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Intro to Canva
Introduction to Canva
Canva is a wonderful online tool that can help you design a wide range of things, from posters to
business cards and trifold brochures to wedding invitations. Canva is a free service that requires a
free account. You can sign up with an email account or by linking your Gmail or Facebook account
to Canva. Canva is completely web based so the designs and projects you start on one computer
can be accessed on from any other computer that can get onto the internet and to Canva.com. This
handout will cover some of the basics to get you started.

Once you sign up and create an account you will be able to start designing.

The Home Screen

For this handout we will be calling the screen shown above “the home screen.” This is where you can
see your existing designs or select a new design to make. All the designs you have made will show up
under the “All your designs” part of the home screen. You can share and have designs shared with you,
designs shared with you show up if you click the “Shared with you” part of the home screen.

If you feel your designs are getting to be too many and cluttered you can create two folders to sort them
in by clicking the “+ Add new folder.”

They’re kind of hidden but two great resources can be found below the “Upgrade” button. “Learn to
Design” will take you to a webpage developed by Canva with easy to follow along design courses that

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are built into Canva. These courses will not only teach you how to use Canva better but will also teach
you art and design principles as well (such as how to create a color palette). “Get design inspiration” will
take you to part of Canva’s website where people have shared designs they have made that they think
are worth sharing with others. You can see what other people have made and get ideas for your own
designs.

Create a Design

 The Home Screen will show any recent designs if you have an existing account or a
variety of templates.
 You can also use the custom dimensions’ option to create your own base design.
 Click the purple “Create a Design” button in the top right corner to get started

Clicking either will load up all the design templates you can use in Canva. They are listed below:

Popular design types – Social Media, Presentation, Poster, Facebook Cover, Facebook Post, Blog Graphic,
A4, Card, and Email header.

Social Media Posts – Twitter Post, Social Media, Pinterest Graphic, Facebook Post, Facebook App,
Tumbler Graphic, Instagram Post.

Documents – US Letter, Presentation (16:9), Presentation, A4, Letterhead (US), Magazine, Letterhead
(A4), Resume.

Blogging & eBooks – eBook, Desktop Wallpaper, Kindle Cover, Blog Title, Blog Graphic, Album Cover,
Infographic.

Marketing Materials – Real Estate Flyer, Poster (US), Poster, Food & Drink Menu, Business Card, Flyer,
Trifold Brochure, Gift Certificate.

Social Media & Email Headers – Facebook Event Cover, YouTube Thumbnail, Tumblr Banner, YouTube
Channel Art, Twitter Header, Google+ Photo, Etsy Cover Photo, Etsy Shop Icon, Facebook Cover, Email
Header.

Events – Postcard, Wedding Invitation, Invitation (portrait), Invitation, Card, Photo Collage.

Ads – Facebook Ad, Wide Skyscraper (IAB), Medium Rectangle (IAB), Leaderboard (IAB), Large Rectangle
(IAB).

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Blank Canvas

 When you select a design you’d like to work with you will be taken to blank canvas. The canvas
size will depend on which design you are working on. In the picture above the design is “Poster.”
At the start you are given several options on what you can do to the design.

Layouts

 Layouts are predesigned graphics more than simply a layout. While the
content is generic they are basically finished products that just need the
user to put in correct information for what they’d like to promote.
 Some are completely free, while others may have pay-for elements in
them. Although Canva is a free service they do offer users the ability to
purchase content (or elements). These can range from specially designed
shapes or borders to photographs.
 Layouts are a nice way to start your design. You can remove all the
elements you want (even back to a blank canvas) or keep the things you
like and build off of it.

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Elements

 Elements are like building blocks you can use to build your design. You
can select from Free Photos, Grids (these are great for making your own
custom layouts), Frames (basically the parts that are used to make up a
grid but frames are free floating), Shapes, Lines, Illustrations, Icons, Charts,
and I heart Canva (like illustrations but all pictures that are in support of
Canva).
 If you don’t find something you’d like to use you can also important
your own images. That will be discussed a bit more in a later part of the
handout.

Text

 Under the “Text” option you will find options to add text in a few different
ways. Heading, subheading, and “Add a little bit of body text” are the three
standard options and are based on text size.
 You also can select from flashy and catchy text elements. These are a mix of
text, color, and shapes. These are a good way to make part of your message
really stand out from the rest of the design.

Uploads
If you do not find the kind of image you’d like to use online or have taken or drawn some images of your
own this is the part of the website where you can upload them to be used in Canva. The process is fairly
simple. You can upload from either your computer or from Facebook. Once you select one of these
options the website will bring up a selection screen where you can find and select images to upload.
Once you upload an image it will stay in the uploads section of the website indefinitely for you to use
whenever you’d like.

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Downloading, printing or posting your design

Once you have finished your design you have a few options on how you can save the design to
your computer. Canva being web based automatically saves your design on their website while
you’re working on it but to get it onto your computer you start by clicking the “Download”
button on the upper right side of the screen. You will be given four options for saving:
JPG – The most standard type of image found on the internet. It’s a small file type meaning
when you load a website it will load quickly.
PNG – This is a larger (in terms of file size) image file type. It is better for print than JPG but will
not load as quickly on a website because of its larger size.
PDF Standard – The PDF file type is kind of a mix between an image and document file type.
Some PDFs can be edited and typed on, in this case however it’s a way to freeze your design
like an image. This file type would be good if you printing several handouts on a home
computer.
PDF for print – This type of PDF file contains more data and thus has a better print quality than
PDF Standard (it also means the file size is also larger). This file type would be good if you are
designing something that will be printed on nicer paper.

Additional Help

 Rachel Henck Bentley, Technology Specialist – [email protected];

419-874-3135 x106
 Way Technology Department – 419-874-3135 x354

Way Public Library 101 E. Indiana Ave. Perrysburg, OH 43551 419-874-3135