VectorPaint recipe records: separate quantities, sequence and serving notes

English translation of the Chinese original, translated on 2026-10-27. Original publication dates, attribution, code and version notes are retained.

A recipe card should preserve a method and make quantities easy to find next time. Use a fictional fruit drink to practise separate ingredient, sequence and notes areas. Example quantities test the layout and are not dietary, nutritional or food-preparation advice.

Separate yield from quantities

Prepare a title, yield, quantities and four steps outside the app. Give each ingredient a name, value and unit. Reserve image, ingredients and method areas on a 900 by 1200 pixel canvas. Calculate and verify any second yield in the source list first; duplicating text does not recalculate quantities. Real recipes need independent confirmation.

Keep the illustration and text distinct

Use a simple cup illustration with grouped parts and space below it. Test the image, ingredients and method areas as grey blocks before decorating. Allow room for the longest step. Reduce the illustration rather than all text if crowded. Share useful alignment edges and remove temporary region lines before export.

Align names and quantities independently

Put ingredient names and quantities in separate columns, testing the longest name first. Avoid space-based alignment. Keep values and units unambiguous, duplicate a checked row and verify every replacement against the list. State alternative ingredients as explicit conditions rather than unexplained paired quantities.

Make the step sequence explicit

Give each step a consecutive number, short title and consistently indented explanation. Decorative number circles are not completion controls. State dependencies clearly. If repeated cup illustrations show stages, change the relevant state rather than colour alone. Read the method without its illustrations to expose missing verbal instructions.

Attach conditions to the relevant step

Place substitutions, preparation conditions and yield notes near the relevant content. Mark exercise data clearly. Obtain reliable wording for real allergens, storage or audience-specific conditions instead of inferring them through icons. Match footnotes and test whether the instructions remain findable without the picture and readable when it returns.

Test two title lengths

Test a longer title in an independent copy while holding the method constant. Allow wrapping and adjust its area before type size; avoid distorted lettering. Test a long ingredient name too, preserving the quantity column inside the canvas. Compare both previews to establish a reusable layout rather than one that works only for short copy.

Recheck every output after quantity changes

Save the editable source and list. Audit ingredients, units, yield and numbering before appearance. A second-yield version needs all associated wording checked, not one doubled value. Label filenames by yield and revision. Inspect print text at actual size and reopen the exact delivery file to exclude stale quantities or diagnostic lines.

Fix structure when quantities are hard to find

For missing-looking quantities, inspect stacking, width and contrast. Remove decoration and resize regions before shrinking all text. Check duplicate number objects directly. Increase row height when a wrapped ingredient collides with the next row, moving subsequent rows together. Finally compare yield and quantities across list, source and export.