Visual Planning
Canvas (⌘5) is a suite of seven visual planning views that stay synced with your manuscript and Story Bible. Each view gives you a different lens on your story — spatial layout, chronological sequence, analytical grid, emotional arcs, geographic mapping, and character relationships.
Views
Switch between views using the icon tabs in the left sidebar:
| View | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Corkboard | Knowledge graph — scenes, characters, settings, and worldbuilding as draggable nodes |
| Outline | Hierarchical tree of acts, chapters, and scenes with progress tracking |
| Timeline | Horizontal swimlanes showing scene sequence by chapter |
| Matrix | Drag-and-drop grid grouped by status, character, or setting |
| Arc Tracker | Character emotional arcs charted across scenes |
| World Map | Pin Story Bible locations on a custom map image |
| Relationships | Character relationship web with typed, color-coded connections |
Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of every Canvas view provides:
- Sidebar toggle — show/hide the filter sidebar (Corkboard, Outline, Matrix, Timeline views)
- Zoom controls — adjust Corkboard zoom (50%–150%)
- Export — download the current view as PDF, PNG, or SVG
- Analyze — open the Story Analysis panel
- AI Populate — run the AI Canvas Populator to auto-assign entities to scenes
Sidebar Filters
The sidebar (visible on Corkboard, Outline, Matrix, and Timeline views) lets you filter which scenes are displayed:
- Status — check/uncheck outline, draft, revision, final
- Characters — filter to scenes containing specific characters
- Settings — filter to scenes in specific settings
A filter badge appears on the sidebar toggle when filters are active and the sidebar is hidden. Click Clear all filters to reset.
Arc Tracker, World Map, and Relationships views have their own specialized sidebars instead of the shared filter panel.
Story Bible Overlay
Hover over any character, setting, or worldbuilding entity across Canvas views to see a preview overlay with key Story Bible details — no need to leave the Canvas.
| View | Trigger |
|---|---|
| Corkboard | Hover entity nodes or entity pills on scene cards |
| Timeline | Hover entity pills on scene cards |
| Matrix | Hover column headers (when grouped by Character or Setting) |
| Outline | Hover entity pills on scene cards |
| Relationships | Hover character nodes |
Preview content:
- Characters — role, short description, personality, arc, and voice
- Settings — type, description, atmosphere, and sensory details
- Worldbuilding — category, description, and significance
Click an entity pill or node to pin the overlay so you can read it at your own pace. Click elsewhere or press Escape to dismiss. Each card includes an Open in Bible link to navigate to the full entry.
Export
Click the Export button in the toolbar to download the current view:
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| Printing or sharing with editors (A4 with project header) | |
| PNG | Embedding in documents or sharing online (2× resolution) |
| SVG | Crisp output at any zoom level |
For Corkboard and Relationships views, the export automatically fits the entire graph into view before capturing so no nodes are cut off.
Story Analysis
Click the Analyze button in the toolbar to run a comprehensive scan of your story. A panel slides open on the right with issues grouped into four categories:
- Pacing — scene length imbalances, chapter word count distribution, empty acts or chapters
- Structure — act/chapter organization issues, orphaned scenes, unused themes
- Character Arcs — gaps in character appearances, missing milestones or emotional states
- Consistency — Story Bible contradictions, character and setting mismatches
Each issue displays a severity level:
| Severity | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Red | Must fix |
| Warning | Amber | Should fix |
| Info | Blue | Optional improvement |
Click a location link on any issue to jump directly to that scene in the active view. Click the refresh icon to re-run analysis after making changes.
Visual planning views require a Starter plan or above. Free-tier users will see a lock icon in the sidebar.