Canva is an amazing graphic designing tool I have been using for years! And I still haven’t explored all the possibilities.
Designing with canva as a newbie can be time-consuming if you don’t know any tips or tricks.
When I started using it religiously for my blogging business, I realized I would spend hours doing basic designs since I never bothered to learn all the infinite possibilities with it.
Post may contain affiliate links. Read the discloser for more info.
Over time now, my designing process is super fast and much more fun since I know exactly what to look for and where!
For those that don’t know what Canva is, let me explain briefly,
Canva is a popular online graphic designing tool for noobs like me who don’t have the time or skill to learn Adobe Photoshop or other similar skill-intensive softwares. Canva uses an easy drag-and-drop feature with premade templates, elements, and graphics at your disposal.
You can create pretty social media posts, logo designs, presentations, videos, flyers, etc.
It’s basically a one-stop shop to meet all your graphic design needs.
Canva has both a free and a pro version. It also provides a generous 30-day free trial for anyone who wants to test and use its Pro features.
Canva Tips To Speed Up Your Designing Process
Now let’s get down to business!
Here are some canva tips that will really speed up and shave off hours of your designing process!
1. Lock Elements
Isn’t it annoying when you are trying to move an element and your text gets misplaced instead? Lock the element you don’t want to move by clicking on the lock located on the top bar.
It eases my pin designing process SO MUCH!
2. Group Elements & Fonts
You can group elements and fonts together so they don’t move around when you are designing!
Drag your cursor to select all the elements you want to group, press right-click, and group all the elements.
3. Use Frames
Frames are used for making grids, collages, cutouts, etc. They make my work so much easier since I don’t need to manually resize a photo. They also greatly enhance my designs without much effort.
To find and use frames, search for ‘frames’ under the elements tab.
4. Transparency
You can also change the transparency of elements, fonts, and pictures to enhance your designs. I sometimes even use it to lighten the color by a few shades since I am too lazy to adjust the color code in the palette.
The transparency feature can be found by selecting the three dots in the upper right corner of the top bar.
5. Remove Background
Sometimes you really like a photo and want to use it without that annoying colored background!
In Canva, You can easily remove the background of any image with a single click. You don’t have to leave your tab and use another tool for it. (It’s available in Canva Pro )
You can find the background removal tool under the effects tab /edit image after selecting your image.
6. Use Rulers and guides
Rulers and guides save a lot of time if you want to precisely place your elements and fonts. I also use it to make Instagram grids too!
Margins and rulers can be found under the file tab! You can also enable guides and drag margins for convenience.
7. Use Pexels & Pixabay Inside Canva
Did you know you can use Pexels AND Pixabay inside Canva Editor?! Yup! You don’t need to open a new tab and search for free stock images. Canva has a bunch of good stock photos but they are nowhere near the number of images found on other sites like Pexels, Pixabay, or Unsplash.
Select ‘More’ from the sidebar and find them under ‘apps and integrations.
8. Copy Elements Name
I copy the name of all the elements I like (‘blobs’, ‘water strokes’, ‘abstract lines’, ‘spots’ etc.) in a notepad so I can immediately find what I am looking for. I HATE fishing for my desired element just cause I don’t know what it’s called. This Saves a lot of headaches!
You can know what it’s called by clicking on the three dots located above the element under the elements tab.
9. Use Magic Resize Tool
Magic resize tool allows you to resize your images with a single click. This way you don’t need to open a new template tab and design the same design from scratch.
You can resize images for Instagram, Pinterest, or for any other use by staying in the same tab.
Magic resize tool is located on the header of your editor. Simply click, enter custom dimensions or select from pre-set dimensions, and click on Resize.
(It’s available in Canva Pro)
10. View Similar Elements
Manually finding similar elements by endlessly scrolling the elements tab is too time-consuming and inefficient. To view similar elements, click on the ‘information button’ located on the top bar when you select an element.
You will find the name of the element, similar keywords (many more ideas!), similar elements recommendations, and even the name of the designer in case you want to explore more of their work!
11. Take Advantage of Pre-styled Fonts & Colors In the Styles Tab
The best thing about Canva is that you aren’t left alone to fend for yourself. I am not a very creative person and nor do I have the soul of an artist.
So, when I run out of creative juices and am just cluelessly staring at the editor, making crappy combinations, the Styles tab comes to save the day!
You can use pre-designed fonts and color palettes to quickly and professionally design your graphics, even when you have zero creative energy left.
Styles Tab is located in the lower-left corner of the editor tab.
12. Use Apply Colors On Page
Another useful and time-saving way to add matching colors to your graphics!
Simply right-click on your design and Select ‘apply colors on page’. This method only works if you use an image or photo in your designs.
13. Use Brandkit
Brandkit enables you to streamline your designing process by allowing you to select or upload your brand colors, fonts, and logos.
This way, you can quickly access your brand kit under Canva’s editor tab without manually searching for fonts or uploading your logos when designing your social media posts!
14. Take Advantage Of the Eyedropper Tool
The eyedropper tool allows you to pick colors of your choice without downloading any chrome extension.
Select any element or font, and open the color palette icon, eyedropper tool can be found just by clicking on the color palette.
15. Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are a must to know to speed up your design process! Here are some most commonly used keyboard shortcuts you need to know to save hours of your time.
Learn more Canva shortcuts from their website!
16. Select Element Layers
It’s super annoying to select elements from behind since all my other perfectly positioned elements get disturbed. It wastes so much time to reposition everything back.
And then, I would want to change something again! Ugh!
Now, I am so happy to tell you that there is a way to select any particular element from behind without disturbing others!
Just press CTRL/CMD and click on the element in front. Keep clicking until you get to your desired one!
17. Save Elements In Recently Used
Whenever I come across an element or graphic I might use later, I click and then delete it so that it gets saved in my recently used element’s tab.
This way, I can access new elements without searching for them in the search bar or waiting until Canva recommends them to me.
Also Read: How To Make Money Selling Canva Templates
I also look for other templates in canva for design inspirations and copy their color, styles, or fonts for quick work!
I hope this post was helpful!
These templates give me a lot of new ideas for designing and really speed up the process!
I will keep adding more as I learn.
These tricks have saved me a lot of my time and I really recommend implementing all the tips in your work!
Comment and tell me if you have any questions! Also, share this post with a Canva user!
Originally published at https://somethinkofvalue.com on August 10, 2022.
