Richtext

In Canva, the term richtext refers to text that has formatting (style) attributes. Using the Apps SDK, apps can read and replace richtext while preserving or manipulating these attributes.

The supported attributes include:

• Font size
• Text color
• Font weight
• Italics
• Underline
• Strikethrough
• Hyperlinks

This page contains various design considerations when working with richtext. To learn more about working with richtext in general, see Reading elements and Replacing elements.

Users must select richtext content before an app can read or otherwise interact with it. This means that, in addition to the selection guidelines, it's important to keep the following things in mind:

• Do disable UI components if text content is not selected.
• Consider showing an informational alert⁠(opens in a new tab or window) that prompts users to select text content.
• Do show a warning alert⁠(opens in a new tab or window) to inform users if the selected content is not supported by the app.
• Do ensure the app has reasonable behavior in the following scenarios:
  • When a user selects a whole text element.
  • When a user select multiple text elements.
  • When a user selects a group with multiple content types such as text, images, and videos.
  • When a user selects a portion of text content, such as a single word or paragraph.
  • When a user selects multiple words or paragraphs while holding the Shift key.

• Do preserve the styling of the selected text, unless this contradicts the intended behavior of the app.
• Consider allowing users to customize the text's style.
• Do use formatting icons⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from the App UI Kit to display styling options.
• Do show a preview of style adjustments before applying them.
• Do use the color selector flyout if your app allows users to modify the text's color.

• Do show a positive alert⁠(opens in a new tab or window) once the app has succesfully replaced the user's text.