Questions creators ask most often, grouped by topic. Every answer links to the page with the full explanation. ## Working in the editor No. The editor auto-saves two seconds after your last change, and the badge in the header shows the current state (*Unsaved changes* → *Saving...* → *Saved just now*). You can force a save with Ctrl+S, and if you close the editor with unsaved changes you'll be asked whether to save first. See [Editor Layout](/cms/editor/layout). Page View shows the whole page with all panels and their reading-order badges — use it to arrange, align, and resize panels. Panel View shows one panel filling the frame — layers, speech bubbles, and hotspots are edited there. Double-click a panel in Page View to open it in Panel View. If the layer list says *Read-only*, you're in Page View. See [Canvas](/cms/editor/canvas). Zooming with the wheel requires holding Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) so normal scrolling doesn't change your zoom accidentally. You can also use the +/− buttons in the canvas toolbar, Ctrl+0 to fit the frame, or the Zoom tool (Z). See [Canvas](/cms/editor/canvas). Corner handles resize a panel while keeping its aspect ratio so artwork never distorts. Edge handles adjust the panel's visible area — a crop — so different page formats can show different parts of the same panel. See [Pages & Panels](/cms/editor/pages-panels). No — undo is action-based. Structure operations (reordering chapters, pages, panels; last 50 actions, visible in the History panel) and hotspot editing (its own 100-step history) can be undone. Most canvas and inspector property changes are applied directly, so save deliberate checkpoints with Ctrl+S. See [Keyboard Shortcuts](/cms/editor/shortcuts). No. **Import Pages** on My Works takes your page images (PNG/JPEG/WebP), detects the panels with AI, lets you correct the detection, and rebuilds every page — each panel cropped as its own asset and placed at its original position, in reading order (EU/US or manga). Export your pages with speech-bubble layers hidden and re-letter in PanelWave so the work stays translatable. See [Page Import](/cms/page-import). ## Speech bubbles and languages Open **Work Properties** and edit the work-default balloon style. Every bubble that hasn't overridden a given field inherits it instantly — the cascade is work default → character override → per-bubble override. A bubble with its own overrides shows a *Reset to inherited style* button. See [Speech Bubbles](/cms/editor/speech-bubbles). Bubble text (and hotspot labels) are stored per locale. Use the locale switcher in the editor header to pick the language you're writing — the Inspector shows which locale you're editing, e.g. *Text (en-US)*. For bulk translation use the [Localization Workshop](/cms/localization); balloons auto-resize per language. When the source text of an already-translated string changes, its translations are flagged **Stale** in the Localization Workshop. Use the *Needs review* filter to find and re-confirm or amend them; machine-translated strings carry an *MT* badge until confirmed. See [Localization](/cms/localization). ## Branching and interactivity Open **Backstage → Graph Editor**, select the panel the branch starts from, press C, pick the target with the arrow keys, and press Enter to create a second outgoing edge. Give each edge a condition, and leave one edge unconditional as the fallback so readers can never get stuck. See [Graph Editor](/cms/editor/graph). Give the "find item" hotspot a **Set Variables** action (e.g. set `hasKey` to true), then on the second hotspot open **Visibility Condition → Build Condition** and create *hasKey equals true*. No coding needed — the Condition Builder writes the expression for you. See [Hotspots](/cms/editor/hotspots) and [Variables](/cms/editor/variables). No. For hotspot and speech-bubble visibility, the Condition Builder gives you dropdowns (variable, operator, value, AND/OR) with a live preview. Only graph edge conditions are typed as JSON Logic, and they follow one simple pattern: `{"OPERATOR": [{"var": "name"}, value]}` — [Variables & Conditions](/cms/editor/variables) has copy-paste examples. Two ways: the Graph Editor's **Simulate** button walks the flow structurally, showing every "Where to next?" option; and the [Preview](/cms/preview) page lets you override any variable's value and read the chapter in the embedded player. Save common setups as preview scenarios and test both sides of every condition. Some panels have no path leading to them from the chapter's entry panel, so readers will never see them. Click the warning to highlight the affected panels, then connect them into the flow. Cycles and dead ends are reported too — those are informational, since loops and endings can be intentional. See [Graph Editor](/cms/editor/graph). ## Audio and video Video layers are muted by default because browsers block unmuted autoplay. If sound matters, set the video's Start Mode to *On click* and untick *Muted*, or keep the video muted and add the sound as a separate audio track on the panel. See [Video Panels](/cms/editor/video-panels). A panel audio track belongs to one panel and starts relative to it — good for sound effects and dialogue. A sequence audio track belongs to the whole chapter and keeps playing across panel boundaries — good for background music and ambience. See [Audio](/cms/editor/audio). Panels with a video layer default to *Auto (from video)*: the display duration is locked to the video's length. Click *Locked to video* to switch to manual, or *Reset to video length* to switch back. See [Video Panels](/cms/editor/video-panels). ## Publishing, export, and money Publishing is blocked while Preflight Validation reports errors — broken references, duplicate IDs, missing captions, oversized assets. Open **Validation** in the Backstage sidebar, run validation, and use the per-issue suggestions, *Open in editor* shortcuts, and auto-fixes to clear the errors; warnings don't block publishing. See [Validation & Preflight](/cms/validation). The status dropdown (Draft/Review/Published/Archived) is a library label that organizes your works — it doesn't deploy anything by itself. Deployment happens through the publish pipeline, which validates the work, builds the manifest, and uploads it with all assets. See [Publishing](/cms/publishing). Three formats, each rendered as a background job: **PDF** (quality levels, optional metadata and hyperlinks), **PowerPoint** (4:3 or 16:9, optional speaker notes), and **Video** (720p/1080p/4K at 24/30/60 fps). Download links expire, so fetch your file promptly. See [Export](/cms/export). Yes. Works export as open PanelWave JSON manifests (plus PDF/PPT/video renditions), and the same JSON can be re-imported via **Import** on My Works. The format is open (CC BY 4.0), so there is no lock-in. See [Export](/cms/export) and [Import](/cms/import). Beyond the obvious (nothing illegal, no harassment, no malware), one rule catches people out: **no pornographic or sexually explicit material, in any medium or drawing style**. The test is purpose, not age rating. **Fine** — violence, dark or disturbing themes, drug use, strong language, non-sexual nudity in a narrative context, romance or implied sexual activity without explicit depiction. A graphic novel rated 18+ for violence is not an adult-content case, and mature storytelling is welcome. **Not fine** — explicit sexual depiction as an end in itself, however well drawn and whether or not a story frames it. This is not editorial taste: payment providers prohibit pornographic content in every medium, illustration and AI-generated work included, and PanelWave is accountable for what is published and sold through the platform. Works in breach are removed and payouts may be withheld. Age ratings and content warnings are a separate requirement — you need those too, and they do not make explicit content publishable. The rule attaches to **publishing and selling here**, not to what you may draw. The format is open and the player is MIT-licensed, so a work can be exported in full and hosted on your own infrastructure with a payment provider that accepts adult content. Two caveats: our storage is not a staging area for material we would not publish, and self-hosting does not remove your own legal duties — distributing pornography in Germany requires age verification and a closed user group under the JMStV. See the [Terms of Service](https://panelwave.org/legal/terms) §5 and [Export](/cms/export). No. Besides the free tier and the Creator/Studio subscriptions there is a **Work Pass** — a one-time purchase that unlocks one additional publication permanently, with no renewal and no expiry. Passes stack, so you can buy one per book. Subscriptions exist for what a pass deliberately leaves out: allowances that refill monthly, team seats, a staging environment, review workflows, and long analytics retention. See [Plans & Limits](/cms/plans). You choose, and all three exits are honest: pay the metered overage for the extra storage and bandwidth, move to a subscription with a larger allowance, or export the work and host it yourself. The manifest format is open and the player is MIT-licensed ([`@panelwave/player`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@panelwave/player) on npm, source on [GitHub](https://github.com/panelwave/player)), so a work you export runs anywhere. See [Plans & Limits](/cms/plans) and [Export](/cms/export). Not yet. You can fully configure paywall rules, products, multi-currency price points, and coupons today, and test reader access with the entitlement simulator — but real checkout and payment processing are not live in the current release. See [Monetization](/cms/monetization). Use the **Entitlement** screen in the work's Backstage: start a simulation, pick a Quick Scenario such as *Premium Subscriber* or *Underage User*, and review the paywall test results — or toggle entitlements directly in Preview's controls. See [Preview](/cms/preview) and [Monetization](/cms/monetization). Analytics are aggregated from reader events of published versions only. If you just published or the work is still in draft, the dashboard shows *No reader data yet* — check back after readers start reading a published version. See [Analytics](/cms/analytics). Every upload is processed automatically in the background: images get AVIF/WebP variants and thumbnails, audio gets loudness-normalized AAC/Opus variants plus waveform data, and video gets a web-friendly H.264 rendition with a poster frame. Readers are served the best variant their device supports. See [Assets](/cms/assets). ## AI assistants Yes. PanelWave has an MCP server that AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code and Cursor connect to. Once connected, you can ask them to turn a script into a work, letter panels, rename characters, translate, validate and publish. The assistant works as you, with your team role and plan limits. See [AI Assistants (MCP)](/cms/integrations/mcp-overview). It asks first. Deleting pages, panels, chapters, characters or assets, moving a work to the trash, publishing to production and rolling back all need your confirmation before they run. You can also leave out the `works:write` or `publish` permission when you connect. See [Access Tokens & Connected Apps](/cms/integrations/access-tokens#permissions). Hosted chats can't read files on your computer. Use the [local bridge](/cms/integrations/local-bridge) in Claude Desktop, Cowork, Claude Code or Cursor: it uploads the folders you allow straight into your asset library and skips files that are already there. Or upload in the editor and ask the assistant to attach the images to the panels. Open **Profile → Connected apps & access tokens** and click **Disconnect** next to the app, or **Revoke** next to the token. Access ends within a minute. Changing your password ends all connections at once.

Creators FAQ

Working in the editor

Speech bubbles and languages

Branching and interactivity

Audio and video

Publishing, export, and money

AI assistants