Page canvases and freeform whiteboards

ALLO has two main canvas formats: page canvases and freeform whiteboards. They are both canvases, but they solve different jobs. A page canvas gives work a sequence. A freeform whiteboard gives work space.

Choose the format before the team starts building serious content. The choice affects navigation, templates, export, print, presentation, page comments, minimap, and how collaborators understand where they are. You can copy or rebuild content later, but the cleanest workflow is to start in the right format.

Availability and permissions

Format comparison

Choose a page canvas when order matters

Use a page canvas when people need to move through the work in sections. A page can be an agenda item, a workshop exercise, a design option, a report section, a lesson step, a decision log, or a slide in a presentation.

Page canvases are strongest when the team asks questions like:

1. What is the next section?
2. Can we present this in order?
3. Can we export or print the result?
4. Can we link someone to a specific page?
5. Can we fold prep material until later?
6. Can we duplicate this page layout for the next topic?
7. Can we see unread comments by page?

The page tools are designed for sequence. Use Use canvas pages to structure the canvas, Page menu for page-level actions, and Slide rail and overview for long canvases.

Use slide and presentation flow on page canvases

A slide or presentation flow is not a third storage format. It is a page canvas used in presentation mode. The page order becomes the audience path. Page titles, folded pages, and slide rail order matter because they shape what people see.

Use this flow for client reviews, lessons, sprint readouts, design critiques, decision meetings, and any canvas that needs to hide editing chrome while someone presents.

Before presenting, scan the slide rail or overview. Check page order, page titles, folded pages, blank pages, and unread comment areas. A presentation exposes weak structure fast. If page 7 is really backup material, fold it or move it. If page 3 is untitled, rename it before people are watching.

If a canvas needs both messy ideation and polished presentation, split the work. Use a freeform whiteboard for exploration, then move final decisions into a page canvas for presentation.

Choose a freeform whiteboard when space matters

Use a freeform whiteboard when forcing content into pages would make the work worse. It is the better fit for discovery work, affinity mapping, systems diagrams, research synthesis, open brainstorming, architecture maps, and large canvases that stay alive across multiple sessions.

Freeform whiteboards are strongest when the team asks questions like:

1. Can we spread this out?
2. Can we cluster ideas without creating pages?
3. Can the canvas grow as we add more?
4. Can we map relationships spatially?
5. Can we keep one continuous surface instead of a deck?
6. Can people work in different regions at the same time?

Freeform whiteboards intentionally hide or limit page-specific features. That is not a missing permission. It is the format doing its job. The canvas is more open, but page export, print, presentation, page resizing, page titles, and normal page stack actions are not the core workflow.

Freeform whiteboard navigation

Freeform whiteboards depend on spatial navigation. Use pan, zoom, the hand tool, and Minimap to move around the canvas. Use labels and visible regions so people can tell where they are after they arrive.

A large canvas without labels becomes a scavenger hunt. Add headings for zones, keep related objects near each other, use color intentionally, and create sub-canvases when one cluster deserves deep work.

If collaborators keep asking where something is, the canvas probably needs structure. The minimap can show where content exists, but it cannot name the work for you.

Export, print, and handoff

Page canvases are the right format when the final output needs PDF export, print, or a slide-style handoff. The canvas has page bounds, page order, and page sizes that export tools can represent.

Freeform whiteboards do not promise fixed page bounds. Page-based PDF export, browser print, and presentation are page-canvas workflows because an open canvas cannot be honestly turned into a clean page sequence without choices about cropping and order.

If a stakeholder needs a PDF, use a page canvas. If the team needs one shared exploration surface, use a freeform whiteboard and create a separate page canvas later for the final story.

Templates and starting shape

Templates inherit the format they were built for. A page-canvas template is useful when the reusable value is a sequence: agenda, exercise pages, review steps, report sections, or slides. A freeform whiteboard template is useful when the reusable value is a spatial layout: zones, clusters, maps, or workshop areas.

Before choosing a template, ask what the final canvas needs to become. If the session needs export or presentation, choose a page-canvas template. If the session needs one large exploratory canvas, choose a freeform whiteboard template if available.

When saving your own template, remove private content and stale placeholders first. See Use canvas templates.

Comments and collaboration

Page canvases support page-level thinking. A page comment can mean "this whole section needs review" or "move this page before the decision page." Object comments still work for precise feedback.

Freeform whiteboards rely more on object comments and spatial context. A comment belongs near the specific note, image, file, or cluster it discusses. If feedback is about a whole region, add a visible region label and place the comment near that label.

In live collaboration, page canvases make it easier to say "go to page 4." Freeform whiteboards make it easier to say "go to the Risk map in the upper-right cluster," but only if the canvas has visible labels.

Recreate instead of forcing conversion

If you chose the wrong format, recreate the work in the format that matches the job instead of fighting it.

Move from a freeform whiteboard to a page canvas when you need presentation, PDF export, print, page links, folded prep sections, or one page per decision. Create a page canvas and copy or rebuild the parts that belong in the story.

Move from a page canvas to a freeform whiteboard when page boundaries keep interrupting exploration. Create a freeform whiteboard and bring over the clusters, notes, and files that belong in one open space. Do not keep adding pages just to simulate one giant map.

There may not be a perfect one-click conversion for every canvas state. Comments, page titles, folded pages, object placement, and export expectations do not translate cleanly between formats. The safer workflow is to choose intentionally, then copy only the content that should survive.

Examples

Choose a page canvas for a client presentation. Page 1 is the overview, page 2 is the problem, page 3 is the proposed direction, page 4 is risks, and page 5 is next steps. You can fold backup pages, present live, and export a PDF afterward.

Choose a freeform whiteboard for research synthesis. Put interview notes in clusters, draw relationships, create sub-canvases for deep dives, and keep the map alive as new evidence arrives.

Choose a page canvas for a workshop with timed exercises. Choose a freeform whiteboard for the raw brainstorm before the workshop agenda is known.

Choose a page canvas for a policy review if the final artifact needs a PDF. Choose a freeform whiteboard if the team is mapping how the policy affects teams, systems, and decisions.

Format problems

If Export to PDF, Print, or Present is missing, check whether the canvas is a freeform whiteboard. Those are page-canvas workflows.

If page menu actions are missing, the canvas may be a freeform whiteboard, or you may not have permission. On freeform whiteboards, page stack actions do not apply.

If the minimap is missing, check whether the canvas is a page canvas. Page canvases use slide rail and overview instead.

If a freeform whiteboard feels too large to navigate, add labels, spatial regions, color grouping, comments, and sub-canvases. Open space still needs structure.

If a page canvas feels cramped, add pages, resize pages when supported, or split detailed areas into sub-canvases. Do not turn a page canvas into a junk drawer just because adding a new page feels like one more click.

If collaborators are confused, the format may not be the real problem, so add clear titles, labels, page names, or review instructions before switching formats.