Inspiring

Question

What is a Canvas?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
May 7, 2024
2 replies
2285 views

(1)

Is the Canvas in Photoshop a physical or virtual concept? For example, if I create a new A4-sized document with a white background, is the white part the physical canvas itself or the image on the (virtual) canvas?

In other words, is the Canvas an imaginary concept (space) that shows the maximum size of the image that can be visually displayed on it?

(2)

If I create a new A4-sized document and make the background transparent, the Image Size dialog box shows a number equal to the Canvas Size, but why does it show a dimension even though there is no image?

As a Photoshop beginner, I can understand what is being explained in various materials or lectures, but I'm not sure I understand the concept of a Canvas.

Windows

This topic has been closed for replies.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

@SEASONS283724216wp2

I was going to point you to the following related discussion:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/what-exactly-does-the-size-of-a-layer-mean/m-p/14472354

And then realised that was you too!

Sometmes metaphors are helpful, but not always, especially when it comes to software.

S

SEASONS283724216wp2Author

Inspiring

Thank you for answering my trivial questions.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

Thank you for answering my trivial questions.

By @SEASONS283724216wp2

Understanding canvas size and layer size will serve you well, even more so when you discover artboards.

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

"In other words, is the Canvas an imaginary concept (space) that shows the maximum size of the image that can be visually displayed on it?"

Well, yes. The canvas is an area that can be displayed when an image is exported or saved. It can be larger than an individual component of the composition and can be expanded without affecting any composition component. In other words, the canvas can be manipulated without altering pixels of existing composition elements, which is why it is useful.

D Fosse

Community Expert

Yes, as Bojan says. But you can't think "physical" vs. "virtual". Nothing is physical here; it's all virtual.

The Canvas defines the available area, defined as pixels wide by pixels high.

It doesn't have a physical size, nothing in Photoshop does, only an array of pixels. A physical size is a derived property, defined by the pixels per inch (ppi) number that you set.

The canvas can be expanded or contracted, thus expanding or contracting the number of pixels it contains. The pixel grid itself is always fixed in the canvas.

Image Size determines pixel density; the resolution. This is where you decide how many pixels you decide to fill your available area with.

Don't know if that makes sense. It always seemed very intuitive and logical to me, so maybe I'm assuming it makes sense when it really doesn't 😉 😄

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