Create image transformation job
This API is currently provided as a preview. Be aware of the following:
- There might be unannounced breaking changes.
- Any breaking changes to preview APIs won't produce a new API version.
- Public apps that use preview APIs will not pass the review process, and can't be made available to all Canva users.
Starts a new asynchronous job to apply one or more transformations to an image asset. A successful job produces a single new image asset with all of the requested transformations applied. The source asset isn't modified, and intermediate results aren't returned.
The request requires the ID of the source asset and at least one transformation. The source asset must be an image asset, such as one created using the Asset upload APIs(opens in a new tab or window).
Transformations are applied in the order provided, with each one stacked on the result of the previous one.
Starting a job consumes the user's AI credit allowance(opens in a new tab or window). If the user has reached their AI allowance limit, the request returns a 429 error with the credit_quota_exceeded code. Polling for the result of a job using the Get image transformation job API doesn't consume any of the allowance.
For more information on the workflow for using asynchronous jobs, see API requests and responses. You can check the status and get the results of image transformation jobs created with this API using the Get image transformation job API.
HTTP method and URL path
https://api.canva.com /rest /v1 /image-transformationsThis operation is rate limited to 20 requests per minute for each user of your app.
Authentication and authorization
This endpoint requires a valid access token that acts on behalf of a user.
Scopes
The access token must have all the following scopes (permissions):
asset:readasset:write
Header parameters
Content-TypestringIndicates the media type of the information sent in the request. This must be set to application/json.
For example: Content-Type: application/json
Body parameters
asset_idstringThe ID of the source asset to transform. The asset must be an image asset;
referencing any other asset type (such as a video) fails with an
unsupported_content_type error.
The asset must also have finished uploading. An asset that is still uploading has no
image to transform yet and fails with an asset_not_ready error. If you've just
created the asset, poll its upload job — for example with the
Get asset upload job(opens in a new tab or window)
endpoint — until it returns a success status before starting a transformation.
transformationsImageTransformationType[]The transformations to apply, in order. Must contain at least one transformation. Each transformation is stacked on the result of the previous one. The job's result is a single new image asset with all of the transformations applied; intermediate results are not returned.
Minimum items: 1
Maximum items: 20
Removes the background from an image, keeping the foreground subject. The resulting image has a transparent background. This transformation takes no parameters.
The output image is limited to a maximum of 10 megapixels. If the source image is larger, the output image is scaled down to stay within this limit.
Requires the user to have the background_removal capability. To check this before
creating a job, use the
Get user capabilities API.
typestringThe type of transformation to apply. Currently, the only supported value is
background_removal.
Available values: The only valid value is background_removal.
namestringA name for the new image asset that the job produces. Canva doesn't localize this value, so provide a name in the user's language. When omitted, the new asset inherits the name of the source asset.
Minimum length: 1
Maximum length: 255
Example request
Examples for using the /v1/image-transformations endpoint:
curl --request POST 'https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations' \--header 'Authorization: Bearer {token}' \--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \--data '{"asset_id": "Msd59349ff","name": "My Awesome Upload with the background removed","transformations": [{"type": "background_removal"}]}'
const fetch = require("node-fetch");fetch("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations", {method: "POST",headers: {"Authorization": "Bearer {token}","Content-Type": "application/json",},body: JSON.stringify({"asset_id": "Msd59349ff","name": "My Awesome Upload with the background removed","transformations": [{"type": "background_removal"}]}),}).then(async (response) => {const data = await response.json();console.log(data);}).catch(err => console.error(err));
import java.io.IOException;import java.net.URI;import java.net.http.*;public class ApiExample {public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException {HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder().uri(URI.create("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations")).header("Authorization", "Bearer {token}").header("Content-Type", "application/json").method("POST", HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString("{\"asset_id\": \"Msd59349ff\", \"name\": \"My Awesome Upload with the background removed\", \"transformations\": [{\"type\": \"background_removal\"}]}")).build();HttpResponse<String> response = HttpClient.newHttpClient().send(request,HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());System.out.println(response.body());}}
