Canvases

Canvases can be found in the Canvas section of the Layer panel, behind the + button of the panel.

What is a canvas?

A canvas is a space in a model where things can be drawn. A model can contain multiple canvases. A canvas carries its own settings (its units, its own active layer, its stroke scale and display settings) and its own entities (in the layer panel).

Canvases come in two different types: model canvases, and paper canvases.

• A model canvas is usually where you will draw your projects (buildings, floor plans, sections, etc). In a model canvas, the units are in meters or in feet, the Stroke scale is usually set at 1/40, and background is white.

• A paper canvas is usually where you will create your sheet layout. In a paper canvas, the units are in centimeters or in inches, while the Stroke scale is usually set at 1/1, so that the thickness of the things you see is the one you get when exporting your document set. In a paper canvas, the background is usually gray, while pages have visible, white background.

Creating canvases

Both model and paper canvases can be created from the + of the layer panel. A canvas can be made active by simply clicking on it in the layer panel.

Using canvases with views

Canvases become especially useful when used with views; a drawing, made in a model canvas, can be turned into a professional-grade layout by creating a few views of it on a paper canvas.

More on this topic in our view documentation.

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