By Jenna Kutcher, in collaboration with Flodesk. Product walkthrough by Dawn Richardson, Head of Product Education at Flodesk.
There’s a very specific kind of stuck that happens the second you open a blank email builder. The cursor blinks, the template staring back at you was built for somebody else’s brand, their colors, their fonts, and now you’re supposed to bend it into something that feels like yours before you lose the will to send anything at all. If you’ve ever closed the laptop right then and there and promised yourself you’d deal with it tomorrow, I’ve been there, more times than I’ll admit in writing.
Flodesk is the first place I send anyone who’s ready to build an email list that looks and sounds like them, and I’ve pointed thousands of you their way over the years. I don’t do that lightly. It’s a women-founded company, I’m lucky enough to call the founders friends, and they’re obsessed with the two things that actually matter in email: design that makes you look like you, and deliverability that gets you into the inbox in the first place. If you’re starting out, it’s the best place to begin.
Their email builder has had a real glow-up lately, and there’s a whole separate app called Flodesk Studio that I could not stop playing with. So instead of giving you the tourist version, I went straight to the source. I asked Dawn Richardson, who runs product education at Flodesk and lives inside this builder every day, to walk you through it herself. Every click, every block, including the parts I’d normally hand-wave past.
Below, Dawn takes you step by step through customizing a template the classic way, then shows you how Studio changes things if you’d rather describe what you want and let it build the first draft for you. Take whatever fits how you actually work, and leave the rest.
A quick note: Flodesk is my top email recommendation and I’m one of their affiliates, so if you start a plan through a link in this post I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only ever point you toward tools I trust enough to stake my name on.
Okay, I’m handing you the good stuff. Here’s Dawn.
Quick answer: you can customize a Flodesk template by editing its Layout and Text blocks directly in the Flodesk editor, or you can describe the email you want to Flodesk Studio, a separate design app, and refine the draft it generates. Here’s how both work.
Last cheer season, I tried to order our whole team the same warm-up jacket in one size. “One size fits most,” the site promised. What actually happened: eleven eight-year-olds swimming in fabric, one furious team mom (me), and a group chat that is still, to this day, referencing “the jacket incident.”
Here’s what I learned: nobody wants “one size fits most.” They want the thing that fits them. That’s true of warm-up jackets, and it’s true of your emails. A template is a great starting point, but your subscribers can tell in about two seconds whether an email was actually made for your brand or just borrowed from someone else’s.
This is why we built Flodesk. Flodesk is an email marketing and small business platform built for creators, coaches, and online business owners who want their emails to look designed, not templated. It combines a drag-and-drop email builder, opt-in forms, sales pages, and automated workflows in one tool, no coding or separate design software required.
Flodesk gives you two ways to get there: customize one of the built-in templates by hand, or describe what you want and let Flodesk Studio build a first draft for you. Both start in the same place and end with an email that looks like you, not like a template. Here’s exactly how each one works.
What makes a Flodesk template different
Every Flodesk template is built from two kinds of blocks, and understanding the difference will save you time the moment you open the editor.
Layout blocks are Flodesk’s proprietary design technology. They’re what let you use specialty fonts, custom colors, and magazine-style collages without touching code. When you hit send, a Layout block renders as an image.
Basic blocks are plain HTML and renders the same way text renders on a website. These are your buttons, text blocks, etc. They’re what keeps your email searchable and easy for inbox providers to trust.
Most templates mix both, and knowing which block you’re editing tells you what options you’ll see in the right-hand editor.
How to customize a template in Flodesk, step by step
- Go to Emails in your Flodesk account, then click + Create New.
- Pick a template that fits the email you’re sending, and click View details to preview it.
- Click Customize to open it in the editor.
- Click into a Layout block to edit it. Click the image side to swap in your own photo, then use the right-hand editor to crop, zoom, or add a color overlay. If you’re a Canva user, you can connect your Canva account and import your Canva designs directly into any image placeholder!
- Click the text side of the Layout block to update the copy. Highlight it to bold, italicize, underline, or change the font, size, color, and spacing from the right-hand panel.
- Add a link to the entire Layout block using the Link option in the right-hand editor, useful if you want the whole graphic to be clickable. While you’re there, you can also add a link action, which triggers an automation the moment someone clicks: add them to a segment, remove them from one, start or stop a workflow, or update a custom field. This is worth using anytime you want to know who clicked before they even open another email, like tagging everyone who clicks a “book a call” link as an interested lead.
