Move around the canvas

#What it is

The canvas is the big board where everything you make appears. Image, Motion and Audio all use the same canvas, so the moves on this page work for all of them. You pan, zoom, select and drag items around, and the board remembers where you put images.

#Who can use it

Everyone. Free and Pro accounts have the same canvas. On a team, the Viewer role can look at the canvas. Moving items, importing and deleting need the Editor role or higher.

#Cost

Free, no credits. Panning, zooming, selecting, moving, fitting and importing never use credits. Things you start from the canvas, such as an edit, show their price before you confirm.

#Where to find it

Open Projects in the left menu, then click a Studio project. The canvas fills the left side of the screen. The chat panel is on the right, see the chat panel.

#Buttons and controls

The bar along the bottom left is the canvas dock.

#How to move around

1. Drag on empty canvas to pan. On a phone or tablet, drag with one finger.
2. Scroll the mouse wheel to zoom toward the pointer. On a phone, pinch with two fingers.
3. Click Fit to content to see everything again.
4. Click Zoom in or Zoom out for fixed steps. The number between them shows your zoom.

The first time a project opens, the canvas frames your items for you.

#How to select and move items

1. Click an item to select it. A selected item comes to the front.
2. To select more, hold Shift (or Ctrl, or Cmd on a Mac) and click other items. Click a selected item again with the key held to take it out.
3. Or hold Shift (Ctrl, Cmd) and drag on empty canvas. A dashed box appears, and everything it touches is selected. Anything already selected stays selected.
4. Drag any selected item to move them all together. Selected items keep their distance from each other.
5. Click an empty spot to clear the selection.

Only finished items can be selected. An item that is still being made cannot.

#How to group items

There is no group button and no named groups. To work on several items as one, select them and use the selection bar. A selection moves as a group when you drag it.

#Keyboard and mouse shortcuts

These keys do nothing while you are typing in a box, such as the prompt or a comment.

#Options explained

Canvas actions menu:

• Upload image: same as Import image to canvas.
• Open in AI editor: same as the dock button.
• Zoom in, Zoom out: one step.
• Zoom to fit: same as Fit to content.
• Zoom to 100%: sets normal size and puts the canvas back at its starting point.
• Delete project: asks you to confirm, then removes the whole project. See rename and delete.

Image menu (the button named Image actions on a picture, or right-click):

• Edit: opens the edit toolbar. The tools are covered in the Image section.
• Duplicate: puts a copy next to the picture. The copy lives on this canvas only until you leave. It is not saved to the project.
• Download: saves the picture, see download and export.
• Copy prompt: copies the words used to make it.
• Use this version: see versions.
• Add to calendar, Save to Library, Download ZIP, Make LinkedIn PDF: in the dropdown, see download and export.
• Delete: see rename and delete.

Edited tag and arrows: a picture made by editing another one shows an Edited tag. An arrow runs from the original to the edit.

Resize handles: when you point at or select a picture, drag a corner or edge to change its size on the canvas. The shape stays the same. This only changes how big it looks on the board.

Position memory: when you drag a saved image, its new place is saved with the project. Duplicates and items still being made are not saved.

#Limits

• Zoom goes from 0.1 to 4 times normal size.
• An imported picture can be up to 10. JPEG, PNG and WebP work.

#When something goes wrong

#Questions

#Why can I not select an item?

Only finished items can be selected. Wait for it to finish.

#Does Delete or Backspace remove the selected items?

No. Those keys do nothing on the canvas. Use Delete in the selection bar, or the image menu.

#Do my positions save?

Yes for saved images. Drag one and its place is saved. Reset layout clears all of them.

#Does the canvas work on a phone?

Yes. Drag with one finger to pan and pinch to zoom. The chat panel and the canvas take turns on a small screen. Use Open chat panel and Back to editor to switch.

#Do the letters E, B, X, C and R in the edit toolbar work as shortcuts?

They show on the tool tips, but the app has no key handler for them yet. Click the tool instead.

#Is the canvas the same for Image, Motion and Audio?

Yes. They share one canvas. Pan, zoom, select and fit work the same.