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Creating new documents

In Canvas, you can create several different types of documents: Illustrations, Publications, Presentations, and Animations.

There are two ways to create a new document:

To create a new document from the Startup dialog box:

In the Startup dialog box, click a document type.

If you don't see the Startup dialog box, choose Window | Show Startup.

To create a new document from inside Canvas:

  1. Do one of the following:
  2. In the New Document dialog box, select the document type.
  3. Select options for the new document.
  4. Click OK.

New document options

The items that you define in this dialog box can be modified via the Properties bar or Document Setup manager (Layout | Document Setup).

Type of document

Select a type of document. Depending on your choice, the dialog box may offer more or fewer options; i.e., Publication offers Margin settings, rather than a Drawing scale, as well as a layout menu.

GIS Document

If you are using Canvas +GIS, for ilustrations, you can select this check box to work with a GIS document. Once you click OK, the GIS manager opens so you can configure the GIS settings.

Drop-down list

For a Publication document, select one of the following:

  • Full page: Creates a single page document.
  • Facing pages: Creates a document with pages designed to be viewed side by side, like a spread in a magazine. A facing-pages document has a master page with left and right pages.
  • Tent card: Creates a document with two landscape pages designed to use as a tent card.
  • Greeting card: Creates a document with four pages designed for use as a greeting card.

Choose document template

Use a template instead of choosing a document type and defining page size and orientation. Select templates for illustrations, publications, or presentations (see Using document templates).

Paper

Define the document size and paper unit. The maximum document size is 2000 miles x 2000 miles. Select preset sizes, or set the document size to the printer paper, or enter a custom size. To set up a custom size, choose Custom and enter the width and the height. Select the paper unit from the menu.

To change the page orientation of the document, click the Portrait or Landscape button. This swaps the width and height values.

To change the paper color, select a color from the drop down.

Document units

Choose the measurement units for the rulers (see Setting up rulers).

Select the Pixel mode check box to view graphics at 72 ppi before they are rendered.

Drawing scale

For an illustration, animation, or presentation, select one of the preset scale options or create a custom scale (see Setting up rulers).

Margins

For a publication, select the left, right, top, and bottom page margins.

Save as default

Select this check box if you consistently work with the same document type and layout.

Choosing a document type

When you create a new document, you can select an Illustration, Publication, Presentation, or Animation document.

Illustrations

The most commonly-used format, Illustration documents are the basis for most Canvas technical illustrations.

Illustration documents are general-purpose documents for all types of illustrations and graphics. You can specify a custom document size, and the document can have multiple pages (called sheets), with multiple layers on each sheet.

Publications

Publish documents using one of the standard paper sizes or a custom size. Specify full pages or facing pages, or choose one of the standard templates to create brochures, flyers, labels, magazine pages, and more.

Publication documents are designed for publications printed with two-sided (facing) pages, although you can also create a Publication that has pages with single sides. You can use master pages to hold items that you want to appear throughout the publication. You can also use multiple layers on each page.

Presentations

Presentations and slideshows provide a powerful way of displaying technical data.

Presentation documents are designed for on-screen slideshow presentations. You can use multiple layers and a master slide to hold background elements. You can use more than a dozen transition effects, including wipe and dissolve, during slide show playback.

Animations

Create simple animations from your technical illustrations.

An Animation document is designed for creating and editing web (GIF) animation files. An animation is composed of multiple frames, which are equivalent to the image frames of film-based animations.

You can use onion-skinning in an Animation document. When you select onion-skinning, frames adjacent to the current frame appear in the background. This helps set up object movement in an animation.

Using document templates

Templates are special Canvas documents that you can use as the basis for new documents. When you select a template in the New dialog box, Canvas creates a new document containing the graphics and text in the template and uses the template’s settings for layers, slides, pages, rulers, grids, guides, views, and default object attributes.

How is a template different than a regular Canvas document? When you choose a template in the New dialog box, Canvas creates a new document based on the template, but doesn’t actually open the template file. When you make changes to the new document and save it to disk, the changes don’t affect the template.

Canvas treats a template in a similar way when you open one by double-clicking its icon or using the Open command. In either case, rather than open the actual template document, Canvas makes a new document based on the template’s document type and contents.

Templates, like regular Canvas documents, are various types: Illustration, Presentation, Publication, and Animation. In the New dialog box, the templates listed in the Use Template pop-up menu match the document type selected in the Type of Document area.