Recreate: Rebuild From an Image

Sometimes the starting point for a design isn't a description — it's an existing image. A screenshot of a competitor's post, an old flyer you no longer have the source file for, a design a client sent as a flattened PNG. Recreate takes that image and rebuilds it as a real, editable Lega composition.

What it actually does

Recreate is not a background-remover or a simple embed. When you upload a reference image, Lega analyzes its structure — text blocks, shapes, colors, approximate positions and hierarchy — and reconstructs it as genuine layers: separate text layers with the actual copy, shape layers for backgrounds and accents, image layers for photographic elements. The output opens in the editor exactly like an AI-generated layout would, because structurally it is one — just reverse-engineered from an image instead of built from a prompt.

This matters because a flattened reference image is a dead end for editing. You can't change the headline text on a PNG. Recreate exists specifically to get you past that: once it's done, you can retype copy, swap the color palette, resize elements, or use any of the same AI tools (layout regeneration, style passes, Perfect-It) you'd use on a design generated from scratch.

When to use it

Recreate is the right tool when:

• You have a reference design you want to adapt rather than reinvent — matching a competitor's format, adjusting last year's flyer for this year's event, rebuilding a design you lost the source file for.
• You're migrating from another tool and want to bring existing work into Lega as a real starting point instead of starting over. See Migrating from Canva to Lega for the fuller migration workflow, where Recreate is typically the first step.
• You want a layout AI generation didn't quite nail, but you have a close visual reference to point at instead of describing it in words.

It's a heavier operation than uploading an asset for its own sake — for bringing in a logo or photo to use as-is, see Importing Existing Designs, which covers the lighter-weight upload path.

What to expect from the output

Recreate produces a strong structural starting point, not a pixel-perfect clone. Text will be extracted and editable, but exact font matching depends on what's available; colors and positions are reconstructed closely but may need minor manual alignment, especially for visually dense originals. Treat the result the way you'd treat any first draft — a real head start, refined from there rather than accepted as final.

Once you have a reconstructed layout, it behaves exactly like anything from AI Layout Generation: you can regenerate individual sections, run a style pass to shift the palette, or edit layers by hand.

A note on source material

Recreate works on the structure of a reference — layout, hierarchy, color, and text — not on copying someone else's finished work wholesale into your own commercial output. Use it on your own past designs, licensed reference material, or things you have a legitimate reason to rebuild and adapt.