## What is Canvas?
Canvas is a visual workspace for planning, brainstorming, and organizing ideas. Create mind maps, timelines, character relationship diagrams, and more with flexible nodes and connections.

**Available in:** All workspaces and all board tabs, except Mythos entity tabs.

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## Common uses
- Mind mapping and brainstorming
- Story timelines and plot structure
- Character relationship maps
- Family trees and hierarchies
- World-building diagrams
- Research organization
- Content planning

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## Creating a canvas
**To create a canvas:**
1. Go to any board tab (Files, Planning, Research, etc.)
2. Click the paint palette icon
3. Name your canvas
4. Follow the walkthrough (if it's your first canvas creation)
5. Start adding nodes

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## Canvas views:
### 1. Grid view
Visible grid background with optional snap-to-grid for aligned, structured layouts.
**Best for:** Organized diagrams, timelines, hierarchical structures

### 2. Blank view
Clean background with free-form node placement for organic, flexible layouts.
**Best for:** Mind maps, creative brainstorming, flexible arrangements

Toggle between views using the canvas toolbar.

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## Working with nodes
**Nodes** are the building blocks of your canvas—text boxes, images, timelines, and more that you can place, connect, and organize.

**Basic actions:**
- **Add nodes** - Click and drag nodes from the canvas toolbar on to the canvas
- **Move nodes** - Click and drag to reposition
- **Resize nodes** - Drag corner handles
- **Connect nodes** - Drag from one node to another to create connections
- **Color nodes** - Change background colors for visual organization
- **Zoom** - Zoom in/out to focus or see the full canvas

[Learn more about Node Types →](/content/help/docs/canvas/overview/node-types/index.html)

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## Next steps
- [Exporting Canvas →](/content/help/docs/canvas/overview/exporting/index.html) - Export as PNG images