Graphi
c
Design
Cours
Course Instructor:
e
Miss Tasmia Niazi
Today’s
Discussio
n: Canva
Canva is a free online graphic
design website that offers a
variety of templates, images,
shapes, graphics, and more.
You can create a free account or
sing-in with a Google or
Facebook account.
Everything can be saved as an
image or PDF to your computer.
• Canva is free with an optional subscription,
Canva VS whereas Adobe requires payment to access even the
basics.
Adobe • Canva is more user friendly and accessible to
everyone.
• Adobe is only really for advanced work, whereas Canva
Photoshop can be used for day-to-day designs for work and
personal.
This is the Canva Home
Page.
Everything with a little
gold crown next to it has
to be paid for with their
subscription service, but
a lot of things are free!
We will go over each tab
and option in the next
few slides.
Green: This is the menu button, with options we’ll review later.
Blue: These are in-depth options for specific projects or educational resources. Design spotlight has
tutorials, resources, and design options. Business has specific resources for different business and
marketing campaigns. Education has resources for teachers to integrate Canva into the classroom.
Plans and pricing is specific information for the subscription option. Learn has extra tutorials for
integrating Canva designs into personal projects, such as blogs. The next slide will have images of all
the options.
Purple: The first icon is to download the app, which is good for mobile devices but not needed for the
computer. Next is the Help Center, to get help with technical issues, and the gear is your Settings,
where you can adjust your account, view, language, and subscription. Create a design is one place you
can start a new template or blank design. The circle image at the end is the user profile. Mine is a custom
photo from my google account, but if you have no photo it will be a generic icon of a person. This is
where you access your account details.
Design Spotlight
Plans and Pricing
Business
Learn
Education
On the left is the menu the three
lines hide/display.
Home is the general homepage for
the site. On the right are your
profile options/account
Projects are designs you’re
already working on. settings.
Account settings and Get
Templates are pre-created designs help are important to
you can use for projects. adjusting your account and
fixing technical issues.
Brand Hub is a subscriber option
to brand your content. The rest are only needed for
group projects or the
Apps accesses extra things subscription option!
connected to Canva.
Privacy policy is Canva’s
Create a Team is for groups of terms of agreement and
people working on projects sign out signs you out!
together.
Trash stores deleted items for 30
days.
These are your account settings.
You can adjust personal info,
change your login and security
information, and manage
notifications you receive from
Canva.
You can also see people
you’ve shared with, your
subscription plan, what you’ve
paid for, and any domains you
own.
These are your Projects.
Everything you open will save
automatically here, even if you
don’t do anything with it.
There are a lot of sorting
options here. I recommend
only using the Designs tab as
it only shows you things
you’re working on and is
easier to navigate.
In red are all the ways you
can sort and adjust this page.
All gives you a clunky overview of everything.
Folders is where you can sort projects.
Designs are all your designs, which is the recommended tab to find
things.
This is the templates tab.
Canva has a large
selection of templates to
choose from to fit any
project or occasion.
They can be easily
edited to input the
details and info needed,
plus you can change the
colors and photos on
them if you don’t like
what’s on it.
All you have to do is
pick one and get started!
If you don’t have anything specific in mind, a
blank project is best, but you still have to select
what type (Instagram Post, Poster, Card, etc.).
This is a template example.
There are a lot of options here, so
we’ll go over each!
This is where you can have your
work professionally printed, or
just save it to your computer.
Here, you can add a blank page
or duplicate this page if you want
to keep the same
design/formatting.
Note: Each item you see in the
template (words, images, shapes,
etc.) are individual editable items.
You can change their colors, adjust
their size, deleted them, or move
them around.
Elements: These are small images, shapes,
designs, etc. that can be added and adjusted
on your project. You can search with a
keyword or glance through Canva’s pre-
categorized options. Remember, the little
gold crown means they’re only for
subscribers!
Uploads: These are images, videos,
and audio you upload from your computer.
You can search them if they’ve been
named, but
it’s easier to scroll. You Upload files with
the circled button, select where the file is
from, then select the file. It uploads within
seconds.
Text: These are text boxes that are inserted
with the selected font size, style, and
color.
You can change them and delete the text
once you’ve selected one. You can search
for a specific font, add generic fonts, or
scroll through the options they have
provided.
Photos: These are images Canva provides.
You can search by keywords, topics, genres,
or trending images. There is a large variety
of images available, but remember the
small gold crown means it’s only available
for
subscribers.
Background: These are for the backgrounds
of your design, and normally are used for
blank designs, not templates. You can search
for a theme or keyword, change the colors
of the project, or scroll through everything
Canva has to offer! They don’t have
crowns, but when you select one that is
subscription only it will have the word
Canva as a watermark all over the image.
More: These are apps connected to Canva
for advanced projects. You can review
them on your own, but for beginners
they’re not
necessary!
Let’s make a design!
We started with a blank template
and chose a cream background.
Next, Text was inserted. Each item This is the box mentioned before.
circled in blue is its own text box. Each item (text, elements, etc.) are
Fonts and sizes were chosen for outlined in purple when they’re
each to add dimension to the selected. This is how you move
project. them around and change their size.
Each time you select one, a small
Then Elements were added. I box above will appear with the
searched Christmas in the Elements option to duplicate the item, delete
tab and selected the free ones I it, or more:
liked. Each item circled in green is
its own box and I adjusted the sizes
to fit the project.
On the top right side of each project there
is an option to Share which brings up this
menu.
You can share your project with others, to
either view or edit, or you can download
it here.
Depending on the project, you can
screenshot it and save it as an image OR
download it as a PDF. I would recommend
screenshotting it if you know how, because
it makes it easier to print. But if a PDF is
needed it will save as a generic PDF to your
computer.
You can also share it directly to Social Media
or have it professionally printed, but printing
requires payment.
Things to
Remember
• If you sign in with your Google account on Google Chrome, Canva will
stay signed in unless you sign out.
• Everything will auto-save once opened. So anything you work on will
save without worry!
• Different types of projects have different dimensions (sizes) so be sure to
pay attention to the size when you save it or try to print it.
• With the exception of items with the Canva water mark, you can use items
with the crown if you screenshot the project instead of trying to download it.
• Canva is NOT a good place to create a resume or cover letter. Its purpose is
for creative projects, posters, advertisements, social media posts, etc.,
and does not have good formatting options for resumes or cover letters.
