Top 34 Canva Tips And Tricks To Design Faster (Shortcuts Included)

I know all you are already aware of Canva.

I don’t think that you can even continue your online journey without this legendry tool.

From bloggers to graphic designers, beginners to professionals, all of them use canva to design their templates, printables, social media graphics, etc.

That’s why Canva is such an amazing design tool that anyone can use even without any graphic designing skills. It saves you a lot of money on hiring professional graphic designers.

So in this article, I’ll be telling you top canva tips and tricks that will help you to design faster.

Also, I will be giving you 10 Bonus Canva Keyboard Shortcuts at the end of this article.

Also Read: 11 Beautiful Cursive Fonts In Canva (Free To Use)

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Top 35 Canva Tips & Tricks To Design Faster

1. Resizing Proportionally

Maybe a lot of you are already aware of this trick that if you resize any element while holding Alt Or Option(For Mac) Key, you will be able to resize that element or text proportionally from all 4 corners.

If you are unable to understand what I am saying then try it yourself, try to resize an element while holding the Alt or Option key and you will understand what I am saying.

This thing will help you a lot whenever you have to maintain the symmetry of the design for eg. you want to resize the square shape proportionally from all the sides so that it won’t become a rectangle.

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2. Holding Alt Or Option Key and Dragging The Element To Create a Copy

This quick shortcut can be a lifesaver for you.

How do you create a copy of an element inside canva? by right-clicking on the element and clicking on copy and paste button?

Or by pressing Ctrl + C & Ctrl + V on the keyboard?

Well, both of these methods are greater to create a copy of an element but here is a fun and more convenient way to create a copy of an element.

All you have to do is drag an element using your mouse by holding Alt Key (For Windows) Or Option Key (For Mac) at the same time.

Here is a quick demonstration of how this works, I am holding the Alt key on my keyboard and dragging the element.

3.  Adding Shadows To Elements and Pictures

We all know how to add shadows to a text element but most people don’t know how to add shadows to an element or image.

Recently Canva has added this feature that allows you to add shadows to elements or pictures.

Also Read: 10 Best Canva Font Pairings & Combinations [For Bloggers!!]

How to do that??

It’s pretty simple, just select your image or element (Not Canva element) and click on the Effects tab at the top, and then under the Shadows tab select Drop

This will allow you to add shadows to your uploaded media.

You can also play with the shadows settings like shadow direction, transparency, etc just by tapping the settings icon on the Drop Tab

Note:

4. Using Canva Layers

After the new update, canva also got the layering system, which means you can now see all your elements in a layer panel and manage them easily.

To access the layers in canva, all you have to do is open up your canva design and click on the “Position” tab from the top toolbar then select “Layers” from there and Voilaa, you can now see all the elements in layers.

5. Equally Spacing Elements And Pics

It is very important to maintain symmetry in your designs so that they can look professional.

Canva gives you an option to equally space all the selected elements vertically or horizontally in just one click.

You Just have to select all the elements and click on the Position tab and then under the “Space Evenly” section you will get all the options to equally space your elements horizontally or vertically.

You can use this feature for pics, elements, text boxes, etc.

6. Using Hyperlinks In Canva

Hyperlinks can be really helpful if you are creating PDFs, eBook’s or you want to embed clickable button’s inside your PDFs for your subscribers.

This allows your customers to click on a particular element inside a PDF and land on a URL that you have hyperlinked with that element.

Sounds cool!! RIGHT??

How to use hyperlinking??

It’s very simple just select the element, text, or pics that you want to hyperlink with and press the link icon on the top right-hand side and paste in your URL and hit apply.

See the above image for reference.

Now whenever a user will click on that particular element, he or she will be redirected to that URL.

For more detailed step by step tutorial you can read our guide on how to make clickable hyperlink in canva.

7. Grouping The Elements

Grouping the elements is a great option, especially if you spend a lot of time creating a title with multiple fonts, colors, and text boxes.

It becomes really easy to move all the grouped elements rather than moving them one by one and losing their symmetry.

What is the best way to group elements?

1. Select each element by holding the Shift key and clicking on them one by one.

2. Now select the group icon present at the top right-hand side of your toolbar

8. Creating Text Overlay’s Without Photoshop

There is no official way to create text overlays inside Canva. If you want to create a gold textured text or a rose gold gradient text then you can’t do it directly inside Canva. You have to create that text effect inside Photoshop and then import that PNG file inside Canva.

However, I am going to share with you a little tip that can help you achieve the same look inside Canva as well.

How can you create text overlay’s inside Canva?

