Get started

• Quick Setup — opens a wizard where you tell the editor how many of each prop you have on the trailer. It populates the tray below the canvas; click a tray chip to arm that tool, then click the bay to place.
• Or skip the wizard and pick a tool straight from the left palette. Each palette button has a swatch matching what it draws on the bay (blue line for walls, dashed red for fault lines, USPSA-shaped silhouettes for targets, gray popper outlines for steel, etc.).

Flow Placement — the fastest way to build a stage

Flow Placement is the editor's signature workflow. Drop one prop, then dial every subsequent prop's position OFF that anchor's edge using the d-pad on the right — the same way you measure on a real bay.

• The anchor auto-tracks. Every prop you drop or click becomes the new anchor. A copper dashed ring marks it on the canvas; the right-panel "Flow Placement" card shows its label + takeoff coordinates.
• The d-pad measures off the anchor's edge. Type a distance into ↑ (downrange) / ↓ (uprange) / ← (left) / → (right), or tap the arrows to step by the active size (1″ / 6″ / 1′). Up + Down are mutually exclusive; Left + Right too. The ghost preview + dimension lines update live on the canvas.
• Takeoff selector (L / C / R / AUTO). Pick which edge of the anchor the offsets reference: L = left edge / pole, R = right edge / pole, C = center, AUTO = whichever inside edge faces the bay center (the default USPSA "measure off inside edge" convention). Shooting boxes + tables take off from the far-downrange edge instead — match how you'd reference past the box on a real stage.
• Drop commits the ghost at the resolved coords and makes the new prop the next anchor — so you can chain props off each other without selecting between drops.
• For target stands, walls, and faults (variable-orientation props), Drop pins the FIRST endpoint at the resolved coord and enters drag-second-endpoint mode. Move the cursor to set facing (stand) or both endpoint + length (wall / fault), then click to commit. Esc cancels.
• Clear button zeros all four arms in one tap when you've over-stepped or want to start the offset over from the same anchor.
• Re-anchor any time — click any other prop with the Select tool, and the d-pad re-centers on it.

Placing props

• Auto-select on placement — every prop you drop is immediately selected, so you can rotate, move, or edit it without an extra click.
• Point props (target stands, steel, barrels, start position, shooting boxes, activators) — click the canvas where you want them. The tool stays armed so you can keep clicking to place more.
• Fixed-length walls (2 / 4 / 8 ft) — click the bay floor to drop a wall of that length. The new wall auto-selects so you can rotate it via the bullseye.
• Wall (free) + fault lines — click and drag from start to end. Free length; wall snaps to bay-cardinal on release.
• Auto-scroll while drawing — when you're mid-draw (measure / wall / fault) and pull the cursor near the edge of the canvas viewport, the canvas auto-scrolls in that direction. Lets you measure or draw past the visible bay without releasing.
• Drag-to-place — mousedown on a palette button or tray chip and drag onto the canvas; release to drop. A live ΔX / ΔY chip shows the distance from the most recently placed prop.
• Stack barrels — click on top of an existing barrel with the Barrel tool to bump its stack count.
• Stack targets — click an existing stand with the No-shoot tool to add a no-shoot layer on top of that target's cardboard.
• Metric vs Classic — separate target tools in the palette. Metric is the 17.72 × 29.53 in USPSA silhouette; Classic is the 17.72 × 22.44 in IPSC octagon. Customize stand / Build array round-trip both styles.

Selection — single, group, span

• Click a prop to select it. Drag to move. The right-hand Properties panel exposes label, position, facing, hardcover, etc.
• Shift-click to add / remove a prop from a multi-selection.
• Click a span'd stand and you grab both spanning stands + the no-shoot between them as one group.
• Build Array stamps every member with a shared group id, so re-clicking any array prop re-selects the whole rig.
• Delete — Delete / Backspace removes everything selected. If Quick Setup armed the prop, its slot returns to the tray.
• Arrow keys nudge every selected prop by 1″ (Shift + arrow = 6″ coarse).

Rotation handles

• Bullseye handle on every facing-aware prop (target stands, steel, activators, start position). Drag it to rotate; angle snaps to 5°. Released handle sits 1.5 ft along the prop's facing direction.
• Group handles — with a multi-selection, two bullseyes appear on the two most-distant anchor points. Drag one to rotate every selected prop around the OTHER handle (anchor-end pivot).
• Group translate — drag the body of any selected prop while multi-selected, and the entire rig moves rigidly.
• Wall / fault endpoints — drag a blue endpoint dot to extend or rotate the segment.
• Mover rail tip — orange handle at the rail's far end. Drag to resize (6″ snap, 2 ft minimum). Or use the Properties panel's "Rail length (ft)" field.

Stand power tools

• Customize stand… (Properties panel, or double-click a stand) — opens a 2D target editor. The base cardboard is locked at center; stacked targets are draggable USPSA / IPSC silhouettes. Per-target Type (Open / No-shoot / Hardcover), Hardcover variant, Inverted toggle, and base-target shoulder height. Hold Alt while dragging to bypass the zone-edge snap; arrow keys nudge 1″ (Shift + arrow = 6″).
• Build array… (Properties panel) — interactive row builder. ± buttons at each end add a target (cap 12). Click a silhouette to edit that target's Type / Hardcover / Inverted. Click a gap to edit center-to-center spacing or toggle the spanning no-shoot on/off. "Default" resets spacing to 23.63 in (Metric A-zone-to-A-zone span).

