There’s no better design platform than Canva when it comes to building your visual content strategy. It has a ton of templates and customizable options that will make designing easy for you to create stunning graphics. From social media images, videos, and gifs to posters, websites, booklets, multimedia and presentations.
Our step-by-step guide will walk you through the most common tasks and explain how each one works.
How Do You Use Canva?
To use Canva, login to your account dashboard first. Here is what you’ll find on Canva’s top menu:
- A home page.
- Templates organized into different categories to help you quickly locate what you need.
- Features showing photos, icons, print media, apps, and more.
On the other hand, Canva’s side menu contains the following:
- A home button to help you reset
- Your projects section helps you find and manage all your designs
- Templates; shows you ideas for different design assets
- The Shared with You page is where you’ll find designs someone has shared with you
- The Trash is where any plans you’ve deleted will appear
Another menu item is “Create a team.” This allows you to create an online group that lets you collaborate on designs and leave feedback for one another within the Canva editor.
Watch the video and learn more about creating a team in Canva.How to Create Visual Content
Start by sketching an outline on design paper to realize your vision. You don’t need to be perfect; consider what you’d like to include and what you feel is best for your design.1.Browse the template collection
Canva’s templates are fully customizable, so you can select the colors, images, and filters to suit your taste.2.Choose accurate dimensions for your design
Next, choose the image size and style for each piece of content from the Canva homepage. They’re typically set to the optimal dimensions for each graphic, whether a poster, social media image, flier, or more.
Alternatively, you can search for “custom size” and use custom dimensions calculated from pixels.3. Choose a color or an image background
To choose a background color, use the Color Picker tool in the toolbar at the editor’s top.
Keep in mind that different colors convey different messages. For instance, green is associated with nature, whereas black and white are neutral colors.
You can easily find the best color combination with the Canvas color palette tool.
If you’d prefer to use a photo as a background, add a grid and place it on it. Doing this allows you to resize, crop, flip, and layer your photo to create various visual effects.
Pro tip: Keep the background image simple. It’s only meant to support the message of the content. Overdoing the background makes it hard to overlay things like text or illustrations.4. Incorporate your elements on Canva
If you want your brand to look slick, add text, icons, photos, colors, and relevant illustrations.
Make it simple and appealing while still keeping it manageable.
In the sidebar, select “Elements” and use the search bar to find different keywords. Sideways swipe through the categories, or scroll down to see some sample elements for the various types. Then click and drag the piece into your design.5. Choose the right fonts
Go to the text button on the side panel to add text to your design. Use the search bar to look up font styles, or choose one of the three default text styles to quickly click and drag a header, subheading, or body of text. Click twice or click and drag to add font combinations and styles to your design as you scroll down.
Canva recommends using up to two fonts in a design. Simple is best, as too many fonts make your design look “messy.” You can choose fonts that complement your visual content from the Canva pre-set font combinations.
Also, Canva has a font combination tool that can help, and traditional combinations like serif fonts are essential.
Alternatively, you can create your own combination. Again, simplicity is best: if you choose an elaborate font, ensure you pair it with a simpler font so your design is balanced.How to Share and Collaborate Your Designs
You can download a design or grant access to a collaborator once you’re ready to share it. Click “Share” in the top right corner to include a collaborator who can provide input as comments on your design.Organizing and Saving Your Documents
Canva automatically saves your design as you work. Therefore, you can rest assured that it autosaves every five seconds, even if the design gods forbid you to experience computer or internet problems.Canva is Your Best Tool for Design Skills
To be good at design, you only need a few hours studying the use of Canva. Be encouraged if your initial plan isn’t flawless; like most things in life, you’ll get better with practice. Instead, carry on creating and practicing. You’ll be producing stunning, well-crafted graphics in no time.