One of our biggest and most complex additions to Magma so far is the Multiboard feature. This unlocks some exciting possibilities, including the ability to create an almost infinite canvas. We think this could be an interesting way to add new depth to your images and storytelling, and we are excited to see what you can do with it. This post will guide you through how to set one up

The Setup

First, create a new Multiboard from your Artdesk or Artspace. The multiboard is essential for this to work, as you'll need the Add Board tool.

When your editor loads, switch to the move tool, tap on your board, and scale it up to 10000%. This gives you more possibilities to zoom in further.

For more useful info about using the multiboard, check out our guide.

Start your drawing

Now you're ready to start drawing. Switch to the brush tool and tap on your board to get started.

This is your main board with your most zoomed-out view. Boards that you add will be placed on top of this to zoom into.

Creating your first zoomed area

You should already know what area of the drawing you want to zoom into. This is where we'll create a new board.

First, create a new board outside of your current one:

1. zoom out so that your whole canvas is in view;

2. switch to the add board tool and tap on your drawing once. You should now be in multiboard view and the layers panel looks different;

   

3. tap on the board in the layers menu and then the duplicate button. This creates a board of the same size and scale.

4. tap on the new board you created (you will be automatically switched to the move tool) and then click and drag in one of the corners to scale the board down. The resolution remains the same when you scale the canvas.

5. Place the board over the area that you want to zoom into;

   

Your next step is to fill in the new board to match the area around and under it. Then it's time to draw the main thing for that board.

You can repeat this several times, adding new boards and scaling them smaller to fit in with each zoomed-in area.

Layer order

Make sure that the boards you will zoom into are ordered correctly; otherwise, they might be difficult to find. Open each one in order, from the back to the front, to ensure they are in the correct sequence.

When you connect to a larger board lower down on the layer list, it will appear in front while all other boards are hidden behind, but the actual layer order has not changed.

Finally

Disconnect from the boards so that your view shifts to multiboard, and reset your viewport so that your whole piece fits your screen. Now you can try zooming in and out. Sometimes it can take a moment for the boards to load up a high-quality preview.

Showing off your Infinite Canvas

The only way to truly show off this kind of creation, is with a video. Capture a screen recording or video above your tablet as you zoom in to show the deeper levels of your drawing. Post it on social media and be sure to tag us!