import requestsheaders = {"Authorization": "Bearer {token}","Content-Type": "application/json"}data = {"asset_id": "Msd59349ff","name": "My Awesome Upload with the background removed","transformations": [{"type": "background_removal"}]}response = requests.post("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations",headers=headers,json=data)print(response.json())
using System.Net.Http;var client = new HttpClient();var request = new HttpRequestMessage{Method = HttpMethod.Post,RequestUri = new Uri("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations"),Headers ={{ "Authorization", "Bearer {token}" },},Content = new StringContent("{\"asset_id\": \"Msd59349ff\", \"name\": \"My Awesome Upload with the background removed\", \"transformations\": [{\"type\": \"background_removal\"}]}",Encoding.UTF8,"application/json"),};using (var response = await client.SendAsync(request)){response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();Console.WriteLine(body);};
package mainimport ("fmt""io""net/http""strings")func main() {payload := strings.NewReader(`{"asset_id": "Msd59349ff","name": "My Awesome Upload with the background removed","transformations": [{"type": "background_removal"}]}`)url := "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations"req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer {token}")req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)defer res.Body.Close()body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)fmt.Println(string(body))}
$curl = curl_init();curl_setopt_array($curl, array(CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations",CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array('Authorization: Bearer {token}','Content-Type: application/json',),CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode(["asset_id" => "Msd59349ff","name" => "My Awesome Upload with the background removed","transformations" => [["type" => "background_removal"]]])));$response = curl_exec($curl);$err = curl_error($curl);curl_close($curl);if (empty($err)) {echo $response;} else {echo "Error: " . $err;}
require 'net/http'require 'uri'url = URI('https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/image-transformations')http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)http.use_ssl = truerequest = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)request['Authorization'] = 'Bearer {token}'request['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'request.body = <<REQUEST_BODY{"asset_id": "Msd59349ff","name": "My Awesome Upload with the background removed","transformations": [{"type": "background_removal"}]}REQUEST_BODYresponse = http.request(request)puts response.read_body
Success response
If successful, the endpoint returns a 200 response with a JSON body with the following parameters:
jobImageTransformationJobDetails about the image transformation job. If the job status is success, the job's
result is present.
statusstringThe status of the image transformation job. A newly created job will be in_progress
and will eventually become success or failed. A job may also complete
immediately, returning success or failed from job creation. If the status is
success, the job's result is present.
Available values:
failedin_progresssuccess
idstringThe image transformation job ID. Only present if the job status is in_progress.
A job that completes immediately returns its result or error directly and has
no ID to poll.
resultImageTransformationJobResultResult of the image transformation job. Only present if the job status is success.
assetobjectThe new image asset produced by applying all of the requested transformations.
typestringType of an asset.
Available values:
imagevideo
idstringThe ID of the asset.
namestringThe name of the asset.
created_atintegerWhen the asset was added to Canva, as a Unix timestamp (in seconds since the Unix Epoch).
updated_atintegerWhen the asset was last updated in Canva, as a Unix timestamp (in seconds since the Unix Epoch).
ownerTeamUserSummaryMetadata for the user, consisting of the User ID and Team ID.
user_idstringThe ID of the user.
team_idstringThe ID of the user's Canva Team.
thumbnailThumbnailA thumbnail image representing the object.
widthintegerThe width of the thumbnail image in pixels.
heightintegerThe height of the thumbnail image in pixels.
urlstringA URL for retrieving the thumbnail image. This URL expires after 15 minutes. This URL includes a query string that's required for retrieving the thumbnail.
metadataAssetMetadataType-specific metadata for the asset.
typestringAvailable values: The only valid value is image.
widthintegerThe width of the image in pixels.
heightintegerThe height of the image in pixels.
typestringAvailable values: The only valid value is video.
widthintegerThe width of the video in pixels.
heightintegerThe height of the video in pixels.
durationintegerThe duration of the video in seconds.
import_statusImportStatusThe import status of the asset.
statestringState of the import job for an uploaded asset.
Available values:
failedin_progresssuccess
errorImportErrorIf the import fails, this object provides details about the error.
messagestringA human-readable description of what went wrong.
codestringA short string indicating why the upload failed. This field can be used to handle errors programmatically.
Available values:
file_too_bigimport_failed
errorImageTransformationErrorIf the image transformation job fails, this object provides details about the error.
Only present if the job status is failed.
codestringError code indicating what went wrong with the image transformation.
