Why would I need Canva?

I bet you have seen ads for Canva – a design platform that can do anything? And just scrolled on because you don’t need it. Maybe even thinking that I am not a designer – why would I need Canva?

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What is Canva anyway?

I already said – design platform, but what does it really mean? In plain and simple Canva enables anyone to create any kind of design and you don’t need special equipment or skills. You just need an internet connection and a browser to start. In Canva you can design with simple drag and drop whatever you want or need. With hundreds of templates to choose from and just change the colors or texts. Switching or adding details to personalize to suit your current needs. You can create digital art or prepare printable designs without almost any effort.

What do you need for Canva?

Canva doesn’t ask what computer you have or if you have a computer at all. Basically, you just need a device with a screen and internet. You can register for Canva free or Canva Pro account, and switch anytime you need. You can use a tablet or even a mobile phone. Of course – with the last two it will be more convenient to use their app. Available for Apple and Android devices. Since your account will be online – you can use it from where ever and whenever you need to. Canva will be right at your fingertips anytime you need it.

One of the best about Canva is – it is online. And since your designs are all online you won’t lose your work. Canva app and Canva web automatically saves all your work and can always resume editing. When using the app and you lose connection – it will sync all offline work when connected. What more can we ask from the design app and photo editor? An easy user interface, simple workflow, and secure backup for all our designs?

But what should I do with Canva?

Well – the sky is the limit. Canva has created several categories of possible design needs from binder labels and business cards to posters and advertising banners.

We all have shared a picture on social media and discovered that in the feed – it doesn’t fit. It shows some weird middle part and unless the viewer won’t click on it – they see half an image. I know. I have been pissed about it. And the most infuriating part is that social media platforms keep changing their post, feed, profile, and cover image sizes. Canva has preset sizes – just choose where you want to post it – and make it perfect.

Besides creating stunning photos for your every need – it’s the simplest video editor ever! You can trim and edit your video clips or combine together several different videos. Add text or graphics, emojis, and stickers to add extra personality to your Facebook and Instagram stories and reels. And you can share everything directly from Canva to your social media accounts. Can it be any simpler?

How do I use Canva?

I use Canva for everything that needs designing, printing, and sharing. I use it to create images for this blog, for my day job task as a marketing manager, as a student to study and present homework, and for sharing pictures on personal social media – making collages and birthday cards. Creating training materials or memos at work. Whenever I need to create some digital visual material – my first step is to open Canva. But let’s look closer at what and how.

Canva – for personal life

Let’s start with the easiest one and the one area where everyone can benefit from Canva – in our personal life. We all have some personal social media accounts and share pictures there. Sometimes it feels right to share a collage of several or we want to add some text to the picture.

The social media platforms enable some editing and adding, but that isn’t always enough. And if our picture dimensions are bigger than feed images sizes – our addition maybe stay out of the crop and unless viewers open the image – they don’t see it. In Canva you can choose where you want to share it and it gives you a blank page in the right size. Just place a photo and whatever you wish. And it will fit perfectly!

And birthday wishes – for special persons we like to leave more than “Happy birthday!” – I create personal cards for them now, in Canva. And it takes only a few minutes!

And time after time I have organization moods – then I create lovely labels for my binders, boxes, and jars. I hate my handwriting, Canva allows me to create labels that look like handwriting, but they are pretty – and readable 🙂

Canva – for blogging

Well obviously for this blog. Every image in here has been created, designed, or resized with Canva. Also, most of the images I use to promote my blog on social media have been created with Canva. I say most – because for a short period I tested Tailwind for Pinterest scheduling and used some design options from there. But for months I have stuck with Canva and plan to keep it because it allows me to gather in one file all designs and this will make it easier to keep similar signatures in my designs.

Canva – for a day job

I have a day job as a marketing manager in a small company where I create the ads, newsletters, and designs for them. I used Photoshop for years, but it’s draining my laptop and consumes more time. And I could only create or change them on my laptop. This meant that if I need to publish something quickly and out of the office – I couldn’t do that.

Switching to Canva means also, that when I finish a design and the product manager wishes to change colors or text sizes – I can do that with a few clicks. Share in-progress design and get immediate feedback. Previously I had to save the design to a png/jpg file, send it and repeat until we were both happy. It’s so much quicker!

Canva – for school

I use it for school – studies and presentations. I have created slides or printable labels with exam questions and answers which I would use to study beforehand. Since I have Canva app on my phone this means my school materials are always within reach. If I have a break or on a passenger seat on the way home/work/school – I can study.

We have to do a lot of group projects and presentations and present them in class. Canva is a perfect way to create an awesome presentation with ready templates and share access with other group members. You do need the pro version to work with more than 1 person. But it is so much easier to use than other similar options. And what I love the most – the presentation is set as I created it. I can share a link with a teacher and know that it will be displayed exactly as I made it. And I don’t have to worry about what system or computer viewer or other group members use – Canva works on everything.

Share with me

Have you tried Canva or are you using Canva?

What is your favorite feature?