Build Amplify Layout templates for social media images

Amplify Layouts are HTML and CSS templates that Amplify converts into social media images. They define how articles appear when shared to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms, ensuring consistent branding across every post.

Amplify Layout templates generating branded social media images for multiple platforms|690x431

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Layout Anatomy

Every Amplify Layout consists of three parts:

Component	Purpose
HTML Template	Structure and content placement. Uses Trimou templating to inject article data and mark interactive elements in the layout editor.
CSS Template	Visual styling. Also uses Trimou templating to inject colors, fonts, and other configurable properties.
Layout Properties	Configurable variables each layout can declare. Admins set values for these properties in Feed Appearance or Global Appearance panels. Access them via `{{layoutProps.*}}`. Reserved keys (typography, colors, logo) are available by default.

Amplify Layouts share the same templating foundation described in the Layouts Overview, but with specific constraints for social image generation.

Layout Configuration

Before writing templates, configure your layout in the Layout Editor header:

Setting	Options	Description
Type	Social	Must be “Social” for Amplify layouts
Format	Post, Link In Bio	Determines where the layout can be used. See Post Types for how each format affects audience engagement.
Aspect Ratio	Square, Story, Portrait, etc.	Which aspect ratios this layout supports (Post format only)

Rendering Process

Amplify merges article data, feed appearance, and global appearance settings into the template at render time, then captures the result as an image:

Your template loads with article data and settings injected
The HTML/CSS is rendered
A screenshot is captured
The image posts to the target platform

Constraint: No client-side JavaScript. Your layout must render correctly on initial page load.

Template Data

Understanding the available data is the first step to building effective templates.

Article Properties

These values inject automatically from the article being shared:

Property	Description
`{{title}}`	Article headline
`{{description}}`	Article excerpt or meta description
`{{img}}`	Featured image URL
`{{url}}`	Article URL
`{{sections}}`	Article sections/categories
`{{authors}}`	Article author(s)

When Custom Fields are synced to Amplify, additional article metadata becomes available under {{customProperties.<name>}}. See Custom Fields in Amplify Layouts for usage examples including kickers, custom image selection, and post text placeholders.

Layout Properties

Each layout can declare its own Layout Properties, which are configurable parameters that control the layout’s appearance. Admins set values for these fields in the Feed Appearance or Global Appearance panels, making layouts customizable without code changes.

Reference them in templates with {{layoutProps.<key>}}.

Reserved keys are available by default on every layout. They automatically sync with organization-wide branding settings:

Category	Keys	Values
Typography	`typographyFamilyName`, `typographyWeight`, `typographySize`, `textAlignment`	Weight: `400`, `500`, `600`, `700` Alignment: `left`, `center`, `right`
Colors	`color`, `accentColor`	HEX format (e.g., `#111111`)
Logo	`logoImg`, `logoAlignment`	URL, alignment values
Image	`borderRadius`	Number (pixels)
Avatar	`avatarImg`, `avatarAlignment`	Link in Bio only

Beyond reserved keys, layouts can declare additional Layout Properties for layout-specific needs (e.g., a secondary color, custom label text, or alternate logo position).

Settings Inheritance

Values cascade through three levels:

Feed Appearance → Global Appearance → Layout Properties

Feed Appearance: Styling overrides for a specific social feed (e.g., your Instagram account)
Global Appearance: Organization-wide defaults that apply to all feeds
Layout Properties: Default values declared in the layout itself, used when neither level above sets a value

Amplify settings inheritance diagram showing Feed Appearance, Global Appearance, and Layout Properties cascade

Feed-level settings take precedence over global settings, which take precedence over layout defaults. This lets you customize individual feeds while maintaining organization-wide defaults.

Layout Properties Types

When defining Layout Properties for your layout, you can use these field types:

Type	UI Presented
Text input	Single-line text field
Rich text	Multi-line with formatting
Link	URL input field
Image	Image picker/uploader
Color	Color picker
Text styles	Font weight, size, alignment controls
Dropdown	Selection from predefined options

HTML Templating

HTML templates use Trimou syntax to inject article data and layout properties into your markup.

