# Editor overview

> How the Slicer editor is laid out — preview, timeline, tools and modes. What changes instantly, when the finished video updates and which actions cost tokens.

Source: https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/

The editor is the **Editor** section of a project. Once the AI has edited your reel, you can change anything in it here: trim and reorder clips, change speed and sound, add transitions, effects, color, music, titles, your own photos and videos — full-frame or in a window, remove a stray object from the shot, fix captions and graphics. In an [Edit it myself](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/projects/manual/) project you edit the reel from the very start: your files are already on the timeline in order. The editor is laid out like this: a large preview, a full-width timeline below it and a toolbar. It is the same on the web and in the app for iPhone, iPad and Mac — only the mouse, keyboard and touch input differ.

Every edit shows up in the preview right away, with no rendering and for free. The finished video updates when you press **Export** — that is free too.

**Demo (Web):**

1. Open a project and switch to the “Editor” section
2. The preview is on top, the control row and the timeline tracks below it
3. Click a clip — its tools appear at the bottom
4. Click “Speed” — the panel opens over the lower part of the timeline
5. Click ✓ “Done” and “‹” — the main toolbar is back
6. On a wide screen the “AI” mode opens to the right of the preview

## Opening the editor

-   On the project screen, pick the **Editor** section (next to **Media** and **Settings**).
-   In the project list, open the project menu (right-click on the web, long-press on iPhone and iPad) and choose **Editor**.
-   When an AI montage is ready, the project opens in the editor with the finished reel by itself.

The editor is available for a finished reel and for a manual project's draft while its source files are stored on the server (7 days after the last montage or export — see [Data storage](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/help/data/)). While a montage or export is running, you see the run card instead of the editor. Once the source files are deleted, only the finished video remains.

## Screen map

| Area | What is there |
| --- | --- |
| Project header | “‹ Projects”, the title and the save status below it: **Saved**, **Saving…**, **Unsaved changes** or **Not saved**. On the right — the publications button, the [director chat](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/chat/) button, **Export** and the “⋯” menu |
| Preview | The reel in its aspect ratio (9:16 by default). A click or tap plays and pauses. While a lightweight copy of the video is being prepared, you see **Preparing preview…** |
| Control row | **Full screen**, the time “00:03 / 00:32”, play and pause, **Undo** and **Redo** |
| Timeline | The ruler with marker flags and the tracks: video, inserts, captions, elements, audio, music, voice. The playhead stays in the center and the strip moves under it. A “+” button on the right |
| Toolbar | Buttons at the bottom. With nothing selected — the main set; for a selected clip, audio, phrase, element, music or voice recording — its own set with a “‹” on the left |
| Tool panel | Opens over the lower part of the timeline: the title, ✓ **Done** and, on some panels, **Apply to all clips** |

The tracks are covered in detail in [Timeline and tracks](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/timeline/).

## Modes

The main mode is **Timeline**. Four more open from the main toolbar and return with “‹ Timeline”:

-   **AI** — the [AI assistant](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/assistant/): edit the reel with a command in plain words;
-   **Elements** — the [hook, plaques, media cards, emoji and zooms](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/elements/) as a list, plus dragging captions and elements right on the preview;
-   **Media** — [your own photos, videos and music](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/media/);
-   **Library** — [every preset in one panel](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/library/): color and LUTs, effects, transitions, animations, title styles, elements and sounds.

In these modes **Undo** and **Redo** move to the header, and a seek bar appears under the preview.

Separate from the modes is the [chat with the director](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/chat/): on a phone it opens instead of the editor from a button in the project header, on a wide screen — as a panel on the right. The director in the chat edits the same montage that is open in the editor.

**Web**

From a window width of 960 px the mode panel sits to the right of the preview, so the preview stays large. On a wide screen, sheets open as a centered dialog. You can drop photo and video files right onto the editor with the mouse — they become inserts at the playhead.

**iPhone and iPad**

On iPhone the mode panel opens below the preview. On iPad in landscape and in the Mac version the layout matches the wide web layout: the mode panel on the right, sheets as dialogs. With a hardware keyboard, the same [shortcuts](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/shortcuts/) as on the web work.

