Property Sync Settings allow you to control how values behave between related entities in Creative Force. Through direct inheritance, automatic overwriting, and more, you define how product and sample data is structured throughout the product lifecycle– creating more uniform or independent data depending on your needs.

Introduction

Since certain entities are closely tied together, they share properties between them. However, the exact nature of how the values of those properties behave in relation to each other is controlled by its Sync Mode setting.

Parent/Child Entities

Before diving into the settings, we first need to define the relationships that are affected by the settings. Currently, two sets of entities have bi-directional property relationships.

Parent		Child
Product Record	→	Product Request
Variant	→	Sample

Because the outcome and effects are the same between the two sets, we will use the terms parent and child to refer to behaviors in this article.

Property Sync

To get started, head to Studio Settings → Properties, and either create a new property or edit an existing one to review and select a Sync Mode setting.

New Properties

When creating a new property, you are able to select between three sync options. Each option carries different logic for how values should be treated when writing to Variants and Samples.

Existing Properties

When you edit a property, you can only make its sync mode less strict. A "Request Only" property can't go back to "Inherited" or "Allow Overwrite", and an "Allow Overwrite" property can't go back to "Inherited".

Sync Methods

Sync Mode	Logic Description
Inherited	The Parent owns the value. Each Child linked to the Parent shows a read-only copy of it.
Allow Overwrite	The Parent supplies the value, but users can still edit it on the Child entity's edit form.
Child Only	The value belongs to the Child alone. It does not show as a property on the Parent itself.

Inherited

With the Sync Mode set to Inherited, the value lives at the Parent level and is directly inherited by the associated Child.

Category	Behavior
Value Change: Parent → Child	When the property changes on the parent entity, the new value is copied to every child entity linked to it.
Value Change: Child → Parent	On a child entity's edit form, the property is greyed out. The system also refuses changes from other routes, including the API, Data Source sync, Update From File, and Import Jobs.
Code Changes	If you change a parent entity's Product/Variant Code so it links to a different record, inherited properties take that record's value. Any value already on the child is replaced.
Sync Mode Editability	Inherited is the only mode that can switch to either of the others– you can change it to Allow Overwrite or Request Only.
Practical Example	The Product Record for a navy sweater has Color = "Navy". Two Product Requests are linked to that record: a Spring e-commerce shoot and a Summer campaign shoot. The merchandiser corrects the record to "Midnight Navy". Both shoots now show "Midnight Navy" on their own, with no one touching the requests. A studio coordinator tries to change the Spring request to "Dark Blue". The field is greyed out.
Best Used For	Best for master product data that must be the same on every shoot, such as Name or Brand.

Allow Overwrite

With the Sync Mode set to Allow Override, the value lives at the Parent level and is directly inherited by the associated Child entity. When the value is edited for the Child, it does not change for the Parent– but when changed on the Parent, it will change on the Child.

Category	Behavior
Value Change: Parent → Child	The parent's value is copied down to linked children too. A later parent value change will replace a value someone edited on the child.
Value Change: Child → Parent	Users can edit the value on the child from any route. The edit stays on the child.
Code Changes	When a child is linked to a different parent, any value the user entered is kept. If the child has no value, it takes the parent's value as a starting point.
Sync Mode Editability	You can only change it to Request Only. Once a property is set to Allow Overwrite, the edit screen won't let you switch it back to Inherited.
Practical Example	The Product Record for a navy sweater has Color = "Navy". Two Product Requests are linked to that record: a Spring Job and a Summer Job. Both shoots start with "Navy", copied from the record. The coordinator changes the Spring request to "Dark Blue" because the sweater looks darker under studio lights. Only the Spring request changes. The Record and the Summer Request still say "Navy". If the merchandiser later updates the Record to "Midnight Navy", that update will replace "Dark Blue" on the Spring request & "Navy" on Summer.
Best Used For	Best for values that usually come from the Product Record but sometimes need a tweak for one-off shoots, such as a color name adjusted for studio lighting.

Request Only

With the Sync Mode set to Request/Sample Only, the value lives at the Child level and does not exist on the parent.

Category	Behavior
Value Change: Parent → Child	Parent changes never reach it. These properties are not visible on Product Records or Variants in Product Hub.
Value Change: Child → Parent	The value can be edited freely on the child. It belongs to the child alone.
Product Code Changes	If a child is re-linked to a different parent, the child keeps its own value. There is nothing on the parent to inherit.
Sync Mode Editability	This choice is permanent. The screen greys out the other two options.
Practical Example	The Product Record for a navy sweater has Color = "Navy". Two Product Requests are linked to that record: a Spring e-commerce shoot and a Summer campaign shoot. Color doesn't appear in Product Hub at all, so there's no record value to manage, and nothing from the record is ever copied to the requests. The Spring team enters "Navy" and the Summer team enters "Washed Navy" to match their styling. Each request keeps its own value. Neither one goes back to the record, and neither affects the other.
Best Used For	Best for details that only matter to one shoot or sample and don't belong on the master product, such as shoot notes, styling instructions, or campaign-specific values.

Property Sync Mode