Great for pages and lists, but limited once you want to arrange, connect or synthesize ideas visually.
A personal notes workspace with privacy built in
Structure your notes. Free your thinking.
Canvas Notes brings notebooks, sections and pages together with the freedom of an open canvas. Keep notes, documents and ideas in one personal workspace — with end-to-end encryption, local-first access and sync through the provider you choose.
End-to-end encrypted
Local-first
Sync through your own provider
Flexible page canvas
Encrypted workspace
Main note
Renovation ideas, measurements and decisions in one place.
Linked document
Reference PDF with colour ideas and quick notes.
Budget snapshot
Priorities and spending stay visible in context.
Mind map
Linked essentials
4 items
Checklist · next weekend
PDF · paint references
Page · measurements
Saved view · shopping shortlist
Why this product exists
Most notes apps force a trade-off. Canvas Notes is built to remove it.
Traditional note apps are often strong at structure but weak at visual thinking. Visual whiteboard tools are flexible, but too loose for everyday note-keeping. Canvas Notes is designed as the middle ground — and adds a privacy model that treats your data as yours.
Excellent for freeform work, but often too open-ended for keeping long-term notes, documents and reference material tidy.
Use a familiar hierarchy for navigation, a free canvas for understanding, and encrypted sync for control over your information.
Familiar structure
Start with a notebook. Go as deep as the information requires.
The structure is simple and dependable: notebooks, sections, pages and subpages. That makes Canvas Notes easy to navigate, while still allowing each page to become much richer than a static document.
Canvas Notes
Notebook → Section → Page → Subpage
Home / Kitchen update
Appliance shortlist
Compare size, noise level and energy use
Link supplier PDF and price notes
Keep final shortlist with the budget overview
Linked page
Kitchen budget
PDF source
Energy label guide
Saved view
Shopping shortlist
Visual freedom
Use the canvas when a page alone is not enough.
Place notes freely, connect ideas, make mind maps, gather references and create small boards or planning areas — all without leaving the notebook structure behind.
Personal canvas
Private workspace
Main board
Map out a trip, a project at home or a topic you want to understand.
Ideas, sources and next stepsBudget snapshot
Essentials paid. Keep discretionary spending and options visible.
EssentialsRoom for options
Mind mapSummer trip
Weekend trip boardKanban view
Ideas
3- Compare two routes
- Save places to visit
- Check travel dates
Planning
2- Choose accommodationTrip
- Set a spending limitBudget
Ready
2- Book transport
- Create packing list
PDFs in context
Read, annotate and connect documents without switching tools.
PDFs are not just attachments. Highlight, underline, strike through, draw and add notes directly on the document — then connect it back to pages, objects and decisions inside your workspace.
Reference guide.pdf
Page 6 / 18 · 125%
Making information easier to understand
Reference article · personal notes
Information becomes more useful when it stays close to its context. People often understand an idea better when they can see how it relates to other ideas, sources and decisions, not only when they can store the text itself.
That is why note-taking and document review fit well together. Highlights and annotations should not be isolated from the notes that depend on them.
For personal knowledge work, the strongest tools combine structure with flexibility. There is no need to separate “note mode” from “document mode” completely.
Link this paragraph to the “Trip planning” page and the “Reference notes” section.
Private by design
Your notes should not depend on our cloud to stay yours.
Canvas Notes is designed around local access and end-to-end encrypted data. Synchronize between devices through the provider you choose, while the content remains unreadable to the sync layer. Privacy is not an extra mode — it is part of the product architecture.
OneDrive
Google Drive
iCloud
Synology C2
End-to-end encrypted
Your notes, attachments and metadata stay encrypted across storage and sync.
Local-first access
Your workspace remains useful even when the network is not available.
Your sync provider
Choose the infrastructure that fits your devices and privacy preferences.
Control the keys
Security is a core capability, not a hidden setting attached to an account.
Core capability set
All the basics a serious notes app needs — plus a real canvas.
Canvas Notes is deliberately built for individual use. No collaboration layer, no team workflow assumptions — just a strong private workspace for your own information.
Rich notes
Foundation
Headings, lists, checklists, tables, links, images, files and quick formatting for everyday note-taking.
Fast insertion
Flow
Slash-style commands, keyboard shortcuts and contextual toolbars help you capture and structure content quickly.
Search + tags
Findability
Find information across notebooks and organize it in more than one way without losing the main structure.
Links + backlinks
Context
Connect pages and objects without duplication so related ideas and source material remain discoverable.
Visual objects
Canvas
Text, cards, shapes, connectors, images, mind maps, diagrams and frames can live together on one page canvas.
PDF annotation
Documents
Highlight, underline, strike through, draw, add notes, shapes and callouts directly on the document.
Flexible views
Organization
Use saved views and lightweight boards when a growing set of notes needs another layer of order.
Files + export
Portability
Keep source material nearby and export useful pieces when you want to share, archive or move information.
Undo + history
Confidence
Explore ideas more freely with a forgiving editing model and recoverable changes along the way.
Broad personal use
Made for everyday life, learning, planning and personal knowledge.
The product is not framed as a team-business app, and not narrowly as a study tool either. It is a versatile personal workspace for people who want their information structured, flexible and private.
Organize travel ideas, shopping decisions, home updates or any project that benefits from both order and overview.
Keep bills, reference PDFs, notes and related pages together instead of scattering them across tools.
Save source material, annotate it and connect it to the notes that will matter later.
Use the same structured workspace for summaries, PDFs, concept maps and review plans when learning is one of your use cases.
One encrypted workspace, multiple devices
Move between desk, tablet and phone without changing how your information is organized.
The notebook structure, canvas objects and documents travel together. The interface adapts to the device; the mental model stays consistent.
Reading notes
5 linked items
5 linked items
Home plan
Visual overview
Visual overview
PDF review
7 annotations
7 annotations
Prototype v2
A structured notebook and a flexible canvas — private by design.
Canvas Notes is built for people who want their notes, documents and ideas to stay organized without forcing their thinking into a rigid structure.
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