Use the canvas

Use canvases to plan and organize your work visually.

When you open Canvas from the sidebar, you see a gallery of all canvases in your workspace. Each card shows a preview and the last modified date. Click a card to open it, or click New Canvas to create one.

Create a canvas

In the sidebar, click New Canvas.
Give the canvas a name.
The canvas opens as a blank workspace, ready for you to add items.

Add jobs

There are two ways to add jobs to a canvas:

Create an idea. Right-click on the canvas and select New Idea. This creates a lightweight job that exists only on the canvas — it does not appear in your Backlog yet. Use ideas for early brainstorming and planning.
Add existing jobs. Right-click on the canvas and select Add Jobs... to place existing Backlog jobs onto the canvas.

Jobs on the canvas show their current status and update in real time. A job can appear on multiple canvases — each canvas representation is like a link to the original job in the Backlog. Jobs that appear in multiple locations show a link icon.

Promote ideas to the Backlog

When an idea is ready to become real work:

Right-click the idea on the canvas and select Promote to Backlog.
The job now appears in your Backlog and is available on the board.

You can also drag an idea out of its canvas folder into a regular Backlog folder — this automatically promotes it. The job continues to appear on the canvas where it was created.

To promote all ideas in a group or on the entire canvas at once, use the context menu on the group or the Promote All option in the canvas menu bar.

Organize with groups

Groups let you cluster related jobs together.

Select multiple jobs by clicking and dragging a selection box around them.
Right-click and select Group.
Give the group a name.

Groups sync with your Backlog — a group on the canvas creates a corresponding folder in the Backlog. The Backlog view of a canvas folder is read-only. To manage jobs, use the canvas view.

Add sticky notes

Sticky notes are free-form text blocks for ideas, context, or reminders.

Right-click on the canvas and select Add Sticky Note.
Type your note.
Drag it anywhere on the canvas.

Add links

Attach URLs to reference external resources like design files, documents, or dashboards.

Right-click on the canvas and select Add Link.
Enter the URL and an optional title.

Add attachments

You can place files directly on the canvas for reference:

Right-click on the canvas and select Add Attachment.
Select a file to upload.

The attachment appears as a node on the canvas that anyone can download.

Navigate the canvas

Pan — click and drag on empty space, or use a trackpad/scroll gesture.
Zoom — use pinch gestures, scroll wheel with modifier key, or the zoom controls.
Select — click individual items, or drag a selection box for multiple items.
Minimap — a small overview panel appears in the corner of the canvas showing your entire layout. The highlighted rectangle shows your current viewport. Click or drag within the minimap to quickly jump to a different area of the canvas.

Next steps

Collaborate on a canvas — work with your team in real time
Canvas — deeper look at canvas concepts

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