Can You Use Canva For Commercial Use? (Explained!!)

Can-You-Use-Canva-For-Commercial-Use
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Canva is a great tool for creating templates, creatives, mockups, and digital items for commercial and noncommercial purposes.

But I know many of you may have thought “Can I use canva for commercial use”?

Well, today this article is going to answer all your questions related to:

  • Is canva free for commercial use?
  • Are canva images free for commercial use?
  • Can you use canva for commercial use?

Just make sure you read the entire article thoroughly so that you do not miss out on important things that may create problems for your business later on.

Can You Use Canva For Commercial Use? (License Explained)

Yes, you can use canva and the canva library for commercial purposes including stock images, fonts, graphic elements, videos, and premade templates as long as you are not reselling them as it is and aren’t violating Canva’s terms and conditions

Now what are those terms and conditions?

Let’s discuss them.

  • Note: Canva keeps on changing its license and policies from time to time so whatever I have mentioned in this article should be considered as a general guide.

Or if you prefer to watch instead of reading then watch this official video from canva that explains everything about their licensing.

Canva License Explained

Canva Free Version Licensing

As you all know canva comes with a free version where you don’t have to pay anything in order to use the tool.

But can you use designs created using canva free version for commercial purposes?

Yes, you can use all the designs created inside canva free version for commercial purposes, however, because you are using the free version of canva you won’t be able to use any pro elements including photos, videos, and graphics.

You will have the commercial rights for all the canva free elements including images, videos, elements, designs, etc without paying anything.

But remember, the commercial license does not allow you to sell any of the canva free elements, premade templates, photos, and videos as it is without adding your own creativity.+

How To Check The License Of a Particular Canva Elements

If you want to play safe you can check the license of a particular element that you are using in your canva design.

Here’s how to do that:

  • Search for an element, image, or anything you want from canva library.
  • Click on the 3 dots and then click on the “i” button.
  • Now you can see the licensing for that particular element, what is allowed and what is not is also listed there.
How To Check The License Of a Particular Canva Elements
How To Check The License Of a Particular Canva Elements

How To Check The License Of Third-Party Canva Elements

If you don’t know, canva contains a lot of elements that come from third-party websites like Pixaby, Pexels, etc.

Now definitely canva licensing is not going to be applied to those elements as canva does not own them

So in order to check the license and right for those elements you need to check their source and then licensing.

Here’s how to do that:

  • Search for your desired element inside canva.
  • Click on the 3 dots and then check the source
  • Now visit the source website (Pexels in our case) and check their licensing.
Check Element/Image Source In Canva
Check Element/Image Source In Canva

This will make sure that you are following the rules of the original author and not infringing on their copyrights.

Here’s what canva said about their free content license:

Canva Free Content License
Canva Free Content License

Licensing in Pro Version

Some content in Canva contains watermarks. And to remove those watermarks, you can either purchase licensing for that particular element by paying a one-time fee or you subscribe to a Canva Pro subscription.

The pro version of the site offers more features and flexibility than the canva free version.

All the content in the pro version is absolutely free to use for commercial purposes and you don’t have to buy any special licensing each time to remove the watermark.

The licensing is the same as that of the free version but this time you can use the pro elements as well.

How To Add Custom Fonts To Canva (Step By Step!!)

Can I Sell Digital Templates Created Using Canva

Yes, if you are using canva elements to design in the canva editor and then selling those designs that allow customers to edit the design on canva itself then you are good to go.

Canva wants you to direct your customers towards their platform, if you are doing that then you can sell unlimited templates created using canva and canva elements.

But if you are using canva elements to design in some other online tool and sending your customer to their website to edit the design then this is strictly not allowed.

Just follow their guidelines and you can easily sell canva templates wherever you want.

Do I Have To Credit The Author?

No, you do not have to credit anyone unless Canva content is used for editorial purposes, in which case the creator should be attributed.

