A promotional invitation, a nice photo card or a striking Facebook cover. Do you sometimes wonder how the others do it all? A graphic artist makes it all by himself, but the majority use an online tool with beautiful templates to create creative visuals. Canvas, for example. That is a graphic design tool for non-designers. You can also create real gems in just a few clicks.
You can of course start messing around with professional programs such as Adobe InDesign or Photoshop. But after a month of free trial, you have to pay to continue using the software. That is not the case with Canva. Moreover, it is a tool that you simply invoke via the browser. And the templates are incredibly varied. So easy and user-friendly. High time to get started.
01 Register
To use Canva, open your browser and simply visit www.canva.com. Depending on your goal, you can choose from one of the five applications that suits you best: Education, Small Business, Large Business, Non-Profitor charity or Privately. Then you have to register. This can be done via email, but also with your Facebook or Google account. The basic tools are free anyway. It may seem a bit strange that you have to create an account right away, before you can see what you can do with the tool at all. That is in any case a point of attention for the makers. But trust us, it's worth it. We create a private account.
02 Dashboard
Canva's interface is intuitive. Once you have logged in, a user-friendly dashboard will appear. At the top center you will see some examples of things you can make: Map, gift voucher, Facebook cover, social image, presentation, poster and more. When you choose an application, you'll then be presented with a bunch of layouts in the left margin. By pressing the button Create a design clicking, you will see many more options. From a magazine cover and certificate to a business card, flyer, CV or menu. Most of the templates are completely free to use. You will quickly notice this by the word 'free' in the bottom right corner of a template. Are you looking for very specific dimensions? Then choose in the top right corner for Using custom dimensions. Then you enter the number of pixels or millimeters for the width and height of your document.
canva app
Don't want to crawl behind the computer to quickly put something together? A Canva app is also available (free, with in-app purchases, for iOS and Android). Sign in with the same credentials to access the same designs. In just a few taps you can customize a template: insert another photo, change the text and fonts, add a filter, and so on. You then share the result via email, social networks or messaging apps.
03 Customize Template
Of course you can customize each template to your own liking. That is even very simple. And the possibilities seem endless. You simply choose a layout and then you can click on the different elements in the central part. For example, if you click on a photo, you can replace it with your own image, but also adjust the size or add a filter. It is even possible to change the brightness and contrast or, for example, add a vignette. At the top of the bar you will find buttons to crop, tilt or space the photo. The same goes for the text blocks. You can of course also adjust it. You simply click on a box to personalize the content. In the bar at the top you will see, among other things, the font, size and color appear. You adjust it to your heart's content. You can also change the alignment, capital usage, and spacing. You adjust the background color in a similar way. With the buttons at the top right of the bar you can change the order of the objects, change the transparency or copy or delete objects. At the bottom you will find the button Add new page to add a back cover or extra pages to your design, for example. The interface is very intuitive. It almost goes without saying. Save? That's not necessary. Every change is saved automatically.
04 Add elements
Have you found and adapted the suitable template, but are you still missing something? It is of course possible to add various elements. To do this, click the button on the far left in the bar Elements. This opens a menu with buttons like Free photos, Grids, Form and so forth. As soon as you click on one of the buttons, a new menu opens with all the options. You can see at a glance whether an element is free or not. As soon as you have added an element, you can of course still adjust it completely to your personal preferences. Don't want to scroll through the gigantic list? Then use the search bar at the top. The search term 'coffee' will yield you a lot of photos and illustrations.
05 Add text
Under the Elements button in the left bar you will also see the button Text to stand. You need it to add extra text boxes to your design. You immediately get the choice of Add title, Add subtitle and Add plain text. This is always a text box with one type of text. Below that you will find a lot of so-called text groups. These are text boxes with different fonts and sizes in one. For example, a title with subtitles in two different fonts. That will save you some adjustment work. To add a text box or text group to your design, just double click on it. Of course you can still change the position, font size, color and type. Is there an element too many in your text group? Then click on the trash can button at the top right and choose Delete element.