Symmetry + measuring

• Centerline — the dashed copper-red line down the middle of the bay is the symmetry guide.
• Mirror (footer) — duplicates everything to the opposite side of the centerline. Build half a stage, mirror it.
• Measure tool — click two snap targets to drop a labeled dimension line. Hold Alt (Option on Mac) to bypass prop snap if a nearby prop magnetizes the endpoint away from the diagonal you want.
• Measurements as snap rails — when a placement tool is armed and the cursor is within 6″ of a snap target (measurement endpoint, prop pole, marker, line endpoint), the editor lights up a cyan ring on the target and a leader dot at exactly where the prop will land. Measurement endpoints WIN over other snap candidates when both are in range. Workflow: pull all your measurements first to lock down exact dimensions, then drop the popper / plate / stand against them. Hold Alt to bypass placement snap and free-place.
• Anchor cycle — while hovering near a snap target with a placement tool armed, tap Shift to cycle the prop's anchor: Near edge (default — cursor-side edge or pole on the target, matches USPSA "measure to inside edge") → Center (prop center on the target) → Far edge (opposite edge / pole on the target). The badge floating next to the cursor shows which anchor is engaged before you click. Anchor resets to Near edge whenever you switch tools.

Stage brief + sending to phone

• Stage Brief (footer) — author start condition, scoring type, leave-shooting-area, round / target count overrides, and a one-per-line gotchas list. Picks up a copper dot on the button once any field is populated. Send-to-phone surfaces a soft "no brief" nudge when empty — non-blocking.
• Save — opens the Save dialog with paths to: Save to your cloud library (signed-in), Publish to community, Send to phone (deep-links into Match Day on iOS, or QR code on desktop), Copy JSON, or Download.
• PDF (footer) — single-page print handout: stage diagram + brief + build manifest. Uses the browser's print dialog; print-style schematic kicks in automatically.
• Load JSON… — paste a stage JSON to edit an existing layout.
• Autosave — your in-progress stage is saved to the browser every few seconds. Reload the page and you'll get a "Restore Draft" prompt.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Delete / Backspace — remove every selected prop
• ↑↓←→ — nudge selection by 1″ (Shift + arrow = 6″ coarse)
• Esc — cancel the current draw / measure / drag (also exits Flow Placement drag-second-endpoint)
• Shift tap (while a placement tool is armed) — cycle anchor: Near edge → Center → Far edge
• Alt while placing — bypass prop-edge snap AND switch to fine 1″ grid (default is 6″ grid for reliable placement at low zoom)
• Alt while dragging in customizer — bypass zone-edge snap (free-place)
• Alt while measuring — bypass prop snap
• Mouse wheel — vertical scroll; Shift + wheel — horizontal scroll
• Double-click on any array stand or span (Select tool) — opens the Build Array editor pre-populated with the rig's current spacing / mounts / spans. Single-click → "Edit array (N)" in the Properties panel does the same.
• Double-click on a standalone stand (Select tool) — opens the per-stand visual mount customizer.

Where do props anchor in 3D?

When you place a prop in the editor, the (x, y) you click is its ground reference point — what the build crew chalks on the bay and measures from. Some props rise into the air above this point; others sit flat on the ground.

• Wall — endpoints A and B mark where the wall's vertical frame touches the ground. The wall hangs in the air between them, top at 6 ft, bottom ~18 in off the floor.
• Fault line / Start position / Shooting box — fully on the ground. What you draw is what gets chalked or laid.
• Target stand — two pole feet at the endpoints, cardboard plane between them perpendicular to facing. In the editor, the cardboard silhouette renders flat against the bay floor (the poles aren't drawn) so the click point matches the cardboard's visible bottom edge exactly — what you click is where the build crew chalks. In AR the cardboard hangs at its real height on visible poles. Cardboard's bottom in AR is at the target's Shoulder height − 23.62 in (default places the top of the shoulder at 5′0″).
• Steel (popper / mini popper / plate / round plate) — base plate centered on position. Steel target rises vertically.
• Barrel — barrel's geometric center on the ground; stacked drums climb upward.
• Specialty (activators) — each prop has a single ground anchor marked with a white-and-black crosshair (+) on the canvas:
  • Texas Star: central pole base. 5 arms + plates sweep a 4 ft windmill.
  • Swinger: A-frame foot. Crossbeam overhead; pendulum + plate hang from it.
  • Drop-Turner: hinge mount. Panel pivots forward.
  • Bobber: base mount. Target bobs straight up + down (no rotation).
  • Mover: target's start position at one end of the rail. Mover slides forward along facing; Mover Reverse slides opposite. Drag the orange tip handle to resize the rail.

Author + fork-on-edit

• Stages are stamped with your author name (set once via the Author button in the header). Stages you receive from someone else stay credited to them — to edit, click Fork to edit in the lock banner. The original credit travels with the new stage as forkedFrom lineage.