Technical Terms Explained Simply
Design and 3D rendering jargon can be confusing. Here is a clear breakdown of every term used in the architect so you can craft prompts with confidence.
What it means:
The original four-zone structure: a top Header/badge band, a Hero Grid of one or more showcase cards, a Feature Matrix bullet list, and a bottom CTA & Footer band. Best for keynote posters, SaaS launch graphics, and social posts that need on-image copy and a call to action.
Tip: Use 1:1 for a feed post or 9:16 for a Story/Reel cover.
A single hero product with no fixed zones — just what the product is, its placement/angle, and supporting props (reflections, shadows, scattered elements). Matches how e-commerce listings are actually shot: one subject, isolated or lightly staged.
Tip: 1:1 is the safe default for Amazon/Shopify; 4:5 gets more feed real estate on Meta/TikTok.
A single person or character described by pose/expression/framing and wardrobe/styling, instead of zone bands. Suited to headshots, character concept art, and editorial-style portraits.
Tip: 2:3 matches DSLR/35mm framing; 3:4 matches a phone camera; 4:5 matches Instagram’s portrait crop.
A standalone symbol or wordmark centred with generous negative space around it, rather than a multi-zone poster canvas. Describe the symbol concept, its construction style (flat vector, line art, emblem), and optional wordmark text.
Tip: 1:1 covers app-icon/avatar/favicon placement; use 3:2 or 2:1 for a horizontal wordmark lockup.
A compact three-band layout — header/logo, one dominant visual, and a CTA band — lighter than the full poster structure. Built for web ad units and hero banners rather than a feature-rich social post.
Tip: 16:9 for a hero banner, or the IAB standard sizes (728x90 Leaderboard, 970x250 Billboard) for real web ad placements.
A full-bleed scene or illustration with no fixed zones and no on-image text — just the scene description, its characters/elements, and the composition/focal point. Best for concept art, backgrounds, and wallpapers.
Tip: 16:9 or 21:9 for a widescreen/cinematic scene, 1:1 or 9:16 for a square or vertical wallpaper.
What it means:
The shape and proportion of your image (e.g., Square for Instagram, Tall Portrait for Instagram Stories, Wide Widescreen for websites). The dropdown offers a different, medium-appropriate set of ratios for each Image Type — a Banner sees IAB ad sizes, a Portrait sees photography ratios, and so on.
Tip: 1:1 is best for social posts; 9:16 is best for mobile screens.
What it means:
The soft, creamy background blur created by a camera lens. It keeps your main title and hero cards razor-sharp while turning distant lights into pleasing soft circles.
Tip: Use f/2.8 or f/1.4 for a high-end photography look.
What it means:
A modern design style where cards look like semi-transparent frosted glass floating over a background. IOR (Index of Refraction) controls how much light bends through the glass (1.45 matches standard realistic glass).
Tip: Keeps content readable without blocking background lights.
What it means:
Hollywood-grade 3D graphics software engines that simulate real physical light particles, reflections, and glass shadows to make AI images look like real studio photos.
Tip: Keeps AI from making images look like cheap cartoon drawings.
Key Light is your main soft light shining on the front face of text and cards. Rim Light is a bright light coming from behind that draws a sharp, glowing edge around objects to separate them from dark backgrounds.
Tip: Rim lighting makes elements "pop" off dark walls.
A proven interior design rule for visual balance: 60% Dominant Base (dark obsidian background), 30% Secondary Structure (clean white cards/titles), and 10% Accent Pop (cyber green buttons and checkmarks).
Tip: Prevents chaotic, colorful messy images.
Chamfering slices the sharp corners of glass cards into tiny angled diamond facets. Specularity measures how shiny they reflect studio spotlights along those angled edges.
Tip: Gives glass panels tangible 3D realism.
A Squircle is a smooth mathematical shape between a square and a circle (used by Apple for iPhone app icons). Corner Radius defines how rounded the corners of buttons and cards are.
Tip: Continuous squircles look premium and modern.
50mm Prime matches how human eyes naturally see, keeping straight lines perfectly parallel without distortion. 24mm is wide-angle (adds drama), while 85mm compresses backgrounds tightly.
Tip: Stick to 50mm Prime for clean tech posters.
Depth Plane assigns each element to foreground, midground or background. Elements on different planes sit at different distances from the camera, cast their own shadows, and fall out of focus at different rates — which is what makes a composition read as 3D space rather than flat stickers on a wall.
Tip: Set it per element in the panel beside the canvas, alongside that element’s angle.
Tracking is the space between letters in a word. Tight tracking makes headlines look punchy; wide tracking makes badge tags feel technical. Per-element typography lets every text box on the canvas carry its own family, weight, case and tracking — select several to give them a shared treatment in one click.
Tip: Never mix more than 2 font families in one poster — Stage 2 counts them for you.
Negative Space is empty background area (aim for at least 45% empty room). Eye Flow is the order the eye moves through the composition. Both are measured off the canvas rather than typed: the safe-margin guides set the frame, and the final stage reports the real coverage and reading order of what you actually placed.
Tip: More empty space makes posters look expensive — watch the coverage figure on Stage 7.