Base Structure

Every layout requires this wrapper:

<article data-mrf-amplify-id="your-layout-name" class="amplify-wrapper">
    {{#each content.posts}}
    <!-- Your layout content here -->
    {{/each}}
</article>

Attribute	Purpose
`data-mrf-amplify-id`	Unique identifier for your layout
`class="amplify-wrapper"`	Required wrapper class
`{{#each content.posts}}`	Iterates over article data

Interactive Elements

The data-mrf-amplify attribute marks elements that social media managers can visually manipulate directly when creating a post.

Amplify Layout Editor showing interactive editable text fields and image controls for social media managers

Text elements (title, description, sections, authors) become inline-editable. Clicking the text opens a visual editor where managers can:

Edit the text directly on the layout
Adjust typography (font weight, size)
Change text color
Modify alignment

Image elements (image, logo) become interactive canvases. Managers can:

Zoom in/out to adjust framing
Pan to reposition the focal point
Drag and drop to replace the image

Value	Element Type	Editor Behavior
`title`	Text	Inline-editable headline with formatting controls
`description`	Text	Inline-editable excerpt with formatting controls
`sections`	Text	Inline-editable category/section label
`authors`	Text	Inline-editable byline
`image`	Image	Drag-and-drop replacement, zoom, pan
`logo`	Image	Drag-and-drop replacement, zoom, pan
`backdrop`	Layer	Gradient overlay anchored to image bottom. Stays fixed when the image is resized, zoomed, or panned.

Example:

<h2 class="mrf-amplify-title"
    data-mrf-amplify="title"
    contenteditable="true">{{title}}</h2>

<img class="mrf-amplify-image"
     data-mrf-amplify="image"
     src="{{img}}"
     alt="{{title}}" />

{{#isNotNull layoutProps.logoImg}}
<img class="mrf-amplify-logo"
     data-mrf-amplify="logo"
     src="{{layoutProps.logoImg}}"
     alt="Logo" />
{{/isNotNull}}

Text Editing Options

Add contenteditable to text elements for inline editing in the Layout Editor:

Value	Behavior	When to use
`contenteditable="true"`	Allows editing with full formatting	When users need bold, italic, or other inline styles
`contenteditable="plaintext-only"`	Strips formatting when pasting text	Most cases, prevents copied styles from breaking your typography

Example:

<!-- Title: plaintext-only keeps your typography clean -->
<h2 class="mrf-amplify-title"
    data-mrf-amplify="title"
    contenteditable="plaintext-only">{{title}}</h2>

<!-- Description with rich text: allows bold/italic for emphasis -->
<p class="mrf-amplify-description"
   data-mrf-amplify="description"
   contenteditable="true">{{description}}</p>

Use `plaintext-only` for most text elements. When social media managers paste text from other sources, it preserves your layout's styles instead of importing unwanted formatting.

Image Aspect Ratio Configuration

The data-mrf-aspect-ratio attribute defines the aspect ratio at which the image renders, including any masking or cropping.

Syntax: fallback, format:cache-key, format:cache-key

<img data-mrf-aspect-ratio="stories, square:square, landscape:landscape" ... />

How it works:

stories = fallback cache key (used when no format matches)
square:square = when layout format is square, use square as the cache key
landscape:landscape = when layout format is landscape, use landscape as the cache key

The cache key matters. When a social media manager adjusts an image (zoom, pan, reframe), those adjustments are stored using the cache key. If they switch to a different layout that returns the same cache key, their adjustments carry over automatically.

Example: If two layouts both use square:square, image adjustments made in one layout appear in the other, so no rework is needed.

Advanced: The format and cache key don’t have to match. Using square:landscape means: when the layout format is square, use landscape as the cache key. This shares image adjustments with other layouts that also use landscape as their cache key.

Available values: square, portrait, landscape, stories (matches the Layout Editor’s Aspect Ratio dropdown).

Use consistent cache keys across layouts when possible. This lets social media managers switch between layouts without losing their image framing work.