- Update your Text blocks the same way: highlight to edit, add links, or apply basic styling. Type @ anywhere in a text block to insert a personalization field, like a subscriber’s first name, which fills in automatically (or defaults to “friend” if that field is empty).
- Add more blocks by hovering where you want something new and clicking the + that appears. You can insert more Layouts, Text blocks, images, or GIFs. There’s even countdown timers (my favorite!), poll blocks, and more.
If you want fun collages or custom fonts, choose layouts and browse all Layouts in the right-hand editor. (Looking for just text so you can use your custom fonts as headers? Look for the layout that says “add some beautiful text with a custom font”!)
- Remove anything you don’t need by hovering over it and clicking the trash icon.
- Save any block you love as a favorite by clicking the heart icon once you’ve customized it. That block, colors, fonts, and all, will show up under Favorites the next time you’re building an email, so you’re not rebuilding the same custom button or layout from scratch every time.
- Customize your signature. Highlight it, swap in your name, and adjust the font and styling. This is one of the most-used personalization touches in Flodesk.
- Add your Instagram feed as a social touch at the end of your email. Hover where you want it, click +, then select Instagram.
Once the email looks right, click next and you’ll be asked what subject line and preview text you want to use. Flodesk offers subject line A/B testing too, so you can easily test two different options to see what performs best. If you’re sending to a larger audience, the A/B test will run for a small segment of your subscribers, and then send the email with the winning subject line to the rest of the recipients 24 hours later! Once you’re done choosing your subject line(s), click next where you can send the email now or schedule it later.
Want to automate the email instead? Connect it to a workflow so it goes out automatically the moment someone joins your list. (Note: you can only use emails created in the Flodesk builder for workflows at this time!)
How Flodesk Studio changes this process
Flodesk Studio is a separate, standalone design app from Flodesk, built for anyone who wants to skip the block-by-block editing and start from a finished draft instead. You’ll find it at studio.flodesk.com, not inside your regular Flodesk account.
Here’s how it works:
- Set up your brand profile once. Add your business description, colors, fonts, font mapping (so headers, body text, and buttons each use the right font automatically), logo, and brand voice.
- Describe the email you want. Type it in plain language, click one of the recommended prompts if you’re not sure where to start, or paste in a rough draft of your copy.
- Choose from three generated options. Studio hands back a fully designed visual email, a banner-style version with a designed header and plain text below, and a plain-text-only version.
- Refine it in Studio’s own builder. This is a more flexible version of the block editor: move blocks around, turn individual elements on or off, swap in a different layout without losing your content, copy styling from one block to another, and add extras like countdown timers, polls, or recipe blocks. You can also keep making changes by chatting with it directly (“randomize the colors,” “make this first person instead of third”).
- Export when it’s ready. This sends the finished email into your Flodesk account, ready to schedule, or you can export clean HTML to use in another email platform entirely.
One important detail: once an email is exported from Studio into your regular Flodesk account, that design isn’t editable in the standard .com editor. If you need to change it later, click Edit in Studio to make the change there, then export again to update it. If you’re building a recurring email, like a monthly newsletter, you can duplicate a Studio email you already love and ask it to swap in new content while keeping the exact same design. Flodesk’s help center has more on troubleshooting Studio specifically, since it’s still in beta.
Use Studio when: you’re starting from a blank page, want a fast first draft, or want more flexibility over layout than the standard editor allows.
Use the standard Flodesk editor when: you’re working with a template you built directly in Flodesk (not through Studio), or making small copy edits to something that wasn’t generated in Studio. If you want to create an email for a Flodesk workflow, you’ll want to use the standard Flodesk editor as well.
Frequently asked questions
What is Flodesk? Flodesk is an email marketing and small business platform built for creators, coaches, and online business owners who want their emails to stand out in the inbox. It combines a drag-and-drop email builder, opt-in forms, sales pages, and automated workflows in one tool, no coding or separate design software required.
Is Flodesk Studio the same as the regular Flodesk editor? No. Studio is a separate app with its own builder, used to generate and design an email from a prompt. The regular Flodesk editor is where you build templates directly inside your Flodesk account.
