Gallery: the account media library
The same picture is needed in five places at once: the logo — in the menu, on the storefront and in emails; a dish photo — in the card and in a flyer; a banner — in a popup and on the website. The Gallery saves you from hunting for the file on disk every time: an image is uploaded once, and after that every image editor of the panel offers a "From gallery" button.
Open: Admin panel → Gallery (admin.cenaly.com/gallery) — the item sits in the "Menu" group of the sidebar (those groups are collapsed by default).
What this section is#
The gallery is one per account, not per location: the logo, background and banner are almost always shared, and duplicating them per venue makes no sense.
Inside there is a plain grid of tiles with three things: the "⬆️ Upload" button, the "✨ Generate with AI" button (where the AI studio is available) and a counter that reads like 18 / 500 · 15 MB. Tiles show a preview, not the original: the full file is downloaded only when an image is actually picked.
The very same screen works as a picker: opened from an editor, it lets you choose a tile and hands the image back where it was called from.
What you need to start#
| What | Is it needed |
|---|---|
| Switching the section on in the app store | no, the gallery is available right away and on every plan |
| Business type | available to all except "Chat" and "Widgets" accounts |
| Installing anything | no: both the upload and the preview are done by the browser itself |
For the AI studio — any brand except cenaly.ru (cenaly.com, cenaly.com and the rest) |
yes: on cenaly.ru there is no generate button at all |
| For the AI studio — the account's AI balance | yes, generation spends it; top-ups are in the subscription |
Step 1. Upload images in advance#
The "⬆️ Upload" button takes several files at once; so does dragging them onto the grid — while files hover over it, the hint "Drop files to upload" appears.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Formats | JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, AVIF, HEIC/HEIF, SVG |
| One file | up to 15 MB |
| The library in total | up to 500 images (the counter in the toolbar shows how much is used) |
| Preview | built in the browser, longest side ≤ 512 px |
Every record remembers the file name, type, size, dimensions and upload date. HEIC and SVG may end up without a preview — the browser does not decode them; the tile then shows the original or a placeholder, while the image itself works as usual.
Uploads do not go through the dish-photo processor: the library does not need storefront crops, it needs your file as it is plus a light preview for the grid.
Step 2. Pick an image in an editor#
Next to the ordinary upload control, image editors have a "From gallery" button. It opens the same grid as a modal ("Pick from gallery"), a click on a tile hands the image to the editor, and from there its usual path takes over: cropping, resizing, saving where it belongs.
Where that button exists:
| Where | What you pick |
|---|---|
| A dish or product card | the item photo and extra photos |
| Labels | the icon of your own label |
| Product features and variants | option images |
| The storefront and product page | section images |
| Dish flyer, printed menu | images of the layout |
| Floor plan | the plan background |
| Articles and text blocks | images inside the text |
| Consents and the cookie banner, campaigns and popups | the logo and the banner image |
| Website widgets, the chat widget | avatars and icons |
| Posts and ads | attached images |
Where a field used to say "paste a link to an image", the same picker now gives a field with a preview and a "From gallery…" button: you no longer need to know where the file physically sits or how to get a public address for it. Links you saved earlier are not broken — they are shown as a preview and cleared with the cross.
If an editor needs several images at once, the picker works in multi-select mode: tiles accumulate and the "Select (N)" button hands them over in one go.
Step 3. Generate an image with AI#
The "✨ Generate with AI" button opens the AI studio full screen. Settings on the left, the run feed on the right.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| "What are we creating?" | the description in words. The "Improve the prompt" button expands a short phrase into a detailed one; after a run you can see "How the AI understood your request" |
| "Type" | presets: "Dish photo", "Product on white", "Banner", "Icon", "Interior", "Free style" |
| "Format" | "Square", "Landscape", "Portrait" |
| "Variants" | from 1 to 4 per run |
| "Model" | cards by role — "Recommended", "Best quality", "Budget", "Precise editing" — and an "All models" list with the price per image |
| "Advanced" | resolution, file format, seed, aspect ratio |
| "References" | "Reference from gallery" — a sample whose style or object the model keeps |
The price is recalculated live and sits right on the button: you see what will be charged before you press it.
In the feed a run first shows skeletons for the number of variants ordered, then the image cards. Each has its actions: "To gallery", "Refine", "More variants", "Another model", "Use as reference", "Upscale", "Download". A failed variant is marked "Didn't work out" and does not cancel the rest of the run.
Draft variants are kept for 30 days — save what you need with "To gallery" (or "Save and use", if the studio was opened from an editor).
Refining a finished image#
The "Refine" button opens the "Refine image" window: the "What should change?" field ("remove the herbs", "make the background darker") and a brush — you may mark the area that should change, or leave it alone. The highlight goes to the model as a second reference, which makes the edit more precise than a general instruction; "Clear selection" removes the brush, "Apply" starts the regeneration — with another model if you like.
Upscaling works the same way: "Upscale" runs the variant through a resolution model.
What generation is paid with#
Generation spends the account's AI balance — the same one the other AI features of the panel use:
- when a run starts, the amount is reserved: if the balance is short, the studio says "Not enough AI balance" and offers "Top up" before any model is contacted;
- it is charged on the fact and only for successful variants, at the price fixed when the run started: you pay for what you were shown;
- if the tab was closed halfway, the reserve does not hang: an unfinished run is cleared up by itself and the money returns to the balance.
Plans and top-ups are covered in Subscription, and which provider and model stand behind the AI features — in AI models and your own key.
