Hello again! I’m back with my first first impression post. To start things off, I chose Canva. I’ve heard a lot about this website from my fellow bloggers over on Twitter, so I decided to check it out and see what it’s like.
What is Canva?
Canva is a website and app (for both Apple and Android) that allows you to create all kinds of graphics for pretty much anything. They listed graphics for presentations, social media posts, and invites as just a few things other members have designed.
Is it free?
It is! There are a couple of other plans that you can look through though, to see if those would be a better fit. Click the link to be directed to their website.
The Sign-Up
You can sign up with Facebook, Google, or of course, with your email. That’s the route I like to use. If you go this way, they ask you for your name, email, and a password.
Next, it asks you what you do. I chose Writer/Author, instead of blogger. I’m just sure if it makes a difference, but honestly, that’s what I associate myself with more (even though blogging is writing).
You can next invite team members to sign up, but I skipped that.
Now, it asks what you want to create. My choices are:
- Book Cover (oooh! How exciting!)
- Social Graphic
- Web Banner
- Poster
- Logo
- Presentation
- Resume
- Flyer
- Card
- Photo Collage
At the bottom, you have two more options:
- More design types
- Not sure? Play with Canva
I chose More design types, and I’m so glad I did. They have quite a selections. They have something for literally everything.
I chose a Pinterest graphic, because I want to play more with Pinterest. I also want to see if Pinterest will help with my blog views, and making a graphic is a step in the right direction.
On the side there is a list of templates. I chose a super simple one. It’s kind of overwhelming. There are also free images you can pick as well (just click on Images under the Template tab).
After clicking around a seeing what was offered, I went decided with a simple, one color background that contrasted with the image I chose. Next, it was time for the font. I thought about choosing something that I would use every time I made this specific type of post. I wanted it to be different than something I’d usually choose.
After I had everything I wanted, I stared at it. It looked so plain. I liked it though. But, I looked at other photos and graphics anyway.
But I didn’t like anything. I realized I liked it as simple as it was. Maybe next time I’d be a little more adventurous. So, I clicked download. It gives you a list of files you can save your image as (PNG, JPG, and PDF). I chose JPG. It turned out pretty nice.
Pros And Cons:
- Pro- It saves your designs right to your homepage. And, God bless them, you can make folders.
- Con- You can only make two folders. Also a con, while your editing your graphic, there’s no undo button. Well, not that I saw. Ok, so there’s no undo button, but you can use the typical Command+Z (for Apple).
- Also a con- It doesn’t save your fonts. So, if you want to know what font you used, you have to go back onto a graphic you already created (or make a list somewhere to document what you did and what you used).
- Pro- you can follow other people. If you’re on Canva, here’s my profile.
My First Impression:
Easy to sign up, easy to navigate, easy to use. And it’s fun, too. If you like messing around with graphic design, this is the place for you! If you want to make your own social media graphics, they’ve got plenty of templates for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, even Tumblr. Sign up if you haven’t already!
Have you tried Canva? If so, what has been your experience with it? Comment your thoughts below!
Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk to you again soon!
I use Canva quite frequently to create my blog titles. It actually does have an undo button. It’s on the upper left corner. It’s hard to see because of the other junk on there but I promise it us there. I use it all the time. For the most part I love Canva. I would say a few other cons would have to be that the pictures are limited. You have to pay for the good ones. Another con is that you can’t go back and re-edit the things you make. You have to have premium. I don’t want to pay for it so sometimes I just have to start over and remake it.
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Thank you for commenting!
I will definitely go back and try to find that Undo button. Thanks for letting me know where it is.
Yes, the pictures are limited, and yes, the ones that catch my eye are not free 😝.
I didn’t know that you couldn’t go back and edit what you already made. Thank you for pointing that out.
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No problem! There are other websites like Canva. I hear people use PicMonkey but I think it Canva is higher quality.
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I’ve never heard of that one, I’ll have to check that one out as well. Thank you!
