Canva versus Canvas

Lately I've looking back at some of my old blogs on Mathematical Meanderings and so far I've created two YouTube videos from them: Fibonacci with a Twist and The Universe of Catalan Numbers. Looking back at my very first post titled Prime Gaps on Mathematical Meanderings on the 26th of September 2015, I noticed that I'd "refurbished" the post on December 18th of 2020 and then added a Canva link on December 21st of 2021. The link has been embedded in the post and displays as a slide presentation. 

Presented by SEAN REEVES by Sean Reeves

I'd forgotten about this resource but, at the back of my mind, I remembered that Gemini had a resource with the same name or so I thought. 

I turned to Gemini for clarification:

What exactly is Canva? I noticed I had created a slide presentation using this program back in 2021 but I can't remember if it's a standalone app or an online app or part of some larger program. Can you clarify?

That's a great question! It can be a little confusing because Canva is available in a few different formats. In short, Canva is primarily a web-based, online graphic design platform, but it also offers dedicated desktop and mobile apps.

Here is a breakdown to clarify:

What Exactly is Canva?

• Canva is an Australian proprietary software company that provides a graphic design platform focused on making design accessible to everyone, even those without a professional design background.
  
  
• It uses a simple drag-and-drop interface and offers thousands of customizable templates for a huge variety of visual content.
  
  
• The presentation you created in 2021 is a core use case, but it's also used for social media graphics, flyers, posters, videos, websites, and more.

Standalone App vs. Online App

Canva functions as both an online app and a standalone app (desktop/mobile):

Feature	Primary Access	Functionality
Online App (Web-Based)	Browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox)	This is the main platform. It requires a constant internet connection for full functionality (saving, accessing templates/stock media, etc.). Since your designs are stored in the cloud, you can access them from any browser.
Standalone App (Desktop/Mobile)	Desktop App (for Windows/Mac) or Mobile App (for iOS/Android)	These are dedicated applications you download. They offer the same features as the browser version and are essentially a dedicated window for the online service. They are great for organizing your work and avoiding "tab overload."

Key Takeaway: Canva is fundamentally a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that is cloud-based. While you can download a desktop app, it still relies heavily on the internet to function fully, especially for saving and accessing its massive library of resources.

Is Canva connected to Gemini in any way?

That's an interesting question, especially since both are prominent in the creative and AI space!

There is no direct, built-in connection between the design platform Canva and the AI model Gemini (or Google's AI services) in the same way that a tool might be natively part of the Google Workspace suite.

However, they are connected in a few significant ways:

1. Strategic Partnerships and AI Technology

• Google AI Powering Canva's Tools: Canva has a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, and they use Google's generative AI technology (like the models that are part of the Gemini family) to power some of their own "Magic Studio" AI features, such as Text to Image generation and certain other creative tools. So, while you don't use "Gemini" directly inside Canva, the underlying Google AI technology may be working behind the scenes.
  
  
• Canva for Google Workspace: Canva offers a dedicated add-on for Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Docs, etc.) which allows you to seamlessly insert, create, and share Canva designs directly from within Google's productivity apps. This is a workflow integration, but it's not a direct connection to the Gemini model itself.

2. Workflow Integration

• Automation Platforms: Many third-party automation tools (like Make, Workato, Pabbly, etc.) allow users to create custom workflows that connect Canva actions (like "create a design") with Gemini actions (like "generate content from a text prompt"). This lets users automate the creative process.

3. A Key Point of Confusion: Gemini Canvas

It is very important to note that Google Gemini has a feature called Canvas (often capitalized or styled differently), which is a separate product from the design tool Canva.

• Gemini Canvas: This is a feature within the Gemini web or mobile app that lets you transform complex text prompts into different outputs like documents, simple apps, quizzes, or infographics. This is part of the Gemini AI experience, and it is not the same as the visual design platform, Canva.

In summary, Canva uses Google AI technology as part of its feature set, and it has integrations with Google's ecosystem, but the two are not the same product and do not have a fully unified experience.

Does that clarify the relationship for you?

Astrolog Reinstalled

During my stay in Melbourne, with only my Macbook Air, I had no access to Astrolog, my go-to software tool for astrological analysis. Let's recall that the usual Windows emulation software doesn't work on the new Silicon Macs. Having returned to home base, I've been able to install Astrolog on my old 2013 Macbook Pro using Bottles.

The installation of Bottles was quite painless using the Application Manager. I created a "bottle" for 

Astrolog and then my downloaded astrolog.exe was able to be installed. A little tweaking of the program for font sizes and colours and I was away. However, it still nagged me as to why I couldn't set up Astrolog on my Macbook Air. I consulted Gemini.

After some to and fro, it recommended Whisky at https://getwhisky.app/. The opening page contains the warning that "Whisky is no longer actively maintained. Apps and games may break at any time". That was OK as I really only needed it to do one thing and that is to run Astrolog. Whisky seems to be a version of Bottles that has been modified to run on MacOS. As before, I set up a "bottle" and installed Astrolog. Now it runs on my Macbook Air. 

One program I had with the Astrolog running on my Linux distributions was the tiny size of the drop-down menu. There was no way I found to modify this. However, on the Mac the menu is normal size so I'm quite pleased. Fingers crossed that I don't have any further problems.

