5. Canvas

Canvas — Freeform Workspaces

A Canvas is a freeform, infinite workspace where you can freely position text blocks, notes, and content anywhere on an open board. It sits alongside Cards as a first-class item inside any stack.

Canvas vs. Card

Both Cards and Canvases appear as thumbnails on the Cards View grid within a stack.

Creating a Canvas

From Inside a Stack

1. Open any stack from the Home page.
2. Click Add New Canvas (lightbulb icon) in the top bar.

1. A menu of templates appear that you can choose from.  Click the starting template you like.
2. A new Canvas opens immediately, ready to use.
3. You can set the name of the Canvas in the top-left

> You can also create a Canvas from the Home page via the AI Assistant.

The Canvas Toolbar

When a Canvas is open, the toolbar at the top is different from the Card editor:

Adding Content to a Canvas

Adding a Text Block

1. Click the + (white) button in the toolbar or double-click on the canvas.
2. A blank text block appears on the canvas with basic formatting controls (Bold, Italic, List, Align).
3. Click inside the block and start typing.
4. Drag the block to reposition it anywhere on the canvas.
5. Resize using the resize handle at the bottom-right corner of the block, or use the menu on the card.
6. Click the pen icon to draw in ink, the color icon to change card color.

Card Menu

If you've written something on the Canvas as a simple card, you will see a menu.  The menu provides a number of options including resizing and deleting.  

Navigating the Canvas

• Scroll / pan — you can use the scroll bars canvas background to move around.
• Zoom — use the zoom controls in the toolbar to adjust the zoom.
• Reset view — click the ⊙ reset zoom button to return to the default view.

Canvas in the Cards Grid

Back on the Cards View, a Canvas thumbnail appears alongside your regular cards. It shows a preview of the canvas content. Click it to open and edit — just like a card.

Add a Full NoteDex Card to Canvas

If you click the Blue + icon you will be able to add a full NoteDex card to the canvas:

This allows you to create a Canvas of actual NoteDex Cards and the Card you create will also be saved as an independent Card in the Stack.   This allows you to create more complicated card.

Add Existing NoteDex Cards to Canvas

Just like you can create full Cards onto the Canvas, you can of course also add existing Cards onto the Canvas. This is great if you've been creating  your Cards and now want to visualize them onto a Canvas.

To add an existing Card click the arrow on the left side that opens the left sidebar.

This shows all the Cards in the current Stack - and you can also navigate between any Stack and insert a Card from any Stack!

To insert a card move your mouse over a card and you'll see some overlay icons:

• Copy the text of that card to clipboard
• Create a simple Card on the canvas with the text of that card
• Insert the whole card onto Canvas

If we click the + sign we'll see the full card including its thumbnail image on the Canvas!

Canvas Menu

On the top-right there is a full menu which allows you to

• Export the cards on the Canvas as full Index Cards to the current Stack (Ideal if you want use the Canvas to quickly brainstorm and then later use those cards as an outline or structure to make more detailed Cards
• Save as Text/Images
• Print and Share

Canvas Background & Settings

You can change the canvas colors, card colors, pen defaults to customize how the Canvas looks by clicking the gear icon on the top. We've included some fun presets including whiteboard and blackboard!

Connecting Cards with Lines

You can connect cards on the canvas with our line connector mode and settings.

If you click settings you can customize the line colors and thickness

To connect two cards together:

• Make sure you have set the line connector mode to ON

• Click one card
• Then click another

NoteDex will automatically connect the two cards with a line!

You can click the line to delete it - a trash icon will appear.