Canva is an easy-to-use online design tool whereby you can create amazing graphics, presentations, social media posts, and more with no advanced design skills.
Here’s a detailed how-to guide on using Canva to come up with awesome designs.
1. Create a Canva Account
Step 1: Sign Up for Canva
- Head over to Canva and sign up for a free account with your email address, Google, or Facebook.
- You can even upgrade to the paid version named Canva Pro. For an additional fee, it includes premium templates, more storage, and access to advanced tools.
Step 2: Choose Your Purpose
- When you first sign up, Canva will ask about your purpose in using the website-either for personal use, a small business, or education. This serves to customize the dashboard for you.
2. What You Should Know
The Canva Dashboard Once you’ve logged in, you will then be able to view the Canva dashboard. Here’s a quick overview of it:
- Search Bar: You can search for templates, elements, or projects.
- Templates Section: Access pre-made templates categorized by type-social media, presentations, etc.
- Design Section: Create from scratch or choose a template.
- Your Projects: All your saved and recent designs can be found here.
3. Kick-Start Your Design
Step 1: Choose Design Type
- You can begin creating a design on the homepage by either choosing any of the available templates or by clicking on the ‘Create a Design’ button located at the top-right corner and then choosing the design type.
- Popular options include:
- Social Media Post (Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
- Presentation
- Poster
- Logo
- Business Card
- Flyer
Step 2: Set Custom Dimensions Optional
- If you need a custom size for your project, click on Custom Size. Here, type in width and height (in pixels, inches, or millimeters) and press Create New Design.
4. Use Pre-Ready Templates Canva
If you want to work with the pre-ready template, follow the further steps:
Step 1: Choose Template
- Click Templates on the left-side panel.
- Search for a template by keywords or browse the preorganized templates by category; for example, social media, business cards, etc.
Step 2: Apply the Template
- Once a template is found that suits your needs, click to apply it onto your canvas. Everything inside of the canvas now can be modified from text to images to graphics.
5. Customize Your Design
Your design is now open, and you are ready to start customizing it with the many tools offered within Canva.
Step 1: Add and Edit Text
- Click on Text on the left panel.
- Drag and drop the heading, subheading, or body text to the canvas.
- Edit font and size, color, alignment, and many others from the toolbar at the top.
Step 2: Add Elements
- Click Elements on the left panel to add shapes, lines, icons, charts, and illustrations.
- You can search for specific elements like “circle” or “arrow.”
- Drag and drop elements onto your design and then resize, position and color.
Step 3: Add Images
- Click Photos or Uploads to add images.
- Photos: Use Canva’s built-in stock images.
- Uploads: Upload your images from your computer or directly from platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox.
- Drag the images onto the canvas and resize/crop as necessary.
Step 4: Change Background
- Click on Background on the left panel and select from color, gradient, or texture background.
- You can also upload your own background images.
6. Arrange and Layer Elements
Canva enables you to arrange and align multiple elements to keep your design clean and professional.
Step 1: Order Your Layers
- If your elements overlap, right-click on an element and choose either Send Backward or Bring Forward to move them around.
- You can also group elements together by selecting them, right-clicking, and choosing Group.
Step 2: Use Alignment Tools
- Canva offers a number of alignment and grid tools that will help you get perfect alignment of text, images and other elements. Just watch for the pink alignment lines as you drag items around:
Step 3: Use Transparency
- To make elements partially transparent, click on the element, then click the Transparency icon (a checkerboard) in the top toolbar. Slide to adjust the transparency.
7. Apply Effects and Filters
Step 1: Filter Images
- Select any image and click Filter on the toolbar to apply instant filters or brightness, contrast, and saturation edits.
Step 2: Text Effects
- Click on Effects in the toolbar after selecting a text box to give your text shadow, lift, outline, or other text effects.
Step 3: Animations (Canva Pro)
- Canva Pro adds animation features to your design: select an element, click Animate, and choose one of the available styles .
8. Save and Export Your Design
Step 1: Save Your Work
- Canva auto-saves your work after you start, but also easily manually save by clicking on File > Save.
Step 2: Export/Download Your Design
- To download your design, once you are ready, click on the Share button at the top right.
- Choose Download, select the file type you want to download your design in: PNG, JPG, PDF, or MP4 if it’s an animation.
- You also have options as to the quality – standard or high resolution – and click Download.
9. Collaborate on Designs
Step 1: Share Your Design
- Canva offers the facility of real-time collaboration. Click Share and invite others via email or by sharing a link.
- You can allow them to view or edit; that is up to you.
10. Leveraging Other Canva Features
- Brand Kit: house your brand colors, fonts, and logos in one place (Pro feature).
- Content Planner: schedule and publish designs straight to your social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (Pro feature).
- Canva for Teams: Perfect for businesses and teams which have to collaborate on branding and marketing material.
Conclusion
Canva is quite a versatile tool that lets anybody create professional designs with ease.
Whether it is about designing social media posts, presentations, or business cards, it’s all made easy with the intuitiveness of the interface and an extensive template library provided by Canva.
Follow these steps, and you are well on your way to designing like a pro in no time!
