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Saving Canvas documents

In Canvas you can choose to save an entire document, a selection, or a layer. You can also use compression, or apply a password to protect a document.

Use one of the following:

When you use these commands, the default format for storing documents is the native Canvas format.

Saving files

To save a new Canvas document:

  1. Choose File | Save As.
  2. In the Save As dialog box, select a location to store the document and type a file name.
  3. Click Save to store the document on disk.

To save changes to a document as you work:

Choose File | Save to update the document file on disk.

To save a document with a new name or in a new location:

Choose File | Save As. Enter a new name or select a new location in the directory dialog box, and then click Save.

To avoid losing your work in the event of a power failure or system failure, use the Save command frequently as you work to store changes on disk. Also use the AutoSave feature located in the General settings in the Configuration Center (see Setting preferences).

Saving selections and layers

In the Save As dialog box you can choose options to save selections or layers, and create previews.

Save Entire Document

The default setting tells Canvas to save a complete document.

Save Selection

Choose this option after you select the objects in the document that you want to save as a new document. If you don’t select anything, this option is not available.

Save Layer

Select this option to save one or more layers in a new document. Then, click Layers to specify which layers to save. This option isn’t available if the document has only one layer.

Use Compression

Check this box to reduce the size of files saved on disk.

Save Preview

Select the this option to save a low resolution preview of the document. In applications that support previews, you can see a thumbnail image of the document before opening the file.

Applying password protection to Canvas documents

If you want to control who can open a Canvas document, you can protect the document with a password.

To add a password to a document:

  1. In the Save As dialog box, select the Encrypt file check box.
  2. In the Password text box, enter a password.
  3. In the Confirm text box, enter the same password again.
  4. Click OK.

To change the password on a document:

  1. In the Save As dialog box, click the Modify key button.
  2. Enter and confirm the new password, and then click OK.

The encrypt option is only available when you save the document in the native Canvas format. The PDF export has its own encryption method (see Exporting as PDF).

Saving documents in multiple formats

You can save a document in more than one format by setting the Multiple Save Options.

To save a document in multiple formats:

  1. Choose File | Save As.
  2. In the Save As dialog box, select the Multiple Save check box.
  3. Click the Options button to select the formats you want to save.

Raster Formats / Non-raster Formats

Select the formats you want to save the file in.

Display Options dialog

Select this check box to display the Render Image or PDF Options dialog boxes so that you can select the settings for each format.

Save companion files in subfolder

Select this check box to save the files in a subfolder. The Canvas image is saved in the folder you specify in the Save As dialog box, and the other files are saved in a subfolder with the same name as the Canvas image.

For example, if your Canvas image is named New_1.cvx, the subfolder containing the other files will also be named New_1.

If you do not select this check box, files are saved in the same folder as the Canvas document.

Reset

Click this button to reset the Multiple Save options to the factory defaults.

Once you have saved a document in multiple formats, next time you save the document, it will be saved in all the formats you selected by default. If you want to choose different formats, click File | Save As, and click the Options button to change the multiple format options.

The Multiple Save check box is only available if you have selected CVX - Canvas as the document type in the Save As dialog box.

If you use the same Multiple Save options regularly, you might want to create a Canvas Template TPL file to save your settings. When you create a new document using the template file, your Multiple Save options are applied to the file.