Images: uploads, filters and background removal
How image handling works in Canvas Design Studio, from upload formats and automatic print optimisation to crop, filters, engraving effects, and AI background removal.
Customer photos and logos are where personalised products get personal, and where print problems usually start. Here's how the editor keeps image handling painless.
Uploads#
The Uploads tab accepts PNG, JPG, WebP, and SVG files. On save, images are automatically optimised for print: resized to an adaptive cap (up to 6,000 px on the long edge, scaled to your template's real print size) and re-encoded efficiently. Customers upload phone photos; your storage doesn't balloon; print quality is preserved.
Uploads work in every mode. In Form and Inline modes, image placeholders become simple file-upload fields.
Image placeholders (template authoring)#
When building a template, add an image placeholder: a dashed slot labelled "Logo", "Photo", or any label you choose. Customers see exactly where their image belongs; on upload it drops into the slot, cropped to fit. Mark the placeholder required and the design can't be submitted without it.
Editing tools#
Select any image for:
- Crop, freehand or constrained
- Brightness / contrast sliders
- Filters: three production-oriented effects that can also be auto-applied per template:
| Filter | Effect | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Grayscale | Desaturates to luminosity | Single-colour printing |
| Invert | Reverses all colours | Negative engraving |
| Threshold | Converts to pure 1-bit black & white with an adjustable cutoff | Laser engraving, stamps, vinyl |
For engraving and stamp products, set auto image filters on the template (e.g. threshold). Every customer upload is converted the moment it lands, so nobody ever submits a full-colour photo for a laser-engraved coaster.
AI background removal#
One click on Remove background cuts the subject out of a photo. No green screen, no Photoshop. It runs an ML model entirely in the customer's browser:
- The first use downloads the model (a progress bar shows "Downloading model", then "Processing image"); after that it's cached and takes a few seconds per image
- Nothing is uploaded to a third party: the photo never leaves the browser during processing
- Restore original undoes it instantly
Monthly allowance by plan: Starter 50 · Growth 500 · Scale unlimited (not available on Free). See Plans and billing.
Stock photos (Unsplash)#
The Photos tab searches Unsplash's library directly inside the editor (Starter plan and above). Photos render instantly from the CDN while designing and are only stored when a design is actually submitted, with de-duplication, so the same photo used by fifty customers is stored once.
Related guides#
- Inside the editor for the full toolbar
- Production files and preflight for how images end up in print output
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