Freeform canvas
The freeform canvas is the blank one. Drop in images, text, shapes, small grids, a knockout bracket or a freehand drawing, then arrange them however the idea needs. It is what you reach for when the chart in your head is not a tier list, an alignment grid, a map or any of the other formats.
Also known as: blank canvas chart maker, meme collage maker, image board maker, freeform chart maker.
How to make a freeform canvas
- Start with an empty canvas. Nothing is laid out for you and nothing has to be filled in. Set the background colour first if the chart needs one, since everything you add afterwards sits on top of it.
- Add the pieces. Images, text boxes, shapes, a small grid, a bracket or a freehand drawing. Each one arrives as a separate object, so you can keep adding without committing to a layout.
- Arrange, resize and layer. Drag anything anywhere, resize from the corners, rotate, flip, and send items behind or in front of each other. Lock the ones you are happy with so they stop moving while you work around them.
- Export or publish. Download a PNG of the finished canvas, or publish it for a shareable link with a preview card and a page other people can remix.
What you can do
- Images you can move, resize, rotate, flip, fade and give a drop shadow.
- Text with your own font size, colour, alignment, background and outline.
- Thirteen shapes, from circles and stars to arrows and hearts.
- Grids up to twenty by twenty, with a picture or a label in each cell.
- Freehand drawing with a pen and an eraser, on its own movable layer.
- A knockout bracket element for when part of the canvas needs one.
- Locking and layer order, so a finished piece stays where you put it.
- Full size PNG export, or a published page with a preview card.
Make your own freeform canvas
Charts that do not have a name
Half the good ones do not. If the layout only exists in your head, this is the editor that will let you build it without bending it into rows or a grid first.
Collages and image boards
Pictures placed by hand, captions where you want them, and a background that ties it together. Nothing snaps, so overlapping and off-angle placements stay possible.
Mixed layouts
A small grid in one corner, a bracket in another, and notes around both. The grid and bracket elements exist precisely so a canvas can borrow from the other formats without becoming one of them.
Annotating a picture
Drop in a screenshot, then circle things with the pen, point at them with arrow shapes and label them with outlined text that stays readable over a busy image.
Common questions
What is a freeform canvas for?
Anything the other six formats do not fit. It gives you the same elements they are built from, images, text, shapes, grids and drawings, with no structure imposed on top, so the layout is entirely yours.
How big can the canvas be?
Large enough that you will run out of ideas before you run out of room. You can zoom out to see the whole thing and zoom in to place small details, and the export captures what you have made rather than a fixed frame.
Can I stop things moving once they are placed?
Yes. Lock any element and it stays put while you work around it, which is what you want for a background image or a finished section. Unlock it whenever you need to change it again.
Do I need to sign up?
No. The editor opens straight away and keeps your canvas in this browser. An account only matters for collecting published charts on a profile page or editing them from another device.
Is the download watermarked?
Only by a thin strip under the picture reading thechartmaker.com. Nothing is drawn over the canvas itself, and the preview image on a published page carries no strip.