Why Can’t I Lock a Claid Background Template and Also Rewrite Its Scene With a Prompt?

Separate the approved reference from the requested change

A campaign owner may approve a stone pedestal, a recognizable wall texture and a particular visual arrangement. A later instruction to turn that room into a tropical setting changes the scene decision. Describing both as mandatory preservation leaves the production operator with conflicting requirements.

In Claid’s template-based Background API, lock is described as preserving the template with maximum detail. The documentation lists prompt, color and steps as unavailable in that mode. This is an option compatibility boundary, not a judgment about how persuasive the written request sounds.

Before sending another request, mark the elements that must survive and the elements that may change. If the brief genuinely permits no scene rewrite, remove the rewrite request. If the new environment is essential, return the changed creative direction for approval instead of silently switching modes. Lock remains a generative setting, not a guarantee that every output pixel matches the source.

Choose one mode for the merchandising decision

The documented adjust mode slightly adapts a template to the product; transform allows freer changes. Transform is the default. An omitted mode therefore should not be treated as an explicit approval to preserve an agreed template.

Adjust also does not offer the color parameter. A workflow that requires an explicit color operation needs its own compatibility check rather than a blanket promise that every mode supports every field. Record the actual model and mode together, because the page separately describes v1 and v2 options.

Start with the creative decision, then remove unsupported fields from the payload. A producer should be able to explain why a field was removed. Do not quietly discard the customer’s requested change and describe the resulting image as compliant.

Illustrative exercise: one bottle, two different approvals

This illustrative exercise was not executed in Claid and includes no generated output or measured quality comparison. Imagine the same documented bottle and the same approved stone-pedestal template.

Brief A asks to retain the existing scene for a consistent catalog. The operator proposes lock, removes scene-rewrite fields and records which pedestal and lighting relationships need visual review. The mode does not remove the obligation to inspect the bottle’s lettering and contact with its support.

Brief B asks to replace the room with a beach. That is a new environment, so the producer records a transformed-scene proposal and seeks creative approval. The earlier stone-pedestal approval cannot stand in for approval of sand, water or additional props.

The lesson is not that one mode produces better advertising. The two jobs have different permissions to change the campaign. Comparing their visual attractiveness would not resolve whether either image satisfied its own brief.

Check reference geometry before accepting the result

The same documentation says non-square template inputs are scaled and cropped to a square, and the template viewpoint should match the product viewpoint. Review the actual template preparation: a feature near an edge may disappear through input cropping before generation begins.

For the bottle exercise, confirm the supporting surface, product contact, visible top and scene perspective. A prompt cannot turn an incompatible input viewpoint into verified camera calibration. If cropping removes a required reference detail, prepare a suitable reference before treating the generation as a fidelity failure.

Keep an approval record containing the source template, permitted changes, explicit mode, supported request fields and final observations. Use a separate result review for product construction and brand text. This guide describes Claid’s documented API decisions; it does not claim that another creative tool exposes the same modes or that the workflow was tested on an account.

Illustrative template approval worksheet

These are illustrative exercise rows. Save a copy and record your own observations; the example is not an executed acceptance test.

Download review worksheet (CSV)