Recently during my Website Makeover Workshop, we all took on a fun design challenge using Canva. I had a message from a fellow designer who said “Ugh, I can’t believe you’re teaching people to use Canva”. It made me laugh because I was once an anti-Canva purist, sticking firmly to my trusty InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
People can be funny about tools. I see a lot of website platform snobbery too, but the best tool is the one you’re most comfortable using.
And great design is great design, whatever you use to create it.
Although I wouldn’t use Canva for every design project, it’s a welcome addition to my toolkit, because the workflow is so easy to master and the interface is intuitive.
The other big bonus for me is that my clients can actually use Canva and edit the designs I produce for them. What’s the point of a beautiful document that can only be edited using a paid and/or complicated design platform like Illustrator or InDesign?
So, I like the fact that Canva democratises access to good design and simple tools. Let’s dig in.
When To Use Canva
Don’t use it for…
There are some design projects where Canva just isn’t the right tool.
The most obvious one is when you are creating any kind of logo or design element that is going to be printed or needs to be scaled up in the future.
Canva can’t create scalable vectors from scratch and you are limited in the way you can work with type and shapes.
That said, they do actually have a logo maker tool and a load of logo templates for inspiration, which can be a good option in a pinch.
I’ve also had mixed results with printed products, with some inaccuracies with colour profile and crop and bleed settings. That said, I’d probably use it for print items like cheap business cards and I do happily use it for frequently-printed items like restaurant menus.
Do use it for…
Canva is absolutely perfect for creating social media posts. Not only does it have a huge range of starter templates for every social channel, it’s really easy to create trickier design items like carousels and animated posts.
To really seal the deal, you can now share your designs straight to your social channels and even schedule them, all from within Canva.
I also use Canva for multi-page documents like lead magnets, because it’s easy to add text links and embed your document into any website page.
Free vs Pro?
Before we get stuck into what Canva can do, it’s worth exploring what you get in the free version versus the pro version.
The free option gives you a decent range of templates, design elements and photos and the ability to export all of your creations to the various file formats, including PDF and video.
In fact, Canva are really upping their game right now on the video creation front. You can see what’s possible right here in their video editor explainer page.
But if you want to really speed up your workflow and stay on brand at all times, then investing in Pro (currently $99/year) is well worth it, in my opinion. The Pro version unlocks a huge amount of contentm plus, crucially, allows you to create your own brand guide and upload custom fonts.
You can also save documents to be used as templates – great when you work with a team or want to share one of your designs for reuse.
And finally, Pro gives you the option to schedule and post directly to all of your social channels.
You can find a detailed comparison here.
Setting Up Your Brand
Before you get over-excited and dive straight into Canva, do take the time to set up your Brand Guide because it’s going to make your workflow much easier.
You can set your brand fonts, your colours and Pro users can also upload custom fonts and logos.
This means that when you’re in any design project, you have all of your brand fonts, colours and tools to hand.
Using Templates
If you’re an experienced designer, you can start with a blank canvas and just start designing using the various shapes and design elements available in the library.
But if you feel you need a little hand-holding when it comes to design, then you can use the huge library of templates as a starting point. There are specific categories for most social media channels in various sizes plus for more elaborate design projects like brochures, posters and magazines.
Many of the templates are created by professional designers who are part of the Canva community and the standard is pretty high.
For social media in particular, I often start with a template as a base and then play around with the elements to make it my own.
The Canva Tools
Once you’ve opened a project, and you’re in the Canva workspace, you’ll find a suite of tools on your left hand side.
You can search templates, photos and design elements, all from the same panel and depending on what you’ve used recently, the Canva algorithm will offer up a curated selection of templates and design elements it thinks will work for you.
Select any element to edit it, and a new toolbar will appear at the top of the workspace, giving you filters, effects, image editing and the clever Remove Background tool.
It’s worth exploring all of the editing toolbar areas, because there are some excellent features tucked away inside.
I particularly like the smart mockups, device frames and drop shadows.
10 Clever Canva Hacks
No guide to Canva would be complete without a round-up of my favourite hidden tools and tricks.
- See only free Canva elements
Want to clear away the clutter and see only the free Canva elements?
Type in the search box: “brand:BAAMOuJH0Ec” or “brand:BAAAAP7rQ8M” to reveal them.
- Check out the Canva Learn area
Canva have really gone to town with their selection of free tutorials and training courses. If you’ve never used Canva before, the Learn Area is a great place to start.
- Use the Canva Colour Tools
The Color Tools area is a fantastic resource but it’s really hard to find for some reason. Start here to access the Colour Palette Generator, the Colour Palette Ideas area, the Colour Wheel and Colour Meanings.
- Use the free Canva Photo Editor
If you want to keep things simple, Canva has a photo tool that’s surprisingly decent. Check it out here.
- Use the built in screen recorder to record presentations
I’ve noticed more and more online teachers using Canva slides during presentations. The interface is smooth and you have the option not only to present but also record your face and voiceover. Find it in the Present options area.
- Use Canva curved text effects
Images, graphic elements and text all have their own set of different effects tools. Being able to type on a curved path or circle is one of my favourite design features.
- Use the Canva graph maker
Another tucked away tool, the Canva Graph Maker is packed with chart and bar graph templates to get you started. Perfect for creating infographics or spicing up presentations.
- Use Canva’s Magic Resize Tool
Being able to quickly resize social media graphics is one of the best things about Canva. You can choose to resize the current design or copy and resize to create a new version. Canva scales your elements to fit the new dimensions, meaning that all you need to do is a little tweaking.
- The secret keywords you can use to find the coolest graphic design elements
Searching for a certain design element in Canva can be frustrating, especially if you don’t know how to describe what you’re actually looking for.
Knowing some of the keywords allows you to find collections of ‘secret graphics’ that don’t often get returned in your search because of their obscure names.
Here are some of my favourite keywords:
- Organic shapes / blob / lines
- ‘Aesthetic’ brings up a curated blend of objects and textures
- Delicate organic brings together delicate hand-drawn shapes
- ‘Washi’ or ‘ripped paper’ both give lots of lovely paper effect items
- ‘Freeform pencil’ yields a collection of beautiful painted textures and line drawings
- ‘Universalscenery’ is great for cute illustrations that all work well together
- For airy planetary elements, try ‘mystic’ and ‘celestial’
- Use Canva’s secret brand codes to discover complete collections.
Here are a couple of my favourites:
- brand:BAD63x8KTpk. Beautiful, realistic floral illustrations
- brand:BADeGVMPgRk. Cute & quirky hand-drawn element set
Tip: You can click on any Canva element to access all of the elements from a particular designer or to See More Of The Same.
Canva Video Walkthrough
If you’d like to join an inspiring online community, you can find out more about Melissa’s online membership, The Marketing Fix, at www.themarketingfix.co.
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