How to work on two things at once

What split view shows

Split view divides the workspace into two panes. The left pane is the canvas you are working in, and the right pane shows a live preview of another tab, which is the second canvas you kept in the workspace rather than a copy of the first one.

Because the preview is drawn from the other tab's stored state rather than exported as a picture, it always shows that canvas as it currently is. It is the same document model, rendered smaller, which is what you want when the second canvas is a reference rather than the thing under your hands.

The two panes are peers in the tab rail, not a special preview mode. Anything you do to the active canvas behaves normally, and the other canvas stays out of the way until you click it.

• The left pane is the canvas you are editing
• The right pane previews another workspace tab
• The preview is drawn live, not exported as an image
• The layout is remembered with your workspace

Note: Split view is a desktop feature. The split button is hidden on screens narrower than 768 pixels, where the two panes would be too cramped to work in.

Turn it on with two tabs open

The split button sits in the tab rail, next to the plus button that opens a new tab. It is the icon of two columns, and it is pressed when split view is on, so you can always see whether the workspace is divided.

If you only have one tab open, pressing the button creates a second tab for you and then splits the workspace with it. If you already have two or more tabs open, the preview shows the first tab that is not the one you are editing.

Pressing the button again turns split view off, and the workspace returns to a single canvas. The small close button in the corner of the preview header does the same thing, so the mode can always be left in two different ways.

1. Open a second tab. Click the plus button at the end of the tab rail so there is a canvas to preview beside the current one.
2. Turn on split view. Click the split button with the two-column icon. The workspace divides and the preview header names the tab on the right.
3. Close it again. Click the split button a second time, or the small cross in the preview header, to return to a single canvas.

Drag the divider to the right size

The divider between the panes is a drag handle. Pull it left to give the preview more room, or right to give the canvas you are editing more room, and the panes follow the divider as you drag.

The split ratio runs from 0.2 to 0.8, and it starts in the middle at 0.5. The limits exist so neither pane can be squeezed out of existence, which means the smallest a pane can get is still wide enough to be worth looking at.

Set the ratio for the job rather than by eye alone. A reference you are checking against needs only a sliver, while a second drawing you are actively comparing against deserves closer to half the screen.

• Drag the divider handle left or right to resize
• The ratio runs from 0.2 to 0.8 and never goes outside it
• The default ratio is 0.5, so both panes start equal
• The workspace remembers the ratio you left it at

Note: The right-hand panel and the left tool rail take their own space, so the divider moves within the area that is left over rather than across the whole window.

Move between the two panes

Clicking the preview makes that canvas the one you are editing. The panes swap places so the canvas under your hands stays in the same position on screen, and the tab you came from becomes the preview.

The preview header carries the title of the tab on the right and the hint Click to edit. That label tells you which canvas you would be switching to, which matters when the tab names are the generated Canvas 1 and Canvas 2.

Editing works the same in either pane. The keyboard shortcuts for tools, the floating selection toolbar and the layers panel all follow the canvas you are working in, so nothing needs reconfiguring when you switch sides.

• Clicking the preview makes that canvas the editable one
• The panes swap so your hands stay over the same canvas
• The preview header names the tab on the right
• That header also says Click to edit

Note: A tab can never preview itself, so the preview always shows a different document from the one you are editing. The split repairs that automatically if the two would end up matching.

Use split view to compare and copy

Comparison is the strongest reason to split. Put a rough sketch on the left and the structure it is meant to match on the right, and the mismatch is visible in a second rather than described. The complete Canvasola guide shows where each of these documents lives.

Copying a mind map branch between two tabs works as well. Select a branch, press Ctrl/Cmd+C, click the preview to switch to the other map, select the node that should receive it, and press Ctrl/Cmd+V. The branch arrives with its children intact.

Canvas elements cannot be copied straight from one canvas to another. Duplicate a selection with Ctrl/Cmd+D inside the canvas that holds it, and export the piece you need as PNG or SVG if it has to travel, since a document can hold up to 5,000 elements.

• Left canvas, right canvas, one glance at the difference
• Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V move a map branch between tabs
• Ctrl/Cmd+D duplicates elements inside a single canvas
• Export PNG or SVG to carry a drawn piece elsewhere

When one pane is enough

Split view is a tool for a specific moment, not a permanent layout. If you are drawing for twenty minutes without looking at the second canvas, the preview is costing you screen space and adding a second title to read.

Turn it off when the comparison is done, and when the work moves from looking at two documents to making one. The same reasoning applies to zoom: fit the canvas you are editing to the view so the drawing fills the space it has.

If you are switching between two canvases all day and never at the same time, the tab rail is the better tool. The guide to organizing multiple canvases covers how to keep those tabs meaningful, and the undo guide covers recovering a change made in either pane.

• Split for the comparison, then close it
• Keep the working canvas fitted to the view
• Use tabs for alternation, split for simultaneity
• Undo history belongs to the canvas, not to the split

A checklist you can reuse

• Split view is turned on from the two-column button in the tab rail
• A second tab exists so the preview has something to show
• The divider is dragged to a ratio that suits the comparison
• The preview header names the tab that is being previewed
• Clicking the preview makes that canvas the active one
• Mind map branches are copied between tabs with Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V
• Split view is switched off when the comparison is finished

Common mistakes to avoid

• Leaving split view on all day. Two panes is a smaller canvas, and a small canvas costs detail. Turn the split off once the comparison has done its job.
• Dragging the divider to the limit. The ratio is clamped between 0.2 and 0.8, so a pane squeezed to the minimum is not useful. Pull it back before you start working in that pane.
• Assuming elements move between canvases. Canvas elements are duplicated inside one canvas with Ctrl/Cmd+D; they are not copied across tabs. Mind map branches do copy across, with Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V.
• Forgetting which tab is which. The tab titles are generated, so a preview of Canvas 2 tells you very little. Check the title in the preview header before you start editing the wrong document.
• Splitting on a small screen. The split button is hidden on narrow screens because two panes do not fit. On a tablet, switch between tabs instead.

Frequently asked questions

Does split view let me edit both canvases at once?

One canvas is editable at a time, and the other is a live preview. Clicking the preview switches which canvas is editable, and the panes swap positions so the canvas under your hands stays where it was. There is no simultaneous editing of two documents.

How wide can each pane be?

The divider ratio runs from 0.2 to 0.8 and starts at 0.5, so the two panes are equal when you first open split view. The right-hand panel and the left tool rail take their own space, so the divider moves within the width that remains.

Can I copy a drawing from one canvas into another?

Not directly. Canvas elements duplicate inside a single canvas with Ctrl/Cmd+D, and there is no cross-canvas paste for them. Mind map branches do transfer between tabs, copied with Ctrl/Cmd+C and pasted with Ctrl/Cmd+V under the node that should receive them.

Does split view work on a tablet?

The split button is hidden on screens narrower than 768 pixels, because two panes cannot be made useful at that width. On a tablet you can still switch between tabs in the rail, which is the equivalent habit for a smaller screen.

This guide is part of the workflow and productivity collection. For the wider product tour, read the complete Canvasola guide, and keep the keyboard shortcut cheat sheet open while you work.