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I love Canva! I would be stuck without it. I use it to make all my graphics for Pinterest and social media. 🙂
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I have a feeling I will be doing that as well. Thank you for commenting!
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I am brand new to Canva and was planning to spend some time today playing around with it, so this post is perfect timing! thanks so much for the tips. And thanks also to Shaun for pointing out where that elusive “undo” button is – essential!
Joan Senio
kindness-compassion-and-coaching.com
@joansenio1
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That’s awesome! Thank you for commenting and letting me know 😁.
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I use canva for a few social media graphics but find that it can be slightly laggy on my computer. Its wonderful on my phone though and so useful when I need to whip up something quick and dont want to bother with the hassle of photoshop.
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It’s very fast and easy to use. I made a graphic for Twitter (that I actually like) in about five minutes. I’m so pleased with it. The only thing I don’t like is that there are a lot of options. How am I supposed to get anything done if I’m too busy scrolling and looking at all the free choices? 😝 It’s a good thing to dislike, if you ask me.
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I’ve used Canva since day for but I didn’t know you could go pro on it! So now I know! I love it I’ve used it for all my blog posts on this blog and I find it really easy to navigate unlike other apps!
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I’m glad you learned something! I think I’m going to use it for my posts from now in. I like the way they look across my social media accounts. Kind of eye catching. And yes, it is very easy to navigate. I didn’t even use the app (I used the website).
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I enjoy Canva, however I feel as though I’m not very good with it. I’m not good with computers in general, so it normally takes me a bit to get used to a program. I feel as though I’m getting better though! As soon as I get the hang of it completely I’ll enjoy it more lol great post!
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Thank you for commenting! I feel the guides that they give you as you’re designing are a big help. I like things to be even and flush and I WILL notice when they’re not 😝. There is a lot of potential to make awesome stuff on there (I looked at some stuff for inspiration).
Thanks again for commenting and I can’t wait to see what you create!
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I think that Canva is such a great website. I’ve always loved creating, designing and stuff but don’t have a lot of skills. I wish I could use software like Photoshop for instance but don’t even own it so I think Canva is a great outlet to express your creativity! I guess I just have to be aware not to overuse the designs that are used by many people. Great post! x
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Thank you for commenting! You touched on over using designs that others use. I ran into that as well. I noticed a lot of pictures that I had seen on other designs. Luckily, there are a lot of pictures that others don’t use. Thank you for reading!
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I LOVE Canva! I not only use it to create my Pinterest graphics, but also my Instagram story pictures. I found out about it while at university and I’m addicted. 😊
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That’s awesome! Thank you for commenting. I need to explore it a little more. My goal is to make something for every social media. So far, I have Pinterest and Twitter. Instagram and Facebook are next!
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I LIke canva I liked that it was user friendly and I don’t have a computer so the fact I could make a media kit with my phone saved my life lol I love canva. Love it love it! Love your post!
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Thank you for commenting! I still need to try out the app. Also, I didn’t even think about making a media kit with it. Thank you!
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I’ve been using Canva for quite some time. Never knew you could follow or make folders. Thank you for the tips
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Your are very welcome! And thank you for commenting!
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I love Canva! I use it a lot for making Instagram pictures & featured pictures for my blog posts. I use the app and have never used the website version. I’ll have to look into that!
http://www.ourchaoticmess.com
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Thank you for commenting! I need to look into the app. I don’t know how easy using it will be. I think that’s something I’ll do for future posts (use both the site and app). Thanks for the idea!
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I seriously use Canva all the time! Such a great free resource
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I definitely agree. Thank you for commenting!
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This sounds like an interesting app to use! I’ll definitely check it out and try to use it to create a new lay out for my twitter. Thank you for the tip 🙂
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You are very welcome! Thank you for commenting :D!
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I recently started using Canva and I love it! You have a great blog by the way 🙂
Feel free to check out my blog @ glimpsesofdaworld.wordpress.com
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Thank you for reading and commenting 😁!
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