Who can do this?
Owners and co-authors with rights to the project use the board. Guests have no access. New cards and connections require an active Vastitas studio of the project owner; a trial period is not enough.
Freeform canvas
The freeform canvas is a board where you arrange notes, images and references freely and connect them.
What is it for?
The freeform canvas is a board like a detective’s wall. You place notes, images and links to characters, locations and factions freely on the surface and join them with lines. This helps you sort thoughts that do not fit into a fixed structure.
There is one board for the whole project, not one per book. You drag the cards to their place with the mouse or move them with the arrow keys. Illumentis saves the positions automatically. You zoom with the mouse wheel and move the visible area by dragging on empty space.
New cards and new connections are part of the Vastitas studio. What you have already created stays visible, editable and deletable even without an active studio.
How it works
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In the “Tools” area, open the “Freeform canvas”.
What you see afterwards: The board appears. Without cards, a hint about the toolbar is shown there.
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Use the toolbar to add a “Note”, an “Image” or a “Worldbuilding reference”.
What you see afterwards: The card appears on the board.
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Drag the cards to their place.
What you see afterwards: The position is saved.
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Choose “Create connection” and click two cards one after the other.
What you see afterwards: A “Label connection (optional)” dialog opens; “Create connection” creates the line.
Your data
The board with its cards, connections and uploaded images belongs to the project and is backed up and exported with it. If you delete a card, Illumentis removes its connection lines too.
Limits
Without an active studio you can view, edit and delete existing cards, but not create new ones. Reference cards exist for characters, locations and factions. If you have no access right to the linked object, the card shows “No access to this object”. A note has at most 10,000 characters.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to my canvas when my studio subscription ends?
Existing cards and connections stay visible, editable and deletable. You can create new cards and connections again once the studio is active.
Why does a reference card show “No access to this object”?
You have no access right to the linked object. The card stays on the board but shows no content.
How do I move cards without a mouse?
With the arrow keys, and in larger steps with the Shift key.