Shopify Canvas, Shopify’s new design workspace, lets you build and edit your online store by chatting with Sidekick, the platform’s AI agent. You see every page of your Shopify store at once and can change your store design with a few prompts, from a quick banner edit to a full Shopify website redesign.
This guide covers how Canvas works, how to try it, its current limits, and how to add custom products to your store with Printify.
What is Shopify Canvas?
Shopify Canvas, a new design workspace in your admin, lets you build and edit your online store by chatting with Sidekick, the platform’s AI agent. Shopify announced it on October 1, 2026, and it’s rolling out as early access to certain stores.
What sets Canvas apart is scope. It shows your entire store at once, and every edit works on your real theme code.
Canvas is optional, and Shopify isn’t replacing the existing editor yet.
Inside the Canvas workspace
Canvas works around two tools that shape your design workflow: a single view of every page and Sidekick, which edits your store design through chat.
See every page in one workspace
All of your store’s templates sit side by side in one visual workspace, from the homepage and product pages to smaller templates like search. You can pan across them, zoom out for an overview, or zoom in on a single section.
To edit blocks, click them in the preview and adjust the block’s settings, or type over text directly. Theme settings like colors and typography apply across the whole theme.
Changes appear in real time. You can also preview key pages with different products, collections and screen sizes, including mobile.
Build by chatting with Sidekick
Type a request in the Work with Sidekick field, like “make the hero banner bolder,” and Shopify Sidekick makes the change. To target a specific block, click it first.
This conversational theme editing works both ways. Sidekick asks questions, suggests design directions and adjusts based on your feedback. It can also handle changes the settings panel doesn’t offer, and you can upload a screenshot as a visual reference.
New themes work much like an AI store builder: describe your brand, and Sidekick builds a theme from it. A fully custom store can take as little as 20 minutes.
Sidekick checks its own work
Each request goes straight to your theme files. Shopify also simplified its theme architecture, which makes a store’s structure, logic and design easier for the AI to understand and change.
Sidekick takes screenshots of the result and validates its generated code, repeating that loop before handing the design back to you. It has plenty of practice, with more than 25 million edits to themes in the first half of 2026.
Your design decisions carry over
As you work, Sidekick remembers your preferences and carries earlier design decisions into new requests. You won’t need to restate the same style choices every time you ask for a change.
Each theme also has its own design contract, a curated set of patterns Sidekick draws from. According to Shopify, this helps Sidekick suggest distinct design directions, giving your eCommerce brand something concrete to react to and refine.
Shopify Canvas vs the theme editor
Shopify Canvas and the theme editor both handle theme customization, and you can use both in the same store. Canvas lets you see every template at once and make changes with Sidekick. The existing theme editor works one template at a time and supports more themes and apps.
| Shopify Canvas | Theme editor | |
|---|---|---|
| What you edit | Blocks, text, theme settings and the actual theme code (through Sidekick) | Sections, blocks and theme settings |
| How you edit | Click blocks or text in the preview, or describe changes in the Sidekick chat | Click sections and blocks in the preview or sidebar, then adjust their settings |
| AI help | Sidekick builds and changes the theme, asks questions and checks its own work | Sidekick can generate custom theme blocks for eligible merchants |
| What you see | Every template side by side | One template at a time, picked from a menu |
| Theme support | Themes developed by Shopify and custom themes; third-party themes aren’t supported | Any theme you haven’t created or edited in Canvas |
| App blocks | Can’t add or configure app blocks or app embeds | Add and customize app blocks, and turn app embeds on or off |
| Best for | New themes built from a description, store-wide redesigns and changes block settings don’t cover | Third-party themes, app blocks, market-specific changes and themes that still need theme updates |
Getting started with Shopify Canvas in 4 steps
Canvas takes only a few clicks to open. These steps help you set it up without touching your live store.
1. Check that Canvas is available on your store
Canvas is in early access, so only certain stores have it right now. To check, go to the Themes page in your Shopify admin and click the ⋯ menu next to a theme. If you see Duplicate in Canvas, you have access.
You’ll also need:
- A desktop device, since Canvas isn’t available on mobile.
- A Shopify plan that includes theme customization.
- A theme developed by Shopify or a custom theme. Third-party themes aren’t supported, so check your theme’s source first. If you need a supported option, our roundup of free Shopify themes is a good place to look.
- The Edit code permission for any staff member who’ll use Canvas.
2. Pick your starting point: A new theme or a duplicate
From the Themes page, you can open Canvas in two ways:
- New theme: Click New and describe your brand and store in the Sidekick chat. Sidekick builds the theme and adds it to your theme library as an unpublished theme.
- Duplicate: Click ⋯ → Duplicate in Canvas to copy a supported theme. Your original theme stays in the library.
Before you duplicate, know what you’re committing to. A Canvas-edited Shopify theme opens only in Canvas, so you can’t return it to the theme editor. The copy and the original theme don’t sync, and the copy won’t receive theme updates.
