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ThanksAI Studio

What it is​

ThanksAI Studio designs a creative for you. Describe the mailer in a sentence and it generates a print-ready front at your mail piece's full canvas size, drafts the message to go with it, and lets you refine both by chatting. No design software or graphic designer required.

Saving the design saves a creative: the front becomes its image template and the message its message template, and it works everywhere a creative does: single sends, campaigns, the API, and integrations. A per-recipient QR code can be placed on the AI-generated front. thanks.io composites it on top at print time, so every piece gets its own unique scannable code.

ThanksAI Studio works for 4x6, 6x9, and 6x11 postcards, notecards, gift cards, and windowed and windowless letters. It isn't available for MagnaCards. It is available on every plan.

Start a design​

  1. Go to Creatives in the sidebar and click New creative.
  2. Choose Design it with ThanksAI.
  3. Under Your prompt, describe the mailer: its purpose, style, audience, and anything it must include. The more detail you give, the better the design. For example: "A modern postcard for a real estate open house at 123 Main St. Use a blue and gold color scheme. Include the agent's name (Jane Smith), phone number (555-1234), and the tagline: Your Dream Home Awaits."
  4. Optionally click Add a reference image to attach an image for the AI to work from (up to 10 MB).
  5. Optionally enter your Website - ThanksAI uses it to tailor the design, pulling brand colors, logo, and context.
  6. Leave Use account branding on to use your saved Branding. If you haven't set any up, the switch is off with a link to set it up.
  7. Click Start designing (or press Ctrl+Enter).

You can also reach ThanksAI from the Design one with ThanksAI button on an empty Creatives page, and from Send Mail (see Designing during a send).

Steps​

The Studio walks you through the design step by step. The steps are shown across the top.

Mail piece​

If your prompt doesn't make the mail piece clear (or names a postcard without a size), the Studio asks What type of mailer? Pick one and click Start designing. For a letter, the button is Next: message, because the Studio designs fronts and a letter has none.

Design​

ThanksAI generates the first design, which takes about a minute. A progress bar shows while it works; stay on the page until it finishes.

  • Refine by chatting. Type a change in the box (for example, "Make it more festive" or "Move the QR code to the bottom left") and send it. You can attach an image to a message too. The design regenerates with your change; if a reply didn't change the image, the chat says so.
  • Set QR code - choose where the QR code points, use the message side's QR code, use the thanks.io default, or remove the QR code. Adding or removing the QR code redesigns the front with AI; changing where it points does not.
  • Info - shows your original request, the mail piece, the status, and the website used.
  • Reset from original prompt - throws away the current version and designs again from your prompt alone. Your current unsaved version is lost.

The preview shows the design at print proportions with the cut line and safety zone drawn over it. When you're happy with the front, continue to the message.

Message​

ThanksAI drafts a message from your prompt, which you can edit in the same message editor the creative wizard uses: Manual edit with Personalize for merge tags, Write with AI to rewrite it over several rounds, the handwriting style and color, the QR code, and the optional extras. A live render shows the message side as it will print. Use Check my message to rate the words before saving. See Creating a Creative for every section.

For a postcard, notecard, or gift card, you can skip the message to save the front on its own. A letter needs its message. Click Save and review to continue.

Review & save​

  1. Enter a Name for the creative (it defaults to "Studio:" followed by your prompt), or click Suggest a name.
  2. Read What happens when you save and check the QR destination.
  3. Review the AI-generated content against the checklist: the text and wording, images and graphics, contact and business details, the QR code placement (it prints exactly where the preview shows it), and that the design contains no merge fields or placeholders. Only the QR code is filled in per recipient on a Studio front.
  4. Tick the box confirming you reviewed the design. Saving stays unavailable until you do (letters don't need this step).
  5. Click Save to Creatives (Update Creatives when the design was already saved; Save letter for a letter).

The creative is now in your library, ready to send or use in a campaign. Click Send it to open Send Mail with it, or Back to Creatives.

If the Studio decided your design looks like a personal card, it leaves the QR code off and says so on this step. Click Add a QR code to add one; this redesigns the front with AI.

Drafts​

A design you haven't saved yet appears in Creatives as a Draft card marked ThanksAI. Click Continue designing to pick up where you left off, Make a copy to copy it, or Delete draft to remove it and its chat. Once saved, the design is a creative and appears once, as a regular card.

Editing a Studio creative​

A creative designed in ThanksAI Studio is edited in the Studio. Click its card (or Edit in Studio in its menu) to reopen the chat and keep refining. Saving again updates the same creative.

Designing during a send​

In Send Mail, the Design step's Make creative now tab lets you design a creative with ThanksAI without leaving the send. Send Mail has already chosen the mail piece, so the Studio starts from your prompt. When you save, the creative is added to your library and fills in the send. See Send Mail Wizard.

Tips & best practices​

  • Include brand colors, your call to action, and the intended audience in your prompt. The more specific, the better the first result.
  • For real estate, paste the listing URL as the website and ThanksAI pulls property details and agent branding.
  • Use conversational refinements for small adjustments ("make the text larger", "use a darker background").
  • If the QR code placement is wrong, tell the AI directly: "move the QR code to the bottom-right corner."
  • For letters, let the Studio draft the message from your prompt, then refine it with Write with AI or by hand.

Limits & gotchas​

  • Don't navigate away while a design is generating. If you do, reopen the draft from Creatives; it shows a Generate the design button rather than starting a paid generation on its own.
  • ThanksAI Studio isn't available for MagnaCards.
  • For letters, there is no front design step. The Studio writes the letter itself.
  • Per-recipient QR codes are composited onto the generated front at print time; you don't place them in the design yourself.
  • AI assistants connected through the thanks.io MCP server can also run ThanksAI Studio designs. A Studio design ID there is not a creative ID; once saved, the design becomes a creative with its own creative ID.