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Canvas Board

Summary

The Canvas Board is a free-form workspace. Drag photos from your loaded session onto a charcoal canvas, place them however you like, and save the layout. Use it for mood boards, client teasers, or just to look at your top picks side by side. Export the result as a single HTML file that opens in any browser without Jade GT installed.

  • Drag from the rail

    Every loaded photo sits in the left rail. Drop one on the charcoal canvas to place a card. The same photo can land on the board more than once.

  • Free positioning

    Move, resize, and stack cards however you like. Pan the canvas, zoom to the cursor, and save the view with the board.

  • One-file HTML export

    Bundle the layout and every placed photo into a single self-contained file. Email it to a client without an account or a plugin.

The Canvas Board with the photo rail on the left and four placed photo cards in a 2-by-2 grid on a charcoal canvas. The top-right toolbar shows + Section, Export HTML, Reset View, and a close button. The Canvas Board with the photo rail on the left and four placed photo cards in a 2-by-2 grid on a charcoal canvas. The top-right toolbar shows + Section, Export HTML, Reset View, and a close button.
The Canvas Board. Rail on the left, free-positioning canvas on the right, toolbar in the top corner.

Opening the Canvas Board

Three ways to open it.

  • Command Palette

    Press Cmd+K (or Ctrl+K) and pick Open Canvas Board.

  • Direct link

    Visit /app.html?mode=board in your browser. Jade GT loads the regular workspace, then pops the canvas on top so the photo rail is already populated.

  • From another tab

    Open Jade GT, load the photos you want to lay out, then add ?mode=board to the URL.

The canvas is a single board per session. Closing the overlay doesn't throw away your layout. Reopen it and every card lands exactly where you left it, with the same pan and zoom.

The two panes

  • Rail (left)

    Every photo currently loaded in your Jade GT session. Drag any thumbnail onto the canvas to place a card there.

  • Canvas (right)

    A free-positioning workspace. Move cards by dragging them by the body. Resize from the bottom-right corner. The whole canvas pans when you drag empty space and zooms with Ctrl + scroll wheel (or pinch on a trackpad).

Close-up of the photo rail on the left side of the Canvas Board. A "4 PHOTOS LOADED" header sits above four stacked tiles, each showing a thumbnail, file name, and file size. Close-up of the photo rail on the left side of the Canvas Board. A "4 PHOTOS LOADED" header sits above four stacked tiles, each showing a thumbnail, file name, and file size.

Placing and arranging cards

  • Drag from rail

    Grab a thumbnail in the rail and drop it on the canvas. The drop point becomes the center of the card. The same photo can land on the board more than once.

  • Move

    Click and drag any card to move it. Cards jump to the front when you click them.

  • Resize

    Hover the bottom-right corner. A small handle appears. Drag it to make the card bigger or smaller. Cards never shrink below 80 by 80 pixels.

  • Remove

    Hover a card and click the small X in the top-right. The keyboard Del or Backspace removes the currently active card. Right-click any card for a menu with Delete and other options.

Notes and captions

The canvas carries two flavors of text alongside your photo cards.

Sticky notes

Sticky notes are working scaffolding. Spread plans, reminders, "ask about the group portrait." They live on the canvas but never reach the client. Press N anywhere on the canvas (or pick Add a sticky note to the canvas from the Command Palette) to drop one at the visible center. Double-click to edit. Click the small color dot in the top-left of the sticky to cycle the tone.

Tone Use it for
Amber (note) Working notes, reminders, generic scaffolding
Red (todo) Open questions, things to fix or revisit
Green (done) Confirmed, closed out, "this spread is locked"

Stickies drag, resize, and stack the same way photo cards do. Del or Backspace removes the active sticky.

Close-up of a red "todo" sticky note on the canvas reading "Ask about the group portrait order". Close-up of a red "todo" sticky note on the canvas reading "Ask about the group portrait order".

Stickies never reach the export

The HTML export drops sticky notes on purpose. The toast after Export tells you how many Jade GT left behind so you never wonder. If you want the text in the export, paste it into a caption on a nearby photo card instead.

Captions

Captions ride along on a photo card and are part of the HTML export. Use them for client-facing labels like "First Look", "Detail: bouquet", or "Spread 7 · Reception".

Double-click the bottom of a photo card to start typing. The caption moves and resizes with the card. The export shows it as a ribbon along the bottom edge with the same charcoal-to-white gradient you see in the editor.

Close-up of a photo card on the canvas with a caption ribbon along the bottom edge reading "First Look · Spread 1". Close-up of a photo card on the canvas with a caption ribbon along the bottom edge reading "First Look · Spread 1".
Action What happens
Double-click the bottom of a photo card Start (or resume) editing the caption
Click outside the caption Commit and exit edit mode
Caption is empty The ribbon hides until you double-click again

Single source of truth for the deliverable text

Once you have a caption on each card, your album story sits in one place. Re-arrange the layout without re-typing labels, and the HTML export carries the same names the client will see in their proof.

Sections: group a slice of the shoot

Sections are colored frames you drop on the canvas to group a slice of the shoot. Ceremony. Reception. Outtakes. Pre-ceremony details. Click + Section in the top-right toolbar (or pick Add a section to the canvas from the Command Palette) to drop a frame at the visible center. Double-click the title bar to rename it. Click the small color dot at the top-left to cycle through the five tones.

Tone Reads as
Slate Neutral, default for any group
Blue Ceremony, formal portions
Violet Reception, dancing, party flow
Teal Details, getting-ready, atmosphere
Rose Family, group portraits, kids

The frame paints behind your photos and stickies, so dragging a photo across a section never makes it vanish under the section's fill. Resize from the bottom-right handle. Del or Backspace removes the active section. The photos inside stay right where they are.

