The canvas
A canvas is an endless board where you lay out cards (images, video, PDFs, notes, and cards that show real work from a project) and connect them with wires. It is where a studio thinks out loud together: moodboards, pitches, a breakdown with every shot laid out, a walk-through for a client. A canvas is a window onto your project, never a second copy of it, so arranging and wiring things is always safe.
Two letters is enough, and it reads every chapter.
How do I make a canvas and add cards?
Press Canvas in the top bar, then New. Right-click anywhere on the board and type what you want, or pick from the two groups:
- Most used: Title, Text, Frame, Image, video or PDF…, Comment.
- From this project: Shot card, Breakdown, Reviews, Project data, Export, Compare, Switch, and a few more specialised cards.
A card that shows project data does not copy it; it points to it. Rename the shot and the card follows, so nothing on the board goes stale.
Can playing with the canvas change my project?
No. Moving cards, wiring them together, or connecting a Breakdown to another card never touches your project. A wire only carries data forward to the next card; it never decides anything on its own.
Working on a canvas together
Everyone on the same canvas sees each other's cursor live, and the bar at the top says Only you or names who else is there. Two pens:
- a pointing pen whose lines fade after fifteen seconds, for showing something while you talk;
- a drawing pen that keeps what you draw as a card on the board.
Ctrl+Z only undoes your own last change, never a colleague's. Guide, the last item in the canvas bar, lists every gesture: drag the background to pan, Ctrl+scroll to zoom, Shift-drag to select several cards, F2 to rename.
Who can see a canvas?
A new canvas is yours: nobody else in the studio sees it, apart from a studio admin. To bring people in, invite colleagues to it directly, or hang it on a project or a deal, which opens it to that project's team.
How do I record a walk-through?
A walk-through is a short screen recording of the canvas with your voice, so you can talk someone through a board without being there live.
- Press Walk-throughs in the canvas bar, then Record a walk-through. A red dot shows while you record.
- When you stop, give it a name if you like. It stays inside the studio until you share it.
- With no names ticked, everyone who can open the canvas can play it. Tick names to keep it to those people (and whoever runs the board). Notify tells them it is there.
- Choose how long it is kept under Keep for: 7, 14 (the default) or 30 days, or Never. When it runs out it goes to the trash for the usual five days.
To show it to a client, press Make client-ready. Clients only ever hear walk-throughs that are client-ready, and only on links with Walk-throughs switched on.
While you record, Task in the recording strip writes a task down without stopping: type a title, check who it is for, press Enter. The recording carries on, and the task remembers the card and the moment it came from. This works on a canvas that hangs on a project.
What does a guest see?
A guest first gives their name, then gets a short animation showing how to move around (a mouse on a computer, a finger on a phone). They can pan, zoom and look. With Responses on they can also write a remark and draw; with Client recording on they can record a reply. A guest can never add cards, draw wires or change the board itself.