Understand canvases

A canvas is the shared workspace in ALLO where a team can arrange ideas, files, diagrams, notes, comments, and presentation pages in one place. Use it when the work needs spatial thinking: planning a workshop, reviewing a design, collecting research, explaining a workflow, or giving feedback on a document without losing the discussion around it.

The most useful mental model is simple: a project organizes work, a canvas is where the work happens, and elements are the things placed on the canvas. If you are new, start with Canvas basics, then come back here when you need to decide which canvas format fits a real job.

Canvas terms at a glance

Canvas, project, and file

A Project is the container for related work. It can hold canvases, sections, owners, tags, Due dates, progress, and collaborators. A canvas is one item inside that project where people create and review the actual visual content.

A file is content you place inside a canvas. Images, PDFs, spreadsheets, and uploaded files become canvas elements that can be moved, resized, commented on, previewed, replaced, downloaded, or arranged with other elements. If the file itself is the main thing being reviewed, place it on a canvas so comments and context stay attached to the review.

This distinction matters for permissions. Project access can make a canvas visible to the right workspace members, while canvas sharing controls who can open or collaborate on a specific canvas. See Share a canvas when the question is who can view, comment, or edit.

Page canvas or freeform whiteboard

Choose a page canvas when the work has a sequence: review steps, meeting sections, slides, pages of a report, or a workshop that moves from agenda to exercises to wrap-up. A page canvas gives you a slide rail, page menu, overview, presentation mode, print, and PDF export.

Choose a freeform whiteboard when the work should not be forced into pages. It is better for mapping systems, clustering sticky notes, brainstorming freely, or keeping a large board alive across multiple sessions. Freeform whiteboards keep the board feeling like one continuous space, and the board can grow as content spreads out.

If you need the detailed tradeoffs, use Page canvases and freeform whiteboards.

What you can do in a canvas

You can add everyday work objects from the toolbar: sticky notes, text, shapes, arrows, drawing, spreadsheets, stickers, uploaded files, YouTube links, and sub-canvases. On mobile, the toolbar focuses on the most common actions: select, hand tool, drawing, sticky notes, upload files, and insert links.

Once content is on the canvas, select it to edit quickly with the inline toolbar or open the element menu for the full set of actions. Common actions include color, text formatting, alignment, comments, links, grouping, lock, duplicate, layer order, flip, crop, replace image, remove background, preview, download, and copy as Markdown.

The toolbar is the main entry point for creating canvas content. It keeps object creation close to the work surface so you can add a note, image, file, drawing, table, or other object without leaving the canvas.

Start with Canvas elements, then use the tool references when you need detail:

• Inline toolbar covers quick controls beside the current selection.
• Element menu covers the fuller selected-object action set.

Canvas collaboration is built around comments, mentions, live presence, chat, calls, and sharing:

• Comments and mentions cover anchored feedback.
• Live collaboration covers cursors and presence.
• Use canvas chat covers fast text discussion.
• Use audio/video calls in a canvas covers synchronous discussion.
• Guest collaboration covers access for someone outside the workspace.

What a canvas is not

A canvas is not just a file previewer. Files become part of a larger review space where notes, arrows, comments, owners, and page context can sit around the file.

A canvas is not automatically a project. A project is the organizational layer around related work. A canvas can be moved, copied, shared, archived, or managed inside a project, but the canvas itself is where people create and discuss the visual work.

A canvas is not always a slide deck. Page canvases can behave like slides when you present them, but they can also be working documents, workshops, or review boards. Freeform whiteboards are deliberately not slide decks.

A canvas is not the right place for every kind of data. Use spreadsheets or source systems for heavy data work, then place the useful view, file, or summary on the canvas when the team needs to discuss it visually.

How canvas state changes what you see

The canvas UI adapts constantly. The same person can see different controls on different canvases because the state is different.

If a menu item is missing, do not assume the article is wrong or the product is broken. First check canvas type, permission, whether you are a guest, selected object type, device, and workspace settings.

Theme changes should not change the meaning of the canvas. Use enough contrast in images, text, shapes, and comments that the work stays readable in both light and dark environments.

Canvas lifecycle

Most canvases pass through a simple lifecycle:

1. Create the canvas from a blank page, template, project, import, freeform whiteboard, or sub-canvas workflow.
2. Add structure with pages, titles, sections, backgrounds, locked instructions, or spatial regions.
3. Add elements such as notes, files, images, shapes, arrows, spreadsheets, links, and sub-canvases.
4. Invite collaborators with view, comment, edit, or guest access.
5. Work live with cursors, comments, chat, calls, and page navigation.
6. Resolve feedback, assign owners, move or copy the canvas to the right project, and export or present if needed.
7. Archive, fold old pages, save a clean version as a template, or use backup/version tools when recovery is needed.

Knowing the lifecycle helps you choose the right article. Creation problems belong in Create a canvas. Editing problems belong in Canvas elements. Access problems belong in Share a canvas. Export problems belong in Fix a failed canvas export.

Availability and permissions

Examples

For a design critique, create a page canvas, upload screenshots or PDFs, invite reviewers with comment access, ask them to mention owners on specific issues, then export a PDF for stakeholders who need a static copy.

For a strategy workshop, start from a template, create one page per exercise, fold preparation pages until needed, use an audio/video call or chat during the session, and present the final pages at the end.

For open-ended research mapping, choose a freeform whiteboard, add notes and files in clusters, use comments for unresolved questions, and avoid page-specific workflows like slide export or presentation mode.

What can go wrong

If a button is missing, the most likely causes are permissions, canvas type, device context, or workspace settings. Guests do not see every owner control. Freeform whiteboards hide page-specific controls. Mobile may use a smaller toolbar. Some file actions are disabled while an upload is still processing or when downloads are restricted.

If a canvas will not open, appears missing, or shows a permission error, check whether you are signed in with the right account, whether the share link still allows access, and whether the canvas was moved, archived, deleted, or removed from your project. Use Troubleshoot canvas issues for the recovery checklist.

If a canvas feels chaotic, the fix is usually structure rather than another tool. Add page titles, split work into pages, create sub-canvases for deep dives, lock stable instructions, resolve old comments, and move finished work into a project state people understand.