changes to save your layouts.

Can I edit a layout pack later?

Yes! You can return to your layout pack project anytime to update layouts or add new ones. Your changes won’t affect scenes where the layout is already applied—only new uses of the layout.

Enable or disable Smart Fill

When enabled, Smart Fill automatically updates text layers based on your selection, including freeform text (populated from script content), captions, speaker labels, composition name, markers, or a timer.

Scene with Smart Fill enabled in the Scene panel

What Smart Fill affects

Smart Fill only affects Title and Subtitle text layers. To enable Smart Fill on freeform text layers in a saved layout, those layers must be set to use placeholders. Text layers set to dynamic types (Speaker, Timer, Marker, Composition name) are not affected by Smart Fill.

Turn Smart Fill on or off for a layout

From the Drive view, select the Layout packs tab in the left sidebar. Then, open the layout pack project.

  1. Select the scene to adjust.
  2. Navigate to the properties panel in the right-hand sidebar
  3. Toggle Smart Fill on or off. If you want Smart Fill to apply to freeform text layers, use the layer’s options menu and select Replace with placeholder for each text layer.

Use the options menu next to individual text layers if you want to control Smart Fill behavior per layer.

Enable Smart Fill for freeform text layers

To ensure Smart Fill works on freeform text layers in a saved layout:

  1. Select the text layer in your layout.
  2. Open the layer’s options menu.
  3. Select Replace with placeholder.

Only text layers set as placeholders will update automatically when Smart Fill is enabled.

Smart Fill only affects Title and Subtitle text layers. Text layers set to dynamic types (Speaker, Timer, Marker, Composition name) are not affected by Smart Fill.

How layout behavior works

Descript applies layouts differently depending on whether the scene is empty or already contains content. It uses layer names and Smart Fill to match and populate content intelligently. Learn more about how layouts interact with scenes and the script →