Canva Craft: Canva's new AI image model, and how to use it free in Dream Lab

What Canva announced

On October 22, 2026 Canva announced Canva Craft, the first image generation model built and trained from scratch by Canva Research, its in-house AI lab. Canva says Craft is available to all Canva users globally through Dream Lab, and to developers through Canva's public API.

Craft generates images at up to 2K resolution, in more than 30 aspect ratios or a custom ratio. You can prompt in any language, and Craft can write text in 55 languages.

On DesignArena's image leaderboard it debuted at #4. The three models above it are OpenAI's, which is why Canva calls itself the second most advanced lab for image generation. Canva also says Craft ranks #1 for People & Portraits and #1 for Landscapes & Nature.

Why the text comes out right

Most image models draw pixels straight from the prompt. Craft works in two stages. First a planning model reads the prompt and writes a plan of the composition: which elements appear, where they go, their relative size, the visual hierarchy, and any text. Then a rendering model turns that plan into the image.

Craft was also trained on millions of human-made templates from Canva's library (posters, social posts, presentations, infographics, menus) rather than mainly on photographs. That is why a flyer prompt comes back looking like a flyer.

Where to find it

1. Open Canva on your computer and look at the left panel.
2. Click Dream Lab. If you do not see it, click More, then Dream Lab.
3. Dream Lab lives on the home page, not inside the editor. If you are in a design, go back home first.

Under the prompt box there are three buttons: Style, aspect ratio, and the model, which shows Canva Craft. Inside the prompt box a quality switch offers Standard, Premium and Ultra. Premium is the default and uses Craft.

Step 1: write the whole prompt

The formula: what the image is for, then the exact words you want in the image in capitals, then the subject, the light and the mood, then the small text at the end.

A warm coffee shop flyer with the headline FALL MENU IS HERE in bold cream letters, a latte with leaf art on a wooden table, soft golden light, and a small line at the bottom that says Pumpkin Spice Latte $5

That is the exact prompt used in the video. No special syntax.

Step 2: pick the size before you generate

Click the aspect ratio button. The menu shows 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4 and 2:1. Use 16:9 for a screen or a YouTube thumbnail, 9:16 for a story or reel, 1:1 for an Instagram post, and 2:1 for a wide banner. Canva says Craft also takes a custom ratio. Leave the Style button alone on your first try: the prompt already carries the mood.

Step 3: read the four results

Dream Lab returns four options for every prompt. In our test all four spelled FALL MENU IS HERE correctly and kept the price line at the bottom. One added a small menu of its own. Read every word before you use an image; it was right four times here, but you check anyway.

Step 4: fix one thing, not everything

• Click the image you like. Under it is a box: What would you like to change? Type one change and generate again. Canva's own tip on the screen: requesting one change at a time gets better results.
• Boost resolution sharpens the image for print. Canva says this uses AI allowance.
• Open in editor puts it in a design. Edit in Canva AI offers Make a poster or Create an Instagram post.
• Canva says Craft's structure makes Magic Layers faster and more accurate at splitting a generated image into editable layers: the headline becomes text you can retype, the cup becomes an object you can move.

The free limit

Image generation counts as a Premium tool. One prompt returns four images, so twenty prompts is about eighty images a month on the free plan. On Canva Free the allowance resets at midnight UTC on the first of the month; when you hit it you get short pauses between generations. Check your balance under Settings → Billing → AI usage. Canva notes that more complex prompts use more allowance, so the numbers are estimates.

Five things a small business can make today

1. A menu board or daily special, with the price in the image.
2. A sale flyer with the dates and the discount spelled out.
3. A clean product scene for an online store.
4. An Instagram post for a service business: a salon, a gym, a cleaning company.
5. A banner for an event or a market stall.

Because Craft writes text in 55 languages, the same flyer can be made in Spanish, Farsi or Korean for local customers. A second prompt in the same shape:

A clean sale flyer for a hair salon with the headline 20% OFF ALL COLOR in bold white letters, a stylist's chair in a bright modern salon, soft daylight, and a small line at the bottom that says This weekend only

Mistakes to avoid

• Do not stuff five sentences into one image. One headline and one small line is the sweet spot.
• Do not ask for other people's logos or brand names. Canva's help page says these may be protected and Canva cannot give you permission.
• Canva adds a visible label showing the image was made with AI. Plan for it.
• On ownership, Canva says you own what you create as long as you follow its terms, but whether an AI image is copyrightable depends on your country.

For developers

Craft is available through Canva's public API now, and Canva says a Canva MCP connection is coming soon, so an AI agent could make a launch graphic or product shot as one step in a bigger task.

Honest limits

• This is version one. Canva says fine print and technical drawings still need work.
• Two cheaper variants, Craft-fast and Craft-ultrafast, are announced but not out yet.
• Twenty free uses go fast. Write the full prompt once and use the change box for small fixes.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• Canva newsroom: Introducing Canva Craft (October 22, 2026)
• Canva Help Center: Generate images with Dream Lab
• Canva Help Center: Understanding your AI usage (allowance by plan)
• DesignArena: Image leaderboard
• TechCrunch: Canva releases its first image generation model