---
title: "Edit a long draft in Canvas"
description: "Turn a Bearly response into a Markdown draft, edit it directly, preview the formatting, and ask AI for focused revisions."
canonical: "https://bearly.ai/docs/features/canvas/"
markdown: "https://bearly.ai/docs/features/canvas.md"
---

# Edit a long draft in Canvas

HTML: [https://bearly.ai/docs/features/canvas/](https://bearly.ai/docs/features/canvas/)

> Turn a Bearly response into a Markdown draft, edit it directly, preview the formatting, and ask AI for focused revisions.

Canvas gives a long response its own editing space. You work with the Markdown text in the editor and see the formatted result in **Preview**.

## Create and open a Canvas


1. **Ask Bearly for a draft**

   Start with the content you want to edit—a memo, article, outline, proposal, or other long-form text.

   ```text copy
   Draft a concise project proposal with sections for the problem, approach, timeline, and risks.
   ```

2. **Turn the response into a Canvas**

   In the response controls, select **Edit in Canvas** (the notebook-and-pencil icon). Bearly turns the response text into a named Canvas and opens it.

3. **Return to it later**

   Select the Canvas card in the conversation, or select its **Open Canvas** control. Use **Close Canvas** or <kbd>Esc</kbd> to return to the full conversation.


## Edit and preview the draft

Type directly in the editor. Canvas uses Markdown characters for headings, emphasis, lists, links, and other formatting. For example:

```markdown copy
## Timeline

- **Week 1:** Research
- **Week 2:** Draft
- **Week 3:** Review
```

On a wide screen, the editor and formatted preview appear side by side. In a narrower window, use **Preview** to see the rendered document and **Edit** to return to the Markdown.

The toolbar also provides **Undo**, **Redo**, and **Copy**. **Copy** places the current Markdown on your clipboard so you can move the draft into another editor.

## Ask Bearly to revise text

For a focused edit, select the passage you want to change. In **Ask AI about this text…**, describe the revision, then select **Submit**.

```text copy
Make this paragraph more direct and preserve every date and number.
```

You can also keep the Canvas open and ask for a change in the conversation. Name the Canvas or quote the relevant sentence when more than one document could match. On a narrow screen, use **How can I edit this for you?** for a request about the open Canvas.

AI edits appear in the Canvas itself. Review them in **Preview** before continuing.

## Saving and recovery

Canvas saves direct edits after a short pause and again when you select **Close Canvas**. Wait a few seconds before closing the app if you have just typed a substantial change.

> **Caution**
> Canvas does not show a version browser. Before a major rewrite, use **Copy** to keep a separate copy of the Markdown if you may want to restore it later.


If a direct edit goes wrong, use **Undo** while the Canvas is still open. If an AI edit misses the mark, describe the correction or paste back the text you kept. If a document-storage error appears, copy any accessible text, restore your connection, and reopen the Canvas before continuing.

Canvas is for editable text. For an interactive calculator or dashboard, create a [Page](https://bearly.ai/docs/features/artifacts.md). For programmatic data analysis and generated files, use [Code Interpreter](https://bearly.ai/docs/features/code-interpreter.md).

## Continue through the documentation

- [Documentation index](https://bearly.ai/docs.md): Browse every Bearly guide.
- [Previous: Download a video](https://bearly.ai/docs/features/download-video.md)
- [Next: Edit an image](https://bearly.ai/docs/features/image-editing.md)
- [Related: Build an interactive Page](https://bearly.ai/docs/features/artifacts.md)
- [Related: Analyze data with Code Interpreter](https://bearly.ai/docs/features/code-interpreter.md)