# Importing a diagram

> Opening a .revquix file, and bringing a board in from Excalidraw or draw.io - what carries over, what does not, and why there is no export back.

Source: https://www.revquix.com/docs/canvas/importing-a-diagram
Last verified: 2026-09-04

---

Canvas opens three kinds of file. Drop one onto the boards page, or use **Import**.

| Extension             | From                    |
| --------------------- | ----------------------- |
| `.revquix`            | Canvas itself           |
| `.excalidraw`         | Excalidraw              |
| `.drawio` (or `.xml`) | draw\.io / diagrams.net |

Each import creates a **new board**. Nothing is merged into a board you already have.

## A .revquix file is the whole board

Elements, styles, the flow animation, page setup and embedded images - all of it. Opening one gives
you back exactly what was exported, which is what makes it the right format for a backup or for
moving a board between accounts.

## Coming from Excalidraw or draw\.io

Both import cleanly enough to remove the reason to redraw a diagram by hand. What arrives is the
shapes, the connectors, the text and the layout.

> **Note** - A compressed draw.io file works too
>
> draw\.io compresses its diagram body by default. Both compressed and uncompressed files are accepted,
> so you do not have to find the setting before exporting.

Some things are approximated. Anything the source format expresses that Canvas has no equivalent for
comes across as the nearest shape rather than being dropped silently - check the result before
building on it.

> **Warning** - Import is one-way, and permanently so
>
> There is no export back to `.excalidraw` or `.drawio`, and there will not be.
>
> Importing is bounded work. Round-tripping is not: every feature Canvas has that those formats do not
> becomes a silent loss on the way out - and the file still opens fine in the other application, so
> nobody finds out until the diagram is wrong in front of somebody.
>
> If you need a board readable elsewhere, export a picture.

## Limits

A file is refused rather than half-imported when it is over the caps. Both are generous enough that
a hand-drawn diagram will not reach them:

- **File size** - up to 8 MB.
- **Elements** - up to 5,000 on one board.

A file that fails validation is rejected the same way whichever format it came from - there is one
check, not three.

## Related

- [Exporting a board](https://www.revquix.com/docs/canvas/boards-and-export) - Producing a `.revquix` file.

- [What Canvas is](https://www.revquix.com/docs/canvas/what-canvas-is) - The board limits in general.