CSS Templating

CSS files use the same Trimou syntax as HTML templates. This lets you inject layout properties into your styles.

Example:

.mrf-amplify-title {
    color: {{layoutProps.accentColor}};
    font-family: {{#ifs layoutProps.typographyFamilyName}}{{layoutProps.typographyFamilyName}}, {{/ifs}}system-ui;
}

For the full Trimou syntax reference covering conditionals, switch/case, and loops, see Templating Syntax.

Custom Typography

Using custom fonts requires two steps:

Declare the font with @font-face
Use it in your layout via CSS

Step 1: Declare fonts in Global Appearance

Add @font-face declarations in the Custom CSS block of Global Appearance settings:

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Your Font';
  src: url('font-url.woff2');
  font-weight: 400 900;  /* For variable fonts, specify the weight range */
}

Step 2: Configure typography settings

In Global or Feed Appearance, set the default values for:

typographyFamilyName: which font to use
typographyWeight: font weight
typographySize: font size
textAlignment: text alignment

These values flow into your layout via settings inheritance and are available as {{layoutProps.*}} for substitution.

While `@font-face` can be declared at the layout level, defining fonts in Global Appearance ensures consistent typography across all layouts and lets you update branding organization-wide from one place.

CSS Variable Fallbacks (CSS Technique)

Use duplicate declarations to create fallbacks:

.amplify-wrapper {
    background-color: var(--mrf-dominant-color);
    background-color: {{layoutProps.color}};
}

CSS applies the last valid declaration. If layoutProps.color has a value, it wins. If it renders empty (invalid CSS), the browser ignores that line and keeps --mrf-dominant-color (automatically extracted from the article image).

Responsive CSS Patterns

Different social networks accept different aspect ratios. Instagram Stories use 9:16, feed posts work best at 4:5, and landscape 16:9 suits YouTube thumbnails. The more screen real estate an image occupies, the more visibility it gets and the higher the probability of engagement.

Building a separate layout for each aspect ratio is tedious. Instead, use CSS container queries to create responsive layouts that adapt to multiple formats automatically. Unlike media queries (which respond to viewport size), container queries respond to the layout’s actual dimensions, which is exactly what you need since Amplify renders layouts at fixed sizes for each platform.

Container Setup

Define a named container on your wrapper:

.amplify-wrapper {
    container-name: classic;
    container-type: size;
}

Aspect Ratio Queries

Target specific aspect ratios with @container:

/* Portrait (Stories) - hide logo, adjust spacing */
@container classic ((aspect-ratio > 8/16) and (aspect-ratio < 10/16)) {
    .mrf-amplify-logo {
        display: none;
    }
    .mrf-amplify-title-container {
        margin-bottom: 16cqw;
    }
}

/* Landscape (16:9) - smaller text */
@container classic ((aspect-ratio > 15/9) and (aspect-ratio < 17/9)) {
    .mrf-amplify-title {
        font-size: 3.5cqw;
    }
}

Container Query Units

Use cqw (container query width) and cqh (container query height) for responsive sizing:

Unit	Description
`cqw`	1% of container width
`cqh`	1% of container height

.mrf-amplify-logo {
    top: 5cqw;
    height: 7.25cqw;
}

.mrf-amplify-border {
    width: 88cqw;
    height: 90cqh;
}

Link in Bio Properties

Link in Bio layouts have additional data beyond standard article properties:

Property	Description
`{{avatar}}`	Profile avatar image URL
`{{link}}`	Destination URL
`{{linkText}}`	Button text

Complete Example

A minimal but complete layout showing both HTML and CSS files working together.

