Custom design model allows editable, multi-format creations
Canva has launched its own foundational AI design model, purpose-built to understand design layers and formats. Unlike traditional image-generation tools that produce flat graphics, Canva’s model generates editable objects and layers across formats like social media posts, presentations, websites, and whiteboards. According to Robert Kawalsky, Canva’s global head of product, the goal is to allow users to prompt a design and then refine it themselves with ease.
“The tools have made you prompt your way to the final result, which, for a visual medium, is challenging,” Kawalsky said. Canva’s new approach enables more direct interaction and iteration with the AI-generated output, bridging the gap between automation and user control.
Expanded AI assistant and 3D capabilities
Canva’s AI assistant, introduced earlier this year, now appears throughout the design interface. Users can summon it via @mentions in comments to request media or text suggestions while collaborating. The assistant can now generate 3D objects and even replicate the style of any uploaded design. These enhancements aim to streamline collaboration and bring more creative power to users without advanced design skills.
App building, spreadsheets, and new marketing tools
Among the biggest updates is the integration of Canva’s spreadsheet and app-building tools. Users can now take data from spreadsheets and turn it into functional data visualizations through mini widgets built with prompts. This feature expands the use case of Canva beyond design and into the realm of dynamic content creation.
Canva is also launching Canva Grow, a new marketing platform that combines creative asset generation with performance analytics. This follows its acquisition of MagicBrief, an ad analytics company. Canva Grow allows marketers to create, measure, and publish ads directly to platforms like Meta, making Canva a more comprehensive solution for digital campaigns.
New form, email, and Affinity integration features
Additional features include a built-in form builder to collect client or audience feedback, positioning Canva as a competitor to tools like Google Forms. Email design has also been added, letting users create branded layouts for transactional and marketing emails within the same platform.
Canva also announced that its acquired design suite, Affinity, will now be free to use permanently. The suite is being redesigned to merge vector, pixel, and layout tools under a single interface, and it is being deeply integrated with Canva’s platform. Designers can move objects seamlessly between Affinity and Canva and use Canva AI to generate assets directly inside Affinity.
