> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tixfix.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Build a seat map > Turn on reserved seating, set category colors, and draw your venue on the seat map editor The seat map is step 3 of the event wizard. You draw sections of seats, drop scenery markers around them, and assign each section to a ticket category. Nothing you draw is visible to buyers until you [publish the map](/seating/publish-a-seat-map). You need reserved seating enabled on your account before any of this appears. See [Get access](/seating/overview#get-access). *** ## Turn on reserved seating Create a new event and click `Create and Continue`, or edit an existing event and click `Update and Continue`. This is the screen headed **Almost There!** It sits above the ticket category table, next to the other things you can switch on for an event. The setting saves as soon as you flip it. The card explains that buyers will pick their own seats and that you build the map on the next page. **Screenshot coming soon.** This flow needs a live order or a device we could not reach when these docs were captured. The steps below are written from the product as it behaves today; the illustration will follow. You can build a seat map for an event that is still a draft. Saving as a draft does not stop you reaching the map. *** ## Set up your ticket categories first The map prices each section through a ticket category, so create the categories before you draw. On the same step, click `Add New Ticket Category` as usual. See [Ticket types and pricing](/events/ticket-types) for every field. With reserved seating available, the category form has one extra field: * **Seat color** — the color this category's seats are drawn in, for you on the editor canvas and for buyers on the seat picker. Choose from 12 swatches. If you leave it unset, TixFix picks a color for you. The palette is curated on purpose. Every swatch is readable at seat size, and none of them looks like the greys used for held and unavailable seats or the dark red buyers see for sold seats. A category color only ever paints a seat that is still available. Once a seat is sold, held, or blocked, it changes to its status color whatever category it is in. Give every category a color you can tell apart at a glance. Buyers use the colors, together with the legend under the map, to find the price tier they want. `Number of Tickets` is still a required field in the category form. For a seated category, whatever you type is replaced when you publish: the count becomes the number of seats the map draws for it. *** ## Continue to the seat map With seating on, the button at the bottom of step 2 changes: * **Save and continue to seat map** replaces `Publish`. * `Save as Draft` also takes you to the map. Either way you land on step 3, **Seat Map**. Use `Back` at the top of the page to return to step 2. *** ## Start from a room, or draw from scratch An empty map offers a row of starting points under the heading **Start from a room**: | Starting point | What you get | | - | - | | **Theatre** | Curved rows facing a stage, with a center aisle. | | **Banquet** | Round tables of eight, with a head table and a dance floor. | | **Classroom** | Straight rows facing a screen, for a talk or a workshop. | | **Standing floor** | A general-admission floor with seated tiers either side. | The row of starting points only shows while the map is empty. Pick one and it drops sections and markers onto the canvas. Everything is editable: move it, rename it, resize it, or delete it. The presets create sections without a ticket category, so assign each one before you publish. Or ignore the presets and build with the toolbar. *** ## The toolbar The toolbar sits above the canvas. Hover an icon to see its name. | Group | Buttons | What they do | | - | - | - | | **Sellable** | `Seat row`, `Round table`, `Standing` | Add a new section to the canvas. | | **Scenery** | `Stage`, `Entry`, `Exit`, `Label` | Add a marker. A map holds up to 50 markers. | | **Editing** | `Grid`, `Duplicate`, `Remove` | Toggle the snap grid, copy the selected object, or delete it. | | **Map** | `Save`, `Clear all` | Save now, or start the plan over. | `Clear all` removes every section and marker at once and does not ask first. It is colored red for that reason. There is no undo, so anything cleared has to be redrawn by hand. `Remove` on a single object always asks you to confirm. A removal only changes your draft: nothing is removed from a published map until you publish again. `Duplicate` makes an independent copy, placed slightly offset from the original so you can see there are two. The copy is a separate section with its own seats, so editing it never affects the original. *** ## Move around the canvas * **Zoom** — hold `Ctrl` (or `⌘` on a Mac) and scroll. * **Pan** — drag the empty canvas. * **Move an object** — drag it. Drags snap to a grid when `Grid` is on, and `Grid` stays on or off between events on the same browser. * **Select an object** — click it. A panel slides in from the right with that object's fields. Click empty canvas, or close the panel, to deselect. Under the canvas, a key shows each ticket category with its price and color. *** ## Edit a section Click a section to open its panel. A short note at the top explains that the seats are drawn from these numbers by the server. What you see on the canvas is