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Canva may have started life as a free tool for bloggers and marketers. But did you know that Canva now has as many as 85% of the Fortune 500 using the platform?
But what is Canva good for? If you haven’t heard of Canva, it’s easiest to describe it as an all-in-one design platform.
But there is so much more to offer from this exciting tool. We’ve put together this guide to the twelve compelling reasons to use Canva today.
1. Usable Interface
Canva’s drag-and-drop layout means it’s easy to pick up without training. On the left is a set of features from which to choose, and on the right is your workspace where you can create your masterpiece.
As a beginner, you can open up the platform, choose a template, and edit the design with your text and ideas. Even schoolchildren have started using the tool for homework!
This means you can get all the benefits of creating presentations, graphics, or photos without prior training as a professional designer.
Moreover, Canva also offers many ready-made icons, layouts, and templates. So you can create something that looks professional in minutes, even if you don’t understand font pairings or gradients.
2. Sophisticated Editing Tools
Canva allows you to edit graphics or images in multiple ways. That is a powerful tool if you rely on editing features in your business. For example, editing images for ads or social media.
Canva has many ways to edit and customize text, such as adding shadows or creating 3D text images. Or you can choose from one of the hundreds of professional fonts available on the platform.
Canva also lets you work in layers, similar to professional design tools. That helps you overlay text on images, for example. Layers allow you to edit and move one part of your design without impacting the rest.
Canva’s graphic design tools allow users to edit photos and graphics, helping them to create unique designs.
3. Canva Offers Hundreds of Templates
Creating something unique from scratch that looks professional can be challenging if you don’t have a design background. Thankfully, Canva has hundreds of templates available, including:
- Resumes
- Social media graphics
- Menus
- Flyers
- Website design
- Business Cards
- Logos
- Business brochures
- Airbnb templates
You can do enough editing with these templates to make them unique and aligned with your brand. But starting with a template is quicker and ideal for those who don’t know the rules of design layouts.
4. Printing Facilities
You’ll often have times when you’ll want to print your designs. For example, you might want to print a menu for your restaurant, a resume for your next job interview, or a presentation for an important client meeting.
When choosing to print, Canva offers the choice of professional print-quality files. That’s helpful if you intend to print items that need a high-quality finish, such as a corporate brochure.
Canva also offers a range of print settings, including paper type and size.
The other benefit of Canva’s print options is that you can turn your designs into physical products.
5. A Range of Pricing Options
Canva is an affordable tool with different pricing options to suit the occasional or amateur user at one end of the scale to business and enterprise users with professional design demands.
Canva has a free version of the tool for those with only basic needs.
However, it still contains the core features that you need at hand to make any sort of graphic. It’s an accessible way for users to get started with the platform and determine if it’s the right tool for them before making a financial investment.
Their premium pricing option is known as their pro plan. This starts at $9.95 a month, and the main difference with the pro account is the number of extra features you get with the tool.
That includes various templates, graphics, icons, fonts, and images. You will also have better export and printing options. So it’s the better choice for those who intend to use the tool in a business environment.
6. Customer Service Support
Canva customers have plenty of positive things to say about the company’s support team.
Many say that when they have queries, the Canva team answers them quickly and efficiently. And customers describe the support team as helpful and friendly.
If you’re new to graphics design, it’s worth using a tool that offers customer support. You might find yourself trying to move or change a graphic and get stuck in the process.
Contacting a support agent can help you get the problem sorted without spending days on trial and error (or searching Google for an answer).
Customers can contact Canva’s support team in one of three ways: live chat, email, or phone. If you have a pro account, they target a 24-hour response time.
7. Canva’s Collaboration Features
Perhaps you work as part of a larger team and must collaborate on a project. For example, a large marketing team will often work together on a single design for an ad.
If that’s the case, Canva’s collaboration features will be of interest.
Canva allows multiple users to work together on the same design file. If one team member changes the design, the other users will get the newer version in real time.
So if you want to discuss a design on a Zoom call with your team, you can open up and edit the design while chatting with your colleagues.
Another useful collaboration feature is their comments facility.
For example, let’s say you want to produce a marketing brochure for your business. You can send your draft to colleagues, who can add comments to any aspect of the design or text.
You can then review these comments and edit the design as needed, all while keeping track of your changes.
8. Canva’s Design Assets Library
There are plenty of resources on the web for finding assets you need for any design project. You’ll discover free image websites, free gifs, new fonts, and all sorts of templates.
But the benefit of Canva is that you have all this in one place. Canva has a library comprising thousands of design assets covering any project.
Those assets range from photos, graphics, icons, layouts, vector illustrations, and many more. At the last count, Canva boasts over 60,000 of these design assets, growing all the time.
This means you’ll find what you need in Canva, even when working on a highly obscure or niche design project.
9. Export Tools
When you produce design files, you’ll need different formats for many reasons, such as a specific file type for the web or a file requested by a customer.
Canva’s export options include various file types, including PNG, JPG, PDF (screen and print quality), and SVG. Export is simple, and you can export any file to your laptop at the click of a button.
You can also export transparent PNG files and animated gifs if you have a Pro account. So you have plenty of flexibility to create the specific file types you need without turning to a third-party conversion tool.
You can also control the size of the images you export, reducing the need for an additional tool to resize your Canva images.
10. A Canva Community
Lots of people love Canva, so it’s no surprise to hear there is a growing and committed Canva community on the web in the form of Facebook groups, YouTube videos, and dedicated Canva blogs.
In many ways joining these communities can be an intelligent choice for you and your business.
First, an online community provides fantastic first-line support when struggling with a design. Secondly, the additional training you can find online will help you fine-tune your design skills and improve your use of Canva.
Thirdly, a Canva community can provide design inspiration and offer ideas for creating new revenue streams from the design content you produce on Twitter.
11. Social Media Publishing
If you manage a social media account for business, you’ll know that your biggest challenge is producing high volumes of fresh and original content that you can continue to post to your feed.
Canva offers a way to streamline and fast-track this process. Firstly, it has templates for each social media platform so that you can create content according to its specific dimensions.
Once you’ve done that and created your image or graphic, you can post it directly to the platform instead of exporting, saving, and publishing it from your computer.
Canva enables you to publish on all major social media platforms, including Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook.
12. Mobile Support
Working on a desktop is fast becoming out of date. As phones and tablets become more sophisticated, many find we can get a lot done without having to log on to our laptops.
But this becomes a problem if you have to switch devices. Imagine you answer your customer emails via phone, but since a customer asks for a design change, you need to log on to your laptop to make the edit.
However, Canva has provided the answer. You can now download Canva via the App Store, meaning you can work on your designs via a phone, iPad, or similar device.
What is Canva Good For? Lots!
So what is Canva good for? Well, the reality is that it’s a graphic design tool and so much more! A library of assets and powerful features is a great way for anyone to start with design, even without prior training.
And if you are on the lookout for the perfect graphic design, browse our large selection of Canva templates for social media, blogging, and business branding.