3. Brief Sidekick and build one page first
Give Sidekick context before asking for changes. Describe your brand, who you sell to and the look you want, and upload a screenshot if you have a visual reference.
Then focus on a single page, like your homepage or a product page. Once it looks right, ask Sidekick to apply the same style to the rest of your store’s templates. Working page by page keeps each change easy to review.
4. Review, test and publish
Canvas saves your work automatically, but nothing goes live until you publish. Before you do:
- Preview your pages at mobile and tablet sizes, even though you edit on desktop.
- Check the text, links and product details on each key page.
- Use version history to restore an earlier version if a change misses the mark. Sidekick’s changes clear your undo history, so the Undo button won’t reverse them.
When you’re ready, click Publish, or Update if you’re editing your published theme. Review your changes in the dialog, then click Publish changes. If the theme can’t be published, the dialog lists the errors, and you can click Fix with Sidekick to resolve them.
Planning a Shopify website redesign in Canvas
For established stores, a Shopify website redesign carries more risk than a fresh build. You already have customers, traffic and pages that convert. With Shopify Canvas, you can see the whole store at once, which helps you plan changes across it.
Audit what your current store does well
Before you change anything, look at what’s working. Check your store’s analytics for the pages that bring in the most sales and the ones where visitors leave.
Keep elements that clearly support conversion, like a product page layout that sells well or a menu your shoppers already know. Then note what feels dated or confusing, such as cluttered banners or mismatched fonts.
Seeing every template side by side in Canvas helps with this step. You get a clearer sense of how the store feels as a whole than you would by checking pages one at a time.
Redesign the pages that matter most
Your analytics should decide where to begin. Common candidates are the homepage, collection pages and product pages, but the right order depends on where your traffic and sales come from.
Tackle one high-impact page at a time. Ask Sidekick to propose a few design directions, then refine the one that fits. You can also preview a template with different products and collections, which helps you check that a new layout works across your catalog.
Keep your brand consistent
A redesign can drift as you update pages one by one. Set your colors and typography in theme settings so they apply across the whole theme, and give Sidekick the same brand details you used in your brief.
Before publishing, review your pages side by side. Design consistency is easier to check when headings, buttons, imagery and tone sit next to each other. For inspiration, see how other brands keep a cohesive look in our roundup of Shopify store examples.
Shopify Canvas limitations to know
Shopify Canvas is still early. Shopify says it isn’t replacing the existing editor yet and admits there are gaps it still needs to close. Here’s what to know before you commit a theme to it:
- Limited access: Canvas is in early access for certain stores and works only on desktop devices.
- Narrow theme support: It works with themes developed by Shopify and custom themes. Third-party themes aren’t supported.
- No way back to the theme editor: A theme you create or edit in Canvas opens only in Canvas, and it stops receiving theme updates.
- No app support in the editor: You can’t add or configure app blocks or app embeds in Canvas. Keep this in mind if your store relies on apps for features like reviews.
- Fewer manual controls: You can’t add a new block to a template yourself, so you’ll need to ask Sidekick. On some older themes, you also can’t edit text directly in the preview.
- No translations or market-specific themes: You can’t translate theme content directly in Canvas or customize a theme for different markets. Translations go through the Translate & Adapt app instead.
- No theme file downloads: You can’t download the theme files for a Canvas-edited theme, which matters if a developer works on your theme outside Shopify.
AI output still needs your review. Sidekick checks its own work, but it won’t always get a request right on the first try. Look over each change as it lands, follow up with more specific prompts when something’s off, and publish only when the result matches what you asked for.
Canvas plus Printify: Custom products for your Shopify store
A great-looking storefront still needs something to sell. Canvas handles how your Shopify store looks, and Printify fills it with custom products through Print on Demand, so each item is printed and shipped only after someone orders.
Getting custom products into your store takes five steps:
- Sign up for Printify. It’s free, and you don’t need a credit card.
- Connect your Shopify store. Install the Printify app from the Shopify App Store, or connect from your Printify dashboard.
- Pick products from the Catalog. Choose from more than 2,000 items, including t-shirts, hoodies, mugs and wall art. For inspiration, see our guide on what to sell on Shopify.
- Design in the Product Creator. Upload your artwork, generate designs with AI or use graphics from the Shutterstock library, then check realistic mockups before publishing.
- Publish to Shopify. Your products sync with your store automatically.
Then open Canvas and ask Sidekick to style your product and collection pages around your new items. Previewing templates with your actual products shows how they’ll look before you publish.
When an order comes in, Printify sends it to one of 70+ Print Providers, with 140+ facilities across the US, the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia. Follow our full guide to Shopify Print on Demand.
Ready to try Shopify Canvas?
Shopify Canvas puts every page of your store in one workspace and lets Sidekick handle design changes through chat. If your store has early access, duplicate a supported theme, brief Sidekick and build one page at a time. Then review each change before you publish.
Once the design is set, fill your Shopify store with custom products from Printify. Sign up for free, connect your store and let Print Providers handle printing and shipping.
