User Guide

Canvas 12 User Guide
To open or place a file:
1. Choose File, then choose one of the following:
Open: Opens the file as a new Canvas document.
Place: Inserts the file in the current Canvas document. This command is available only if
a Canvas document is open.
2. In the Open or Place dialog box, select the file you want to open, then click the Open or Place
button.
For some file formats, a dialog box presents options for opening files. Select the appropriate
settings, then click OK.
If you open the file, Canvas creates a new document.
If you are place the file, a Place pointer appears. Click where you want to place the top-left
corner of the file.
To import image files, you can also use the Image | Import command (see "Importing
images" on page 131).
Exporting files
In Canvas, exporting files in different formats is as simple as saving the file in your selected format.
Because not all the different file formats support all Canvas objects and effects, it's recommended
that you always save your document in the standard Canvas (.CVX) format in addition to other
formats.
For example, a TIFF file can save only a single raster image; it does not support text or vector objects.
If you save a Canvas document containing vector objects or text in TIFF format, all the objects in the
document are changed into an image. If you then open the TIFF file, its contents appear as one raster
image, so you can’t edit the original text or reshape the vector objects.
When you save a document in another format, Canvas creates a new file on disk, but does not close
the document or change the name of the document in the title bar. If you then try to close the Canvas
document (without saving it in Canvas format), a message asks you to confirm that you want to close
the document without saving it.
Always save your work as a Canvas (.CVX) document, so you can edit your work later in
Canvas if necessary.
For more information about exporting files, see "Saving Canvas documents" on page 50.
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