Google Web Designer provides different ways for you to view your work, depending on your purpose.
Authoring documents
When you're working on a project in Google Web Designer, you can see your work on the stage in Design view. The files generated during authoring are the source files (also called author files), and should be stored in a separate folder for each project.
Although the main source file is an HTML file, you cannot preview your document by directly opening this HTML file in your browser, as it doesn't contain the full functionality of your project.
Don't traffic source files as ads.
Instead, publish the document in Google Web Designer, then use the published file.Previewing documents
Previewing lets you see how your project would look and behave to the end user. A temporary snapshot of your work opens in a browser, where you can set preview mode options (such as viewing different-sized versions of a responsive ad) and interact with the preview. You can preview your document as often as you like while you're working on it.
You can also preview animation on the Web Designer stage with some limitations (for example, events don't get triggered), and preview responsive documents in multiple sizes within a panel beside the stage.
To see how your ad appears on a mobile device, you can send a preview directly to a phone or tablet with the Creative Preview app installed.
Previewing in your browser or in the Creative Preview app is disabled for video ads and image ads.
Discrepancies in preview
If elements that you included in your document don't appear in the preview, they may be guide layers.
Publishing documents
Once you finish authoring your document, you should publish it to create the finalized files. Publishing will streamline the source code, add the appropriate enabler code for Google AdMob, Google Ads, and Display & Video 360 ads, and let you configure additional settings.
Anyone can view the published files in their browser without needing to install Google Web Designer. If your document is an ad, you should provide the published files for trafficking.
For video ads and animated GIFs, publishing lets you export MP4 video files or animated GIF files that render all the content and animation in your document, while image ads export either JPG or PNG files.
Sharing documents
The best way to share files depends on why you're sharing them.
- To collaborate on a document, share the source files. You should also share the source files if you're trying to troubleshoot an issue with your project. Your collaborator will be able to open the source files in Google Web Designer.
- To share the finished project for review, you can create a shareable link from the Preview menu (available for supported ad types).
- To share the finished project for upload to an ad platform, you should publish the document. Use the publish dialog option to create a .zip file, then send the .zip file to the person who will run the ad. For video ads, image ads, and animated GIFs, there is no publish to .zip option available in Google Web Designer and you can send the final video or image file.