Your registration belongs to your build, not the reusable car drawing
In short
- Reusable car artwork stores a plate position and fixed car shapes, not a customer registration.
- A typed registration appears in the builder URL and the browser basket, so a shared link can reveal it.
- After checkout, the order configuration retains the plate text needed to produce the purchased design.
- The downloadable file is rendered from the order configuration rather than kept as a reusable catalogue master.
A plate makes the portrait personal, but it does not need to become part of the car master. The drawing stores an empty measured space. Your build supplies the characters later, and the order keeps enough information to reproduce what you chose.
How does a registration stay out of reusable car artwork?
The car file stores only a plate position. The customer's registration lives in an individual build configuration and is combined with the car when the preview or final output is rendered.
What does the reusable artwork contain?
It contains the reviewed car shapes, fixed detail and an empty plate box. The plate box records size and position so the renderer can add the individual registration later.
This keeps the catalogue car reusable without turning the last customer's plate into the next customer's starting point. It also means a prepared drawing can be reviewed without opening any private order file. The article about badges and plates explains why the actual characters still need reliable evidence.
Where is the plate before checkout?
The builder places the registration in its query string, and the basket stores the whole configuration in that browser. A complete shared builder link therefore shares the plate written inside it.
| Place | Contains the plate | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Reusable car art | No | Only the plate position is reusable |
| Builder address | Yes, after typing | A copied full URL can reveal it |
| Browser basket | Yes | The local item keeps its chosen configuration |
The URL is useful because a design can be recovered or sent to the person choosing it. It is not a secret container. If the registration should not travel with a public link, remove the `plate` value or replace it with a placeholder before sharing.
Why does the order keep the registration?
A paid order retains the validated build configuration because that is the record of what was purchased. The same configuration supplies the plate when the print or digital output is rendered.
A digital download is produced from the order record when requested rather than pointing at a reusable catalogue file with somebody's plate baked into it. The broader drawing-to-file guide shows how the artwork and customer choices stay separate until rendering.
Can an old order become catalogue artwork?
Not with its customer configuration attached. A car drawing can be prepared for the catalogue only after personal plate text and order-specific material have been separated from the reusable car shapes.
The private order archive can show that I have drawn a make or generation before. It does not prove that a public listing exists, and its filenames, registrations and customer images do not belong in a journal post or catalogue master.
What does this separation not promise?
Keeping a registration out of reusable artwork does not mean the site never processes or retains it. The builder, basket and paid order use the plate for their stated jobs.
The UK Information Commissioner describes data minimisation as keeping information that is adequate, relevant and limited to what the stated purpose needs. See the ICO data-minimisation guidance. This article documents one separation in the product. It is not a substitute for the site's full privacy notice.
Start with a reviewed catalogue car, then add the plate to the individual preview rather than to the shared artwork.
Questions people actually ask
- Is my registration stored in the reusable car drawing?
- No. The catalogue artwork stores the car shapes and an empty plate position. Your registration is supplied by the individual build configuration and is drawn into that preview or output when the renderer runs.
- Can somebody see my registration if I share a builder link?
- Yes. The builder puts a typed registration in the page query string so the design can be shared and recovered. Anyone receiving that complete link can read the plate value, so remove it or replace it before sharing publicly.
- Where is my registration kept before checkout?
- It is present in the builder address and, after adding the design, in that browser's local basket storage. The basket is local to the browser until checkout sends a validated order configuration to the server.
- Why does a paid order retain the registration?
- The order needs the exact configuration that was purchased, including its plate text, to reproduce the approved print or digital file. That order-specific record is separate from the reusable artwork shared by every customer choosing the same model.
Written by Jonathan in Derby. Last updated .