Canvas

Canvas is a core plugin for visual note-taking. It gives you infinite space to lay out notes and connect them to other notes, attachments, and web pages. Visual note-taking helps you make sense of your notes by organizing them in 2D space. Connect notes with lines and group related notes together to better understand the relationships between them. Canvas data is saved as .canvas files using the open JSON Canvas format.

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Create a canvas

You can create a new canvas in several ways:

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Add cards

Cards are the building blocks of a canvas. You can add text, notes from your vault, media files, web pages, and entire folders.

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Add a text card

Text cards don’t reference a file — they exist only on the canvas. You can use Markdown, links, and code blocks just like in a note.

• Select or drag the blank file icon at the bottom of the canvas.
• Or, double-click anywhere on the canvas.

To convert a text card to a permanent note file:

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Add a note card

To add a note from your vault:

• Select or drag the document icon at the bottom of the canvas, then choose a note.
• Or, right-click the canvas, select Add note from vault, and choose a note.
• Or, drag a file directly from the File explorer.

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Add a media card

To add an image, audio file, PDF, or other media:

• Select or drag the image file icon at the bottom of the canvas, then choose a file.
• Or, right-click the canvas, select Add media from vault, and choose a file.
• Or, drag a file directly from the File explorer.

You can also drag files into the canvas from outside Obsidian.

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Add a web page card

To embed a web page: You can also drag a URL from your browser directly onto the canvas. To open the embedded page in your browser, press Ctrl (Cmd on macOS) and click the card label, or right-click the card and select Open in browser.

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Add cards from a folder

Drag a folder from the File explorer onto the canvas to add all files in that folder at once.

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Edit and manage cards

• Edit: Double-click a text or note card to edit it. Click outside or press Escape to stop editing.
• Delete: Select a card and press Backspace (Delete on macOS), or right-click and select Delete.
• Move: Drag a selected card to reposition it. Hold Shift while dragging to constrain movement to one axis.
• Duplicate: Hold Alt (Option on macOS) and drag to duplicate the selection.
• Resize: Drag any edge of a card. Hold Shift to maintain aspect ratio.
• Swap: Right-click a note or media card and select Swap file to replace it with a different file of the same type.

Press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A) to select all cards. Hold Shift and click to add or remove cards from a selection.

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Connect cards

Draw lines between cards to show relationships. You can color and label connections.

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Draw a connection

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Disconnect cards

• Hover over a connection line until two small circles appear, then drag one circle away without connecting it.
• Or, right-click the line and select Remove.
• Or, select the line and press Backspace (Delete on macOS).

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Label a connection

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Change colors

1. Select the cards or connections you want to color.
2. In the selection controls, select Set color.
3. Choose a color.

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Group cards

Groups visually organize related cards on the canvas.

• To create an empty group: right-click the canvas and select Create group.
• To group selected cards: select the cards, right-click any of them, and select Create group.
• To rename a group: double-click the group name, edit it, then press Enter.

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Navigate the canvas

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Pan

• Hold Space and drag the canvas.
• Drag with the middle mouse button.
• Scroll to pan vertically; hold Shift while scrolling to pan horizontally.

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Zoom

• Hold Space or Ctrl (Cmd) and scroll with the mouse wheel.
• Use the + and − zoom controls in the upper-right corner.
• Press Shift+1 to zoom so every item is visible (zoom to fit).
• Press Shift+2 to zoom to your current selection.
• Select Reset zoom in the upper-right corner to return to the default zoom level.