# Canvases

> Boards of note cards, stickies, text and shapes joined by links, and asking Canto to fill, link or arrange one with one Undo per answer.

Applies to Canto 1.0 beta 3 · Updated Oct 10, 2026 · https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/canvases

A canvas is a board with no edges. Put your notes on it as cards, add sticky notes, text, tags and shapes, and draw links between them. Ask works beside a canvas the way it works beside a note: it reads the board and, when you agree, changes it.

## Make a canvas

Choose **File › New Canvas**, **New canvas** in the sidebar's **+** menu, or right-click a folder and choose **New canvas**. A canvas lives in your folders like a note, opens in a pane like a note, and goes to the Trash like a note.

A new canvas says **Blank canvas — start anywhere**. Scroll to pan, and hold `⌘` while you scroll to zoom.

## Tools

The tools are in a rail on the left. Each has a one-letter key:

| Tool                        | Key            | Adds                                |
| --------------------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Select                      | `V`            | Nothing: select, move and resize    |
| Pan                         | `H`            | Nothing: drag the board             |
| Note                        | `N`            | A card that shows one of your notes |
| Sticky                      | `S`            | A sticky note                       |
| Text                        | `T`            | A line of text on the board         |
| Tag                         | `G`            | A card for one of your tags         |
| Rectangle, Ellipse, Diamond | `R`, `O`, `D` | A shape you can label               |

A new note card or tag card asks which note or tag it shows: type to filter, then `↩`. Double-click a card that has none yet to choose one. **Open note** in a card's right-click menu opens the note.

**Links.** Drag from the handle on a card's edge to another card to join them. Right-click a link to **Edit label** or **Delete link**.

**The selection bar.** Select cards and a small bar appears over them: a colour (yellow, green, blue, red, purple or plain) for stickies, tags and shapes, the shape itself, **Duplicate** (`⌘D`) and **Delete** (`⌫`). Right-click a card for **Edit label**, **Duplicate**, **Bring to front**, **Open note** and **Delete**.

## Keys

| Keys             | Does                                     |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| `⌘Z` / `⇧⌘Z`      | Undo / redo                              |
| `⌘A`             | Select everything                        |
| `⌘C`, `⌘V`, `⌘D` | Copy, paste, duplicate                   |
| Arrow keys       | Nudge the selection (with `⇧`, further) |
| `⌘0`             | Fit everything in view                   |
| `⌘1`             | Back to 100%                             |
| `Esc`             | Back to Select, and clear the selection  |

## Canvas helpers

The ✨ key beside the zoom controls opens **Ask and canvas helpers**:

* **Ask about this canvas** (`⌘J`) opens Ask beside it.
* **Link related notes** joins note cards whose notes are alike, found on your Mac by search by meaning. It needs two or more note cards and no chat.
* **Arrange automatically** lays the cards out so nothing overlaps.

The last two are also in the canvas's right-click menu, and each is one undo step.

## Ask on a canvas

Beside a canvas, Ask reads its cards and can change the board. Before your first message it offers a few starts that fit the board:

* **Map and connect my notes about…**: find your notes on a topic, put each on the canvas and link the related ones.
* **Mind-map a topic**.
* **Brainstorm on sticky notes**.
* **Add my notes about…**, **Link related notes** and **Tidy this canvas**.

Ask asks once per answer before it changes the canvas. If you say no, it answers in words instead. Everything one answer changed is one step: **Undo** under the answer, or `⌘Z` on the canvas, takes it all back.

Ask works on a canvas with the model on your Mac, a server, or a cloud model if you chose one, exactly as it does beside a note. See [Ask about your notes](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/ask) and [Let Ask edit](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/edits).

## Canvases elsewhere

* **Search** finds canvases by their words; see [⌘K and search](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/search).
* **Projects** can hold canvases; see [Organize your notes](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/organize#projects).
* **Sync**: canvases sync with your notes; see [Sync between your Macs](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/sync).
* **The Trash** keeps a deleted canvas for 30 days by default, and **Open read-only** shows it before you restore it.