Canvas controls and shortcuts
Switch between trackpad and mouse mode, select, pan and zoom around a board, and use the shortcuts for duplicating, deleting and undoing.
Canvas has two input modes: Trackpad and Mouse. Selecting and panning work the same in both; what differs is the scroll wheel. The shortcut list lives behind the keyboard button at the bottom left of the board.
Choose your input mode
Choose the keyboard button at the bottom left of the board to open Canvas shortcuts.
Under Input, choose Trackpad or Mouse. The shortcut list below updates to match.
Your choice is saved in this browser. Trackpad is the default; if Canvas notices a mouse wheel while you're in trackpad mode, it offers once to Switch to mouse mode.
| Action | Trackpad mode | Mouse mode |
|---|---|---|
| Select several cards | Drag on empty space | Drag on empty space |
| Pan | Two-finger scroll; middle-drag; right-drag empty space; hold Space and drag | Middle-drag; right-drag empty space; hold Space and drag |
| Zoom | Pinch; ⌘ / Ctrl + scroll | Scroll wheel |
On touch screens, a one-finger drag pans the board. When you open a board in view mode, dragging empty space pans it and there is no shortcuts button.
Tip
While you hold Space, a drag that starts on a card pans the board instead of moving the card — handy on a crowded board.
Select several cards
- Selection box: drag a box across empty space. Every card the box touches is selected.
- Add or remove one: hold ⌘ / Ctrl and click a card.
- Keep just one: with several cards selected, click one of them and it becomes the only selection.
With several cards selected, or while you hold ⌘ / Ctrl, clicking a card only changes the selection — it never presses a button on the card. When two or more finished images are selected, Group into one appears at the bottom, and dragging any selected card moves them all.
Shortcuts
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Add a card | Double-click empty space |
| Duplicate a prompt card | ⌘ / Ctrl + D, or the copy button on the card |
| Delete | Delete or Backspace |
| Undo a delete | ⌘ / Ctrl + Z |
| Make an image group | Select several images, then choose Group into one |
| Remove a wire | Hover the wire and choose the × in the middle |
A duplicate copies the prompt, settings and input wires, but not the results. It lands below the original and becomes the selection, so you can compare two versions of a prompt.
What undo covers
⌘ / Ctrl + Z steps back through your last 50 actions of these kinds: deleting cards and wires, removing reference rows, removing image versions, grouping or ungrouping images, and splitting a shot list into cards.
It does not cover moving cards, duplicating, tidying the layout or changing settings. Text fields have their own undo while you type in them.
Tidy layout and zooming out
- Tidy layout at the bottom left rearranges the board into left-to-right columns that follow the wires. It can't be undone.
- You can zoom from 0.2× to 4×. Zoomed far out, cards show as simplified previews; zoom back in to edit them. This keeps big boards smooth.