Canva unveils its own design model, introduces upgraded AI tools

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Canva, the popular creative suite platform, has launched its proprietary design model that understands design layers and formats to enhance its product ecosystem. Alongside the new model, the company rolled out several AI-powered upgrades, a refreshed assistant, and new tools for building data-driven widgets using spreadsheets.

The new foundational model — built and trained on Canva’s vast library of design elements — allows users to generate designs with editable layers and individual objects instead of static, flat images. It’s compatible across multiple formats, including social media graphics, presentations, websites, and whiteboards.

“We began by producing flat images with diffusion models,” said Robert Kawalsky, Canva’s global head of product, in a call with TechCrunch. “Omni models advanced that by enabling deeper edits through prompts. But relying solely on prompts for a visual medium can be limiting. What we’ve found is that users want to start with AI suggestions but still have the freedom to refine and iterate manually.”

Earlier this year, Canva introduced Canva AI, a conversational assistant that transforms text prompts into visual assets. That assistant is now integrated across the entire platform — from the design workspace to the elements library. Users can even tag the assistant in comments to get instant text or image recommendations during collaborative projects.

The upgraded AI can also generate 3D objects and replicate the artistic style of any existing design.

Beyond that, Canva has expanded its toolset with a new spreadsheet product and an app-building feature powered by prompts. The two are now connected, allowing users to pull live data from spreadsheets and visualize it as interactive widgets.

Earlier this year, Canva acquired MagicBrief, an ad analytics startup. Now, it’s leveraging that acquisition to introduce Canva Grow — a full-service marketing platform combining AI-powered asset creation with campaign analytics. The new suite also enables marketers to publish ads directly to platforms like Meta.

In addition to these AI updates, Canva unveiled several new platform features. Users can now create custom forms directly within Canva — an alternative to tools like Google Forms — for collecting client or audience responses. The platform also now supports email design, letting users craft branded templates and layouts for both marketing and transactional emails.

Canva’s acquisition of the Affinity professional design suite last year positioned it more competitively against Adobe. With this update, Canva announced that Affinity will now be free forever.

The company is also redesigning Affinity’s interface to unify vector, pixel, and layout editing within one workspace. Deep integration between the two platforms allows creators to move objects seamlessly between Affinity and Canva, with access to Canva AI tools for generating new visuals and designs within Affinity itself.

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