Presenting and exporting
Present a canvas frame by frame, export it as PNG, SVG or JSON Canvas, and change its theme, hand-drawn style and focus mode.
A canvas can be shown to other people as it is. Present it frame by frame, or export it as a picture or a file another app can open.
Both live in the small bar at the bottom right of the canvas: Present, and the … menu beside it for export, theme and the hand-drawn style. The same options are in the menu you get when you right-click the empty board.
Present mode
Present mode shows your frames as slides, one at a time, each filling the screen.
- Put what you want to show into frames, and name each frame. See Frames.
- Click Present at the bottom right. It says how many frames, and so how many slides, the board has.
- Step through the slides, then press Esc or click End.
Present is greyed out until the board has a frame.
The order of the slides
Slides follow the frames in reading order: row by row from the top, and from left to right along each row. To change the order, move the frames. A frame inside another frame is not a slide of its own; it shows as part of the one round it.
Moving through the slides
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Right arrow, down arrow, Space, Enter or Page Down | Next slide |
| Left arrow, up arrow, Backspace or Page Up | Previous slide |
| Home | First slide |
| End | Last slide |
| Esc | End the presentation |
The bar at the bottom shows the frame’s name and where you are, such as “2 of 5”, with previous and next buttons.
While you present:
- the rest of the canvas controls are hidden;
- the board is in Hand mode, so a stray drag pans rather than moves a card;
- keys that would change the board, such as Delete, the tool keys and paste, do nothing.
When you end, the board goes back to where you were, with the same tool and selection.
If a frame is deleted on another device during the show, its slide goes. The show ends if there are no frames left.
The laser pointer (K) works on the board, not in present mode. To point at things while you share your screen, use it on the board as it is.
Export
Open the … menu at the bottom right and choose Export, then the format.
| Format | What you get | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Export as PNG | A picture of the board | Pasting into a message, a document or slides |
| Export as SVG | A picture that stays sharp at any size | Printing, or editing in a design app |
| Export as JSON Canvas | A .canvas file in the open JSON Canvas format | Opening the board in another canvas app that reads the format, such as Obsidian |
- With something selected, only the selection is exported. With nothing selected, the whole board is. Right-click a selection and choose Export selection for the same thing.
- Cards are exported with their title, status and due date. In JSON Canvas, each card also has a link back to it in Ultrathink.
- The file is named after the view with today’s date, such as “Launch plan 2026-10-18.png”.
- A PNG is drawn at twice the board’s own size, for sharpness. A very large board is scaled down to fit what browsers can draw: at most 8,192 pixels a side.
- JSON Canvas has no way to hold drawings, lines or arrows that are not attached at both ends, so those are left out. A message says how many. Export as SVG or PNG to keep them.
- Hidden cards are not exported.
If an export cannot be made, a message says so. Try SVG, or a smaller selection.
Theme
Open the … menu and choose Theme to change the canvas colours:
- Ultrathink (the default)
- Paper
- Nord
- Dracula
- Solarized
- High contrast
The theme changes the board and its controls, not the rest of the app. It is kept on this device, so each computer can have its own.
Hand-drawn style
Choose Hand-drawn style in the … menu to give the board a sketched look: handwriting for the text and rougher lines for shapes. It is saved with the board, so it looks the same on every device. Exports keep the style.
Focus mode
Press Ctrl+. (Cmd+. on a Mac), or turn on Focus mode in the right-click menu, to hide every control and leave only the board. To get the controls back, click Exit focus mode at the bottom right, or press Ctrl+. again.
More from the right-click menu
Right-click the empty board for these switches:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Always snap | Snaps shapes as you drag. On at first. See Snapping |
| Show grid | The dot grid behind the board, the same as Settings > Canvas |
| Minimap | A small map of the board at the bottom left. Press or drag on it to move there |
| Focus mode | Hide the controls |
| Keyboard shortcuts | The list of canvas shortcuts |