Canvas StudioBehind the canvas
Introducing Canvas Studio: visual page building for Craft CMS
A shared design system, custom layouts and reusable components, without rebuilding the editing experience for every project.
Every website needs structure. It also needs room for a new campaign, an unexpected content arrangement or a page that does not quite fit an existing template. For teams working in Craft CMS (opens in a new tab), accommodating those changes often means returning to the page builder they assembled for that particular project.
Canvas Studio is our visual page builder plugin for Craft CMS. It brings layout composition into the entry editor, with shared design definitions and reusable components. The examples on this website illustrate the concepts; they are not recordings or screenshots of the finished editor.
The repeated work behind a custom builder
A project-specific builder can be a good fit. Developers decide which sections exist, create the fields that describe them and write the templates that render them. Editors then work within those choices. The repeated work comes when another project needs a similar structure or an existing project needs a layout that its original sections cannot express.
Canvas Studio approaches that work through visual building blocks: sections, rows, columns and modules. An image, some text and a button can become a side-by-side section, a stacked introduction or part of a longer composition. The arrangement belongs to the page, while the underlying design choices can remain shared.
A theme defines the choices behind the controls
A visual builder is more useful when its controls speak the language of the site. In Canvas Studio, a theme defines grouped color palettes, font resources, heading and paragraph defaults, and named text styles. It also defines a spacing base, density presets, named gaps and corner radii.
For example, two pages can use a gap called “Roomy” without relying on someone to remember its numeric value. Updating that definition gives the shared choice a new value. The page compositions keep their own structure. This relationship between definitions and layouts is central to the product: establish the design language, then compose with it.
Responsive choices belong to the design
A layout that works on a large screen may need a different content order, tighter spacing or stacked columns on a phone. Canvas Studio supports a theme grid of 1–24 columns and custom breakpoint names and widths, expressed in px, rem or em.
The idea is to keep a base design and override the choices that need to change at a breakpoint. In the interactive walkthrough, the Compact example stacks the layout and changes its spacing and typography. The preview makes that inheritance visible: turn the override off and the base choices apply again.
Reuse a design without repeating all its content
A linked Component shares a design across its placements while allowing local content. A featured section might keep its shared structure while using a different image and headline on another page. Updating the shared design can then carry through those placements without replacing their local content.
A Static block serves a different purpose: it is an independent copy that can develop in its own direction. There is also a place for saved Components outside the visual editor. Developers can render one through Twig on a custom template, such as a shared header.
Keep Craft at the center
Canvas Studio handles visual composition within a Craft workflow. Craft continues to manage entries, assets, sites and publishing. The plugin works with Craft Assets, image transforms, native links and Twig rendering, so a visual composition has a place in the wider implementation of the site.
The goal is to reduce the repeated work of building the editing tools while preserving the design decisions that make each project its own. Teams can establish the shared choices, create reusable compositions and give pages room to vary.
What comes next
A growing template library is planned, including dedicated header and footer sections. We also plan components that read content from a selected entry, such as a product card using its title and image. Those additions are planned work, not a claim of current availability.
Release details and pricing will follow when they are ready. You can try the illustrative demos now or sign up for launch updates to hear when Canvas Studio is available.