Canvas Overview

The canvas is where you design and lay out your dashboard wireframes in Mokkup. This article walks you through the core parts of the canvas, including how screens work, how to customize elements, and how helper lines keep your layout aligned.

Screens

A screen is the frame you design on. Each project can have multiple screens, letting you build out different views like separate dashboards, variations, or alternate layouts inside a single project.

You can:

• Add screens to create new views within the same project.
• Duplicate or delete a screen to iterate on variations or remove ones you no longer need.
• Adjust size to customize screen dimensions to match your design spec.

For step-by-step instructions, see the Screens article.

Element Customizations

Mokkup provides a range of built-in elements such as bar charts, combo charts, buttons, headers, KPI tiles, filters, and tables that you can drop onto the canvas. Arrange them however your layout needs, and resize them from any side or corner for precise dimensions.

The layout and functionality of each element are fixed, but you can customize how they look:

• Switch between different variations (for example, different KPI or chart formats)
• Adjust colors and themes
• Change the canvas background

For a full walkthrough of every element and its customization options, browse the Editing & Designing guides.

Canvas Background

You can customize the canvas background to match your design theme or preview how your dashboard looks against different backdrops. Mokkup supports solid colors, gradients, patterns, and images, so you can style the canvas for dark mode dashboards, brand-specific color schemes, or fully designed layouts.

Zoom and Navigation

Use the zoom controls to focus on details or to see the entire canvas at once. You can:

• Zoom in using Ctrl and + or zoom out using Ctrl and the minus key
• Reset to the default zoom level
• Scroll around the canvas to navigate larger designs

Working with Multiple Elements

Select more than one element at a time to move, align, or delete them together.

• Click an element, then hold Ctrl and click others to add them to your selection.
• Once multiple elements are selected, you can drag them together, align them, or apply the same customization.

Note: that helper lines do not appear during multi-select drags. If you want helper line guidance, move elements one at a time.

Helper Lines

Helper lines are horizontal and vertical guides that appear as you drag a single element across the canvas. They help you:

• Align elements consistently
• Space them evenly
• Build responsive layouts that adapt to different screen sizes

With helper lines, you can keep your design clean and organized without having to eyeball alignment.

Using Helper Lines for Multiple Elements

When there are multiple elements on the canvas, helper lines appear as you drag any single element. They show vertical and horizontal placement cues so you can match positions between elements and close awkward gaps.

Using Helper Lines for Single Elements

If only one element is on the canvas, vertical and horizontal center lines appear instead. These help you position the element exactly in the middle of the canvas.

Multi-Select on the Canvas

Multi-select lets you act on more than one element at the same time. Use it when you want to move a group of elements, duplicate a set of charts in one step, apply the same theme across several elements, or delete a section of the canvas in one go.

When to Use Multi-Select

Reach for multi-select when you want to:

• Move several elements together while keeping their layout intact.
• Duplicate a block of elements (charts, KPIs, filters) in a single step.
• Apply the same theme and design customizations across multiple elements at once.
• Delete a group of elements together.

How to Multi-Select Elements

There are two ways to multi-select on the canvas.

Option 1: Ctrl / Cmd + Click

1. Click the first element on the canvas to select it.
2. Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac).
3. Click each additional element you want to add to the selection.
4. Release Ctrl or Cmd when done.

Option 2: Drag to Select

1. Click and hold on an empty area of the canvas.
2. Drag to draw a selection rectangle around the elements you want to pick up.
3. Release the mouse. Every element the rectangle touches is now part of the selection.

A combined bounding box appears around all selected elements, and the floating context toolbar shows the actions you can take on the group.

Tip: Click an empty area of the canvas to clear the selection. Hold Ctrl or Cmd and click an already-selected element to remove just that one from the selection.

What You Can Do With a Multi-Selection

Once more than one element is selected, you can:

• Move Them Together: Drag any element in the selection and the entire group moves with it, keeping the relative spacing intact.
• Duplicate: Create a copy of every element in the selection in one step.
• Theme & Customization: Apply the same theme and design customization (rounded corners, drop shadow, stroke, and so on) across all selected elements.
• Delete: Remove every selected element from the canvas in a single click.

Note: Grouping for multi-selected elements is coming soon. For now, multi-select acts on the elements as a temporary set rather than a saved group.

Helper Lines During Multi-Select

Helper lines (the snap and alignment guides that appear while dragging a single element) do not show up during multi-select drags. They only activate when you drag a single element on its own.

Tips

• Multi-select works across element types. A single selection can include charts, KPIs, filters, headers, and shapes.
• Use multi-select before opening Design Customizations to apply the same theme or visual treatment across every selected element in one pass.

That covers using multi-select to work with several elements at once. For more help, contact admin@mokkup.ai