Canva Launches Craft, Its First AI Image-generation Model
Canva Craft plans image layouts before generating them, with Canva aiming for more accurate text, object placement and editable designs.
Canva has launched Canva Craft, its first AI image-generation model. The company says Craft plans a design before producing an image, an approach intended to improve how it handles text, layout and detailed editing. The model is available to Canva users globally through Dream Lab, according to The Verge.
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How Canva Craft works
Craft uses a two-stage process. TechCrunch reports that it first interprets a user’s prompt and maps out elements such as their positions, relative sizes, visual hierarchy and text. It then generates the image. Canva says this planning step helps the model produce legible words and place objects more accurately, including in complex designs.
The model can generate images at up to 2K resolution. The outlets give slightly different figures for its format options: The Verge says it supports more than 30 aspect ratios, while TechCrunch says 30. Canva describes uses ranging from social media and marketing materials to realistic scenes, digital art and environmental imagery, The Verge reports.
Built around designs, not photographs
Canva trained Craft on human-made designs from its content library rather than photographs, according to TechCrunch. The Verge says Canva described the training material as millions of templates. The reported examples include presentations, social posts, infographics and menus; TechCrunch also lists posters and typography-heavy layouts.
That choice connects Craft to Canva’s existing editing tools. TechCrunch says Craft images can be converted into layered designs using Canva Magic, its image-to-design transformer. Canva also says users can make targeted edits without altering other parts of an image. The Verge notes that Canva had already introduced prompt-based design editing and layers for AI-generated images.
Researchers from Leonardo.ai, the media-generation platform Canva acquired in 2024, contributed to Craft, TechCrunch reports. The Verge says Craft is fourth on Design Arena’s crowdsourced AI image-generation leaderboard, behind three OpenAI GPT-Image-2 variants.
Availability and next steps
Users can find Craft in Canva’s Dream Lab. The Verge says Dream Lab is accessible from the three-dot option in Canva’s left-hand menu. TechCrunch reports that Craft will also be available through the Canva API and that Canva plans to support image generation in third-party chatbots through the Model Context Protocol. The Verge likewise reports plans to let AI agents connect to Craft through that protocol.
Canva says it has input and output moderation, privacy and safety controls, and reporting tools for the model, according to The Verge. It is also developing two more efficient versions, Craft-fast and Craft-ultrafast. TechCrunch reports that bringing image generation into Canva’s own model could reduce its reliance on other providers’ APIs, while Canva says the move gives it more control over quality and speed.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.