Canva launches Magic Studio, partners with Runway ML for video

Canva is the place where most of the workforce goes for their day to day design work. They’ve been silently adding AI image generation features that suit those existing needs under the “Magic” suite of tools. Now they’ve come with bang, adding more features, and expanding to video generation by partnering with Runway.

What's going on here?

Canva is launching Magic Studio, integrating AI into all parts of its platform to automate tasks and inspire designs.

What does this mean?

Here are the highlights of launched features under the new Magic Studio:

• Magic Design - Turn ideas into designs instantly with AI-generated templates.

• Magic Switch - Transform content into different formats and languages with one click.

• Magic Grab - Make images editable like Canva templates for easy editing.

• Magic Expand - Use AI to expand images beyond the original frame.

• Magic Morph - Transform text and shapes with creative effects and prompts.

• Magic Edit - Make complex image edits using simple text prompts.

• Magic Media - Generate professional photos, videos and artworks from text prompts.

• Magic Animate - Add animated transitions and motion to designs instantly.

• Magic Write - Generate draft text and summaries powered by AI.

The partnership with Runway uses Runway’s Gen-2 text-to-video model to power the Magic Media features. Canva’s App Marketplace allows access to partner AI apps like DALL-E, Imagen and more.

With features, Canva is staying responsible with Canva Shield - their Built-in safety, privacy and security controls for AI features and Creator Compensation - a $200M fund to pay creators who opt-in for training AI models.

Why should I care?

Art usecases aside, most people don’t see image generation fit in their workflow. Canva is capturing this by modifying the models to their target audience’s need i.e. making design and images, often in a professional space, quickly without learning heavy tools.

This levels the playing field in design. Novices can make pro-level content quickly without technical skills. The AI features automate the busywork like finding a relevant stock image, recreating in different sizes and more so you can focus on communicating your idea.