Map an idea before you know what shape it needs
Start with a few notes, connect the parts that belong together, then let the board become a mind map, flowchart, project outline or something less formal.
Simple Visual Canvas for Windows
Create freely. Work locally. Your diagrams stay yours.
Simple Visual Canvas is a private, flexible space for thinking, drawing and organizing ideas without moving your work into a cloud workspace. Start with a blank canvas and build a mind map, flowchart, study board, research space, project plan, UML diagram, database schema or something that does not need a name yet.
Structured diagrams are one use of the canvas. The same workspace can also hold notes, images, files, links, ink and less formal visual thinking.
A canvas that can change with the idea
Start with what you have. Add structure when it becomes useful.
You do not have to pick a template or decide whether the board is a mind map, whiteboard or diagram before you begin. Put material on the canvas, move it around, connect what matters and keep refining the layout while the work takes shape.
Keep research material beside your own thinking
Mix Markdown, sticky notes, images, files and web references on the same canvas. Frames help separate topics without forcing everything into pages or tabs.
Sketch and annotate directly on the board
Use freehand ink for rough diagrams, quick emphasis or handwritten annotations around imported material. It can stay loose or sit beside more structured content.
Compare, group and reorganize as the board grows
Tier lists, frames, layer groups and multi-item alignment tools make it practical to reorganize a large workspace instead of rebuilding it when the idea changes.
One workspace, mixed content
Notes, diagrams, references and structured data can live side by side.
A small board can stay simple. A larger one can grow into grouped areas with searchable content, layers, relationships and navigation tools without forcing you into a different file or workflow.
- Text, Markdown and sticky notes
- Frames, shapes, images, files and web links
- Freehand ink for sketches and annotations
- Editable connections between related items
- Tables and structured cards for UML and database work
- Tier lists for ranking and comparing ideas
- Search across content, relationships and attachments
- Minimap, zoom controls and command palette
- SQL import for editable database diagrams
- PDF page import for reference and annotation
- PNG and SVG export for visual content
- PDF reports and portable editable canvas files
Local-first by design
Your diagrams stay yours.
Simple Visual Canvas does not require a cloud account for your canvases. Create, organize and edit work locally instead of moving every document into a hosted workspace.
Features that use web links can contact the external site when you ask the app to load link content or a preview. That is why the product is described as local-first rather than completely offline.
No cloud account required
Open the app and work with your own canvas files without creating a hosted workspace first.
Work remains local
Canvases are designed to be created and edited on the Windows device where you are working.
Bring in existing material
Import SQL or PDF pages instead of rebuilding reference material manually.
Export when you decide
Move selected results out as PNG, SVG or supported PDF/document workflows when the work is ready.
When the board needs structure
Database and UML-style work still belongs on the same canvas.
SQL import, editable table cards and visual relationships remain useful when the work becomes technical. They now sit beside the broader canvas tools instead of defining the whole product.
SQL import
Turn existing SQL into something you can inspect visually
Paste supported CREATE TABLE statements and bring the resulting structures onto the canvas. It is useful when the schema already exists but the relationships are easier to reason about visually.
Structured cards
Edit table details without leaving the visual workspace
Adjust columns, data types and key information while the table remains part of the surrounding diagram and supporting notes.
Relationships
Show how structures depend on one another
Connect structured cards and edit relationship details so a database model or UML-style diagram can explain itself at a glance.
Large canvases
Group related areas before the board becomes hard to navigate
Use frames, regions and grouping tools to keep related material together. Search, zoom and the minimap help once the canvas extends beyond one screen.
Windows app
Give the idea room before forcing it into a document format.
Install Simple Visual Canvas from Microsoft Store and keep mind maps, notes, research material, diagrams and structured models in the same local-first workspace.
Get Simple Visual Canvas