TanaOutliner
Get early access
Feature

Canvas

Canvas is an infinite whiteboard in Tana for visual thinking.

TL;DR

Draw, add shapes and arrows, embed existing documents as cards, and create new notes directly from the canvas. Multiple people can work on the same canvas with live cursor presence, and each canvas supports backlinks and sharing like any other document.

Creating a canvas

Select "Canvas" from the create menu. A canvas opens as a full-screen whiteboard with an editable title and drawing tools.

Drawing tools

The toolbar at the bottom of the canvas provides standard drawing tools: select, draw, arrow, text, and shapes. These are the default tldraw tools for freeform visual work.

Embedding documents

Click the embed tool in the toolbar to place a document from your workspace onto the canvas. A picker appears showing documents in the current space. Select one to embed it as a card on the canvas. Double-click an embedded document to view its content.

You can also create new notes directly from the canvas. When you embed an image, it converts to a native canvas image for better handling.

Editing

The menu bar at the top provides:

  • Edit: Undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, duplicate, delete, select all
  • View: Theme (light, dark, system), zoom controls (in, out, fit, 100%)
  • Selection: Align (left, center, right, top, middle, bottom), distribute (horizontal, vertical), flip (horizontal, vertical), group and ungroup

Collaboration

Multiple people can work on the same canvas simultaneously. Each person's cursor is visible in real time with their name and a color. Use the collaborator panel to follow someone else's view as they navigate the canvas.

Side panels

  • Backlinks: Documents that reference this canvas
  • In common: Documents shared between canvas participants

Open in chat

Click "Open in chat" in the toolbar to start an AI conversation with this canvas as context.

Canvas - Tana Learn