## Saving, undo and export

-   **Autosave** — 1.5 seconds after your last edit. If you close a browser tab with unsaved edits, the browser asks for confirmation.
-   **Undo and redo** — up to 100 steps, including caption style changes. A drag or a slider move is one step. Undoing a paid AI action brings the reel back, but not the tokens.
-   **Export** — the **Export** button in the header saves your edits and opens the export window: preset, file settings, publishing to social networks. Without an export, the finished video, its download and publishing stay as they were. See [Export: presets and file settings](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/publish/export/).
-   A reel longer than 180 seconds cannot be exported: a warning appears above the timeline — remove some clips.

> **Note.** Some edits are fully visible only after export: images of media cards added by the AI assistant, the cover, an aspect ratio change (the reel base is rebuilt). If the reel has an [AI effect](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/effect/) and you reordered, trimmed or deleted clips, the editor warns before export that the effects will be dropped.

## What costs tokens

Manual edits, export and the Reverse, Stabilize, Reduce noise, Enhance voice, Extract audio and Cut pauses processing are free. Only AI actions spend tokens. They are charged **at cost** — exactly what the AI service charges, with no markup. The price is shown on the button or in the sheet before you start, and the actual price is charged — never more than shown ([how it works](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/pricing/#at-cost)):

| Action | What the price depends on |
| --- | --- |
| [Captions from speech](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/speech/) | minutes of audio of the chosen sources |
| [AI assistant command](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/assistant/) | one command: “≈ price, at most a limit”; charged only if something changed |
| [Caption translation](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/translate/) | one translation: “≈ price, at most a limit”; charged only if the translation worked |
| [Dub into another language](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/translate/#dub) | the translation and seconds of voice-over |
| [AI effect from a prompt](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/effect/) | seconds of the range |
| [Remove background](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/remove-background/) | seconds of video not processed yet |
| [Remove object](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/erase/) | seconds of the fragment (up to 10 seconds) |
| [Media card from a description](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/elements/#card-prompt) | one image; charged only if the image is made |
| [AI avatar](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/avatar/) | seconds of speech |
| [Isolate voice](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/audio/) | minutes of the source, once per source |

To start any AI operation you need at least one free token on your balance. All prices are in [Operation prices](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/help/prices/#editor-ai).

## All editor guides

[Timeline and tracksThe strip, tracks, selection, zoom and “+”](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/timeline/)[MarkersNote flags on the ruler, jumping and snapping to them](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/markers/)[LibraryEvery preset in one panel: click or drag](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/library/)[Gestures and shortcutsMouse, keyboard, touch and trackpad](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/shortcuts/)[ClipsTrim, split, reorder, duplicate, copy the look, slip](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/fragments/)[Speed and volumeFrom 0.25× to 4×, speed curves, smooth slow motion, volume points](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/speed-volume/)[Transitions19 transitions, their duration and applying to all clips](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/transitions/)[EffectsShake, pulse, flash, VHS and more](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/effects/)[In and out animationsHow a clip appears and leaves](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/animations/)[ColorFilters, Adjust, auto balance and LUTs](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/color/)[Frame, mask and backgroundFraming, face following, masks, background and chroma key](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/frame/)[Freeze frame and processingFreeze, replace, reverse, stabilize](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/freeze-replace/)[Remove objectAI erases a stray item across the fragment and fills in the background](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/erase/)[KeyframesMotion, rotation, opacity and precise edge trimming](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/keyframes/)[CaptionsText, accents, style and position](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/captions/)[Captions from speech and Cut pausesTranscribe speech in a manual project and cut out silence](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/speech/)[Caption translation11 languages, timing preserved](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/translate/)[TitlesFree text over the video: font, background, animations](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/titles/)[ElementsHook, plaques, cards, emoji, zooms](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/elements/)[Your photos and videosInserts over the frame](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/media/)[Picture in pictureA photo or video in a window over the video: shape, border, motion](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/pip/)[AudioVolume, noise, voice, audio extraction](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/audio/)[Music and beatsTrack, ducking under the voice, fit to length, cutting to the beat](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/music/)[Aspect ratio and cover9:16, 4:5, 1:1, 16:9 and the cover frame](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/format-cover/)

## What's next

-   [Timeline and tracks](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/editor/timeline/) — where to start in the editor.
-   [AI assistant](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/assistant/) — quick edits in plain words.
-   [A project without AI](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/projects/manual/) — edit a reel in the editor from scratch, for free.
-   [Export and publishing](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/publish/export/) — how to update the finished video.