HTML Template

<article data-mrf-amplify-id="minimal-example" class="amplify-wrapper">
    {{#each content.posts}}
    <div class="mrf-amplify-image-container">
        <img class="mrf-amplify-image"
            data-mrf-amplify="image"
            data-mrf-aspect-ratio="landscape, portrait:square, stories:stories"
            src="{{img}}"
            alt="{{title}}"
        />
        <div class="mrf-amplify-backdrop"></div>
    </div>
    {{#isNotNull layoutProps.logoImg}}
    <img class="mrf-amplify-logo"
            data-mrf-amplify="logo"
            src="{{layoutProps.logoImg}}"
            alt="Logo"
        />
    {{/isNotNull}}
    <div class="mrf-amplify-title-container">
        <h2 class="mrf-amplify-title"
            data-mrf-amplify="title"
            contenteditable="plaintext-only">{{title}}</h2>
    </div>
    {{/each}}
</article>

CSS Template

body {
    --mrf-dominant-color: #444;
}

.amplify-wrapper {
    container-name: minimal-example;
    container-type: size;
    position: relative;
    height: 100%;
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: column;
    font-family: {{#ifs layoutProps.typographyFamilyName }}{{layoutProps.typographyFamilyName}},{{/ifs}}system-ui;
    -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
    overflow: hidden;
    box-sizing: border-box;
    background: var(--mrf-dominant-color);
    {{#isNotNull layoutProps.color}}
        background: {{layoutProps.color}};
    {{/isNotNull}}
}

.mrf-amplify-image-container {
    position: relative;
    overflow: hidden;
    flex: 1;
    display: flex;
    justify-content: center;
}

.mrf-amplify-image {
    object-fit: cover;
    height: 100%;
    flex: 1;
}

.mrf-amplify-backdrop {
    pointer-events: none;
    position: absolute;
    inset: 0;
    background: linear-gradient(180deg, transparent 70%, rgba(0,0,0,0.6) 100%);
}

.mrf-amplify-logo {
    object-fit: cover;
    position: absolute;
    top: 5cqw;
    height: 7.25cqw;
    {{#choose}}
        {{#when "layoutProps.logoAlignment eq 'left'"}}
            left: 6cqw;
        {{/when}}
        {{#when "layoutProps.logoAlignment eq 'right'"}}
            right: 6cqw;
        {{/when}}
        {{#otherwise}}
            left: 50%;
            transform: translateX(-50%);
        {{/otherwise}}
    {{/choose}}
}

.mrf-amplify-title-container {
    padding: 6cqw;
}

.mrf-amplify-title {
    margin: 0;
    color: {{layoutProps.accentColor}};
    font-weight: {{layoutProps.typographyWeight}};
    font-size: calc({{layoutProps.typographySize}} * 1px);
    line-height: 1.1;
    text-align: {{layoutProps.textAlignment}};
    text-wrap: balance;
}

/* Portrait (Stories) */
@container minimal-example ((aspect-ratio > 8/16) and (aspect-ratio < 10/16)) {
    .mrf-amplify-logo { display: none; }
    .mrf-amplify-title-container { padding-bottom: 16cqw; }
}

/* Landscape (16:9) */
@container minimal-example ((aspect-ratio > 15/9) and (aspect-ratio < 17/9)) {
    .mrf-amplify-logo { display: none; }
    .mrf-amplify-title { font-size: 3.5cqw; }
}

Enable or Disable Layouts

Admins toggle layouts without deleting them:

Enabled: Available for social media managers to select
Disabled: Hidden from selection but preserved

Going Deeper

Layout Editor: The visual interface for building and testing layouts
Templating Syntax: Mustache tags, conditionals, and data fields
Recommender Layouts: Customizing article recommendations

What are the three parts of an Amplify Layout?

Every Amplify Layout consists of an HTML Template (structure and content placement using Trimou templating), a CSS Template (visual styling with dynamic property injection), and Layout Properties (configurable variables that admins set in Feed Appearance or Global Appearance panels).

Can I use JavaScript in Amplify Layouts?

No. Amplify Layouts do not support client-side JavaScript. Your layout must render correctly on initial page load because the rendering engine captures a screenshot of the HTML/CSS output.

How do I make one layout adapt to multiple social media aspect ratios?

Use CSS container queries instead of building separate layouts for each aspect ratio. Define a named container on your wrapper element, then use @container rules to target specific aspect ratios like Stories (9:16), Posts (4:5), or Landscape (16:9).

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