Canvas guide
Create, edit, present, export, and collaborate inside canvases.
Canvas essentials
Understand the canvas modelLearn when to use a freeform canvas, pages, templates, and objects.Add content objectsAdd sticky notes, text, shapes, arrows, stickers, files, and media in one place.Organize pages and sectionsSplit a large canvas into reviewable pages without losing the whole workspace.Present or export the resultTurn canvas work into a review, presentation, or PDF handoff.
Core guides
Create a canvasStart a blank canvas, use a template, import content, or create one inside a project.Use canvas templatesHow to pick, customize, and save canvas templates your team will actually reuse.
Related guides
| Guide | Covers |
|---|---|
| Canvas templates overview | Understand where canvas templates appear, how template manager differs from canvas creation, and when to use a template instead of a blank canvas. |
| Learn canvas basics | Follow a learning path from creating a canvas to adding elements, comments, sharing, and export. |
| Create a canvas from a template | Start a new canvas from a standard or workspace template, choose the right creation path, and understand what happens after creation. |
| Page canvases and freeform whiteboards | Choose the right canvas format for structured pages, slide-style review, or open-ended spatial work. |
| Search and organize templates | Search the template library, use tags and recent queries, keep template names clear, and clean up stale workspace templates. |
| Import PDF and Office files | Create a canvas from PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or HWP files and review the converted result with comments and canvas tools. |
| Convert an uploaded document to a canvas | Turn a selected PDF or Office file already on a canvas into a connected sub-canvas without uploading the document again. |
| Preview, edit, and duplicate templates | Preview template content, edit workspace custom templates, duplicate useful structures, and avoid changing the wrong reusable starting point. |
| Use sub-canvases | Create connected sub-canvases when a large canvas needs focused child spaces, clearer navigation, or deeper work without crowding the parent. |
| Template permissions and visibility | Understand who can see, create from, edit, duplicate, or delete canvas templates, and how custom template visibility relates to source canvas access. |
| Connect objects with smart arrows | Use smart arrows on a freeform whiteboard to connect objects, keep diagram lines editable, and show AI Studio which object builds on which. |
| Use the rich text editor | Format text inside canvas objects, spreadsheet cells, comments, and chat with ALLO's shared editing tools. |
| Use the inline toolbar | Edit selected canvas elements quickly with the toolbar that appears near the selection. |
| Use the element menu | Open the full element menu for actions that depend on the selected canvas item type. |
| Lock canvas objects | Use object locks to protect important canvas layout and reference material from accidental edits, and understand who can unlock them. |
| Work with images, files, and spreadsheets | The editing tools that appear when you select media, files, or spreadsheets on a canvas. |
| Work with file objects on a canvas | Upload files onto the canvas, preview and download them, and fix the common reasons a file will not open. |
| Work with image objects on a canvas | Put screenshots, mockups, and photos on a canvas, then crop, swap, or strip backgrounds while the review comments stay attached. |
| Use links and YouTube embeds on a canvas | Add website links, rich link cards, and YouTube videos to a canvas, then preview, open, replace, and discuss them safely. |
| Use spreadsheet objects on a canvas | Put small editable tables on a canvas, with cell formatting, formulas, mentions, and checklists. |
| Preview canvas objects | Preview files, media, links, and Office or HWP documents in a focused viewer without leaving the canvas. |
| Use the hand tool | Pan around a canvas without selecting, moving, or editing objects. |
| Undo and redo canvas edits | What canvas undo and redo can and cannot reverse, and how to recover when live collaboration changes the result. |
| Use the minimap | Navigate large freeform whiteboards with the minimap and its viewport marker; page canvases use the slide rail instead. |
| Canvas shortcuts | Use keyboard and mouse shortcuts for tools, selection, dragging, resizing, snapping, drawing, search, and object actions on a canvas. |
| Use the page menu | Everything the page menu does: comments, backgrounds, resizing, folding, duplication, and safe deletion. |
| Fold pages | Hide page canvas sections without deleting them, then unfold them when they should return to the active flow. |
| Page size | Resize one page, selected pages, or every page in a page canvas, and understand how page size affects automatic height, presentation, and export. |
| Use the slide rail and overview | Navigate long canvases, reorder pages, and find pages with unread object or comment activity. |
| Search inside a canvas | Use Command+F or Ctrl+F to find text in the canvas you are viewing without leaving the canvas. |
| Present a canvas | Show a canvas as a fullscreen presentation without the editing interface in the way. |
| Track object activity and unread changes | Use hover details, red unread dots, and slide rail counts to see what changed on a canvas. |
| Use the canvas header menu | Export, print, rename, and find whole-canvas actions from the canvas header. |
| Use Version History | Review earlier canvas versions, save a named version, and restore a previous state when canvas content changes unexpectedly. |
| Use Backup & Restore | Export a canvas backup file and restore a canvas from a .bee backup when you need a portable recovery copy. |
| Share a canvas | Invite people, create share links, and choose who can view, comment, or edit a canvas. |
| Use a Canvas PIN or passcode | Protect a shared canvas with a 4-digit PIN so people need both access and the code before content opens. |
| Manage Canvas members | Review who can access a canvas, invite people by email, adjust roles, and choose between direct invites, share links, and private links. |
| Private links and share links in Canvas | Understand which Canvas links grant access and which links only send someone to an exact page, object, comment, or chat message. |
| Use the collaboration side panel | Review comments, activity, and canvas information from the right-side collaboration panel. |
| Collaborate live on a canvas | Use presence, cursors, online status, and follow-style navigation while working together. |
| Collaborate with guests | Let external collaborators open a shared canvas to view, comment, edit, chat, or join calls without becoming workspace members. |
| Use canvas chat | Open Team chat from a canvas, use it for live coordination, and move durable decisions into comments. |
| Use audio/video calls in a canvas | Start or join a canvas call, manage call controls, and keep the canvas usable while people talk. |
| Use AI Studio in a canvas | Open AI Studio from a canvas you can edit, give it canvas context, and review the generated object where it lands. |
| Manage canvases in projects | Use project and list menus to organize canvases with owners, Due dates, tags, sections, and access. |
| Troubleshoot canvas issues | Recover from common canvas problems with access, loading, comments, export, media, or performance. |
| Run a workshop in a canvas | Plan, run, and wrap up a team workshop in a canvas, from agenda pages to the final readout. |
| Fix a failed canvas export | What to check when a canvas PDF export, print job, or image download fails. |
| Give feedback with comments and mentions | Leave feedback on the exact place it belongs, pull in the right person with a mention, and keep track of what is still open. |
| Mention people and canvas collaborators | Use @mentions to bring the right collaborators into canvas comments, chat, rich text objects, and Inbox notifications. |