5 Best Canva Tips to Boost Productivity
Are you a Canva fan looking to up your game? As someone who has been using Canva for over five years, I've discovered some hidden features that have made significant impacts on my designs and productivity. In this blog post, I'll be sharing five of my favorite Canva tips to help you create stunning designs in no time. The first four features are available to all Canva users, while the last one is available on premium plans only - enjoy!
Rulers & Guides: Using the Rulers & Guides feature helps ensure that your designs are aligned and well-structured. You can access this feature by selecting "File" from the top left hand corner, clicking on "View settings" and then “Show rulers and guides." To do this even faster, simply hold down SHIFT + R at the same time. Once the rulers are visible on the edges of the design space, you can drag a purple guide from both the top and the side. Guides remain constant on each page of the document, so you can keep elements aligned and cohesive throughout your design.
Keyboard Shortcuts: Canva has a variety of keyboard shortcuts that can help you save time and work more efficiently. I’ll list some of my most-used ones below but Canva has an exhaustive list available on their website.
CTRL + Z: undo
CTRL + Y: redo
CTRL + S: save
CTRL + K: add link
CTRL + B: bold text
CTRL + I: italicize text
CTRL + U: underline
CTRL + G: group elements
CTRL + SHIFT + G: ungroup elements
ALT + SHIFT + L: lock element
ALT + SHIFT + T: tidy up elements
SHIFT + R: show rulers and guides
T: add text
R: add rectangle
L: add line
C: add circle
Color Manipulation: Canva's Duotone feature allows you to alter the colors in an image. It technically changes the image into two colors, hence the name Duotone, but I always use it to make objects one color. I most often use it to create light and dark versions of a logo, but I’ve also used it to change the colors of graphic elements that aren’t directly editable on Canva (just be sure to save it as an image first). To use the Duotone feature, select an image in your design and ensure that the background is transparent. If you have the premium plan, this can be done directly in Canva, if not, there’s tons of free background removers online. Next, select “Edit Image” from the top left corner of the design space. From there, select Duotone and choose any of the preset options - you can customize the highlight and shadow value so it doesn’t really matter which one you select. To make the image a solid color, simply select the same value for highlights and shadows!
Fonts: Finding the right fonts to match your brand identity can take up a lot of time and thought. Canva has a ton of forums about fonts and other topics that makes creating enticing graphics easy and fun to do. I only recently began looking at their resources and I wish I had looked sooner. They have articles on everything from design to ecommerce to classroom activity ideas. It’s an incredibly accessible form of education and a great one at that!
Brand Kits: This is something that is only available on premium plans but I’d say that it’s well worth it! If you're using Canva for your brand or for multiple clients, the Brand Kit feature is a game-changer. Access it on the left-hand side of the homepage and you’ll find options to save brand colors, logos, and fonts for easy access. This is also where you can upload custom fonts that are not readily available on Canva. You can even create branded templates and add controls for any team members that you may have! This invaluable tool is essential for anyone trying to create a strong brand identity without spending a ton of time on each and every design.
Overall, Canva is an amazing and accessible platform for designers and non-designers alike. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a brand new user, I hope these tips helped boost your productivity. Happy designing!