Personal data and the Russian circuit#
Image generation is an external service, so the studio has three safeguards built in — and on the Russian circuit they matter especially:
- The personal-data gate. The prompt and the instruction are checked before they leave: a person's name, phone, email, card number, SNILS, tax number, passport, bank account, address or date of birth will not travel outside — instead of a run you get a message asking to remove them from the request.
- An attestation about references. Before the first run with samples the studio asks you to confirm that "there are no people in the source images, or you have their consent": a photograph of a face is biometric personal data and may not be passed on without that person's consent. The confirmation is remembered.
- The "Strictly follow the data localisation law (152-FZ)" toggle. Switched on, it leaves only models that compute in Russia; the rest are blocked with a "Not available in strict mode" note. Switched off, all models are available — and your account identifier is not passed to the provider either way.
What technically leaves the panel: only the description itself and, if you attached them, anonymised copies of the references behind a temporary link — without the address of your account in storage.
Deleting, and where the files live#
Deleting is done from the tile, with a "Delete this image from the gallery?" confirmation. Both the original and the preview go.
⚠️ Gallery files live in your brand's public image zone. That is deliberate: the chat widget avatar on someone else's website, og:image and the logo in emails must open for any visitor without signing in to the panel. The flip side is that whoever knows the exact address of a file will open it without a password. So the media library is not the place for scans of documents, passports or any images with personal data: those belong in sections where access is limited by permissions, not in a shared picture library.
The second nuance is what happens to an image already in use after you delete it from the gallery:
| Where it was picked | What happens |
|---|---|
| A dish photo, a label icon, a flyer layout — that is, the editor copied the file | nothing: that section already has its own file |
| Fields of the "image by link" kind (consents, product page sections, campaigns, virtual brands, the widget avatar) | the link goes dead — change the image in the setting first, delete from the library afterwards |
Limitations#
- There are no folders, tags or search in the library — just one grid of tiles. With 500 images that shows, so give files meaningful names before uploading.
- "Where it is used" is not shown. The library does not know which sections an image has been inserted into — check yourself before deleting.
- The limits are hard: 500 images per account and 15 MB per file; when it is full, uploads are refused ("The gallery is full").
- Video and PDF are not accepted — images in the listed formats only.
- No preview is built for HEIC and SVG (the browser does not decode them) — the grid will show the original or a placeholder.
- The AI studio is not available on
cenaly.ru. There is no "✨ Generate with AI" button there: its server side is not switched on in the Russian cloud yet. The library itself (upload, pick, delete) works fully on.ru. - The gallery is shared across the account, with no split per location and no "this folder is for this venue only" permissions.
- There is no editing of the image inside the gallery — no cropping, rotation or captions. Cropping lives in the editors an image is picked into; AI refinement lives in the studio.
Troubleshooting#
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| "File is larger than 15 MB" | shrink the file before uploading: the library does no server-side compression |
| "Unsupported file format" | only JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, AVIF, HEIC/HEIF and SVG are accepted |
| "The gallery is full (max 500)" | delete what is unused — the limit cannot be raised |
| A tile is grey or has no image | no preview could be built for the format (HEIC, SVG), or the preview link expired: reload the page |
| There is no "✨ Generate with AI" button | you are on cenaly.ru — the studio is not available there yet |
| "Not enough AI balance" | top up in the subscription; a run will not start until the amount is reserved |
| "The request contains personal data" | remove names, phone numbers, account numbers and addresses from the description — the generation service is external |
| "Not available in strict mode" on a model | the data localisation toggle is on: pick a model that computes in Russia, or switch the mode off deliberately |
| A variant says "Didn't work out" | press "Retry" or choose another model: the rest of the run is unaffected |
| An image vanished from the website after a library clean-up | it had been inserted as a link — pick a new image in that setting |
| You cannot find an image in the grid | the order is by upload date and there is no search; look by the time you uploaded it |
FAQ#
Is the gallery shared across locations or does each have its own?#
One per account. That is by design: the logo, background and banners are nearly always shared, and splitting by location would mean uploading the same file several times.
Will deleting an image from the gallery break a dish photo?#
No. When an image is picked in an editor, that editor takes a copy of the file and lives with it. Only fields where an image is stored as a link will go dead — consents, product page sections, campaigns, virtual brands, the widget avatar.
Can I upload scans of documents to keep them at hand?#
Better not. Media library files live in the public image zone: anyone with the exact address opens the file without signing in to the panel. For documents there is Documents, where access is limited by permissions.
How is the AI studio different from the generate button in a dish card?#
The button in the card solves one task — "draw a photo of this item" — and puts the result straight into the card. The studio is general purpose: any image (a banner, an icon, an interior), several variants per run, a choice of model, references and brush refinement, with the result saved to the library and usable anywhere.
Why is the price on the button but charged later?#
So that there are no surprises. Before the run you see the amount, at the start it is reserved (short balance — no run), and it is charged only for the variants that actually came out. Failed images are not paid for.
Can I get a direct link to an image from the gallery?#
Yes — wherever a setting accepts a link, the "From gallery…" field fills it in for you, and such a link does not expire (which matters for the widget avatar and og:image). There is no separate "copy URL" button in the grid.
How long are generated variants kept if I do not save them?#
Run drafts live for 30 days and are then cleaned up automatically. Move anything you need into the library with "To gallery" — there is no expiry there.
Related articles#
- Dish labels — the icons picked from the media library
- Dish flyer and printed menu — layouts with images from the gallery
- QR menu and the shop storefront — where the guest sees those images
- Website builder and website widgets — logos and avatars
- Campaigns and popups, the cookie banner — the "image by link" fields
- Subscription — the AI balance that pays for generation, and AI models and your own key — providers and credit usage
- Security and data — what is stored where and who can see it
- Data export — the whole account in one archive