Canva has unveiled Canva Craft, its inaugural AI image generation model developed internally by Canva Research. This model distinguishes itself by training on millions of human-designed templates from Canva's extensive library, rather than primarily on photographs. This approach aims to imbue the model with a deeper understanding of design principles, focusing on layout, hierarchy, and typography.
Craft employs a two-stage architecture to generate images. The initial stage involves a planning model that interprets user prompts to map out the image composition. This includes defining elements, their spatial relationships, relative scale, visual hierarchy, and text placement. Subsequently, a rendering model translates this plan into a high-fidelity image. Canva states this method provides "greater precision, consistency and control," particularly for legible text and accurate object placement, which can be challenging for other models.
The model generates images at up to 2K resolution and supports over 30 aspect ratios, including custom dimensions. It also offers text generation in 55 languages. Canva reports that Craft debuted as the fourth most advanced image generation model on DesignArena, a crowdsourced platform for evaluating AI design tools. This ranking positions Canva Research as the world's second most advanced AI lab for image generation. Craft's performance specifically ranks first globally for "People & Portraits" and "Landscapes & Nature" categories on DesignArena.
Craft is integrated into Canva's platform, accessible through the Dream Lab interface for all users. Developers can also access the model via Canva's public API to integrate its capabilities into other applications and workflows. Canva plans to release faster variants, "Craft-fast" and "Craft-ultrafast," in the future. The company also stated that Craft is designed to work with its Magic Layers feature, which allows generated images to be transformed into editable design elements, facilitating easier revisions and modifications.
Canva Research, the lab behind Craft, comprises over 160 AI research scientists and engineers. The company acquired AI lab Leonardo.ai in 2024, integrating its researchers into the development process. Canva has stated that owning its AI models offers complete control over cost, quality, and speed, a strategic move as the company aims to manage expenses associated with AI services.