Canva Craft is Canva's own AI image model, launched on 21 October 2026 for all Canva users worldwide. To use it, open Dream Lab from the bottom left panel in Canva, describe the image you want and choose a size. It creates images at up to 2K resolution in more than 30 aspect ratios, and it's built to handle design jobs like posters and social posts, including readable text.
Most AI image tools learn from photographs. Canva says Craft was trained with a much bigger focus on design, using millions of human-made templates from its own library. That's why it's worth a look if you make marketing graphics rather than pretty pictures.
Everything here comes from Canva's launch announcement, read in October 2026. It's a brand-new model, so expect it to change quickly.
Canva Craft at a glance
| Question | What Canva says |
|---|---|
| Who can use it? | All Canva users, globally, from 21 October 2026 |
| Where is it? | Dream Lab, in the bottom left panel |
| Image size | Up to 2K resolution |
| Shapes | More than 30 aspect ratios, or your own |
| Languages | Prompts in any language; text in images in 55 languages |
| For developers | Public API now; Canva MCP Server coming soon |
How to use Canva Craft, step by step
- Open Canva and find Dream Lab in the bottom left panel.
- Describe the image you want, including any text that should appear in it.
- Choose an aspect ratio from the list, or enter your own.
- Generate the image and look at what comes back.
- Use Magic Layers to turn the image into editable design elements if you want to move or change parts of it.
- Add it to your design and finish it as normal.
What makes Craft different
Canva describes a two-stage approach. First, a planning model reads your prompt and writes a detailed plan: which elements appear, where they sit, how big they are and what text goes where. Then a separate rendering model turns that plan into the image.
The practical upshot is the part I care about. Because it plans the layout and text before drawing, Canva says it handles complex layouts, legible text and precise placement better, and lets you change one element without redrawing everything else. Text in AI images has been a weak spot for years, so that's the claim to test first.
Magic Layers: the bit to try straight away
Canva says Craft's structure makes its images particularly well suited to Magic Layers, which turns a generated image into fully editable design elements. In plain terms, you can make a poster image and then move the headline, swap a colour or nudge an object, instead of generating it all again. Canva says this works faster and more accurately with Craft images.
Prompts that get usable marketing images
Canva's own example shows how specific you can be: ask for a purple sky, long shadows and a lone tree, and you'll get all three. Here are prompts in that spirit for a small business:
Copy this prompt
A square Instagram post for a neighbourhood bakery: a close-up of warm cinnamon buns on a wooden board, soft morning light, and the words "Fresh every Saturday" in a friendly hand-drawn style at the top.
Copy this prompt
A portrait poster for a summer yoga class in the park: a calm green park at sunset, plenty of empty sky at the top for a headline, and the text "Sunset Yoga, Fridays 7pm" in clean white letters.
Copy this prompt
A wide banner for an online course launch: a tidy desk with a laptop, notebook and coffee, muted blue tones, with space on the left for text.
Work with meWant AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
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What Canva says it's good at
- Social posts, posters, flyers, ads and presentation visuals with ready-to-use layouts and text
- Lifestyle and editorial-style photos of people, places, food and travel
- Illustration and digital art, from flat and vector to painterly and hand-drawn
- Portraits and groups that stay coherent in complex scenes
- Nature scenes, cityscapes, interiors and architecture
Canva also shared early rankings from DesignArena, a crowdsourced site where people compare AI design output: Craft debuted as the fourth most advanced image model there, and ranked first for people and portraits (out of 87 models) and for landscapes and nature (out of 85), as DesignArena names those categories. I'd treat rankings as a reason to try it, not a reason to stop checking your own results.
Safety and what's next
Like Canva's other AI tools, Craft sits under Canva Shield, which includes input and output moderation, privacy controls and tools for reporting harmful or misleading content. Canva says faster versions, Craft-fast and Craft-ultrafast, are on the way, and it's working on things like fine print and technical drawings, so I wouldn't rely on it for detailed diagrams just yet.
If you're comparing it with other tools, my Canva tutorial covers the editor basics and my guide on editing photos in Canva helps with finishing touches. And if you'd like help building a simple, on-brand image workflow for your business, that's on my work with me page.
My verdict
Canva Craft is the first Canva image model I'd use for real marketing assets, mainly because it's built around layout and text. Write prompts that say what goes where, including the exact words, pick the right aspect ratio before you generate, and use Magic Layers to fix details rather than starting over. Check every image for odd details before it goes out, because it's still a first version.
Once you've tried the images, you may want to build something interactive, which I walk through in my guide to building designs with Canva Code.
Frequently asked questions
What is Canva Craft?
Canva Craft is Canva's first image generation model, built and trained by its in-house AI lab, Canva Research. It's designed for design work, including layouts and text.
How do I use Canva Craft?
Open Dream Lab in the bottom left panel in Canva, describe your image and choose an aspect ratio. Canva says it's available to all Canva users globally.
When did Canva Craft launch?
Canva announced Craft on 21 October 2026 and made it available to all Canva users that day.
Can Canva Craft put text in images?
Yes. Canva says Craft plans text and layout before rendering, which helps it produce legible text, and it can create text in 55 languages.
What resolution does Canva Craft make?
Canva says Craft generates images at up to 2K resolution in more than 30 aspect ratios, or a custom size you enter.
