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Anchor Pages

Desktop client only

This feature is available in the Canvus desktop client only. It is not present in the web-client touch UI. Operators using browser-based access will not see this feature.

Anchor Pages lets you create regular grids of zones that tile your entire canvas in one tap. Zones divide the canvas into named, navigable regions — useful for structuring presentations, organising content areas, or defining targets for Canvas Macros.

Accessing Anchor Pages

Anchor Pages adds buttons to the toolbar of the Anchor Panel (the zone management sidebar in Canvus). Open the anchor panel to see the Anchor Pages controls.

Screenshot to add: anchor-pages-01.png

Show: The Anchor Panel open with the three Anchor Pages toolbar buttons visible — the Grid button, Sort Order button, and Clear button.

The Anchor Panel toolbar showing the three Anchor Pages buttons
Three buttons appear in the Anchor Panel toolbar when Anchor Pages is active: Grid (left), Sort Order (centre), and Clear (right).

Creating a Zone Grid

The Grid button opens a submenu to choose a grid size. Canvus divides the full canvas into the selected number of equal zones, tiling it without gaps.

  1. Open the Anchor Panel.
  2. Tap the Grid button (grid icon).
  3. Select a grid size: 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, or 5×5.

Screenshot to add: anchor-pages-02.png

Show: The Grid button submenu open, showing the four grid size options (2×2, 3×3, 4×4, 5×5).

The grid size submenu showing 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, and 5x5 options
Select a grid size from the submenu. Canvus creates the zones and tiles them across the full canvas.

Note

Creating a new grid replaces any previously auto-created zones. Manually created zones are not affected.

Zone Naming

Each auto-created zone is named using a spreadsheet-style cell reference and an index number. For example, a 3×3 grid creates zones named 1. A1 - AutoZone!, 2. B1 - AutoZone!, and so on. The index follows the current sort order.

Changing Zone Numbering Order

The Sort Order button cycles through three zone numbering patterns. The button colour indicates the active pattern.

Colour Pattern Description
Blue Z-order Left-to-right, top-to-bottom (reading order)
Purple Snake Alternating direction per row — row 1 left-to-right, row 2 right-to-left, and so on
Red Spiral Clockwise from the top-left corner, peeling inward toward the centre

Tap the Sort Order button to cycle to the next pattern. Zone names update immediately to reflect the new numbering.

Screenshot to add: anchor-pages-03.png

Show: A canvas with a 3×3 grid of zones visible. Zones are numbered in Z-order (reading order, left-to-right, top-to-bottom), with the sort order button visible in the anchor panel toolbar showing the blue Z-order indicator.

A 3x3 grid of zones on the canvas numbered in Z-order reading order
A 3×3 grid with Z-order numbering: zones are numbered left-to-right, then top-to-bottom.

Clearing Auto-Created Zones

The Clear button removes all auto-created zones (zones whose name ends with AutoZone!). Zones you created manually are not removed.

  1. Open the Anchor Panel.
  2. Tap the Clear button (trash icon).

Note

Only zones created by the Grid button are removed. If you renamed an auto-created zone, it will no longer be cleared by this action.