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Learn the basic canvas controls while following a workflow that turns a logo into a short sign-reveal video. The seven sections below match the seven chapters in the video.
The demonstration uses the macOS shortcuts shown here. Interface labels follow the recorded English version of YouArt.
Create a node
Open Workflows and select New Workflow to start with a blank canvas. A node is a building block in your workflow: it can hold an uploaded image, provide text, or run a model.
Click the + button in the left toolbar to open the node menu. Browse the media-type groups, or type a name in the search field. Search for Image Loader, drag it onto the canvas, then click its upload area and choose your image file.
You can also import images directly from Finder. Drag a file onto the canvas, or copy one or more files in Finder with ⌘+C, return to the canvas, and press ⌘+V. The files appear as image nodes. This demonstration covers pasting files from Finder.
To remove unwanted nodes, select them and press Delete. Hold Shift while clicking to add more nodes to your selection.
Another way to create a node is to double-click an empty area of the canvas. Search for the node you need and select it. In this tutorial, add GPT Image 2 next to the uploaded image.
Connect nodes
Ports use colors to identify media types: green for text, blue for images, purple for video, and pink for audio. Drag from a node's output port and drop onto the target node. YouArt connects it to a compatible input, so you do not need to aim precisely at the input dot.
Connect the uploaded image to GPT Image 2. To delete a connection, hover over the line and click the ✕ that appears. You can reconnect the same nodes by dragging from the output again.
Enter an image prompt in the model's prompt box and click Run. The result appears above the node. The video skips the generation wait; actual completion time varies.
For the video step, create a Text node for the motion prompt and a Seedance 2.5 video node. Connect the generated image to the video's first-frame input, and connect the Text node to its prompt input.
To cut connections, hold Control and drag across the lines you want to remove. To connect multiple sources together, select the source nodes, then drag the shared output dot on the right of the selection onto the target node. If your interface does not show a shared output dot, connect each source individually.
Click Run All in the bottom toolbar to run the workflow. In this example, the path is reference image → image model → video model, with the Text node supplying the motion prompt. The resulting video plays inside its node.
Expand & collapse
Click the arrow in the top-right corner of a node to collapse it and free up canvas space. You can also select a node and press ⌘+[ to collapse it, or ⌘+] to expand it. These shortcuts provide an alternative to the arrow.
To collapse all nodes, right-click an empty area of the canvas and choose Collapse All Nodes. Open the menu again and choose Expand All Nodes to restore the expanded view.
Enable Auto-collapse nodes in the canvas menu to automatically fold nodes you are not working on. This keeps the active part of the workflow easier to see.
Focus view
When the canvas is zoomed out, select the nodes you want to inspect. Hold Shift and drag a selection box around them, then press F. The view adjusts to frame the selected nodes.
To focus on a single node, clear any multi-node selection and double-click the node body. Use the body of the node, since its title area can contain model controls.
To see the entire workflow again, open the zoom menu in the bottom-left corner and choose Fit view. Use F for a selection and Fit view for the whole workflow.
Auto layout
To tidy the workflow, press ⌘+A on the canvas to select all nodes, then press L. The nodes move into an automatic layout.
For a different direction, use Auto Layout in the selection toolbar and choose Horizontal or Vertical. Connected nodes remain grouped along the flow so that the workflow is easier to follow.
To look up shortcuts, click the info (i) button in the bottom-left corner and choose Keyboard shortcuts. Press Esc to close the panel when you are finished.
Reuse your assets
Open Media Assets in the left toolbar to find images and videos you have generated. Locate the asset you want to reuse.
Drag it from the panel onto an empty area of the canvas. In this demonstration, dragging the generated sign image creates an Image Loader with the image already loaded. You can connect it to another part of the workflow.
The Assets page provides another place to browse the same media library across your projects.
Preferences
Press ⌘+, to open Settings, then select Preferences. Choose a canvas background color and a pattern such as Dots, Grid, or None.
Find Download Filename and click Edit. The filename is assembled from blocks, such as Name, Timestamp, Index, and a custom text block.
In the demonstration, remove Timestamp with its ✕, then drag the YouArt text block to the front. The preview changes to YouArt_Hero_shot_03.png. Changes update as you edit; Done closes the block editor.
Press Esc to return to the canvas and see the updated background.