diff --git a/readux_ingest_ecds/models.py b/readux_ingest_ecds/models.py
index 479087c..c98870e 100644
--- a/readux_ingest_ecds/models.py
+++ b/readux_ingest_ecds/models.py
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ def create_canvases(self):
             except IndexError:
                 ocr_file_path = None
 
-            new_canvases.append(Canvas(
+            new_canvas = Canvas(
                 manifest=self.manifest,
                 image_server=self.image_server,
                 pid=canvas_pid,
@@ -202,7 +202,11 @@ def create_canvases(self):
                 position=position,
                 width=width,
                 height=height
-            ))
+            )
+
+            new_canvas.before_save()
+
+            new_canvases.append(new_canvas)
 
         Canvas.objects.bulk_create(new_canvases)
 
diff --git a/test_app/iiif/models.py b/test_app/iiif/models.py
index 511b385..5fead05 100644
--- a/test_app/iiif/models.py
+++ b/test_app/iiif/models.py
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ class Canvas(models.Model):
     default_ocr = models.CharField(max_length=30, choices=preferred_ocr, default="word")
     image_server = models.ForeignKey(ImageServer, on_delete=models.DO_NOTHING, null=True)
 
+    def before_save(self):
+        return True
+
 class OCR(models.Model):
     OCR = 'cnt:ContentAsText'
     TEXT = 'dctypes:Text'