1. First, go in the elements tab and search for “Frames”
2. Scroll down and you will see a lot of Alphabetical Frames
3. Select all the alphabets that will build your word. For eg. to write my name Rohit I will choose the frames R, O, H, I, T
4. Now just drag and drop your texture image on the alphabets one by one
5. This is really amazing because it can be customized by your customers as well if you are selling digital templates.

9. Using Customizable Gradient Elements

Want to achieve a gradient look without using Photoshop?

Just go in the elements tab and search for the keyword “Gradient” and filter the results to only show Free elements.

You will see a bunch of free gradient elements that you can use in your design.

and the best part is these elements are customizable which means you can change their gradient colors.

Read our step by step guide on How To Create Gradient In Canva [2022 Secret Method!!]

10. Adding Cool Frames To Your Pics

There are a lot of ways to add frames to your pics in Canva but I personally like this one.

This one allows you to quickly add frames like neon frames, laptop frames, mobile frames, etc to your pics.

Just click on your pic and then click on the effect tab on the upper left and then select under the Frames section choose your desired Frame.

Unable to see the Frame section?? You have to first connect the Frame app in Canva, you can do it by clicking the On effects tab then click on Frames, and then connect.

Also Read: How To Make Beautiful Vision Board In Canva (For Free !!)

11. Using Canva Magic Resize

Canva Magic resize is an amazing feature that helps you to quickly and easily resize your design templates for different social media platforms.

This is really helpful because the sizes of different social media platforms are different and it can be difficult to keep track of all those sizing requirements.

So canva made it easier for you, now you can resize your design templates to multiple different sizing in just one click.

All you have to do is click on the Resize button at the top left corner and select the social media platforms that you want to resize for and click “Copy and Resize”.

Your design will be resized for all different social media platforms and your canvas will be opened in a new tab.

12. Using Print Bleeds

Bleed and slug are two terms that are used in the printing industry. Bleed is the term used for the extra margin or white space that is required beyond the edge of your design template. This is because when a cutter cuts your design, the blades may get a little bit beyond the edge of your design template and the white spaces will arrive.

So to avoid any printing problems, you should add a bleed margin to your design. This will ensure that even if some error happened during the cutting phase, the empty white paper space won’t appear and your design will look beautiful.

A lot of people don’t know but canva also provides this bleed margin feature. All you have to do is click on “Files” from the top left menu and click on “Show Print Bleed”

You will see some dotted lines around your canvas, those are called print bleed.

Now you can resize your entire template to cover those bleed areas as well.

13. Using Canva Video Editor

Recently, Canva added a new video editor to their website.

This video editor is really easy to use and it doesn’t require any prior video editing experience.

However, you are not going to get advanced video editing features but to create a quick video for your social media, this video editor is more than enough.

You can add text, images, music, and even voiceover to your videos.

To start using the video editor, you have to go on Canva home page and select video from the bar shown there. You will different video templates from there, select any one that you like.

Once you click on that you will see a little different interface, this interface is specially designed for video editing purposes.

14. Canva One-Click Animation

One of my favorite features in Canva is the One-Click Animation.

This feature helps you to quickly create an animated version of your design from your static canvas.

To do this, all you have to do is open the design template that you want to use for your animation and then click on the “Animate” button from the top menu.

You will see a list of available animations, I know there are very limited options but believe me, they are more than enough.

Now you can click any one the animation style and canva will automatically animate your entire design based on your selection.

15. Using Canva To Create Landing Pages

Yes, you heard me right, you can use canva to create landing pages.

There are few online tools that allow you to do that and Canva is one of them.

To create a website using canva, all you have to do is design your landing page and then use the hyperlink feature to link to different sources like your course, Instagram page, podcast, email list, etc and when you are done with it just click on 3 dots at the top right corner and you will see a button called “website”.

Click on that button and select web style as “scrolling”, and click “open website button”.

A new tab will be opened in your browser and you can copy the URL from the top and share it to anyone, your free canva hosted landing page is live now.

16. Canva Brand Kit

The Canva Brand Kit can contain your own custom color palettes, fonts and anything that represents your brand identity (company logo, tagline etc).

Having everything in one place will save you time and let you find your brand identity easier. You can now keep your brand colors, fonts, and imagery in one place so if you ever need to create materials for your company or client, it’s all at your fingertips!

Here’s how it works:
1. Login To Your Canva Account
2. Click ‘Brand Kit’ from the left sidebar
3. Afterwards, click on add brand kit and enter your brand kit name
4. You can rename the kits later by clicking on the name
5. You can now upload your brand’s logo, color palette, fonts, etc and you can directly access this brand kit in your editor.