Can I edit a Flodesk Studio email inside the regular Flodesk editor? No. Once you export an email from Studio into your Flodesk account, that design isn’t editable in the standard editor. To make changes, click Edit in Studio, update it there, and export again.
How do I access Flodesk Studio? Go to studio.flodesk.com and log in. You don’t need an existing Flodesk account to try it, and it’s free to use while it’s in beta.
How much does Flodesk Studio cost after beta? Flodesk hasn’t announced pricing yet. It’s free to use during the current beta period.
Do I need a paid Flodesk plan to use Studio? No. Studio is free during its beta and doesn’t require a paid Flodesk account.
Can I use a Studio design outside of Flodesk? Yes. Studio designs export as clean HTML, and Flodesk has confirmed exports work with Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Beehiiv, and Kit, along with most other email service providers.
Can I A/B test in Flodesk? Yes, currently for subject lines. When you’re ready to send, you can test two different subject lines against each other. Flodesk sends each version to a small segment of your list first, then automatically sends the winning subject line to everyone else about 24 hours later.
What’s the difference between a Layout block and a Basic block? Layout blocks are Flodesk’s design technology and render as images when sent. Basic blocks like text blocks and button blocks render as HTML, the same as text on a webpage, and are what search and inbox providers read directly.
Why does my personalization field matter? It automatically inserts each subscriber’s first name, so keep it in place unless you have a specific reason to remove it.
Can I use a Flodesk Studio email in a workflow? Not yet. Only emails built in the standard flodesk.com editor can be connected to a workflow right now.
More Flodesk template questions
What is Flodesk used for? Flodesk is an all-in-one platform for growing a small business, not just an email sender. Beyond designing emails, you can build opt-in forms to grow your list, create sales pages to sell products or services, and automate follow-up with workflows, all without writing code.
How do I remove Flodesk branding from my emails? The Flodesk footer links to your referral code by default, so anyone who signs up through it earns you credit. Any paid plan lets you turn it off: go to Settings, then Branding, and toggle it off.
Can I import my Canva design into Flodesk? Yes. There are two ways to use the Canva integration. If you already design in Canva, you can import your design directly into Flodesk as an email-ready template. If you need to make changes later, click Edit in Canva, update it there, and bring it back into Flodesk in one click. You can also click on any image placeholder in your emails, forms and checkout to choose a graphic or GIF from your Canva account.
How do I add blank space between elements in a Flodesk email? Click the + where you want the gap, then choose Spacer from the block menu. You can adjust the height to control exactly how much space you get, and it’s worth saving your favorite size as a favorite so you’re not resizing it every time.
How do I change the link color in a Flodesk email? Click the background of the email (not a specific block) to open the email-wide settings, then choose your color under Link Color.
How do I save a whole email as a reusable template? Click the heart icon at the top left of the email builder to save the entire email as a favorite, or hover over any email in your dashboard, click the three dots, and choose Save to Favorites. Either way, you’ll find it later under the Favorites tab when you start a new email. This is different from favoriting a single block: use this when you want to reuse the whole layout, not just one piece of it.
Ready to Write On-Brand Emails Without the Busywork?
Whether you start with a template you customize by hand or a Studio draft you refine from there, the goal is the same: an email that looks and sounds like your brand, sent without the busywork.
Alright, Jenna here again. If Dawn made this look as doable as I think she did, consider this your little nudge. I’ve been in their corner for years, so when you start your free 14-day trial through my link you’ll save 25% off your first year and unlock my Email That’s Yours bonus: four done-for-you email sequences (welcome, freebie delivery, nurture, and sales), plus a customization guide that shows you how to make each one sound like you. You can grab it all right here.
And listen, if email is the thing you keep meaning to get serious about and keep pushing to next week, come sit a little closer. My free 5-Day List Building Mini-Course is where I walk you through getting your list up and running, the thing that turns a quiet inbox into one of the steadiest, most profitable parts of your business, no template graveyard required.
Thanks, Jenna, for this info. I’ve built a flodesk form (super easy, fun, and smart looing!) and I want to add a text box as you describe above. I hover, but no little + sign appears. I hover and hover! Nothing. Any tips for that? The template I chose doesn’t include a “you will receive my newsletter/ongoing emails’ disclaimer, and I think that’s important to add.