Visual Space manual, Live Apps, Publish A Layout Safely

This guide helps the active editor make a deliberate choice between keeping a draft editable and publishing its layout entry as permanently read-only. You will export and verify a PNG first, confirm that the current tab still owns editing, publish only when the one-way result is useful, and check the published state afterward.

Decide Whether Publication Fits the Outcome

Publishing is not a way to save the plan you drew. Publish changes the layout entry to read-only, releases editing, and does not store the current canvas geometry. Reopening the published layout will not recover its walls, rooms, doors, windows, labels, measurements, or rectangles.

Choose the outcome before touching Publish:

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Keep editing when geometry matters - If you need to move, resize, add, or remove plan elements later, leave the layout unpublished and keep the current editor open. Do not publish yet.

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Export when you need a visible record - A PNG captures the visible canvas as a flat image. It does not preserve editable geometry, but it gives you something local to review and retain before the session ends.

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Publish only for a permanent entry state - Publication is useful when you intentionally want the layout entry to become read-only for people who can access its space area. There is currently no unpublish, edit-in-place, or new-draft revision action.

Normal area access continues after publication. People who can access the owning area can open the published entry; a layout in a private area stays private to the people who can enter that area.

For the wider editing, access, and session boundaries, read the Layouts overview.

Complete the Pre-Publish Check

Use this checklist while the layout remains open in the same tab. If any check fails, stop before publication.

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Confirm the layout is still a draft - The workspace must be unpublished. A layout already showing Published read-only cannot return to draft editing.

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Confirm this tab is the active editor - Look for Editing lease active and make sure the drawing tools remain available. Do not rely on a different tab, browser, or device; only the current editing session can publish.

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Read the save boundary - Look for Local edits; save not connected. This means the canvas is still session-only, not a saved plan that publication will preserve.

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Finish every intended geometry change - Review the visible plan while editing is available. If you expect any later geometry work, keep the draft open and do not publish.

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Frame the record you want - Pan and zoom until the important content is inside the visible canvas. Export captures this view, so content outside it may not appear in the PNG.

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Accept the one-way result - Continue only if a permanent read-only layout entry, together with a verified flat image, satisfies the purpose of this layout.

Before publishing, confirm that this tab still owns editing and that the canvas remains explicitly session-local.

Export and Verify the Local Record

Export before publishing whenever the current drawing matters. For a fuller drawing and export workflow, use Draw and Export a Layout.

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Choose Export - Select Export from the document commands. The control may temporarily show Exporting while Layouts captures the visible canvas.

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Complete the save - Allow the browser download or choose a destination when your platform opens a save dialog. The exported file uses the layout title where possible and ends in .png.

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Find the local file - Open the browser downloads list or the folder you selected. Do this before leaving the workspace or publishing.

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Open and inspect the PNG - Verify that the image is not empty, unexpectedly cropped, or missing important geometry. Check that labels and measurements you rely on are readable.

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Correct and export again if needed - Return to the still-open editor, adjust the canvas view or geometry, then repeat the export. Keep going only after the replacement PNG opens correctly outside Visual Space.

The verified PNG is your visible artifact, but it remains a flat image. It cannot be reopened as editable Layouts content and does not make the canvas durable.

Publish from the Active Tab

Do this only after the checklist is complete and you no longer need continued geometry editing.

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Check editing one last time - Confirm that this same tab still shows Editing lease active. If the workspace has become read-only, do not attempt to publish from stale editing state.

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Choose Publish - Select Publish from the document commands. While the request is running, the control shows Publishing and prevents a duplicate request.

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Let Layouts confirm ownership - Layouts checks immediately before publication that the current tab still owns editing. Keep the workspace open while this check and publication finish.

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Wait for the final state - Do not reload, navigate away, or switch routes while Confirming edit access before publishing or Publishing to space area is shown.

A successful publication releases the editing session. This is expected: the entry is now immutable, so drawing and mutation tools are no longer available.

Verify the Published Result

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Check the workspace state - Look for Published read-only in the layout header or status area.

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Confirm editing is gone - Drawing, selection mutation, Undo, Redo, and another Publish action should no longer be available for this layout.

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Confirm the access boundary - The published entry remains associated with its current space area. Publication does not broaden access beyond that area, and private-area membership is still required where applicable.

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Keep the PNG separately - Retain the verified image in the location where you manage finished reference files. The published entry does not contain the editable drawing and does not replace that artifact.

Do not reopen the published layout expecting the current plan to return. Publication stores the published identity and read-only state, not the canvas geometry.

If Publication Does Not Complete

A rejected or failed publication leaves the current draft available in the open session and reports the problem. The local drawing is still subject to the same session boundary, so keep the tab and page open while you respond.

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Read the status message - It may say that Layouts could not publish and that you can keep editing and try again, or that editing moved to another session.

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Check current ownership - If Editing lease active remains visible, the draft is still editable in this tab. Review the export and retry only if publication is still your intended outcome.

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Reconnect when prompted - If editing moved or became unavailable, choose Try again to reclaim editing when allowed. Confirm the active-editor state before attempting publication again.

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Protect the local artifact - If you have not yet verified a PNG, export it while the canvas remains open. Do not reload or leave while relying on the session-only drawing.

A failure is not an instruction to publish repeatedly. If you discover that continued geometry editing is needed, keep the draft unpublished and stop the publication workflow.

Finish with the Right Expectation

After success, the layout has one permanent published, read-only state. There is no current unpublish or revision path, the released editing session cannot be reclaimed for that entry, and reopening it will not restore the drawing from the publishing session.

Keep the verified PNG as the visual record, and return to the Live Apps overview when you are ready to choose another workspace or workflow.