How to Use Canva for Your Online Business
I’ll admit it: my relationship with Canva has been… complicated. On the one hand, every time I’ve tried to use it, I’ve gotten incredibly frustrated because it can be very limiting, and tasks that are so simple in design software—like adding a border to a shape or a line, or adjusting their thickness—can become a bit complicated in Canva.
However, I recognize that it’s a great tool for those who lack design skills or access to specialized software. Plus, the platform’s templates are very helpful for anyone who needs a design-based starting point when creating graphics.
Canva helps brands and small businesses take more control over their graphics and create them with a more consistent look—which is essential for effective branding and a strong online presence. So today, I want to tell you a little bit about how it works and how you can make the most of it.
What is Canva?
Canva is a graphic design platform designed specifically for non-designers who need to create visual content. To use it, just go to the website, create an account, and you're all set.
One of its advantages is that it doesn't require any downloads or installation, since it works entirely online (you can access and use it directly from your web browser); plus, it has apps for phones and tablets, so you can create designs on any device.
What is it for?
Canva is very versatile. Generally speaking, you can use it to create visual communication materials for personal or business needs. When I say "visual communication materials," I'm referring to:
Graphics for blogs.
Graphics for social media, such as Instagram posts, Pinterest images, Facebook graphics, etc.
Flyers, brochures, guides, or even e-books.
Banners, ads, posters, postcards...
With Canva, you can basically create anything you can think of, including icons and logos—though for this type of graphic, it’s actually better to use a vector graphics program (if you have no idea what I’m talking about when I say “vector,” check out this post where Valentina explains it really well).
What it's not for
Well, as I just mentioned, you won't be able to create any designs in Canva that require working with vectors—such as, for example, creating a completely original logo (rather than one made with pre-designed shapes).
On the other hand, since Canva is designed primarily to work with templates and is geared toward non-designers, the options for modifying designs can sometimes be quite limited, and there are many things you can do with a design program that are simply impossible or very, very difficult to do with Canva. This means that, with Canva, you’ll never have complete control over the design… and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you don’t master the rules of design, having a starting point in the form of a template where you can only modify a few things is actually beneficial.
Benefits of Using Canva
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Canva offers many advantages for non-designers:
It gives them autonomy and flexibility, because they don't have to rely on a designer to create simple visual communication materials, such as graphics for posts and social media.
For this very reason, using Canva can lead to significant cost savings, especially for a startup that needs to keep its expenses to a minimum.
Canva's own templates are created by designers, so they adhere to basic design principles. This ensures that the communication materials created using these templates meet a minimum standard.
In addition, templates help ensure that, overall, a standardized design is maintained across a brand’s visual communications, especially if a limited number of templates are used and the same fonts and brand colors are consistently applied.
Canva provides up-to-date dimensions for various types of designs, including both digital and print formats, so you don't have to worry about this.
But despite all these advantages, Canva also has a drawback that I find quite significant: precisely because it relies on templates, your designs can end up looking like everyone else’s, or coming across as a bit generic… especially if you stick solely to Canva’s own templates, or if you don’t customize them enough to incorporate your brand into the design.
How to Get Started with Canva
Now that we've seen what Canva can be used for and what its main pros and cons are, let's take a look at the first steps you need to take to get started.
1. Create your account and choose your plan
Naturally, the first thing you need to do is create an account (or sign in with your Google account) and choose which plan you want to use. Canva offers a free plan and a paid plan, and the free plan will usually be enough for you because it includes almost everything.
I recommend the paid version if you have more specific needs, such as:
Do you need to save your brand's color palette, or do you want to save and share templates with custom designs (especially if you work with a team)?
If you need fonts other than those included on the platform. Canva currently offers a fairly wide selection of fonts, but it’s important to note that while there are many options, the number of high-quality fonts is actually quite limited. If, for example, your brand uses a font that isn’t in Canva’s catalog, you can upload it with a paid plan. This allows you to add more versatility and originality to your designs while still taking advantage of Canva’s features.
Do you want access to more photos, illustrations, and templates than are included in Canva's free version, or do you need to export images as animated GIFs or as PNGs with transparent backgrounds?
You'll find their design resizing feature particularly useful (something you can't do with the free plan), as it lets you modify the same design with a single click to use it across different platforms (an Instagram post, an Instagram Story, and a Facebook post, for example).
In any case, I recommend that you start with the free plan, and if you find it doesn't meet your needs, then try upgrading. They even offer a 30-day trial period, during which you can use all the features included in the paid plan and decide whether the investment is worth it or not.
2. Create folders to organize your files
You might not notice it at first, but as you create more and more designs, having a good organization system will help you a lot. If you chose Canva’s paid plan, you’re in luck because you can create as many folders as you need and organize your designs within them. With the free plan, you can only create two, but something is better than nothing, so use them... come up with a system that lets you make the most of those two folders so you don’t end up going crazy later trying to find a specific design. One option is to have a folder for your templates (which you can duplicate whenever you need to use them) and another folder for your finished designs.
3. Upload your own images
With any of the plans, you can upload your own images. This is great because, in addition to colors and fonts, images will help you give your designs more personality and move away from that standard Canva look. Plus, consistently using your brand’s patterns and graphic elements will help you maintain visual consistency with your branding, which is crucial for building brand recognition and memorability.
Just think, you can upload anything here:
your own photos or stock photos that you’ve chosen to complement your branding,
different versions of your logo,
illustrations, patterns, or textures that have been developed as part of your branding,
icons, bullet points, captions, or other additional graphic elements.
In addition to all this, if you're on the free plan, I recommend uploading an image with the HEX codes for your brand's colors so you always have them on hand for reference, since this plan doesn't allow you to set a default color palette.
If you're on the paid plan, it's easier because in the Brand Kit section you can define your corporate colors, fonts, and even logos and sub-brands, so you always have all these elements at your fingertips in your designs.
4. Choose your template and start designing
As you probably know by now, Canva's biggest strength is its templates. All you have to do is type the type of post you want to create into the search bar, and it will automatically show you different design templates for that specific format.
When you open a template, you can change the fonts, colors, and even the graphics it contains. In fact, you can start with a template and make so many changes that, by the time you’re done, the final result looks nothing like what you had when you started. However, while it’s good to move away from Canva’s standard look, I recommend choosing a relatively small set of templates and sticking with them. Remember that visual consistency is very, very important in branding, and if you use a different design every time you create a new graphic for your brand, you’ll end up diluting your brand image.
Keep in mind that, in addition to Canva’s own templates, many designers create their own templates that you can purchase and use on the platform. On sites like Creative Market, you can find a wide variety of templates of all kinds that you can use in Canva (these are affiliate links):
Final tip: Take advantage of Canva's Design School
Finally, I don’t want to wrap up without mentioning that on the Canva blog, you can find tons of great articles on graphic design that are tailored for non-designers. If you plan to use Canva regularly (or any other program, for that matter), it’s a good idea to start learning some of the basic principles of design—little by little and at your own pace.
And if there’s anything else about Canva you’d like to know, or if you have any suggestions for templates you’d like me to create, let me know in the comments… I always read them and reply to every single one.
