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Canva releases Canva Craft, its first in-house image generation model
Canva has released Canva Craft, an image generation model built by its research team and trained on human designed templates rather than photographs. It generates images up to 2K resolution in up to 30 aspect ratios and is available to all users through the Dream Lab tab. Canva said the model will also be offered through its API.
Key points
- Canva Craft generates images up to 2K resolution in up to 30 aspect ratios.
- It was trained on human designed Canva templates rather than photographs.
- Available now in Dream Lab, with Canva API and chatbot access via MCP planned.
What happened: Canva released Canva Craft, its first image generation model, on October 22, TechCrunch reported. Canva's research team developed the model to compete with image models from Google, OpenAI, ByteDance and Meta, and the company said researchers from Leonardo.ai, which Canva acquired in 2024, contributed to it.
The details: Canva Craft works in two stages. The first interprets a prompt and plans spatial relationships, scale, visual hierarchy and text content. The second generates an image up to 2K resolution in up to 30 aspect ratios. Canva said it trained the model on designs rather than photographs, using human designed templates such as posters, social posts, presentations, infographics and menus. The company said this produces accurate details, legible text and precise edits that leave the rest of an image unchanged. Images can be turned into layered, editable designs with Canva Magic.
Who it affects: The model is available to all users through the Dream Lab tab and will be offered through the Canva API. Canva plans to support image generation inside third party chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini through its MCP. Canva has not disclosed pricing, benchmarks or release dates for two cheaper versions, Craftfast and Craft-ultrafast.
Background: TechCrunch noted that Canva had relied on several third party image models, so its own model is likely to lower API costs. The company has also cut its 2026 growth forecast.
Our take
Marketing and design teams on Canva get a native image model aimed at legible text and precise edits, which may reduce the need for separate image tools.