Canva introduced its own design model on Thursday, a creative leap that understands layers and formats to power new features across its platform. The company also rolled out new products, updates to its AI assistant, and an integration that lets users build widgets from spreadsheet data for repeatable insights.
The new foundational model, trained on Canva’s own design elements, generates editable designs with layers and objects instead of flat images. It supports different formats such as social media posts, presentations, whiteboards, and websites.
According to Robert Kawalsky, Canva’s global head of product, the goal was to move beyond simple image generation. He explained that traditional diffusion models produced flat visuals, and while newer models allowed users to refine them through prompts, the process still felt limiting for a visual platform. He emphasized that people want to start with a prompt and still have full creative control to adjust their work directly.
Canva’s AI journey has been steadily evolving. Earlier this year, the company introduced Canva AI, an assistant with a chat-like interface that generates media through prompts. That assistant now appears across the entire platform, including the design and elements tabs. Users can tag it in comments to receive real-time text or media suggestions while collaborating with others. Canva AI now creates 3D objects and mimics existing art styles, giving designers a faster, more intuitive way to work.
The company has also deepened its integration between spreadsheets and mini app creation. Users can now pull data directly from Canva Sheets to build widgets that automate insights and streamline workflows.
Canva’s acquisition of the ad analytics platform MagicBrief earlier this year paved the way for the launch of Canva Grow, a full-stack marketing suite. The new platform combines content creation and performance analytics powered by AI, allowing marketers to design, measure, and even publish ads directly to networks like Meta, all within Canva’s ecosystem.
The Australian design giant also unveiled several new tools to expand its creative capabilities. One of them is a form builder, allowing users to gather feedback, client information, or survey responses without leaving Canva. Another addition is email design, enabling users to create branded templates and layouts for marketing or transactional emails that align with their visual identity.
Canva is also working to unify its professional design suite by redesigning the Affinity interface. The updated interface blends vector, pixel, and layout functions into one cohesive space. This integration makes it easier for designers to create objects in Affinity and transfer them directly into Canva. Additionally, Canva AI can now generate images and full designs within Affinity itself, making the collaboration between both tools seamless.
With these updates, Canva continues to blur the line between AI-assisted creativity and human design control. The company’s approach reflects a future where technology supports imagination rather than replaces it, offering designers the speed of automation with the freedom of personal touch.
