If you don’t know already, I am an absolute lover of all things Canva. It’s so easy and fun to use that it has quickly become one of my go-to’s when I am in design mode.
Of course, the Adobe Creative Suite was my first love, and it will always have my heart.
Canva has become a daily basic in my professional arsenal, much like my white t-shirt and jeans is a staple in my wardrobe.
Though most of my clients are tech-savvy, they are not necessarily design-inclined. That’s why Canva has become such an amazing resource. The drag-and-drop technology married with the long list of incredibly user-friendly and approachable features makes this software a no-brainer.
Below are three of my expert tips that are sure to boost your Canva design game.
Let Canva guide you.
Literally. Click and drag one of your elements slowly around your canvas.
As you do this, you should see thin, fuchsia colored lines pop up. These are guides. These guides are best used for:
- Centering your element vertically or horizontally on the canvas (guides will appear as solid lines).
- Lining up your element with other elements on the canvas (guides will appear as dotted lines).
- Staying within the recommended margin of the canvas (guides will appear as solid lines).
Guides are a magical tool in my world. I use them regularly in Illustrator and inDesign, so it’s awesome to have this feature readily available in Canva.
Grids are your friend.
This tip is one of my favorites. I can’t tell you how many times my clients have had an “ah-ha!!!” moment when I showed them this trick.
When you are adding photos or graphics into your canvas, consider using a grid, which is located under the “Elements” tool.
I love grids because they are so much easier to work with when it comes to sizing or cropping an image on your canvas.
Traditionally, users will click on a photo or graphic in the left-hand toolbar. This action places that item in the middle of your canvas. Users are then able to make the image larger or smaller, but it can be cumbersome as the cropping function is not available.
Crop it like it’s hot.
Let’s just jump into this, shall we? This third tip is a bit of an extension of the grid tip above.
Cropping is super simple. Once you have dragged and dropped a photo or graphic into a grid, all you need to do is double click on it. Double clicking will show you the full image within the grid. Click and drag on the corners of the image to make it larger or smaller. Click and drag on the image to move it around inside the grid.
ProTip… when you are moving your image around in the grid, you’ll notice white lines that pop up. Can you guess what those are? YES! They’re guides. Use those guides to help you with your image placement.
Once you have your image where you’d like it placed within the grid, simply click out of it. Voila! It’s that easy!!
But wait… There’s more!
So, let’s be serious for a moment. There are so many things I love about Canva that I created a free guide to help you rock your next Canva design. Get your copy instantly by popping in your deets below.
Interested in trying out Canva Pro for 30 days?
Canva Pro will give you unlimited access to an extended library of premium images, audio tracks, videos, elements, and for additional features like the background remover, content planner, magic resize (my personal fav!), version history, and so much more.
Ready to try out Canva Pro for 30 days for FREE??? I’ve got your back!! Click the link here to get started.
Don’t leave me hanging!
I want to hear what you do with all of this Canva goodness. 👇🏻 Drop me a comment below.
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