How to use Canva: mastering essential basics

Canva is an easy-to-use graphic design platform that anyone can use, even without a design background. You can create social media posts, presentations, flyers, and marketing materials quickly. There’s a free version with plenty of features, while the paid Canva Pro account unlocks extra templates, images, and brand tools. Think of Canva as a helpful design assistant, giving you all the elements you need in one place — from photos and fonts to stickers and animations.

Why should you use Canva?

Are you struggling to make eye-catching visuals for your social media? That’s a common problem for many marketers and small business owners. Canva makes designing much easier by offering pre-made templates you can customise with your brand colours, fonts, and logos. For example, if you run a café, you can find a template for daily specials and change the text and background to match your style. Even if design isn’t your strong suit, Canva helps you create professional-looking images that attract your audience.

Some other reasons to choose Canva include:

• Easy resizing: Canva lets you quickly change your design’s size for different platforms. For instance, you can create an Instagram post and resize it for LinkedIn or Facebook without starting over.
• User-friendly features: You don’t need graphic design training. Use drag-and-drop tools with images, fonts, stickers, and animations to enhance your visuals.
• Brand kit: Canva Pro allows you to save your brand colours, fonts, and logos. This makes creating consistent visuals simple and fast.
• Workspace organisation: Keep all your visuals in one place so your team can find and reuse designs easily.

Can you work as a team in Canva?

Yes, Canva supports collaboration. If you have a marketing team or work with freelancers, you can add them as team members. All of you can access templates, edit designs simultaneously, and share files within Canva. For example, your social media manager can work on a post while your graphic designer adjusts branding elements at the same time. This avoids email chains and saves time.

How do you start using Canva?

Wondering how to get started with Canva? First, create an account—it’s free and fast. Head over to Canva.com and click the “Sign up” button at the top right. You can register using your Google, Facebook, or email account. Once logged in, you’re ready to dive into creating your own designs.

Here’s a quick guide:

1. Go to Canva.com
2. Click Sign up or Log in if you already have an account
3. Choose your signup method: email, Google, or Facebook
4. Start your first design

What does the Canva interface look like?

After signing in, you’ll see a straightforward dashboard. On the top right is the Create a design button—click it to start a new project. To find specific templates, type what you need in the search bar. For example, try searching for “Instagram Story,” “infographic,” or “business card.”

On the left or right side (depending on updates), there’s a menu with options to view your designs, shared designs, brand kit (if you have Canva Pro), and content planner. This menu helps you manage your work efficiently.

How do you choose the right dimensions?

Choosing the right size is key to making your design look good on different platforms. Click Create a design and select a template size, like “Instagram post” or “Facebook cover.” You can also pick custom sizes if you know exactly what dimensions you want.

• Use predefined sizes, e.g. “Instagram post” (1080 x 1080px)
• Or click “Custom size” to enter your own dimensions

Posting the same image across all social media channels may seem easier, but it usually doesn’t look right. Different platforms require different sizes. Here are recommended sizes for popular sites:

• LinkedIn: 1200 x 1200 pixels (square)
• Facebook: 1200 x 1200 (square) or 1200 x 630 (landscape)
• Instagram: 1080 x 1080 (square)
• Twitter: 1024 x 512 pixels (landscape)

Canva Pro offers a handy feature called Copy & resize. It duplicates your design and adjusts it to a new size automatically. You may need to tweak some elements after resizing, but it saves tons of time. For example, you can create an Instagram post, then copy and resize it to fit LinkedIn with a few clicks.

Should you use a template or design from scratch?

When should you start from scratch, and when should you pick a template? If you’re new to design or need quick results, templates are your best friend. Canva offers hundreds of templates for any occasion or platform. For example, you can find templates for Instagram quotes, event flyers, or YouTube thumbnails.

If you want full control or have experience, designing from scratch is an option too. Canva’s tutorials can guide you through creating from empty pages. To find the best template for your needs, check this helpful guide.

You can access templates through these paths:

• The Templates tab on the left menu
• The Create a design button in the top right corner
• Featured templates on the Canva homepage
• Willow's custom templates.

For example, we selected a quote template to create a motivational Instagram post, saving time on layout and design.

How do you customise elements in Canva?

Once in editing mode, you’ll see tools on the left like Templates, Elements, Uploads, Photos, Text, and more. Let’s break down key customisation options.

We also have a recorded webinar on how to use Canva for visual creation.

How to customise the background and images in Canva

Customize your background with a solid colour or an image. To add photos, use Canva frames found in Elements. Drag an image into a frame, and it will fit perfectly. You can upload your own photos or search Canva’s free and premium photo library. Click the background area and select the colour picker at the top toolbar to change background colours.

• Use frames for profile pictures, collages, and more
• Upload your own pictures for personal branding

Here’s a handy video tutorial on image uploads.

Adding illustrations in Canva

Keep your design simple. Avoid filling your image with too many illustrations or icons, which can confuse your message. Delete unwanted elements by selecting and pressing Delete or Backspace.

In our example, we removed a border at the bottom to reduce clutter and added branded quotation marks and logos, resized to fit the space neatly.

Text editing in Canva

To add text, select text boxes and type or paste your content. Change fonts, sizes, and colours using controls at the top left. Adjust the size of text boxes by dragging corners. Use headings and subheadings to organise your message clearly.

Watch this tutorial on text editing for more details.

How to download Canva designs for social media use?

Ready to share your design? Click Download in the top right. Pick the best format: JPG or PNG are ideal for images, while videos use MP4. PDFs or GIFs aren’t recommended for social media posts.

Once downloaded, your visual is ready to upload to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

What is the difference between free and premium?

Canva’s free plan offers plenty of templates and tools, perfect for occasional or casual users. However, it has some limits like fewer templates, images, and no brand kit. The Premium plan (Canva Pro) unlocks more resources, including thousands of additional templates, premium photos, and a brand kit where you can save your logo, colours, and fonts.

If you need to create marketing materials regularly or want your visuals to stay consistent, Canva Pro is worth considering. It also includes the handy Copy & resize feature and background remover tool.