17. Remove Image Background In One Click

One of the great things about Canva is that it’s easy to remove the background from images. Simply click on the “Edit Image” option from the top toolbar and select the “Background Remover” tool. Canva will automatically remove the background and leave you with a clean, transparent image.

If your image background is simple then you don’t need to do anything, canva will take care of all but if the background is complex with many stuff going on then you will have to manually clean the background using the “Erase” and “Restore” options that you get after the Automatic Background Removal process.

How To Remove Background From Image In Canva (Easy Steps!!)

18. Lock Elements In Your Canva Designs

When you’re working on a design, there may be elements that you want to keep in place while you move other elements around.

For example, if you’re creating a social media post with text and an image, you may want to lock the text so that it doesn’t accidentally get moved when you’re trying to position the image.

Now, you must be thinking How to lock elements in Canva?

To do this, simply click on the element you want to lock, then click the “Lock” icon in the top toolbar. The element will be locked in place and you can freely move other elements around it.

How to unlock elements in Canva?

To unlock an element, simply click on the “Lock” icon again.

19. Adding QR Code To Your Design

You can now add QR codes to your Canva designs! This is perfect for marketing materials such as flyers and posters.

QR codes are a great way to provide additional information or links to your designs.

Luckily, You can now add QR codes to your Canva designs! This is perfect for marketing materials such as flyers and posters.

You can add QR codes to any of your Canva designs by clicking the ‘More’ option from the left sidebar and then selecting the QR code Generator under Apps and Integrations.

Now just paste any URL related to your business, company, or landing page and your URL will be converted into a QR code which can be scanned by any QR code scanner.

20. Filter The Search Results In Canva

If you’re looking for a specific type of image or element in Canva, you can use the search filters to narrow down your results.

For example, if you’re using the free version of canva and whenever you search for any specific elements in the canva library you are flooded with canva pro elements that come with a watermark on a free account. You don’ want that right?

Well, you can filter the elements search results by selecting the “Free” option under the “Pricing” filter. This will show only free elements in your search results.

You can also use other filters such as “Color”, “Orientation”, and “Animation” to find specific elements based on your needs.

21. Move Elements With Precision

Sometimes you need to move elements around with precision, especially if you are working on a complicated design.

In that case, you can make use of arrow keys from your keyboard.

Arrow keys will move the element by 1 unit and if you hit the Shift + Arrow key the element will be moved by ten units.

This comes in handy when you are zoomed in and trying to position the element at a precise location.

22. Using Smart Mockups In Canva

If you want to create a realistic mockup of your design, Canva’s “Smart Mockups” feature is just what you need.

With Smart Mockups, you can easily and quickly create mockups of your designs in just a few clicks.

In order to create a mockup of your design, you have to first open the design that you want to create mockups for and then click on the 3 dots at the top right corner.

Then under the share section, you need to select “Smart Mockups” and signup there using your email id. And after that, you will be able to create mockups for your canva designs.

Now, you can view your books, T-shirts, your websites, and other products printed on real-life objects! It’s an outstanding feature to test-run your products before actually getting the designs printed!

23. Group Elements And Text Together

If you want to move multiple elements or groups of text around, you can group them together.

To do this, simply select the elements or text you want to group together, then click the “Group” icon in the top toolbar.

The elements will be grouped together and you can move them around as a single unit.

To ungroup elements, simply click the “Ungroup” button.

24. Use Drag And Drop To Upload Images

Uploading multiple images can get tedious if you have to use the file uploader each time.

Luckily, you can easily drag and drop images into your designs using the Canva interface.

Simply select the image you want to upload, then drag it into your canvas. The image will automatically be added as a new layer in your design.

If you want to add multiple images to your design, you can simply drag and drop them all into the canvas.

Canva will automatically upload the image to your canva uploads and you can access it anytime later also.

25. Using Pexels & Pixabay Directly Inside Canva

Pexels and Pixabay are two of the best free stock photo websites out there.

And if you’re a Canva user, you can access their libraries of photos and vectors directly from within Canva.

Step 1: Select the More option from the left sidebar of the Canva Editor.

Step 2: Under the Integration section, you will find Pexels and Pixabay options, just select any one of them and search for your images

26. Search for Templates Directly In Canva Editor

Canva have templates for almost everything.

But finding the right template can be a bit daunting if you don’t know where to look.

You can search for millions of templates from canva homepage but what if you want to add just 1 page in your custom design from canva template inside your project?

That’s why Canva has made it easy to search for templates directly from within the editor.

To do this, simply click on the “Templates” from the left sidebar and search for your keyword.

The good thing is, all the templates that will be shown there will be having the same dimension as your current project.