You can use this format to credit someone: © Contributors Name Via Canva.com

For eg. © Harry Via Canva.com

  • Note: Do not take credit for anything you haven’t created by yourself.

Can You Use Canva Images For Commercial Use

Yes, you can use canva images for commercial purposes if you are following their guidelines.

Canva free users can only use free images for commercial purposes however canva pro users can use both free and pro images for commercial purposes.

But wait!

There are some precautions that you need to take care of while using stock images featuring real people.

  • You cannot use people’s stock images in a design that is offensive in any way
  • For eg. nothing defamatory, abusive, adult, immoral, etc
  • You cannot feature people’s images in a design that will depict them in a bad light
  • Featuring people in illegal activities and businesses is strictly not allowed like Escort Services, Tobacco endorsement, adult entertainment, restricted medical products

Prohibited Uses Of Free or Pro Content on Canva

When you sign up for a Canva account, you agree to their Content License Agreement.

This agreement states that the content you create using the tool is your property and that you can use it however you please, with a few exceptions.

Reselling or Redistribution

Canva’s Terms of Service forbid users from “selling, redistributing or relicensing any Canva Content.”

This means that users cannot resell Canva’s premade templates, elements, and designs that are created by other designers, nor can they give away designs to others.

By preventing others from profiting off of Canva designs, the company maintains control over its brand and protects its intellectual property.

So be sure to read the terms of service carefully before you start creating designs, and respect the copyright of contributors.

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Trademarks

When it comes to registering a trademark, it has to be unique and belong only to your brand.

That means you can’t use any of the free or pro content from Canva’s media library for your trademark, except for fonts, basic shapes, and lines.

The reason is that other people can also use the same content, so you can’t claim exclusive rights to it.

So that means you cannot trademark a simple logo created using canva?

No, you are allowed to create a simple logo inside canva using their fonts, and basic shapes and lines and get it trademarked.

For advanced logos, you can upload your own graphics or hire an artist who can create graphics and illustrations for your logo which gives you trademark rights.

You can read the canva guide on logo trademarks over here.

Remove Any Notice Of Copyright

Copyright is a form of legal protection that gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution.

Copyright owners have exclusive rights to control how their work is used and shared. It also gives the copyright owner the right to be compensated if someone uses their work without permission.

You cannot remove any notice of copyright from any content on Canva.

This means that if you create Canva designs using someone else’s copyrighted work, even if you change it or modify it in some way, you still need to credit the original author.

Content For Pornographic, Obscene, Immoral Purposes

Canva prohibits the use of its content for pornographic, obscene, or immoral purposes.

In the company’s Terms of Service, it is made clear that users may not create or share images or videos that are “sexually explicit or suggestive,” “graphically violent,” or “incredibly offensive.”

This policy exists to protect both Canva’s users and its reputation as a safe and family-friendly platform. The violation of this rule can result in account suspension or termination.

FAQ on Can You Use Canva For Commercial Use

Are Canva Images Copyright Free

Yes, usually, canva images are copyright-free and can be used without attribution.
However, if you want you can cross check by checking the license of each image using the method i have explained above.

Can I Use Canva Pro Fonts For Commercial Use

Yes, you can use Canva Pro fonts for commercial use in your designs, ebooks, pdfs, etc.

Is Canva content free for commercial use?

Yes, all the Canva free content in canva including images, videos, elements, designs, etc can be used for commercial as well as noncommercial purposes.
However, Canva says, “If a photo, music or video file contains an identifiable person, place, logo or trademark, you have to check the image source or contact them if you’re unsure”

Final Words

So canva gives a lot of flexibility compared to other tools when it comes to using the content from their library.

However, to maintain a respectful and happy community you need to follow the basic rules that they have in their licensing terms.

Which I guess is not hard at all.

So I hope I have answered all your queries related to canva commercial use.

If you have any questions, do comment below, I would love to help you out.

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Dee

Hi! Can you use stock photos anf graphics from Canva bank in your paid ebooks/workbooks made in Canva?