Canvas
This page is about the Canvas in our Template Builder. The Canvas is the workspace on which you design/modify your creative.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Zooming in- and out
You can zoom in- and out by:
- Using the slider in the left bottom corner of the canvas.
- Hovering over the magnifying glass next to the slider and selecting your desired size.
- Scrolling when your mouse is on top of the canvas
Select tool & Hand tool
In the top bar of the canvas you can toggle between the Select tool and the Hand tool. The Select tool enables you to select items on your canvas. The Hand tool enables you to move around in your canvas quickly and works similarly to a scroll bar, enabling you to do your work more quickly. To activate the Hand tool without clicking its icon in the top bar, just press the H key. To activate the Select tool press the V key
Undo/Redo
In the top bar of the canvas you can Undo and Redo your last actions by clicking the icons. To Undo without clicking its icon, just press Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Cmd + Z (Mac). To Redo press Shift + Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Shift + Cmd + Z (Mac).
Adding text
Create a text box by clicking on the A-icon in the top bar. This will spawn a text field onto the canvas. The font type and style properties will be automatically set to the last text field you’ve created or selected in the template.
Adding Shapes
Create a shape by clicking the shape-icon in the top bar. This will spawn a shape onto the canvas. The shape fill color will be automatically set to the last shape you’ve created in the template. If you want to copy all style items, you can always duplicate a current object on the canvas. See: Right click.
Alignment guides and snapping
To automatically align graphic elements with one another, click the Magnet-icon in the top bar. This will activate alignment guides on the canvas making it easy to:
- Align assets to other existing assets on the canvas
- Align assets to the borders of the canvas
- Align assets to the vertical and horizontal center of the canvas
Once an object is near an alignment guideline the guideline will appear, and when close enough the asset will automatically snap to these guidelines, making it easier to align text or other graphic elements quickly and accurately. Make sure to zoom in on the canvas for more accurate snapping and placing.
Moving assets
You can move assets around on the canvas by:
- Dragging and placing it with your mouse. Click, hold, drag and release to place
- Using the arrow keys. Select your asset and tap an arrow to move the assets 1 pixel at a time or hold shift to increase movement speed with 10 pixels at a time.
Resizing and rotating assets
You can resize an asset by selecting it and then dragging its corners. The asset will keep its original dimensions. If you want to change the dimensions hold down Shift while dragging the corners. You can rotate an asset by pressing down the Rotate handle above an asset and moving your mouse. Resizing and rotating is also possible via the Properties Menu on the right.
Selecting multiple assets
Hold down Shift and select with mouse. The bounding box will be around them all. You can then move them around (see moving assets) or scale or rotate them together. You can also select all the layers (on that specific point in the timeline) by pressing Ctrl + A (Windows) or Cmd + A (Mac).
Right click actions
By right-clicking on an asset an action menu will appear. The actions you see are determined by the type of asset you’ve selected. In the right-click action menu you can bring assets forward and backwards, copy, duplicate, group and delete them. You can also set image or video layers to fit or fill the canvas.
There are some shortcuts available. Press Ctrl + D (Windows) or Cmd + D (Mac) to Duplicate an asset. Press Backspace to Delete an asset.