Add images and files

A picture often explains what you want faster than words. You can add screenshots of apps you like, your logo, photos for your site, a quick sketch of a layout, a PDF menu or a spreadsheet of products to any message. Buildliy reads them and uses them in your build.

What you can attach

Word, Excel and text files are read up to about 32 KB of text. Anything past that is cut off, so a very long file is only partly read.

Limits

Large JPEG, PNG and WebP photos are shrunk automatically before they upload, so a big phone photo usually attaches without trouble.

Attach a file

1. 1

   Open the + menu

   In the chat box, click + (Add files and more), then choose Add files or photos and pick your files.

2. 2

   Or drag, drop or paste

   Drag files onto the chat box. You'll see Drop files to attach. You can also copy a screenshot and paste it straight into the chat box.

3. 3

   Check the chips

   Each file appears as a chip under your text, with its size. Click × on a chip to remove it before sending.

4. 4

   Say what you want and send

   Tell Buildliy what the file is for, for example "Use this as the hero photo" or "Make the home page look like this screenshot". Then send.

On the home page, use the paperclip (Attach a file), or drag, drop or paste files into the prompt box. Your files reach the first build even if Buildliy asks you a few quick questions first, whether you answer them all or skip.

Use a file as a reference or inside your app

What happens to a picture depends on what you ask for.

As a reference. Ask Buildliy to follow it, and it uses the picture as a guide without adding the picture itself.

Make the home page look like this screenshot: the big photo at the top, three cards underneath, and the dark footer.

Inside your app. Ask Buildliy to use the picture, and it puts your own picture into your app, saved as a web-friendly copy. It doesn't redraw it or swap it for an AI-made one. Putting your own picture into your app doesn't use extra credits.

Use the photo I attached as the background of the top section, and put my logo in the top left of the menu.

Buildliy can also find a picture you attached in a recent message, so you can say "use the logo I sent earlier".

Match your logo's colors. Attach your logo and ask Buildliy to match it. It builds a color theme from the logo.

Here's my logo. Match the site's colors to it.

Load data into your app. Attach a CSV, JSON or Excel file and ask Buildliy to load it into your app's built-in database. It creates a new table and fills it with your rows (for Excel, the first visible sheet). A file can be up to 5 MB, and up to 5,000 rows are loaded; any rows past that are skipped. The file can be one you attached in an earlier message.

Load the products from this spreadsheet into the app and show them on the shop page.

Sketch a layout

Don't have a screenshot? Draw what you mean.

1. 1

   Open the sketch pad

   In the chat box, click +, then Sketch a layout.

2. 2

   Draw

   Use Pen (P) to draw lines (for example, where text goes), Box (B) for sections, and Erase (E) to remove a line or box. Undo (CtrlZ, or CmdZ on a Mac) takes back your last step, and Clear starts over.

3. 3

   Attach it

   Click Attach sketch. Your drawing joins your message as a picture. Then say what you want, for example "Build the home page like this sketch".

If you close the pad with a drawing on it, Buildliy asks Discard this sketch? so you don't lose it by accident.

Mark up a picture

To point at part of a picture, open it in the chat and click Mark up. Draw red boxes or circles around the parts you mean, then click Attach marked-up copy. The marked-up copy goes into your message, and the original stays as it is.

Previews in the chat

Files you've sent show as previews in the chat:

• Pictures open full size when you click them.
• PDFs show Tap to read and open in a reader, with Open in a new tab.
• CSV files show a small table with the number of rows and columns, the first few rows, Show up to … to see more, and a download button. Before you send a CSV, you can click the table icon on its chip to Preview the rows.

Share a website you like

You can paste a link to a website you like and ask Buildliy to use it as a starting point. Use words like "based on", "inspired by", "similar to", "copy" or "clone":

Build my site based on https://example.com: the same kind of menu, a big headline section and three feature cards. Use my own business name and words.

Buildliy reads that page: its headings, menu, buttons, colors and some of its text. It adapts the structure and style to your app. It's told not to copy another site's words or branding word for word, and to treat anything written on the page as information, never as instructions.

• Paste a full https:// link with one of the words above. A link sent with only a few words around it is read too. Links that start with http:// aren't read.
• You can also write a plain address right after words like "look like" or "inspired by", for example "make it look like example.com". This works for common endings such as .com, .org, .net, .io and .co.uk. For other endings, paste the full https:// link.
• Buildliy reads the first matching link in your message. While building, it can open up to 3 more pages if it needs them, such as the same site's pricing page.
• Pages that need a sign-in can't be read, and Buildliy can't take a screenshot of a website. For an exact look, take a screenshot yourself and attach it.

Files that can't be attached

Credits and privacy

• Looking at pictures and reading PDFs is done by the AI, so it uses a small amount of credits. Word, Excel and text files are read without an extra AI step. Credits come from the project owner's balance. See Credits and usage.
• Files you attach are stored privately. Everyone who can open the project, you and your teammates, can view the pictures, PDFs and CSV files sent in its chat. Word, Excel and text files (.txt, .md, .json) open only for the person who sent them, though Buildliy still reads them when it builds.
• A picture you ask Buildliy to put into your app becomes part of your app. Once you publish, anyone who visits your app can see it.
• You can attach files in Discuss mode too. Discuss reads and talks about them, but only Build can put them into your app.

Related

• Chat with Buildliy
• Write great prompts
• Images in your app
• Database