exactly what buyers will get. ### Fields every section has | Field | What it does | | - | - | | `Section name` | Shown to buyers and printed on the ticket. Up to 60 characters. Two sections cannot share a name, or the map will not publish. | | `X`, `Y` | Position on the canvas. Type exact numbers instead of dragging. | | `Ticket category` | The category this section sells under. Options read `General Admission · $40`. `Unpriced` leaves it unassigned, and you cannot publish until every section has a category. | | `Rotation (degrees)` | Turn the section, from -180 to 180. | ### Seat rows | Field | What it does | | - | - | | `Rows` | Number of rows, up to 200. | | `Seats per row` | Seats in each row, up to 200. | | `Aisle after seat` | Opens a gap partway along every row. Options run from `None` upward. The numbers count from zero, so `0` puts the aisle after the first seat and `4` puts it after the fifth. | | `Curve` | Bows each row around the stage. Slide from 0 for straight rows up to 60 for a strong arc. | | `Row labels` | Label rows `A, B, C` or `1, 2, 3`. | | `Seat numbers` | `Sequential` numbers left to right. `Odd / even` numbers theatre-style: odd seats on the left counting outward from the center, even seats on the right, so a ten-seat row reads 9 7 5 3 1 · 2 4 6 8 10. | A section of 20 rows by 30 seats is 600 seats. The row and seat counts are what the server draws from, so change them here rather than adding seats by hand. ### Round tables A table has one field beyond the shared ones: `Seats around table`, up to 200. Each seat is sold individually, so a table of eight can sell to eight different buyers. Tables have no row letter, so a ticket for one reads `Table 4 · Seat 3`. ### Standing areas A standing section sells a headcount instead of numbered seats. | Field | What it does | | - | - | | `Capacity` | How many people the area holds, up to 5,000. | | `Width`, `Height` | The size of the drawn area, between 20 and 2,000. | Buyers see one shape with a plus and minus counter and an "available of total" count. Behind the scenes each spot is numbered, so a ticket reads `Floor · Seat 37` with no row. Capacity counts toward the 5,000-seat limit. For a general-admission floor with reserved balconies, draw the floor as a `Standing` section and the balconies as `Seat row` sections. Every category is still on the map, so publishing works. *** ## Block seats Sometimes a seat should never go on sale: an obstructed view, a sound desk, a seat you are holding back for guests. It turns white. A blocked seat is never offered to a buyer and is not counted in your ticket totals. Or open the section and click `Unblock all` to clear every blocked seat in that section. The section's panel shows how many are blocked. Standing areas have no individual seats, so there is nothing to block. Once a map is published, a seat that a buyer holds or has bought cannot be blocked. It opens the [release](/seating/manage-seated-events#release-a-seat) option instead. *** ## Add scenery Markers orient buyers. A stage shows which end of the room is the front, entries and exits show where the doors are, and labels name anything else: `BAR`, `DANCE FLOOR`, `SOUND DESK`. Click a marker to edit it. | Field | What it does | | - | - | | `Text` | What the marker says, up to 40 characters. Each type starts with a default such as `STAGE` or `ENTRY`. | | `X`, `Y` | Position on the canvas. | | `Width`, `Height` | Size, between 20 and 2,000. | | `Curve` | Stage only. Bows the front edge so it can match a curved row in front of it. | | `Rotation (degrees)` | Turn the marker, from -180 to 180. | A marker sells nothing. It cannot have a ticket category, it does not appear in your inventory table, and it never blocks a publish. *** ## Trace over a floor plan If you have a plan of the venue, put it behind the canvas and draw over it. Open the **Floor plan** row under the canvas. It is collapsed by default and reads `Optional` until you add one. Choose a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or SVG file up to 8MB. The slider labeled **How strongly it shows through** fades the plan so your seats stay readable on top of it. Line up rows, tables, and markers with the venue's own layout. Use `Replace` to swap the file or `Remove` to take it away. Only you see the floor plan. Buyers get the seats and scenery you draw, never the uploaded image. That makes it safe to trace a venue PDF that has fire doors and back-of-house rooms on it. Uploading or removing a plan happens straight away. You do not have to wait for the autosave. *** ## Saving The editor saves your work automatically about every 15 seconds while there are unsaved changes. Click `Save` in the toolbar to save right away. The line under the canvas reads `Saving…` while a save is in flight. `Validate & publish` stays disabled until your changes are saved and the map has at least one section. It checks the saved copy, so it can never show you a verdict for something you can no longer see. If it looks stuck, the message underneath tells you why: `Saving changes…` or `Unsaved changes`. If the map was changed somewhere else, say in a second browser tab, a save fails with `Seat map was changed elsewhere; reload and try again`. Reload the page and carry on from the latest version. *** ## Next step Once every section has a ticket category and the map looks right, [validate and publish it](/seating/publish-a-seat-map).