A method implemented by a computing device, the method comprising: displaying a design interface for editing digital content; displaying, in the design interface, at least a first control bar and a second control bar, the first control bar associated with a first element of the digital content and the second control bar associated with a second element of the digital content that at least partially overlaps the first element in the digital content, wherein a padding layer is applied to each of the elements of the digital content and a distance of the padding layer is fixed for each of the elements of the digital content thereby causing each of the control bars to be displayed at a preconfigured distance from a boundary of their respective elements, wherein the first control bar and the second control bar are configured to remain visible and selectable in the design interface while editing the digital content even if the first element or the second element is completely blocked from view by an additional element of the digital content; receiving a user input to select the first control bar or the second control bar; activating the respective first element or second element associated with the selected control bar responsive to the user input, the activating changing a visual appearance of both the selected control bar and the activated element and enabling user interaction with the activated element; and generating a finalized version of the digital content by removing the first control bar and the second control bar from the finalized version of the digital content. displaying a design interface for editing digital content; displaying, in the design interface, at least a first control bar and a second control bar, the first control bar associated with a first element of the digital content and the second control bar associated with a second element of the digital content that at least partially overlaps the first element in the digital content, wherein a padding layer is applied to each of the elements of the digital content and a distance of the padding layer is fixed for each of the elements of the digital content thereby causing each of the control bars to be displayed at a preconfigured distance from a boundary of their respective elements, wherein the first control bar and the second control bar are configured to remain visible and selectable in the design interface while editing the digital content even if the first element or the second element is completely blocked from view by an additional element of the digital content; wherein a padding layer is applied to each of the elements of the digital content and a distance of the padding layer is fixed for each of the elements of the digital content thereby causing each of the control bars to be displayed at a preconfigured distance from a boundary of their respective elements, wherein the first control bar and the second control bar are configured to remain visible and selectable in the design interface while editing the digital content even if the first element or the second element is completely blocked from view by an additional element of the digital content; receiving a user input to select the first control bar or the second control bar; activating the respective first element or second element associated with the selected control bar responsive to the user input, the activating changing a visual appearance of both the selected control bar and the activated element and enabling user interaction with the activated element; and generating a finalized version of the digital content by removing the first control bar and the second control bar from the finalized version of the digital content.