All about canva

What is CANVA?

• A drag-and-drop editor for social media posts, presentations, videos, and print documents for business and education.

• It has free copyright photos, graphics and music.

• You can work alone or in a team.

• Provides cloud storage.

Is CANVA free?

• Yes, CANVA has a free version with 5GB of cloud storage.

What's the different between the free version and the paid versions?

• CANVA has two pay subscription plans: CANVA Pro for one user and CANVA Teams for two or more users.

• CANVA Pro costs either $12.99 per month or $119.99 per year.

  • Access to premium content designated by a small gold crown.

  • Access to more fonts and you can upload your own.

  • More stock photos and elements.

  • Can create your own customized brand with colors, fonts and logos.

  • Can remove backgrounds.

  • Can schedule social media content for eight platforms.

  • 1TB of storage space and 24/7 customer support. 

• CANVA Teams costs start at $149.25 per year or $14.99 per month for two users.  The more users you add the higher the price.  You get everything that's in the CANVA Pro Plan plus the following;

  • Team reports and insights.

  • SSO.

  • ISO 2700 certification and compliance.

• CANVA also has a free educational subscription for verified teachers to use with their students.

Before & After CANVA

Tips, Tricks & Traps

The original logo was created using Fiverr and became grainy when enlarged.  We optimized the image, removed the white background, and edited the text on the image.  Changed file format to PNG.

Facebook Personal Page Banner:  Created using a template in CANVA.  Leave space in the bottom left corner for your profile photo. TIP: The default file size for a Facebook Cover is 1640 x 924px.  You will need to resize your file to 820 x 312px for it to display correctly.

Facebook Business Page Banner:  Change default size of 1640 x 924px to 400 x 150px to display correctly.

Instagram Posts (Square)

I'm an Adobe Illustrator designer, who started using CANVA to quickly create stunning graphics to share my art-making journey.  Instagram is a free effective way to share photos and videos.  It's especially beneficial as a marketing tool for any business presenting visual content.  The platform allows you to post square portrait and landscape-oriented images and videos.  High-quality correctly sized images are a "Must Have" requirement to successfully market your brand on Instagram.

• Profile Photo:

  • Your photo will be cropped into a circle.

  • Upload a square image sized 160 x160 pixels with a minimum size of 110 x 110 pixels.

• Instagram Posts:

  • Upload an image at 1080 pixels wide to capture professional results.

  • Portrait images look best at 1080 x1350 pixels.

  • Landscape orientation is best displayed at 1080 x 566 pixels.

• Instagram Stories:

  • Photos, images, and text posts that last for only 24 hours.  Instagram describes the process as "expiring."

  • Displayed in portrait orientation.

• Tips, Tricks & Traps I've Discovered:

  • When posting to Instagram you have the option to transfer your post directly to Facebook.  In my experience, it's best to upload directly to Facebook instead of transferring.  The FB algorithm limits who can view your posts, and sometimes it produces undesirable results with posts transferred from other platforms.  Generally, FB doesn't play well with others!

  • Research Your Hashtags as a Separate Task.  I categorize my hashtags according to what I'm posting, i.e. Natural Dyeing, Fabrics & Fashion, Quilting, Sewing, or Native American Culture.  I create lists of the hashtags in the iOS App Notes, which I can access from my phone, tablet, or laptop when I'm uploading to Instagram.  It's more efficient to copy and paste than to type the hashtags in every post.

YouTube Movies

CANVA's free YouTube Video Editor makes it easy to share your story with drag-and-drop video templates, awesome graphics, and cool thumbnails.  It's a MUST HAVE for creating a banner for your YouTube Channel.  Plus CANVA has stock music and animations.  If you're building a small business or promoting your brand, I suggest CANVA for all your YouTube creations.

You can upload a range of YouTube video sizes to your channel, from 240p (426 x 240 pixels) to 2160p (3840 x 2160 pixels). However, the maximum file size is 256GB or 12 hours (whichever is less). In addition, YouTube videos ideally have an aspect ratio of 16:9.

YouTube Thumbnails

• Recommended size is 1280 x 720 pixels.

• Minimum size is 640 pixels wide.

• Maximum 2MB file size.

• Aspect ration at 16:9 for best results.

• Supports PNG, JPG and GIF file formats.

• Purpose is to give viewers a quick preview of your video.

• Must upload video before you upload a custom thumbnail.

Banner For YouTube Channel

• The purpose is to represent your brand and content.

• Recommended size is 2560 x 1440 pixels.

• Minimum size is 2048 x 1152 pixels.

• Aspect ratio is 16:9 for best results.

• Supports PNG, JPG, GIF and BMP image files up to 6MB.

• Banner will look different on computers, mobile devices and TV.

Profile Picture or Channel Icon

• A circular image used to help followers easily recognize your channel.

• Default image will be the one associated with your Google Account, which you can change in your Google Account settings.

• Recommended size is 800 x 800 pixels.

• Aspect ratio is 1:1.

• Supports PNG, JPG, GIF and BMP image files.

• File should not exceed 2MB.

Facebook Posts

In addition to creating Facebook image posts using CANVA templates, you can also create the following:

• Profile Photo:  Square image 180 x 180 on a computer and 128 x 128 on most smartphones.

• Cover or Banner Photo Personal Page: CANVA Default is 1640 x 924px >> Resize to 820 x 312px.

• Cover or Banner Photo Business Page:  CANVA Default is 1640 x 924px >> Resize to 400 x 150px.

CANVA ~ Print Designs