# Canvas Maps
{% hint style="info" %}
**Good to know**: Canvas Maps is the name of the window where you create canvas mappings.
{% endhint %}
## Creating and mapping to a canvas
You can create a canvas in **Canvas Maps** or **Thumbnails** windows.
To render to a Canvas, select the canvas in the Mapping dropdown.
Alternatively, just drag from the canvas onto the layer.
## Canvas Maps window
To map an entire canvas onto a viewport object, just drag from the arrow onto the viewport object.
### Mapping subareas
You can of course map just a subarea of a canvas. To create a subarea you can Shift+drag on a canvas.
Alternatively, you can just right click to bring up the menu where you select **Create a subarea**.
If you right click on an existing subarea, you'll bring up a menu where you can further **edit the subarea**.
To map a subarea, just drag from the arrow onto the destination viewport object.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Good to know**: in relation to Canvas Maps, when we refer to a Mapping, we mean the connection between source (sub)area and the destination subareas.
{% endhint %}
### Editing the mapping
If you right click on the destination subarea, you can further edit the mapping. Explore various options. One of the most powerful one is **Create layout**.
### Mapping layout
If you click on Create layout, you'll create a node Layout dedicated just to this particular mapping.
In this layout, you have all the power of LightAct's Layout system at your disposal. By default there is just one *Mesh Warp* node there, but you can add any other nodes you might want.
A screenshot of a Mesh warp inside a Mapping layout with the effect shown in the Viewport object.
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