Canva is a free online app that's easy to use for graphic design and video editing.
You can create a free account here to get started.
1. Open up Canva and sign in to make sure your design gets saved.
2. Click on "Create a Design" in the top right corner.
3. Pick the format that you want. For small graphics, “Logo” or “Poster” may be best.
4. On the left side of the screen you’ll see your tool bar. This is where you’ll find most of your designing and editing tools.
Here’s a rundown of what each tab does:
Design - Here, you’ll be able to look at editable templates for your graphic. If you find one you like, simply click on it and it will open up.
Elements - Use this tab to find shapes, pictures, little graphics, designs, etc… anything you may need to decorate.
Text - This is where you’ll be able to add text. This tab has a lot of cool fonts and headlines.
Brand - Don’t worry about this tab, you won’t need to use it.
Uploads - Use this tab if you want to use a specific photo from your computer. You can also use this to take images from google and bring them into Canva.
Draw - Just as it sounds! This tab has tools to create your own drawings.
Projects - you can access other projects that you’ve made if needed.
Apps - Don’t worry about this tab, you won’t need to use it.
5. Use the toolbar to create and edit your design. Canva should automatically be saving your work as you go.
6. Once you’re done go to the top right corner of the screen and click on the share button.
If you want to generate a link to the canva page with the design, click on the “collaboration link” bar.
Change access to “anyone with the link.” Now, click the copy link button and you’re done!
If you want to download your graphic to use elsewhere, click the "Download" and follow the directions. You're done!
You can rearrange layers very easily by opening the Layers menu and dragging the layers into the correct order.
Open your design. Click on any element, then click on the "Position" option in the menu that pops up. This is located at the right of the menu. If you don't see it, you may need to click on three dots to reveal more options.
This will open the Position menu, which has two tabs: Arrange and Layers. Click on Layers. This will reveal all of your layers. From here, you can drag layers up and down. Layers on the top of the order will appear on top of layers farther down in the list.
Grouping layers will allow you to create a move several elements at once while keeping them in the position you want. You can group layers from the Layers menu by selecting multiple layers. Hold shift as you click on them, then click "Group" on the menu that pops up over your project. You can also click directly on elements in your design while holding shift and then clicking on the "Group" option. To ungroup grouped items, click on the group and then "Ungroup" in the menu that appears.
If you are creating a gif or video, you can add animations to any element you add to your project, like images or blocks of text. Click on the element you want to animate, then click on the "Animate" option that appears in the menu along the top of the screen. Elements can be animated as they enter the screen, exit, or both.
Canva has video editing capabilities. Learn more on the Video Editing page of this guide.