Canvas Card-Materializer

"Transform your fluid brainstorming into structured knowledge, instantly."

Canvas Card-Materializer is a powerful Obsidian plugin designed to bridge the gap between visual thinking on Canvas and long-term knowledge management. Inspired by the Heptabase workflow, it allows you to "materialize" temporary text cards into permanent, organized Markdown files while preserving every visual connection and color code.

✨ Key Features

• Atomic Materialization: Convert Canvas text nodes into physical .md files with a single click. The nodes on your Canvas will be replaced by the newly created files, keeping your layout intact.
• Automatic Folder Hierarchy: Categorize your notes automatically based on card colors.
  • e.g., Yellow cards go to /Yellow, Grey cards go to /Default.
• Persistent Connections: All arrows (Edges) are preserved. The plugin even appends a Connected Nodes: section to each file, listing all linked notes as clickable backlinks.
• Smart Metadata: Automatically records canvas_id and canvas_color in the YAML frontmatter.
• Visual Sync: When you drag a materialized Markdown file back onto the Canvas, the plugin automatically restores its original card color.
• Clean Titles: Automatically sanitizes filenames by removing Markdown headers (#), backticks (`), and illegal characters.

🛠️ How to Use

1. Select Cards: Select one or multiple text cards on your Canvas.
2. Right-Click: Choose "Materialize cards to files" from the context menu (works for both single and multiple selections).
3. Organize: Your notes are instantly created in a folder named after your Canvas, sub-categorized by color.
4. Connect: View the bottom of your new notes to see the Connected Nodes: list.

📂 Folder Structure Example

If you materialize cards in a canvas named Project-ASR.canvas, the plugin creates:

Documents/
└── Project-ASR/
    ├── Default/        <-- Grey cards
    │   └── Theory-Note.md
    ├── Yellow/         <-- Yellow cards (e.g., Problems)
    │   └── Bug-Analysis.md
    └── Green/          <-- Green cards (e.g., Tasks)
        └── Command-List.md

🎨 Recommended Color Workflow

⚙️ Installation

1. Open Obsidian Settings > Community Plugins.
2. Ensure Restricted mode is off.
3. Click Browse and search for Canvas Card-Materializer (once it's officially listed).
4. Alternatively, install manually via the Releases page.