Canva launches its own design model, adds new AI features to the platform

Creative suite company Canva on Thursday launched its own design model that understands design layers and formats to leverage its features. The company also introduced new products and features, AI assistant updates, and the ability to use a spreadsheet tool with an app builder to create data visualization widgets.

Canva said it is launching its own base model, trained on design elements, that generates designs with editable layers and objects rather than flat images. The model works in a variety of formats, including social media posts, presentations, whiteboards, and websites.

“We started by creating flat images with diffusion models. Omni models took it a step further and can be edited with a lot of sophistication using tooltips. But the tools made it possible to quickly get to the end result, which is a challenge in a visual medium,” Canva global product manager Robert Kawalsky told TechCrunch on a phone call.

“We've found that people (…) want to be able to start with a prompt and go far, but also be able to iterate directly.”

Earlier this year, the company unveiled an AI assistant called Canva AI, which has a chat-like interface and can generate visual content from text messages. The platform now makes this assistant available across the entire interface, including project and item tabs.

Users can also @mention the bot in comments to receive text or multimedia suggestions when working on a project with others. Additionally, the AI ​​tool can now generate 3D objects and allows users to copy the graphic style of any design.

The company also added a spreadsheet and a feature that allows users to create mini-apps using prompts. Now it combines the two products, allowing users to take data stored in a spreadsheet and create widgets from it.

Earlier this year, Canva also acquired an ad analytics company called MagicBrief. Using its own creation platform along with a new measurement tool, Canva launches Canva Grow, an all-in-one marketing platform that uses artificial intelligence for both asset creation and performance analysis. It also allows marketers to publish ads directly on platforms like Meta.

In addition to the AI ​​features, the Australian design company announced several new products and features for its platform. Users can now create forms in Canva to collect responses from their customers or recipients, providing an alternative to services like Google Forms.

The company is also adding email designs to the platform, allowing users to create templates and layouts for marketing or transactional emails that align with their brand aesthetic.

Last year, Canva acquired the professional design suite Affinity to better compete with Adobe. With this release, the company has stated that it is making the Affinity app available to users forever.

Canva is also redesigning the Affinity interface to combine vector, pixel, and layout tools in one interface. Affinity tightly integrates with Canva, so designers can create objects in the professional tool and bring them into Canva. Users can also use Canva AI to generate images or designs in Affinity, the company says.