The Essentials: What Happens After You Upload Your Designs
Welcome to the control center of your Pattern Cloud site👋 Here you manage everything behind the scenes. From reviewing sales and customer activity to organizing stock and creating pinboards, this guide will help you confidently navigate the backend and make the most of each feature.
Landing Page Overview
After logging into the backend, you'll land on your Landing Page, which offers a quick overview of your analytics and general activity.
Tip: You can customize your landing page by selecting your preferred analytics widgets under the Analytics tab.
Use the top navigation tabs to explore and access different operational areas of your studio site.
Sales
Track, Approve, and Manage Online Purchases
The Sales tab shows a list of all your studio’s sales, with the most recent at the top.
Approve or reject an online purchase by clicking the tick ✅ or cross❌ next to each design.
If a sale is approved, the customer can download the high-res files.
If no action is taken within 24 hours, the purchase will be auto-approved.
Manually created sales or invoices are approved for download immediately.
Stock
Organize, Update, and Track Your Live Designs
The Stock tab displays all live designs currently visible on your site.
Use the search and filter tools to find designs by:
Design number
Designer
Tag
Customer
Exclusive/Non-exclusive
Sold/Non-sold
You can:
View, tag, or remove tags
Hide designs from the website
Permanently delete designs (⚠️ irreversible)
Important: If you sell a design outside the platform, enter an invoice manually to mark it as sold. This allows your customer to access the file and keeps your records clear.
To move a design from Exclusive to Non-Exclusive, uncheck the “Show on Studio Website” box. This will return the design to the Upload area, where you can then reassign it.
Customers
View and Manage Customer Activity
This tab lists all registered customers, with the most recent activity on top.
Clicking on a name opens that customer’s dashboard, where you can view and manage:
Basket: What they currently have in their basket
Pinboard: Their saved pinboards (you can create up to 10 custom ones)
Printed History: Designs they’ve printed (if they have VIP access)
Purchase History: All completed purchases
Invoices: Review, create, or email invoices
Details: Edit contact information
Pricing: Set currency, apply discounts, assign branded sheet access, set terms
Access / Password: Approve or suspend access, reset password
📌 Note: EU-based customers must have a valid VAT/TVA number to avoid tax being added at checkout.
Always remember to click Save after making any changes.
Enabling Pay by Invoice for a Customer
Enabling Pay by Invoice for a Customer
If you want to allow individual customers the option of paying by invoice, follow these steps:
Go to the Customer Tab
Pick the customer
Click on their Pricing area
Under the 'Pay By Invoice Button' on (under the Customisation header).
Choose the invoice due date (number of days following invoice)
Click Save.
Customer VIP Access
Customer VIP Access
You can grant your best and most trusted customers VIP access, allowing them to print or download a PDF design sheet for each design.
To enable VIP access for a customer:
Go to the Customer tab
Select the customer
Click on their Pricing area
Under the Customization header, toggle on PDF Pattern Print Out – VIP
Click Save
Once enabled, you can track which designs a VIP customer has printed by visiting their Printed History section. This record helps you understand their preferences and which designs they're most interested in.
Watermarking Designs for VIP Customers
For customers with VIP access, you can choose to watermark the PDFs of the designs they print or download.
To upload your watermark logo:
Go to the Studio Website tab
Click on Appearance
In the top right corner (under your email address), find the Watermark Logo field
Upload your studio’s logo (max size: 200px x 46px)
Once added, the watermark will appear on the top left and bottom right corners of any printed/downloaded design sheets.
Invoice
Manage Invoices and Export Financial Data
Creating an Invoice
Go to the Invoice tab.
Click New Invoice.
Make sure the customer and purchased designs already exist in the system.
Click the invoice to edit or email a PDF version.
Exporting to Xero
Exporting to Xero
From the Invoice tab:
Click Export to download all un-exported invoices as a CSV (marked with export date).
Filter by date range if needed, then export.
Want to include already exported invoices? Check the box for Include previously exported.
Xero Tips
Xero Tips
Outside the UK? You may need to adjust the TaxType column in the CSV.
To import:
Open Xero > Business > Invoices > Import
Browse, upload CSV, and import as Draft
Review and approve
Default income account in TPC: 202
To create new accounts in Xero: Accounting > Advanced > Chart of Accounts > Add Account
Using multiple currencies? Set up a Branding Theme per currency to avoid import warnings.
Analytics
Use Insights to Guide Your Design and Sales
This section gives you valuable insight into how your designs perform.
You’ll find:
Your most viewed designs
Most popular tags and trends
To customize your landing dashboard:
Drag your four preferred analytics widgets into the landing page display slots.
Use this data to tailor your content and pricing strategy to customer behavior.
Pinboards
Curate & Share Personalized Collections
Pinboards allow you to curate and share custom collections of designs with customers.
To Create a Pinboard:
Click Add New Pinboard
Name your pinboard (this name cannot be changed later)
Use Search by tag or Filter to find and add designs
Click Designs added to pinboard to review your selections
To Share a Pinboard:
Click Share Pinboard
Toggle between customers who have or haven’t been shared with
Click Share next to the customer name
They’ll receive an email letting them know you’ve shared a pinboard.