Available values:
no_foreground_found: No foreground subject was found in the image, so there is no background to remove.quota_exceeded: The user has run out of quota, such as their AI credit quota. The quota isn't necessarily specific to the requested transformations.internal_error: An unexpected error occurred during the transformation.
messagestringA human-readable description of what went wrong.
Example responses
In progress job
{"job": {"id": "450a76e7-f96f-43ae-9c37-0e1ce492ac72","status": "in_progress"}}
Successfully completed job
{"job": {"status": "success","result": {"asset": {"id": "Msd59349ff","type": "image","name": "My Awesome Upload with the background removed","tags": ["image","holiday","best day ever"],"owner": {"user_id": "oU123456AbCdE","team_id": "oB123456AbCdE"},"created_at": 1377396000,"updated_at": 1692928800,"thumbnail": {"width": 595,"height": 335,"url": "https://document-export.canva.com/Vczz9/zF9vzVtdADc/2/thumbnail/0001.png?<query-string>"}}}}}
Failed job
{"job": {"status": "failed","error": {"code": "no_foreground_found","message": "No foreground subject was found in the image, so there is no background to remove."}}}
Error responses
400 Bad Request
codestringA short string indicating what failed. This field can be used to handle errors programmatically. For a complete list of error codes, see Error responses.
messagestringA human-readable description of what went wrong.
Example error responses
The request field does not match expected format
{"code": "invalid_request","message": "{fieldValue} does not match expected format for {fieldName}"}
The asset is not an image asset
{"code": "unsupported_content_type","message": "Asset is not an image asset: {assetId}"}
The asset is still being uploaded, so it can't be transformed yet
{"code": "asset_not_ready","message": "Asset is still being uploaded and has no image to transform yet: {assetId}"}
401 Unauthorized
codestringA short string indicating what failed. This field can be used to handle errors programmatically. For a complete list of error codes, see Error responses.
messagestringA human-readable description of what went wrong.
Example error responses
The OAuth client credentials are invalid
{"code": "invalid_client","message": "Client {clientId} not available"}
Access token could not be decoded or signature could not be verified.
{"code": "invalid_access_token","message": "Access token is invalid"}
Client credentials or body auth are missing from the request
{"code": "invalid_client","message": "Client credentials or body auth are missing from the request."}
Authorization header has wrong number of components
{"code": "invalid_access_token","message": "Malformed Authorization header: wrong number of components"}
Authorization header has invalid mode
{"code": "invalid_access_token","message": "Malformed Authorization header: invalid mode"}
Token couldn't be introspected
{"code": "invalid_access_token","message": "Token couldn't be introspected"}
Access token is revoked
{"code": "revoked_access_token","message": "Access token is revoked"}
Missing Authorization header
{"code": "invalid_access_token","message": "Missing Authorization header"}
Malformed Authorization header
{"code": "invalid_access_token","message": "Malformed Authorization header"}
403 Forbidden
codestringA short string indicating what failed. This field can be used to handle errors programmatically. For a complete list of error codes, see Error responses.
messagestringA human-readable description of what went wrong.
Example error response
Image transformation is not enabled for this client
{"code": "permission_denied","message": "Image transformation is not enabled"}
404 Not Found
codestringA short string indicating what failed. This field can be used to handle errors programmatically. For a complete list of error codes, see Error responses.
messagestringA human-readable description of what went wrong.
Example error response
The asset was not found
{"code": "asset_not_found","message": "Asset not found"}
429 Credit Quota Exceeded
codestringA short string indicating what failed. This field can be used to handle errors programmatically. For a complete list of error codes, see Error responses.
messagestringA human-readable description of what went wrong.
quota_usageobjectCredit quota usage at the time of the error. Not present if quota data is unavailable.
Example error responses
User has reached their credit quota limit
{"code": "credit_quota_exceeded","message": "User has exceeded their credit quota","quota_usage": {"used_percentage": 100,"resets_at": 1735689600,"using_bonus_credits": false,"upgrade_url": "https://www.canva.com/upgrade","is_admin": false,"generation_pending": false}}
User is in a cooldown period after heavy credit usage
{"code": "credit_quota_cooldown","message": "Credit quota cooldown is active","quota_usage": {"used_percentage": 100,"resets_at": 1735689600,"using_bonus_credits": false,"upgrade_url": "https://www.canva.com/upgrade","cooldown_ends_at": 1767182400,"is_admin": false,"generation_pending": true}}