Canva launches in-house AI image model Craft

Overview

Updated 43 minutes ago

Canva built a business on arranging images other people made. On October 22, 2026, it began making them itself, with an in-house model called Craft.

Craft splits image generation into two steps. A planning model maps out objects, their scale, visual hierarchy and any text, then a rendering model draws the result at up to 2K resolution. Canva says that structure produces cleaner layouts, legible text and outputs that are easier to edit inside its design tools.

Why it matters

Canva's 250 million users can now generate a usable poster without leaving the design tool, pressuring standalone image models on price and workflow.

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Key Indicators

Maximum image resolution

Craft renders images at up to 2K resolution across more than 30 aspect ratios.

30+

Supported aspect ratios

The model can produce images in more than 30 shapes and orientations.

Languages for rendered text

Canva says Craft can render text in 55 languages.

DesignArena overall rank at launch

Craft debuted fourth on the crowdsourced DesignArena leaderboard.

250 million

Canva monthly users

Canva says more than a quarter of a billion people use its platform.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Melanie Perkins

Co-founder and chief executive of Canva

Leading Canva through its in-house AI model launch

Organizations Involved

Cava Group

Public fast-casual restaurant chain

Launched its first in-house image generation model

Australian design platform with more than 250 million monthly users.

Canva Research

In-house AI lab

Built and trained the Craft model from scratch

Canva's internal research team, which developed the company's first foundation image model.

DesignArena

Crowdsourced AI design ranking platform

Ranks Craft fourth overall at launch

A crowdsourced platform that ranks AI models on design and image-generation tasks.

Timeline

October 2026 November 2026

3 events Latest: Today

November 2026
Independent five-prompt test finds ChatGPT ahead on realism
Today Evaluation

TechRadar compared free tiers and preferred ChatGPT's photorealistic people.
Today
October 2026
Canva launches Craft, its first in-house image model
Product launch

The two-stage model plans a composition, then renders it at up to 2K resolution.
October 22nd, 2026
Craft opens to all Canva users and developers
Availability

Canva releases the model in Dream Lab and through its public API.
October 22nd, 2026

Scenarios

Canva ships Craft-fast and Craft-ultrafast variants

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Canva newsroom and developer blog

Canva says two faster, cheaper variants are coming, built on distillation and a custom inference engine. Shipping them would let Canva offer image generation at lower cost than frontier models while keeping users inside its editor.

Craft cracks DesignArena's top three

Possible Resolves by Apr 30, 2027

Discussed by: DesignArena leaderboard and TechRadar

Craft debuted fourth. A top-three overall ranking would support Canva's claim that its lab trails only OpenAI, and would narrow the quality gap independent testers found in photorealistic images.

Independent tests keep ChatGPT ahead on photorealistic people

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: TechRadar

TechRadar's five-prompt comparison found Canva competitive on product and blog imagery but weaker on skin texture and facial consistency. If that pattern holds, Canva gains workflow convenience without winning the realism contest.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

March 2023

Adobe Firefly (2023)

Adobe released a beta of Firefly, an image generator trained on its Stock library and public-domain work. It plugged the model directly into Photoshop and other Creative Cloud apps.

Then

Adobe pitched the model as commercially safe for enterprise customers and tied it to its existing subscription plans.

Now

Incumbent design platforms showed they could add generative images without sending users to a separate chatbot.

Why this matters now

Canva is running the same play: build the model, embed it in the editor, and sell it as part of the existing subscription.

June-November 2020