One asset, every format. You need more sizes, the copy changed, and you don't have the source file.

Most creative work isn't making things. It's finishing them. The shoot happened, the layout got approved, and then the asset needs to run in six places at three aspect ratios with a different price on it.

That's the work that takes up the majority of the week. It's also the work that's easiest to hand off in Canvas.

Here's the good part: most of it doesn't need a prompt. Canvas has one-click tools for the bulk of finishing work—resizing, relighting, text, cleanup. Start there, and save the chat for what the buttons can't do.

1. Try the tool first. Smart resize, Change lighting, Edit text, Translate, Erase, Upscale, Split elements. One click, no wording to get right.

2. Switch to Prompt when a tool gets you most of the way. Describe the one remaining change and lock everything else.

3. Stay in the chat for anything unusual. That's where open-ended work belongs.

Either way, one fix at a time. Sequential edits land far more often than one combined request.

Social variants smartly resizes your assets. Pick as many placements as you need in one go—Instagram portrait, square, landscape, Reel, Story, then Facebook, TikTok, Snap, YouTube. Or type your own dimensions under Custom sizes and hit Add. Then Generate.

Smart resize doesn't just crop. It extends the background to fill each new shape and reworks the layout to fit, respecting safe zones and padding—so your headline and logo don't end up jammed against an edge or cut off entirely.

Pro tip: select every size you need before you generate. One pass across eight placements beats eight passes.

Copy changes late, usually after the file is built and the designer has moved on. You don't need the original file to fix it.

Edit text finds the text elements in the image and lets you edit them directly.

Translate swaps the copy into another language in place.

Split elements breaks the image into individual foreground pieces on transparent backgrounds—which effectively hands you layers back from a flattened JPG.

That last one is the quiet hero of the list. Once the elements are separated you can rearrange the layout yourself, instead of asking a model to do it for you.

Change lighting re-lights the scene from a new direction or light source.

Erase removes unwanted objects. Remove background cuts the subject out entirely.

Extend background expands the canvas with AI fill, for when you want more room and no layout change.

Upscale enhances resolution and fine detail. Camera angle reframes and adjusts perspective.

Adjust image, Crop, and Flip & rotate cover brightness, contrast, saturation, trimming, orientation, and more!

The tools handle most of it. When they don't—or when one gets you most of the way and you want to steer the rest—describe the change in Prompt.

Three habits make these work: name the single change, lock everything else explicitly, and quote any text verbatim.

Relight with a specific direction

Relight this image with [directional light from upper left at 45° / dramatic editorial side lighting / bright studio lighting with high-contrast shadows].

Add [soft shadows beneath each element, deeper directly underneath and fading at the edges] to ground the subject and create depth.

Match the lighting intensity, shadow depth, and softness of the reference image. Maintain the exact [background color].

Keep the product and all details exactly as they appear—do not change colors, textures, patterns, or any part of the item. Only modify lighting and mood.

Give the light a direction and an angle. "Better lighting" means nothing; "from the upper left at 45 degrees" produces a repeatable result you can apply across a whole set.

Turn a plain photo into a studio shot

Transform this into a high-end studio product shot. Place [product] on [background color / surface]. Bright, professional studio lighting with crisp highlights and high-contrast shadows that give depth and dimension.

Add [props or details] at [position].

Photorealistic, commercial product photography quality—crisp focus, rich saturation, premium production value. [Aspect ratio].

Reposition an element

Move [element] to [new position]. Keep all other elements, colors, and styling exactly as they are.

Remove specific objects

Remove [objects, listed individually]. Keep the background and all remaining items exactly as they are.

List each object separately rather than saying "remove the clutter." One named thing at a time is the difference between a clean plate and a guess.

Resize a piece of text

Make [exact text string, quoted] approximately [25]% larger—more prominent but not oversized.

Keep everything else exactly the same, including the model, product, layout, colors, and all other text.

Replace copy

Replace the text [current string] with [new string]. Keep everything else exactly the same.

Quote the string exactly as it appears, and give a percentage instead of "bigger." Those two habits turn four attempts into one.

If a button does the job, use the button. It's faster, cheaper, and more predictable than describing the same thing.

One fix per pass. Resize, then fix the copy, then relight. Combined requests are where things go sideways.

A reference image beats a description. If a previous asset has the lighting you want, point at it.

Check text at full size. Small copy is where edits fail, and a thumbnail won't show you.

Try a different model when you're stuck. They behave differently, and switching is often faster than rewriting. See the FAQ below.

Can AI fix bad lighting in a photo?

Yes. Change lighting re-lights the scene from a new direction in one click, or you can describe the light direction and shadow depth you want in a prompt.

How do I resize an image without cropping it?

Use Smart resize in the resize menu. It extends the background to fill each new size and reworks the layout to fit, respecting safe zones and padding so nothing important gets cropped or crowded.

Can I resize one asset for several platforms at once?

Yes. Select every placement you need in the Select size menu—Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snap, YouTube, or your own custom dimensions—then generate them in a single pass.

Do I need the original design file to edit text in an image?

No. Edit text identifies the text elements in a flattened image and lets you change them directly. Translate does the same across languages, and Split elements separates the image into individual foreground pieces on transparent backgrounds.

When should I use the chat instead of a tool?

When no tool covers what you need, or when a tool gets you most of the way and you want to refine the rest. Tools are faster and more predictable; the chat is for open-ended work.

Can I edit text inside an image without the source file?

Yes. Use Edit text to change the copy directly in a flattened image, or quote the exact string in a prompt and state the change while locking everything else.

Why do my edits change things I didn't ask about?

Because the prompt didn't say what to protect. List the layout, colors, product, and other text explicitly as things that stay identical.

Should I make several edits in one prompt?

No. Sequential single edits are far more reliable than one combined request, even though it feels slower.

Which model should I use?

These are image edits, so start with an image model. Nano Banana 2 Lite is the cheapest and fastest option—roughly half the credits of Nano Banana 2 and under three seconds a generation—which makes it the right choice for the small fixes on this page. Step up to Nano Banana 2, Seedream 4.5, or Flux 2 Max when you need fine detail held, particularly on small text.

Credit costs per model change as providers reprice them, so check the model picker in Canvas for current rates.