# Canvas

> The Kagelot canvas shows every folder of your film as a bar and every file as a card. See what is done and what is missing, and launch image and video generations from a clip without writing a prompt.

The canvas is where your whole film lives. Every folder in your project is a bar on an infinite board, and every file is a card inside it, so you can see what is done, what is still pending and what to make next. You also start image and video generations from here, without writing a prompt.

![The Kagelot workspace zoomed out: Files Explorer on the left, a canvas with dozens of clip bars in the middle, the AI chat on the right.](https://kagelot.com/docs/canvas/canvas-overview.jpg)
*A real series on the canvas: one bar per clip, zoomed out.*

## How it works

The canvas and **Files Explorer** are two views of the same project. Each folder is a bar on the canvas and each file is a card in that bar. When you or the AI adds a file, it shows up in both places at once.

![Files Explorer with the clips folder open next to the canvas, where the same clip folder is shown as a bar with its prompt file inside.](https://kagelot.com/docs/canvas/explorer-and-canvas.jpg)
*The clip folder in Files Explorer (left) is the same as the clip bar on the canvas.*

- A new project starts with the same folders, such as **screenplay**, **characters**, **world**, **audio** and **clips**, plus the project memory file.
- Every clip gets its own bar inside **clips**. It holds the clip’s prompt file, its image assets and its renders.
- Each card shows its status: **Approved**, **Pending**, **Generating** or **Rejected**. A clip bar also shows whether it is ready for video.

## Move around the canvas

- **Pan:** drag the background. **Zoom:** scroll, or use **+**, **−** and the zoom level in the bottom-right corner.
- Zoomed far out, bars switch to a simple overview, so a film with hundreds of clips stays fast and readable.
- **Filter** with the buttons at the top: **All**, **Pending**, **Images** or **Clips**.
- **Select several:** Cmd- or Shift-click bar headers or cards. From the selection toolbar you can lock folders so they can’t be moved or deleted.
- The tool rail on the left has undo and redo, select, box select, new folder, new file, text notes and artboards (coloured zones that group bars).

## The bar toolbar

Click a bar to open its toolbar: **Rename**, **Collapse**, **Add file** (a prompt, an image reference, a diagram or a video), **Generate**, **Color**, **Lock**, **Download** and **Delete**.

![A clip bar selected on the canvas with its toolbar open and the Generate menu showing “Generate image assets, 1 to generate” and “Generate video, 2 of 3 references ready”.](https://kagelot.com/docs/canvas/clip-generate-menu.jpg)
*The Generate menu of a clip tells you what is still missing.*

## Generate images and video from a clip

The AI writes each clip’s prompt file when it writes the clip. From the canvas you only launch it.

1. **Click the clip’s bar, then Generate.** The menu shows **Generate image assets** with how many images still need to be made, and **Generate video** with how many references are ready.

   [Short clip: Clicking a clip bar, opening Generate and choosing Generate image assets; an image card appears in the chat.](https://kagelot.com/docs/canvas/clip-generate-loop.mp4)
2. **Generate the image assets.** Choose **Generate image assets**. An image card opens in the chat with the prompt already written. Pick the model, the ratio and the number of variations, then click **Generate**.
3. **Assign the image to the clip.** Review the result in **Image Gen** and assign it to the clip. It appears in the clip’s bar as **Approved**.
4. **Generate the video.** Click the bar and **Generate** again. **Generate video** now says that all references are ready. A video card opens in the chat with every reference image attached; choose the model and click **Render**.

   ![The same clip bar now holding the approved cave image; the Generate menu says “Generate video, all 3 references ready”.](https://kagelot.com/docs/canvas/clip-generate-video.jpg)

> **No image tagging:** The clip’s prompt file already lists which image is `@image1`, `@image2` and so on. Kagelot attaches the right images to the video card for you.

The **characters** bar has its own **Generate** menu: it launches image cards for characters that don’t have an image yet, or regenerates one character from its saved prompt.

## Work with cards

- **Image cards:** review full size, approve, rename, move to another folder, download or delete.
- **Pin to chat context** keeps a file in the AI’s view while you chat about it.
- **Video cards:** play the render, save the current frame as a PNG in the clip’s folder, or capture the last frame to use as the first frame of the next clip.
- **Text cards** (prompts, screenplays, memory) open in the File Viewer to read or edit.

## FAQ

**Is the canvas the same as Files Explorer?**

Yes. They show the same folders and files. A folder is a bar on the canvas and a file is a card, so a change in one shows in the other.

**Do I need to write prompts to generate from the canvas?**

No. The AI writes each clip’s prompt file. You click the clip, then Generate, and the card opens in the chat with the prompt filled in. You can still open the prompt file and edit it.

**Do I have to tag reference images?**

No. The prompt file says which image is @image1, @image2 and so on, and Kagelot attaches them to the video card automatically.

**What if my project has hundreds of clips?**

Zoom out and the bars switch to a light overview. Use the Pending, Images and Clips filters to find what still needs work.

**Can I organise the board?**

Yes. Drag bars anywhere, give them colours, collapse them, lock them so they can’t be moved, and group them on artboards.

## See it in a real project

- [Bonk & Zuzu tutorial](https://kagelot.com/tutorials/bonk-and-zuzu-ai-cartoon-series): the full series made on this canvas
- [Watch the canvas part on YouTube (3:10)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fQPoumj0a8&t=190s): Files Explorer = canvas, then generating a clip

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Source: https://kagelot.com/docs/apps/canvas · Last updated 2026-11-04