Connect API: Canva Craft is now available for image generation

Announcements
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Canva Craft, our first image generation model, developed and trained by Canva Research, our in-house AI lab, is now available in the Connect API image generation endpoint. Craft was built from scratch by Canva Research and launched today in Dream Lab and the Public API. More on the model itself in the newsroom post: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/canva-craft/

Our ranking on Design Arena leaderboard https://www.designarena.ai/leaderboard?tab=image&section=image

What’s new

  • A new model value, craft_v1_2k, on POST /v1/image-generations. Pin it to generate with Craft.
  • Craft renders at up to 2K and is built for design work: infographics, posters, slides, people and portraits, landscapes, abstract art and patterns, products, and marketing material.
  • Prompts in any language, text in the image in 55 languages.
  • On DesignArena it ranks first for People & Portraits and for Landscapes & Nature, second for Abstract & Patterns.

How to use it

Same endpoint and flow as before, with the model pinned:

POST /v1/image-generations
{
  "prompt": "A clean infographic poster titled 'Ocean Plastics 2026' with three stat callouts and a wave illustration",
  "model": "craft_v1_2k",
  "aspect_ratio": "portrait_2_3",
  "idempotency_key": "9c1f2d3e-5b6a-4c7d-8e9f-0a1b2c3d4e5f"
}

Then poll GET /v1/image-generations/{jobId} until status is success. The download URL is valid for 24 hours, or set asset_upload.type to upload to save the image to the user’s uploads.

  • Craft supports every aspect ratio the endpoint offers: square, landscape, portrait, more aspect ratios coming soon.
  • Requires a user access token with the asset:write scope. [confirm: client-credentials integrations stay on the allowlist until developer-funded billing ships; say “contact us on this thread” or leave out]

Usage notes

  • Craft plans before it renders, so a job takes longer than the other models. Expect roughly 50 to 60 seconds end to end and poll with backoff rather than a tight loop.
  • Starting a job uses the user’s AI credits, same as the other models.
  • If Craft is unavailable when pinned the job fails with model_not_available. Retry, or drop the pin to let Canva pick another model.
  • Prompts and outputs go through the same safety checks as the rest of the API. Rejected prompts return unsafe_input.
  • Craft is covered by Canva Shield, including input and output moderation.

Docs & details

Reminder

As this is a preview API, breaking changes may occur. Model availability changes and deprecations are posted in the Changelog: Changelog - Canva Developers SDK Documentation

Feedback & questions

If you have feedback or questions about Craft in the image generation API, let us know on this thread. We would like to see what you build with it.