Spread credits and exports

Designing in Pixamatch is free; you use spread credits only when you export an album, one credit for each content spread, and each album version is paid for only once. This page covers what costs a credit, whose balance pays, team credits, expiry and the credit messages.

What is free

Everything in album design except exporting: creating and designing albums, sharing and previewing them, and bringing back graded spreads. Selects — uploads, culling (Keep all photos or Remove bad photos), client links and face search — are covered by your studio's monthly plan, not by credits; see "Plans and storage".

What costs credits

An export of an album version:

• Print PDF and Print PDF — original quality
• PSDs (Rasterized Export)… and PSDs (Object Export)…

Each costs one credit per content spread of the version you export. The cover and part title pages are free.

Once per version

A version pays for its spreads once:

• Exporting the same version again is free, in any format. A PDF today and PSDs tomorrow cost only once.
• If the album grows, the next export pays only for the new spreads. For example, a 40-spread version that grows to 42 spreads pays 2 credits.
• If the album shrinks, nothing is refunded.
• A new version (made with Duplicate current or Start fresh) has paid for nothing yet, so its first export pays for all its spreads.

Credits are taken just before the export starts. If an export fails or you cancel it, the credits are not returned, but the version stays paid for, so trying again costs nothing.

Before every export

When you choose an export, Pixamatch shows what it will cost. If there is something to pay, you see a confirmation titled "Use N spread credits?", for example "Exporting the PDF uses 38 credits: one for each of the album's 38 spreads." It reminds you that "The cover and part title pages are free. Exporting this version again costs nothing." and shows your balance after the export. If this version was already exported with fewer spreads, it charges only the new ones: "This version already paid for 30 spreads. Exporting the PDF now uses 8 credits for the 8 new spreads." Press Export · N credits to go ahead or cancel. If nothing is due, the export starts straight away.

Whose credits pay

• Studio admins spend from the shared studio pool.
• Team members spend from their own allowance, which the studio admin hands out from the pool.
• Freelance designers spend from their own balance, which Pixamatch tops up.

Your balance is in the Spread credits card at the bottom of the sidebar ("Studio pool" for studio admins, "Your allowance" for team members and freelance designers, with the expiry date if there is one). The card also shows a Storage line (how much space your photos take; how many photos your studio may store is set by its plan — see the plan card just above, and "Plans and storage"), History, and for studio admins Manage, which opens Team. On a phone it is at the top of the You tab, headed "Studio spread credits" (admins) or "Spread credits", with Manage team for admins.

Buying credits

Studio admins and freelance designers buy spread credits from Pixamatch. The Pixamatch website lists album design at ₹50 per spread. To top up, ask Pixie in the studio (Ask Pixie at the bottom of the sidebar on a computer, the Pixie tab on a phone) or contact Pixamatch on WhatsApp at +91 79944 99974.

A coupon from Pixamatch gives a new account its first credits at sign-up (the studio pool for a studio, your own balance for a freelancer). Each code works once per account and once per studio, and some make the credits expire; the history shows them as "Coupon … redeemed". After several wrong codes the sign-up form says "Too many coupon tries. Continue without it, or try again in an hour." A code meant for existing accounts reads "That code is for existing accounts — sign up first, then redeem it from your spread credits."

Redeeming a code later

If Pixamatch sends a code to an account you already have, a studio admin or a freelance designer can redeem it:

1. On a computer, find Spread credits at the bottom of the sidebar. On a phone, open You.
2. Press Have a code?, type the code and press Redeem.

A studio admin's code tops up the studio pool; a freelancer's their own balance. Designers in a studio don't see the field — their admin redeems codes and hands the credits out from Team. If the code carries an expiry date, your credits keep whichever date is later: a code never makes credits you already have expire sooner. Some codes only work on the sign-up form; the field then says "That code only works when signing up." After too many wrong codes: "Too many wrong codes. Try again in an hour."

Giving credits to your team (studio admins)

On a computer, open Team in the sidebar. On a phone, open You, then Team.

1. In the Spread credits column of a team member's row, type a number.
2. Press Give to move that many credits from the studio pool to them, or Take back to return credits to the pool.
3. To set an expiry for their credits, pick a date in the Expire column and press Set.

When you add a team member you can also give Starting credits; they come out of the studio pool. The top of the Team page shows the Studio pool, the credits Held by designers, and the credits Spent by admins. Admins hold no balance of their own: their row reads Spends from pool.

If the numbers don't add up, the Team page says so:

• "The studio pool has N credits — not enough to hand out N."
• "NAME only has N credits to take back."
• "The studio pool has N credits — not enough for a starting balance of N." (the account is not created)
• "Account created, but the pool could not cover the starting credits — grant them from the table."

Expiry

A balance can carry an expiry date. After that date the credits can no longer be spent on exports. The studio pool's expiry is set by Pixamatch; a team member's expiry is set by their studio admin. Designing still works after expiry, and so does re-exporting a version that is already paid for; only exports that need credits are blocked until the credits are renewed.

Credit history

Press History on the Spread credits card (on a phone, History on the You tab); Load more goes further back. Studio admins also see Credit history at the bottom of the Team page, covering every export, top-up and hand-out in the studio, newest first. Rows read like:

• Exported "album title", with the format and how many spreads were paid.
• Handed to a designer, Taken back from a designer, Received from the studio pool or Returned to the studio pool.
• Credits added, Credits removed, Starting balance, Expiry set to a date, or Expiry cleared.
• Coupon … redeemed.
• Switched to spread credits — the day Pixamatch moved from album credits to spread credits, and your old album credits were closed. If your balance looks wrong after that, contact Pixamatch.

When you do not have enough credits

The export does not start and nothing is charged. You will see one of these messages:

• "This export needs N spread credits and you have M. Ask your studio admin for more." (team member)
• "This export needs N spread credits and you have M. Ask Pixamatch for a top-up." (freelance designer)
• "This export needs N spread credits and the studio has M. Ask Pixamatch for a top-up." (studio admin)
• "Your spread credits have expired. Ask your studio admin to renew them to export." (a freelance designer reads "Ask Pixamatch to renew them")
• "Your studio's spread credits have expired. Ask Pixamatch to renew them to export."
• "Not enough spread credits — this export needs N spread credits and you have M. …" (a studio admin: "…and the studio has M. …") — the balance changed between the check and the export. It ends like the matching message above.
• "Your account isn't attached to a studio — contact Pixamatch."

Team members get credits from their studio admin; studio admins and freelance designers get them from Pixamatch. Top up or ask your admin, then export again. Your design is safe in the meantime.