Layout Overlays can be used to create an amended version of your Seating Plan that can hide seats from view and sale.
Layout Overlays work through a combination of masking seats and editing the background image.
Masked seats are not displayed on the Seating Plan and not available for sale both online and in the Sales Interface.
A background image usually contains labels for the stage, row letters, and lines separating each area.
Before you read this article, make sure you’re familiar with:
Why Create a Layout Overlay?
Layout Overlays can be used to make amendments to a Seating Plan without having to request a new Seating Plan. You can use Layout Overlays on reserved and unreserved Seating Plans.
Seats are masked to hide them and take them off sale and the background image is updated to reflect changes or remove any unnecessary row markers and sections.
You can also use a Layout Overlay to make aesthetic changes to your Seating Plan background image, such as moving the placement of the stage or hiding row markers.
Unlike locked seats, masked seats will not appear in reports or count towards capacity or financial capacity. Masked seats are removed from the Seating Plan both online and in the Sales Interface.
Creating a new Layout Overlay
In Admin > Seating > Seating Plans, select the Seating Plan you wish to create a new Layout Overlay for.
From here, a new screen will open, select Layouts from the top, then click New to create a new Layout Overlay.
Create a name for your new Layout Overlay. This name is only visible in the Admin Interface, so be as descriptive as you need.
Click OK and your new Layout Overlay's name will now be listed in the left-hand pane and selected in dark green. Click the Edit button to make changes.
Watch this video to see the above steps.
TIP: In Admin > Seating > Seating Plans > Layouts you’ll see a Copy option next to each of your Layouts. When you copy one of your Layouts, you’ll be taken to the Layout details screen for a new Layout, which will be named as ‘[Original Layout Name] - Copy’, from here you can continue setting up your Layout.
Masking seats
You can mask seats on both unreserved and reserved Seating Plan areas.
If your Seating Plan has multiple clickable areas (e.g. Stalls, Circle, Balcony), you can select each area from the dropdown list in the top left-hand corner or navigate to them through the cover image.
Unreserved Seating Plans Areas
For unreserved Seating Plans, you can simply enter the number of seats you want to mask in this Layout Overlay:
Once you've entered this number, click Save.
Reserved Seating Plans Areas
To mask seats on a reserved Seating Plan, you can either click them individually or, use the rectangle or paintbrush tool.
Any masked seats will appear here as a red X. However, in the Sales Interface and online these seats will not be displayed.
From here, click Save.
Updating the background image
When you mask seats you may also need to update your background image to hide row markers or certain sections on your Seating Plan.
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Example: using a Layout Overlay to mask rows from a reserved Seating Plan.
Imagine the front rows need to be removed to extend the stage. You can mask these rows to hide them and take them entirely off sale using an overlay, but you'll still be able to see the row markers. To remove these, you need to upload a new version of the background image to hide the row letter for the masked rows.
The original Seating Plan and background image:
The Seating Plan with masked seats:
The Seating Plan with masked seats and an updated background image:
The Support Team can help you make edits to your background image. To request this you’ll need to complete a Seating Plan request form.
Alternatively, you can follow the steps below to make small edits.
Right click over the background (not on one of the seats) and select Save as to save the image to your computer. This should be a .gif file. Once saved, you can open and edit it in your preferred image editing software.
REMINDER: If you right click the image and the option Save image as... is not available then contact the Support Team to request this from us.
WARNING: Do not resize your Seating Plan image as this will mean your seats and background image may no longer align.
Once you have edited your background image, save it as either a JPG, JPEG, GIF or PNG file.
Uploading a Background Image
If you have requested a new background image from us and are ready to upload it, follow the steps below to achieve this.
Click edit. When you are ready to upload, click Upload Image.
From here, browse to the file's location on your computer, click to select it and upload.
When you are happy with your changes, click Save.
Applying a Layout Overlay at Instance level
When creating new Events you can apply a Layout Overlay to Instances during the Event set up process.
However, if you want to add a Layout Overlay to Instances that already exist, follow the steps below.
- In Admin > Events, select the Event which contains the Instance you want to update
- In the Instances tab, select the Instance you wish to edit
- In the Seating Plan tab, click Edit in the bottom right corner
- In the Layout Overlay dropdown, select your new Layout Overlay
- Click Save to apply your changes
If you want to make changes to your Layout Overlay at the Instance level, the steps to do this are covered in the next section.
REMINDER: To apply the Layout Overlay to multiple Instances, you can use the Bulk Instance Updater Tool.
Watch this video to see the above steps in action.
Editing an existing Layout Overlay
When making changes to an existing Layout Overlay that is already in use, you can choose to apply the updated Overlay across all or some of the Instances that are currently on sale and/or all future Instances currently using your Seating Plan.
Updating an existing Layout Overlay at Instance level
- In Admin > Events, select the Event which contains the Instance you want to update
- In the Instances tab, select the Instance you wish to edit
- In the Seating Plan tab, click Edit in the bottom right corner
- In the Layout Overlay dropdown, select Custom
- In the pop-up that appears, mask off seats and/or change the background as required
- Click Save to apply your changes
Your amended Layout Overlay will now only apply to the specific Instance where you have created it.
Watch us edit an existing Layout Overlay in this video.
Updating an Existing Layout Overlay at the Global Level
You can update a Layout Overlay at the global level, changing it for future use and against all (or some) of the Instances currently using it.
- Head to Admin > Seating > Seating Plans and select the Seating Plan which is connected to the Layout Overlay you wish to edit
- Click Layouts from the options listed at the top
- Select the Layout Overlay you wish to edit, then click Edit and mask off seats and/or change the background as required
- Click Save
- If your Seating Plan is already in use, a pop-up will appear (see below) with the options of how you can choose to apply your Overlay.
- Select your preferred option, click OK and the update will start.
WARNING: if you select None or choose to only update selected Instances, any Instances that you've chosen not to update will now have a 'custom' Layout Overlay that will reflect the original version
Watch this video to follow the steps required to update your Layout Overlay globally.
For more on Seating Plans and Event Set Up, see the Set up Events, Offers and Merchandise section of the Support Centre.