The Agony of Desktop Linux

Having acquired a mini-PC from my son-in-law, I installed Ubuntu and the installation went smoothly enough. Here are the details of the PC:

System Details Report

Date generated: 2025-09-14 13:08:48

Hardware Information:

Hardware Model: Leader NUC PC

Memory: 8.0 GiB

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-5200U × 4

Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2)

Disk Capacity: 240.1 GB

Software Information:

Firmware Version: 1.09

OS Name: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS

OS Build: (null)

OS Type: 64-bit

GNOME Version: 46

Windowing System: Wayland

Kernel Version: Linux 6.14.0-29-generic

Here is what Gemini had to say about the unit:

The Leader NUC PC model SN6 is a small form factor desktop computer. Its key components include the Intel Core i5-5200U processor and Intel HD Graphics 5500. This model is part of the Intel Broadwell-U platform, which emphasizes energy efficiency.

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Processor: Intel Core i5-5200U

The Intel Core i5-5200U is a mobile processor released in early 2015. It's built on a 14 nm manufacturing process and has a low TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 15W, making it suitable for compact devices like the NUC. Here are some of its key specifications:

• Cores/Threads: It has 2 physical cores and 4 threads, thanks to Intel's Hyper-Threading technology.

• Clock Speed: It operates with a base frequency of 2.2 GHz and can boost up to 2.7 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology.

• Cache: The processor has 3MB of L3 cache, which helps with data access speed.

• Performance: The CPU provides sufficient performance for everyday computing tasks, including web browsing, office applications, and multimedia. However, it's not designed for demanding tasks like high-end video editing or modern gaming.

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2)

The Intel HD Graphics 5500 is an integrated graphics solution that is part of the processor itself. It's based on the Broadwell GT2 graphics processor, which is Intel's 8th generation of graphics architecture.

• Execution Units: It features 24 execution units (EUs).

• Clock Speed: The base frequency is 300 MHz and can be dynamically boosted up to 900 MHz.

• Gaming Performance: The HD 5500 is an entry-level graphics solution. While it can handle older or less graphically intensive games, it will struggle with modern AAA titles. Its performance is comparable to some older dedicated graphics cards, like the NVIDIA GeForce GT 620 or AMD Radeon R7 240. It is not a gaming powerhouse, but it is capable of handling general multimedia and light gaming.

So the unit is now over 10 years old but it still does all I need it to do. The problem lies not in the hardware but in the software and the difficulty in installing software. I did succeed, with Gemini's help, to install SageMath but the installation of a simple screenshot app proved impossible. Currently I have no screenshot capability which is insane for an operating system. I'll probably find a workaround sooner or later but most people simply wouldn't bother. I'm only grateful that I have my Mac OS, installed on my MacBook Air to full back on. Ubuntu is simply a joke operating system and while Linux may dominate the servers that drive the Internet, it will never succeed at the desktop level.

HEIC File Format

I uploaded an image taken on my iPhone to Google Drive and noticed that the file format ended in .HEIC. After downloading it, I dropped it into WhatsApp and noticed the image wouldn't display. I thought it was time to find out more about this file format. I asked Gemini:

What is HEIC file format and is it compatible with most messaging apps?

HEIC, or High Efficiency Image File Format, is a modern image file format that uses High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) to store images. It's the default format for photos taken on iPhones running iOS 11 or later because it can produce higher-quality images with smaller file sizes compared to older formats like JPEG. This helps save storage space on your device. 

While HEIC is great for storage and quality, it is not universally compatible with most messaging apps or other devices. Messaging apps, especially those that use MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) for cross-platform communication, often automatically convert HEIC images to the more widely supported JPEG format to ensure the recipient can view the photo. This conversion can sometimes lead to a loss of image quality. While some apps and platforms, particularly within the Apple ecosystem, have native HEIC support, you might run into compatibility issues when sharing these files with users on other operating systems like Android or Windows.

The settings can be changed on your iPhone so that all images can be saved in JPEG format if wanted. I tried to change the image that I'd downloaded to a JPEG using Ubuntu's Shotwell app. No luck. I asked Gemini:

I tried Shotwell and the image name was greyed out and thus unable to be uploaded. Any workarounds?

Shotwell has a known issue with HEIC files, especially when you are using the Snap or Flatpak versions of the app, which sometimes lack full system integration to handle these files. The files appearing "greyed out" during upload often indicates that the application doesn't have the necessary library or permissions to properly process and convert the HEIC format for the web service.

A reliable workaround is to convert the files to a compatible format like JPEG first, using a separate tool, before attempting to upload them. As we discussed, the `heif-convert` command-line tool is excellent for this.

Convert HEIC to JPEG with `heif-convert`

1.  Open your terminal.

2.  Use the command to convert the file:

    `heif-convert your_photo.HEIC your_photo.jpg`

3.  Then, upload the newly created `your_photo.jpg` file using Shotwell or your web browser.

This two-step process bypasses the problem within Shotwell and ensures your images are in a universally compatible format.

In the end I just downloaded GIMP and used that to convert the file.  While preparing this post, I found an image that I liked and wanted to insert it. However, it was in AVIF format and found that Blogger wouldn't accept it. Interesting. I've written about this file format in a post titled A New Image File Format in July of 2023.