Canva is such a great tool when it comes to designing assets for your FitWith platform or social media. Weâve picked out what we think are the 5 most important things to know how to do to help get you started.
In this how to weâre taking your though the steps on:
how to use a Canva template
how to use custom dimensions
how to upload content
how to set branding [logo/fonts/colours etc.]
how to download/export your designs
1: How to use a template
One of the best things about using Canva is that it comes with so many ready-to-go that may just require the colours, fonts, and imagery to be tweaked.templates as well as recognising the correct sizes for multiple platforms and uses [e.g Instagram stories vs. grid posts]. To choose one to start woking on hereâs what to do:
Start from the homepage. There a couple of options to beginâŚ
- If you know exactly what you want to design, you can use the search bar to find it, and chances are Canva will have it.
- Alternatively you can choose one of the circled categories under the search bar to narrow down the template offerings
- Or, you can choose âtemplatesâ from the left hand menu and from here, navigate to they type of design youâre after.
2: How to use custom dimensions
As well as having design elements ready and waiting, Canva also know the correct sizes for multiple platforms and uses [e.g Instagram stories vs. grid posts]. To choose one, hereâs what to do:
Start from the homepage
In the top right corner of the purple banner youâll see the button âcustom dimensionsâ
Click this, and a drop down menu will appear allowing you to input your own dimensions in either cm/mm/in/px
3: How to upload content
The best way to do this is whilst youâre in editing a design and canva allows you to upload images, videos, and audio as long as itâs within their size limits. Hereâs what to do:
Make sure youâre in the design editing window/page. On the left hand toolbar, choose the âuploadsâ option.
On the top of the pop-out window youâll see the button âupload filesâ. You can click this and upload png./jpg./pdf.s etc. directly from your computer files.
Alternatively, if you click the three dots next to âupload filesâ a menu will appear and youâll be able to upload directly from
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Google Photos
4: How to set branding*
If you have a logo, and specific fonts and colours that you typically use, you can set these up as your brand âkitsâ to make it easier to access. Hereâs how to do it:
From the homepage on the left hand toolbar click the option âbrandâ under the Tools heading.
Youâll be taken to a page where you can upload your brand logo and itâs variations [if you have it/them], colour palettes, and fonts.
*Note that this is only available for premium users.
5: How to download and export your designs
Probably the most important part of using Canva is knowing how to get them out of Canva to use! Hereâs how to do it:
From your design editing page click the âshareâ button in the top right corner.
A drop-down menu will appear giving you the option to:
- share the design link [this allows other to view and/or edit the design within Canva]
- download [this is probably the option youâll most likely use. Choose between downloading as and image [png. or jpg.], document, gif., or mp4.
Itâs important to note that Canva offer lots of different download/export options, so be sure to have a look around too at some of itâs other capabilities!
