The blockbuster new system features Canva’s own large language model trained specifically for design, and permanently free access to professional design tool Affinity.

Australian design unicorn Canva has unveiled its biggest product overhaul in its 12 years, as part of what it is calling its ‘Creative Operating System’.

The blockbuster new system features Canva’s own large language model trained specifically for design, and permanently free access to the Affinity professional design tool, and new features to help you create better videos, emails and forms.

“As knowledge becomes more and more accessible, we believe we’re moving from the Information Era to the Imagination Era, a time when creativity has never been more critical,” said Canva CEO Melanie Perkins in a statement provided to SmartCompany.

Canva unveiled the new system at a keynote event in Sydney on Thursday night, which was reportedly attended by some 3000 Canva employees, or ‘Canvanauts’.

The company, which was last valued at $64 billion (US$42 billion) and has US$3.5 billion in annualised revenue, says its products are now used by 260 million monthly active users across the globe.

The new features appear designed to help Australia’s most valuable private technology company compete with new product releases from rivals Adobe and Microsoft.

So, what are they, and what do they mean for the businesses and individuals that use the platform?

Canva adds new email design, forms and video tools

Source: Canva

The new Canva system includes what the company described as a “supercharged” version of the Canva visual suite that is designed to make it “easier than ever to bring ideas and achieve your goals”.

It includes:

Video 2.0

Canva has rebuilt its video editor to “remove friction and complexity”. Users will be able to create polished videos from a single prompt with the use of Magic Video and a library of on-trend templates. The timeline function has been redesigned to make trimming, syncing and laying footage faster and AI tools can automate edits and effects.

Email Design

Canva says an email design tool has been one of the most requested products from users. Using this new feature, you will be able to create, customise and export fully branding marketing emails without coding or switching tools.

The designs can be exported as HTML files, which can then be used in email platforms.

What about collecting data, feedback or even RSVPs using a Canva design? The Forms feature is designed to be used by teams to add customised, branded forms to websites or other designs. The responses collected by the form then flow through automatically to Canva Sheets.

Canva Code meets Sheets 2

From Canva Sheets, users will now be able to create interactive, data-powered widgets by connecting Sheets to Canva Code creations.

This function could be used for things like live dashboards, calculators or learning tools.

Canva’s new Creative Operating System is underpinned by a new AI layer

Underpinning the entire Canva Operating System is a new AI layer, which the company is billing as a “world-first”.

It includes:

Canva Design Model

Following its acquisition of Leonardo.ai in July 2024, Canva has unveiled its own large language model trained specifically for design.

The company says the model “understands design logic, orchestrates layout, and generates fully editable content in seconds”.

On LinkedIn, Canva chief marketing officer Zach Kitschke described the model as “the breakthrough we’ve been working toward”.

“Traditional AI generates flat images. Our Design Foundational Model understands every ingredient of a design – images, text, animations, graphics, video, audio, brand fonts, templates. It orchestrates layout, generates fully editable content, and creates designs that just work,” he added.

AI Everywhere you work

The model is part of an overall upgrade to Canva AI, which is “now deeply embedded across every part of the design process”, says the company.

“Simply dream up any element, photo, video, texture, or 3D graphic, and watch as Canva brings it to life directly on the canvas,” said the company.

New style-matching capabilities have also been added to help each element of a design fit together more easily without manual adjustments.

Ask @Canva

Described as a “creative partner”, the Ask @Canva tool will allow users to get instant feedback, design suggestions or edits simply by tagging the company’s name in a design.

Canva is making Affinity free, permanently

In March 2024, Canva acquired UK professional design suite Affinity for approximately US$380 million. On Thursday, it revealed it will be making the app available for free, on a permanent basis.

The move, according to Affinity CEO Ashley Hewson is about “removing the barriers that have always existed for pro-level design”.

“The professional design space has had rising prices, little innovation and very few alternatives. Affinity being free forever changes that,” Hewson told the media.

Additionally, marketing and brand teams will also have access to an end-to-end marketing platform called Canva Grow, which builds on the company’s acquisition of Sydney AI marketing tech startup Magic Brief in June this year. The platform gives users a way to design and launch ads across platforms like Meta, and then track and refine them based on performance.

This goes hand-in-hand with a new Brand System, which allows users to bring all of a brand’s assets and guidelines directly into the Canva editor.

Taken as a whole, Canva says the Creative Operating System “brings together every part of the creative process from design and collaboration to publishing and performance”.

“The result is a faster, smarter, and more connected way to design, where human creativity leads and AI amplifies what’s possible.”

This post first appeared on SmartCompany. You can read it here.

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