Novus Visualizers
Creating a Spotify Canvas loop
Make a short, seamless looping visual for Spotify Canvas: a vertical clip that reads at a glance, loops cleanly, and uses the Spotify Canvas export preset.
Spotify Canvas is the short looping visual that plays behind a track in the app. It is a different brief from a full visualizer: a few seconds, vertical, seamless, and readable while someone glances at their phone. This guide is tuned for exactly that.
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1. Pick a short, looping section
Canvas is brief and repeats, so choose a short segment of the track with steady, even energy rather than a big build or drop — a section that will not feel jarring when it loops back to the start. The visual reacts to this segment, so consistent audio gives you a consistent loop.
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2. Choose a calm, hypnotic engine
Canvas works best with smooth, continuous motion — a slow tunnel, a flowing particle field, a gentle mandala — rather than sharp, attention-grabbing bursts. It sits behind cover art and metadata, so it should feel atmospheric, not distracting. Recolor it to match the single’s artwork.
- Favor smooth, continuous motion.
- Match colors to the cover art.
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3. Keep it vertical and clean
Canvas is vertical and shows over the player UI, so keep the composition centered and avoid putting anything important where the track title and controls sit. Usually you want little or no text — the cover art and metadata already carry that, and Canvas is the mood.
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4. Export with the Spotify Canvas preset
Use the Spotify Canvas platform preset so the dimensions and format match what Spotify expects, then upload it through Spotify for Artists. Because export is instant and local, you can try a couple of looping options and pick the one that feels most seamless.
- Spotify Canvas export preset.
- Iterate on loop options quickly.
Atmosphere over action
Canvas is a mood loop, not a music video — smooth, even motion that you barely notice beats anything flashy. Keep the center clear of where Spotify draws the title and controls, match the colors to the single’s art, and aim for a loop point you cannot spot.