Close-up of a blue Ceremony section frame on the canvas grouping two photo cards together. Close-up of a blue Ceremony section frame on the canvas grouping two photo cards together.

Drag the section to move its contents with it

When you grab a section by its body or title bar, every photo and sticky whose center sits inside the section travels with it. Re-flow a whole spread by moving the frame, not the individual cards. The section is the unit. The photos ride along.

Sections never reach the export

Like sticky notes, sections are organizing scaffolding. The HTML export drops them on purpose. The Export toast tells you how many sections (and stickies) Jade GT left behind.

Right-click for more options

Right-click anywhere on the canvas to open a context menu. The menu flips automatically if it would land off the edge of the stage. Press Esc or click elsewhere to dismiss.

Right-click target What the menu offers
Photo card Bring to front, Send to back, Duplicate, Edit caption, Delete
Sticky note Bring to front, Send to back, Duplicate, Delete
Section Bring to front, Send to back, Duplicate, Rename section, Delete
Empty canvas Add sticky here, Add section here, Fit to view, Reset view

Fit to view is the fastest way to find your work

After a long session on a deeply panned canvas, pick Fit to view from the empty-canvas menu. Jade GT computes the bounds of every placed item and zooms out so the whole spread fills the stage with a margin.

Add here means at the cursor

The toolbar + Section button and the N shortcut drop new items at the visible center. The context-menu Add sticky here and Add section here drop them at the right-click point, so you can pin a label exactly where you want it.

Multiple boards in one session

The strip across the bottom of the canvas lists every board you have open. Click a chip to switch. Click + Board to start a fresh empty board. Right-click a chip for Rename board and Delete board.

Action What happens
Click a chip Switch the canvas to that board. Jade GT saves the layout you are leaving and brings up the one you switched to.
+ Board Create a new empty board, named the next free Board N, and switch to it.
Right-click chip → Rename board Pop a small prompt to change the chip label. The new name shows up everywhere.
Right-click chip → Delete board Confirm before dropping the board and everything on it. The last remaining board cannot be left in an empty state; deleting it creates a fresh Board 1.

Use boards to keep multiple spreads side by side without losing work. A wedding can carry one board for Ceremony, one for Reception, and one for Outtakes that the client never sees. Each board has its own pan and zoom, so switching feels like opening a different document.

Image blocks: drop an external image onto the canvas

Drag any image file from your computer (a logo, a Pinterest screen grab, a mood reference) straight onto the canvas to place it as an image block. The file does not have to be in your Jade GT session. Jade GT reads it straight into the board, and it travels with the board from then on.

Action What happens
Drag an image file from Finder / Explorer Drop on the canvas to add an image block at the cursor.
Resize Same bottom-right handle as a photo card.
Right-click → Duplicate Clone with a 24px offset.
Right-click → Delete Remove the block.

Image blocks ride along on the export

Unlike sticky notes and sections, image blocks are part of the HTML export. Jade GT tucks the image directly into the same file as the photo cards, so a client opens it without any extra download. The Export toast counts photos and image blocks separately so you know what shipped.

Panning and zooming the whole canvas

Gesture What happens
Drag empty canvas Pan the whole layout
Ctrl + scroll Zoom in or out, anchored to your cursor
Pinch on a trackpad Same as Ctrl + scroll
Reset View button Snap back to scale 1, origin at top left

Jade GT saves the view (pan and zoom) with the board, so reopening the canvas lands where you left off.

Export to a standalone HTML file

Click Export HTML in the top right of the canvas. Jade GT bundles every placed photo as a thumbnail-size copy inside a single HTML file and saves it to the location you pick.

What rides along inside the file:

  • Every placed photo, tucked inside the file so it stands on its own
  • The exact positions, sizes, and stacking order you laid out
  • A small style block for the jade charcoal background and rounded corners
  • A header with the board title

What does not ride along:

  • The original photo files. The export only carries display-size copies for review, not the full-resolution originals.
  • Any IPTC or EXIF metadata. The export is a visual asset. Deliver the full-quality files separately if the client needs them.

Email-friendly

The exported .html opens in any modern browser without plugins, accounts, or an internet connection. Drop it on a USB stick, attach it to an email, or share it through any cloud folder. The recipient doesn't need to know Jade GT exists.

File size grows with the photo count

The export tucks every photo inside the file, so a board with twenty photos produces a much bigger HTML file than one with five. Most email attachment limits sit around 20 MB, which lands you somewhere between 30 and 60 photos at typical thumbnail resolution.

What lives on your machine

Like everything else in Jade GT, the canvas runs locally. Jade GT runs no backend, sends no tracking data, and asks for no account. Your layout sits in this browser on this device. Click New Project in the main app or run the Clear all photos command to wipe the board.

Troubleshooting

The exported HTML file is huge

The export tucks every photo inside the file, so a board with twenty photos produces a much bigger HTML file than one with five. Remove a few cards before export, or split the board into two exports if it has to fit a 20 MB email limit.

A photo I want isn't in the rail

The rail shows photos loaded in the current Jade GT session. Load the photo from the main app first (Open Photos in the Photos panel), then come back to the canvas. The new thumbnail lands in the rail right away.

Cards disappeared after refresh

The canvas saves with the session, so a normal refresh brings it back. New Project or Clear all photos wipes the board on purpose. A private or incognito window also drops the layout on close.

The caption text isn't in the exported file

Captions ride along on the photo card and export. Sticky notes and sections don't. If your text is on a sticky, copy it into a caption on the nearest photo card first. Double-click the bottom of a card to start typing.

Drag from the rail does nothing

Some browsers block drag-and-drop from a tab in a background window. Bring the Jade GT tab to the front, then try the drag again. If it still fails, click a thumbnail in the rail once first to give the browser a focus event.