# 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.