That means you don’t have to worry about the dimensions while selecting templates.

27. Canva Text Effects (Curved, Glow, Shadow, etc..)

Text is an important part of any design.

And with Canva, you can easily add text to your designs with a wide range of font options and customization features.

One of the best things about Canva is that you can also add special effects to your text to make it stand out.

To do this, simply select the text you want to add an effect to, then click on the “Effects” button from the top toolbar.

From there, you can choose from a range of effects, including curved text, glow, shadow, and more.

28. Use Rulers For Perfect Alignment

If you want to make sure your text and images are perfectly aligned, you can use the rulers in Canva.

To do this, simply click on the “File” button from the topmost bar and click on “Show Rulers And Guide”

Then, you can take references from rulers to make sure your text and images are perfectly aligned.

29. Use Canva Logo Maker

Canva has a lot of premade logo templates that you can use free of cost or with a paid subscription.

And if you want to create a logo from scratch, you can do that too by using the canva elements library and free fonts.

30. Create The Outline Effect On Your Image For Youtube Thumbnails

Adding an outline effect to your image is a great way to make it stand out.

And with Canva, you can easily add this effect to your images with just a few clicks.

To do this, simply select the image you want to add the effect to, then click on the “Edit Image” button from the top toolbar and remove the background of your image by using “Background Remover“

After removing the background, click on “edit image” again and this time select “Shadow” and then select “Glow” effect from there.

Put these settings,

Blur: 0

Transparency: 100

Size: According to your needs

Check out our step by step guide on How To Outline An Image In Canva 2022 (Easy Trick!!)

31. Use Canva Graph Maker to Design Beautiful Graphs and Charts

Graphs and charts are a great way to visualize data.

And with Canva, you can easily create beautiful graphs and charts with just a few clicks.

You just have to type “Graph” in your canva element search and you will be able to see a lot of graphs including pie charts, line graphs, flowcharts, etc.

And the good thing is, these graphs are fully customizable, which means you can easily add your own data and style them to match your brand.

32. Shape Image Into Shapes

If you want to give your image a unique look, you can shape them into different shapes.

To do this, simply search for “frames” in canva elements and you will see a variety of shape frames including circles, squares, and many more.

Simply select the frame you want to use and drag your image into it.

You can also resize and rotate your image to fit the frame perfectly.

33. Create Animated GIFs.

You can create beautiful animated GIFs with canva by using images and videos.

To do this, simply click on the “Animation” button from the top toolbar and select the animation you want to use.

Canva will automatically animate all the elements in your design.

You can also animate elements individually by selecting the elements and then clicking the animation tab from the top.

After you are done, simply click on the “Download” button and select “GIF” from the dropdown menu.

34. Create Amazing Tables

Tables are a great way to organize data and Canva’s tables are beautiful and easy to make!

To create a table, simply click on the “Elements” tab and then search for “Tables.”

You can choose from a variety of tables and all these are fully editable so you can add or delete rows and columns as you need.

You can also adjust the cell size as well.

Also Read: How To Make A Table In Canva In 2022 (3 Secret Way!!)

35. Using Canva Shortcuts

These are the Canva keyboard shortcuts that you can use while designing your templates.

These will save you a lot of time.

1. Add a line: L
2. Add a text box: T
3. Bold text: Command-B
4. Italicize text: Command-I
5. Underline text: Command-U
6. Align to center: Command-Shift-C
7. Align to the left: Command-Shift-L
8. Use uppercase letters: Command-Shift-K
9. Copy style: Command-Option-C
10. Paste style: Command-Option-V
11. Deselect an element: Esc
12. Select all elements: Command-A
13. Delete an element: Delete
14. Duplicate an element: Command-D
15. Move an element in increments: select the element and click the arrows
16. Move an element in larger increments: select the element, hold Shift, and click the arrows
17. Bring element forward: Command + ]
18. Send element backward: Command + [
19. Send element to the very back: Option-Command-[
20. Bring element to the very front: Option-Command-]
21. Group elements: Command-G
22. Constrain proportions while resizing: select the element/s, hold Shift, and drag corners to resize
23. Undo an Action: Command-Z
24. Redo an Action: Command-Shift-Z
25. Add a comment: Option-Command-M
26. Present in full-screen mode: Option-Command-P
27. Exit from full-screen mode: Esc
28. Collapse sidebar: Command + /
29. Zoom In: Command (+)
30. Zoom Out: Command (-)

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So I hope these little Canva tips will help you to create beautiful designs in no time.

If you know any other Canva tip or trick that can help people then do comment it down below, I will be happy to include it in this list.

Happy designing!