Systems, methods, and software are disclosed herein for presenting an overlay canvas in response to receiving an editing gesture to existing text on a canvas. In an implementation, user input is received comprising an inking gesture associated with existing text displayed on a canvas in a user interface. The inking gesture is then determined to comprise any of a plurality of editing gestures. In response to the inking gesture comprising an editing gesture, an overlay canvas is presented above the canvas in the user interface. Additional user input is received comprising inking on the overlay canvas. The inking is then incorporated into the existing text on the canvas.