Canva has released Canva Craft, its first generation model, developed by the company’s research team. The model is now available to all users on the Canva platform through the Dream Lab tab and via the Canva API, with planned support in third-party chatbots through Canva MCP. Canva Craft marks a shift from Canva’s previous reliance on multiple third-party models, positioning the design platform alongside Google, OpenAI, ByteDance and Meta in the generation field.
A two-stage approach to creation
Canva Craft works in two stages. The first interprets the user’s prompt and builds a plan that accounts for spatial relationships, scale, visual hierarchy and text information. Only then does the second stage generate the , at up to 2K resolution and across as many as 30 aspect ratios. Canva says this approach yields accurate object details and legible text, two areas where models often struggle.
The model also allows users to make precise edits without altering other parts of the . That matters for design work, where a small change to a headline, a product or a layout element should not force a full regeneration.
Training on templates, not photographs
Rather than training on photographs, Canva Craft learned from human-designed templates drawn from Canva’s library. Those templates span posters, social posts, presentations, infographics, menus and typography layouts. The choice reflects Canva’s roots as a design platform: the model is built to produce layouts that look like designed artifacts, not camera captures.
Generated images can be converted into layered designs via Canva Magic, building on a design-and-layers understanding model Canva released previously. Layer conversion gives users editable elements rather than a flat , which fits the way Canva’s editing tools work.
Access points and business rationale
Beyond the Dream Lab tab, Canva Craft is available through the Canva API. Canva has also said it plans to support the model in third-party chatbots via Canva MCP. The company says the new model improves quality and speed control, and that it may reduce API costs by lessening dependence on outside models.
Leonardo.ai, which Canva acquired in 2024, contributed researchers to Canva Craft. Two more cost-efficient versions are in development, named Craftfast and Craft-ultrafast, and Canva says they will be released soon.
Company context
The launch comes amid mixed financial signals. Canva was on track for $4 billion in revenue last year, but it cut its 2026 growth forecast. External analysts have reported that its valuation fell from $42 billion to $35 billion. Canva Craft gives the company a proprietary model at a time when control over quality, speed and cost is increasingly tied to the models a platform owns rather than rents.
