Change one variable, and every place that uses it changes.
A variable is a value with a name, stored in your project. Put a variable in text, like {{client}}, or link a color to one, and when you change the value once, those spots change in every scene.
Create a variable
Variables belong to the project, not to a scene. Click Variables, the tag-shaped second button in the button row at the top right. The Variables panel opens, and every scene shares this list. Variables you create are on the User tab, and the ones SSHOW fills in are on the System tab.
Click Add Variable, the + button in the panel’s title bar. A “New Variable” row appears at the end of the list with its name selected. Type a name right away and press ↩. Choose the type from the list to the right of the name, and enter the value in the field next to it. There are four types.
| Type | Holds | Set the value | Use in |
|---|---|---|---|
| String | Text such as a name, title, or date | Type in the field and press ↩ | Text · interactions |
| Color | One color | Click the color bar and choose one in the Colors window | Fills · strokes · scene background · interactions |
| Number | A price, score, or count | Type a number in the field and press ↩ | Text · interactions (add or subtract 1) |
| Boolean | True or false | Checkbox | Interactions (flip between true and false) |
Changing the type resets the value
A variable made with Add Variable is a String with an empty value. When you change the type, the value you set is replaced with the new type’s starting value: 0 for Number, false for Boolean, and black for Color. If you changed the type by mistake, press ⌘Z once, and the type and the value both come back.
Three places to use a variable
Put a variable in text as a token, link it to a paint, and let interactions change its value while the project plays.
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Text
String and Number variables go inside text. Double-click the text, and click to place the cursor where the variable goes.
Type an opening brace ({) twice, and a list of variables appears below the cursor. Click a variable or press ↩ to insert a token such as {{client}}. Press esc to finish editing, and the value shows in place of the token.
You can also click Insert as text, the T-shaped button on a row in the Variables panel. If you’re editing text, the token goes in at the cursor. If not, it goes into a new text object in the center of the scene. The new text opens with the token showing, so press esc.
Typing two opening braces while editing text opens the variable list, and pressing ↩ and then esc shows ACME in that spot. Video: After double-clicking the text and placing the cursor at the end, typing two opening braces opens the variable list. Pressing Enter and then Esc shows ACME in that spot. -
Color
Color variables link to a paint. Select an object, and click the color square at the left of a row under Fills or Strokes in the right panel.
Color variables are listed under Variables at the bottom of the Colors window. Choose one to link the paint to that variable. The row then shows the variable’s name instead of a color value.
For the scene background, link it the same way under Fills in the Scene panel. If you pick a color directly in the Colors window or type a color value for a linked paint, the link comes off without warning. For details, see Fills and gradients.
Clicking the rectangle’s Fills color square and choosing brand under Variables turns the rectangle blue, and the row shows brand. Video: In the Colors window opened from the rectangle’s Fills color square, choosing brand under Variables turns the rectangle blue, and the fill row shows brand. -
Interactions
While the project plays, or while Preview is on in the Interactions panel in Interaction mode, sentences read and change variables. For example, add 1 to a number on each click, and go to another scene when it reaches 3.
The changed value shows right away in tokens and linked colors. When playback or the preview ends, variables go back to the values saved in the Variables panel.
For ready-made sets, see Recipes. For the words of a sentence, see Triggers, actions, and conditions. To put a value from the web into a variable, see Requests and variables.
With Preview on, clicking the “+1” button twice takes the number in the text from 0 to 2, and the count row in the Variables panel shows the current value, 2. Video: In Interaction mode with Preview on, clicking the “+1” button twice takes the number in the text from 0 to 2, and the count row in the Variables panel shows the current value, 2.
Typing over a token breaks the link
When you double-click text that contains a token, the token, such as {{client}}, shows instead of the value, and all the characters are selected. If you start typing, everything is replaced, token included, and the text no longer follows the variable.
To change what shows, edit the value in the Variables panel, not the text. If you’ve already typed over it, press ⌘Z to undo.
System variables
SSHOW fills in the four variables on the System tab from the current state. You can’t edit or delete them, and you use them as tokens in text. When you type two opening braces, they appear in the list below the variables you made. You can also insert them with the Insert as text button on each row.
To add page numbers, type two opening braces while editing the footer text, and choose pageNo. Then type a slash (/) with a space before and after it, and choose totalPageNo the same way. The footer shows something like “3 / 12”.
When you duplicate a scene with a footer, the new scene gets the same footer, and each scene shows its own number. For scenes you already have, select the footer and press ⌘C to copy it, then open each scene and press ⌘V to paste. It lands in the same spot. Hidden scenes aren’t counted. A scene card’s thumbnail may show another scene’s number, but the numbers on the canvas and on the presentation screen are correct.
| Name | Value shown |
|---|---|
| projectName | The project’s name, as shown in the project name field at the top left. |
| sceneName | The name of the open scene. During playback, the name of the scene on screen. |
| pageNo | The current scene’s place in order. Counts from 1 and skips hidden scenes. It’s 0 when a hidden scene is open. |
| totalPageNo | The number of scenes that aren’t hidden. |
Rename and delete
To rename a variable, double-click its name. Tokens in text and color links follow the new name in every scene, so nothing on screen changes. Tokens you typed into the fields of interaction sentences (the address for Open URL, the value to put in a variable, and a request’s address, headers, and body) or into scene notes don’t follow, so retype them with the new name. If you rename a variable to a name that already exists, or leave the name empty, it goes back to the original name without warning.
Delete, the − button at the end of a row, deletes the variable right away without asking. Text that used the variable keeps its last value as plain characters, and paints keep the same color value. Tokens written in the fields of interaction sentences and in scene notes stay as plain characters, braces and all. Interaction sentences that checked the variable, or that ran when it changed, are deleted along with it. An action that changed the variable is removed from its sentence, and if no actions are left, the whole sentence is deleted.
Press ⌘Z to undo, and the variable, its links, and the sentences all come back.
Tokens, search, and keeping variables tidy
Write a token exactly like the name. Upper and lower case must match too, and a token that doesn’t match a name shows as plain characters, braces and all.
Search finds and replaces values. Search, described in Search and notes, also finds the variable values that text shows when you search All scenes, and replacing it with All changes the variable’s value. Tokens written in text are found but never rewritten.
When you have many variables. The search field at the top of the Variables panel finds variables by name and description. Drag the ≡ handle at the left of a row to change the order, and click Add a description under the name to note what the variable is for.
Updated 10/14/2026 · The videos on this page were recorded in the current editor.