---
title: "Map your floor with Canvas"
description: "Build a floor plan at /assets?select=canvas whose machine tiles show live status: add a floor-plan image, draw the floor with rectangles, lines, arrows, ellipses, polygons, stars and text, drag each machine tile into position, edit any element in the property drawer, and rely on autosave. Desktop only, one canvas per organization."
category: "See what machines are doing"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/monitoring/canvas/"
---
# Map your floor with Canvas

Build a floor plan whose tiles show live machine status.

A *canvas* is a drawing surface for your organization, reached from the Assets page. Every machine appears on it as a *status tile*: a card with the machine's picture, name, identifier and live state. You draw the floor around the tiles and drag each to where its machine stands.

**Prerequisites.** Canvas is desktop only: it is absent from the mobile app's Assets tabs. To edit, sign in as an Organization Owner or Administrator, see [Roles reference](/docs/admin/roles-reference/). Tiles show status only for machines with a paired sensor, see [Add a machine](/docs/monitoring/add-an-asset/).

**Choose Canvas when** your operators think in floor position, "the press by the dock", rather than in machine names. If your fleet is a list on a spreadsheet, the [Assets page](/docs/monitoring/assets-overview/) is faster to build and easier to keep correct.

## Open Canvas
Open **Assets** and select the **Canvas** tab. The address bar reads `/assets?select=canvas`. On first open, every machine sits on a diagonal from the top left: the default placement, not a saved layout.

There is one canvas per organization, so every edit is saved for everyone.

![The Canvas tab showing a floor plan of about ten machine tiles arranged over rectangles and labels that outline the cells, with some tiles reading Running in green and others showing a stop time in orange or red](/images/monitoring/mon-canvas-01.webp)

*A finished floor plan. Tiles show live machine status in position.*

## Add a background
Start with the floor-plan image, because elements stack in the order you add them and nothing can be sent behind an earlier one.

1. In the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, select the **image** button.
2. Choose an image file. It lands near the top left at its natural size.
3. Drag a corner handle until it covers the floor.

The image is stored inside the canvas, so a large photograph slows every load. Export it at about the size it will display.

You do not need a background if a few rectangles and labels show where each cell is. A plan of six machines is often clearer without one.

![A floor-plan drawing placed on the canvas with its corner handles showing, and the image button highlighted in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen](/images/monitoring/mon-canvas-02.webp)

*Adding a floor plan image as the background.*

## Draw the floor
Each toolbar button adds one element at the center of your view. Drag it into place, then use a corner handle to resize it or the top handle to rotate it.

![The Canvas toolbar with numbered callouts on its buttons: rectangle, line, arrow, ellipse, polygon, star, image, text, and the red clear button at the end](/images/monitoring/mon-canvas-03.webp)

*The element types: rectangle, line, arrow, ellipse, polygon, star, image and text.*

### Canvas elements
The numbers match the callouts on the toolbar, left to right. Every element also has a position and a rotation.

| | Element | Adds | Properties | Live data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rectangle | A rounded box, for a cell outline | Size, corner radius, fill | None |
| 2 | Line | A line with a handle at each end | Length, stroke | None |
| 3 | Arrow | A line with an arrowhead, for flow | Length, stroke, pointer | None |
| 4 | Ellipse | An oval | Size, fill | None |
| 5 | Polygon | A regular polygon, five sides by default | Count, radius, fill | None |
| 6 | Star | A star, five points by default | Count, inner and outer radius, fill | None |
| 7 | Image | A picture from your computer | Size | None |
| 8 | Text | A label. Double-click it to edit the words | Font size, fill | None |
| | Status tile | One per machine, placed for you | Size | Name, identifier, picture, live state |

To remove an element, select it and press **Delete**. The red button at the end of the toolbar clears every drawn element, with no confirmation. Tiles stay.

## Place machine tiles
You do not add tiles. Every machine is already on the canvas, and one added later appears at the default position the next time the tab loads.

1. Find the tile by its name. Zoom out if it is off screen, see [Zoom and pan](#zoom).
2. Drag it to the machine's position on the floor.
3. To enlarge it, drag a corner handle. A tile keeps its proportions and cannot shrink below its default size.

The tile reads **Running** in green, or the time since the last stop in the current status color: orange after one minute and red after five by default, dark red at once for a classified stop. See [Status colors](/docs/monitoring/status-colors/).

A tile with no status line means the asset has no paired sensor, not a canvas fault: contact IoTFlows to tie one to the machine, see [Get support](/docs/get-started/get-support/). A tile that reads a stop while the machine is running means the sensor is offline, see [Troubleshoot an offline device](/docs/hardware/troubleshoot-offline-device/).

![A status tile for a Haas VF-2 being dragged from the default diagonal into a rectangle labeled CNC cell, with an arrow from its old position to its new one; a second tile beside it shows a name and identifier but no status line](/images/monitoring/mon-canvas-04.webp)

*Dragging a machine tile into position. A tile with no status means the asset has no paired sensor.*

## Edit an element
Select any element and the property drawer opens on the right, titled with the element type. Type a value and press **Enter** to apply it.

![A selected rectangle on the canvas with the property drawer open at the right, showing the Position, Transform, Dimensions, Appearance and Fill sections with X, Y, rotation, W, H, opacity, corner radius and a color swatch](/images/monitoring/mon-canvas-05.webp)

*The property drawer for the selected element.*

### Property drawer fields
| Property | Applies to | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| **X**, **Y** | Every element | Position, in canvas units |
| **Rotation** | Every element | Degrees clockwise |
| **W**, **H** | Rectangle, ellipse, star, image, text, tile | Size. A tile changes both together |
| **W** | Line, arrow | Distance between the two ends |
| **Opacity** | Shapes, lines, text | 0 is invisible, 1 is solid |
| **Corner radius** | Rectangle | Rounds the corners |
| **Count** | Polygon, star | Sides, or points |
| **Radius**, **Inner radius**, **Outer radius** | Polygon, star | Overall size, and how deep a star's points cut |
| **Font size** | Text | Scales with zoom |
| **Fill** | Rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star, text | Color, from the swatch or as a hex value |
| **Stroke** | Line, arrow | Color and weight |
| **Pointer** | Arrow | Length and width of the arrowhead |

## Arrange and layer
Elements draw in the order you added them, so a newer shape covers an older one, and status tiles draw above every shape. There is no control to send an element forward or back: to put a shape behind another, delete the one that should be on top and add it again.

## Zoom and pan
- **Zoom:** scroll the mouse wheel. The view zooms around the pointer.
- **Pan:** drag any empty part of the canvas.
- **Select:** click an element. One at a time; there is no box selection.

Zoom and pan are remembered in your browser, not on the canvas.

## Saving
Every change saves on its own within a fraction of a second. There is no save button and no undo: dragging a tile back is the only way to reverse a move.

If a save fails, a toast carries the server's message or reads "Something went wrong". The change is on your screen but not stored, so reload the tab to see what was kept.

## See also
- [Display a wallboard on a TV](/docs/monitoring/wallboards/)
- [Monitor your fleet on the Assets page](/docs/monitoring/assets-overview/)
- [Status colors](/docs/monitoring/status-colors/)
- [Add a machine](/docs/monitoring/add-an-asset/)