When you need to create graphics of any kind for your business, Canva is one of the best free tools you can use!
It’s very easy to use Canva, and the design possibilities are endless. Canva can be used on your computer or on your mobile device using the Canva App.
I use Canva for pretty much all of the social media graphics I post, and have used it to create Instagram Stories, brochures, flyers, product catalogs and much, much more.
Get Started Using Canva
All you need to get started using Canva is either your computer or your mobile device. I’ll walk through the steps for using a computer here to help get you started.
Get Started:
- Go to Canva.com to create a new account, and click on Small Business (startup, blog) from the sign up list
- Choose how you would like to create your account – with Google or with your email address, then complete the next page to sign up
- Once you have your account set up, you’re ready to start creating!
- If you’re the kind of person who likes to dive right in – either enter the type of design you want to create in the top text box, or you can scroll through the Recommended designs to get started. If you’re not sure where to start, I highly recommend you check out the Canva Tutorials or Canva Courses
But Wait! There’s More!
Now you have the basics to get started using Canva. But, there’s even more! Most people that use Canva probably don’t know about the additional free tools that are part of the Canva suite. I’ve listed them below and recommend you give them a try! Some of these free tools can be used on their own, others are tools you’ll use to incorporate images into your Canva designs. Let’s take a look…
Canva Color Palette Generator
The Canva Color Palette Generator is a great tool for finding complimentary colors for the photos or images you are using to create your designs. Just upload an image and Canva will display a selection of recommended colors for other elements of your design.
Canva Color Guide
Not sure what colors you want to use in your designs? Check out the Canva Color Guide. You can either type in the name of a color in the search box for more information about that color, or you can click on one of the color swatches.
When you choose a color, a page opens with details about that color, along with complimentary colors. It’s really a neat tool!
Canva Font Combinations
The Canva Font Combinations tool helps you choose complimentary fonts for your graphic designs. Just select the main font you want to use from the list, and Canva displays recommended fonts. You can also see sample graphics using the font combinations so you can preview what the fonts look like together.
Canva Photo Editor
Canva also includes an easy-to-use Photo Editor. It’s really cool! Just upload your photo and then apply filters, adjust brightness and contrast, crop the image or resize it, or rotate or flip it. Once you have your photo edited the way you want it, you click the Download button and the image is ready to be used in your graphic designs or on your website.
Canva Logo Maker
Another tool you can use is the Canva Logo Maker. This is a tool that allows you to quickly and easily create logos.
Canva Graph Maker
Have you ever wanted to create a chart or graph for your design? Now you can! Just use the Canva Graphs tool, type your text into the pre-formatted fields and you’re graph will be done in no time!
Canva Design Guide
If you need to know the sizes of templates that you can use within Canva, use the Canva Design Guide. Just click on the template you want to use and a list of sizes appear. For example, click on the Social Media tab, then click on Facebook. All the sizes that Facebook uses for graphics is listed. Pretty handy, huh?!
There you have it! A complete list of all the things you can do with Canva!
How will you use this suite of tools for your business? Share in a comment below.
This was a very interesting article. I have been reading through the additional tools that Canva offers. I use Canva almost weekly if not daily. I think when I signed up, I signed up for Personal instead of Small Business, Blog. Do you know if there are different tools associated with different account types? Should I try to switch to Small Business, Blog?
Mrs. A – This is a great question! You will have access to ALL the tools and features of Canva regardless of which profession (or main use) you select in Step 1 above.
The reason Canva has different professions (uses) to choose from is that once you select one of the options, you will then get emails from Canva that are best suited to the profession (use) you selected. These emails will include articles, tutorials, and design content to help you get the most out of Canva for your main use.
If you would like to change your original profession (use), you can do that easily:
1. Click the down arrow to the right of your account avatar in Canva
2. Click Account Settings
3. Scroll down to the Profession section beneath the Account Information heading
4. Choose a new profession (use) from the drop-down Profession list (such as e-commerce)
5. Click Save Changes
I hope this helps! Have fun with these additional tools.