How To Use Canva To Create Social Graphics

Ok, you are not a graphic designer (or a graphic designer) but in your work, you sometimes encounter the need to create basic graphic works for a social profile or a preview of an article. It happened to me by creating the graphic for this post, for example, and maybe it happened to you by creating the last post on your Instagram profile.

So how to create usable (and decent, let’s face it) basic graphics for these moments of need? My answer is Canva And no, this is not a sponsored post, but my faithful and sincere testimony.

If you are looking for a simple graphic design tool for social media, Canva allows you to create such content quickly and easily, even if you have little or no graphic design skills. Using it online or offline, you will be able to create a wide variety of content for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube but also for your website or blog.

Why use Canva?

Before showing you how to use Canva, I’ll list the advantages that (in my opinion) you should use it:

1. You don’t need design skills Don’t have artistic skills? The lack of design skills makes Canva an indispensable tool for creating engaging content without the need to know graphics or Graphic Designer tools.
2. It’s easy to use. You can use the present images or upload them directly from your pc. Canva has grids available so you can divide the image you’re creating into smaller sections.
3. The possibilities are endless Canva is mainly used to create images for Facebook and Twitter. But you can do so much more. It has designs for Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and other social media. Find Kindle cover designs, blog graphics, infographics, and more. There is also an option to create a custom-sized image.
4. Work with the Team You can share projects and images with team members by email or link and set editing or read-only permissions. Canva also allows you to share the image directly from the website to Facebook and Twitter.
5. It’s free (in the basic version) Having an account and creating graphics online with Canva is free. Then there are elements that can be purchased such as images, symbols, etc. to further customize the post or image you are creating.

What to create with Canva

1. Facebook cover photo

The Facebook cover photo is the first thing your audience sees when they enter your profile or page. Facebook cover images give your audience an immediate impression of who you represent and what you can offer them. Periodically changing your Facebook cover photo allows you to:

• Highlight something specific
• Prove that you are active

Canva offers thousands of free Facebook cover templates that are professionally designed and ready to be customized with just a few clicks. They already have the optimized size so you don’t have to worry about re-adapting them.

2. Images for your brand

Shares are part of the principle on which social networks are based.

Adding your brand logo to make users understand who that post belongs to at first glance is always the best choice. You can easily add the logo to the artwork you create through Canva’s drag and drop mode, for example.

3. Post for Pinterest

Whether you want to direct Pinterest users to a blog post or just have them save an inspirational quote, Canva has thousands of graphics in various shapes and sizes that will allow you to create an eye-catching design.

4. Stories and Instagram posts

Instagram has over 1 billion active monthly users and if you intend to make your content viral, you cannot refrain from creating and publishing stories or posts on Instagram (always if your target users are present on this social network).

With hundreds of Instagram Story templates to choose from and just as many post examples, it’s easy to give your social media marketing plan a nice, strategic impact.

5. Much more

The examples I have reported above are just some of the jobs that Canva allows you to do, the list is much longer and also includes images and covers for websites and YouTube, graphics for newsletters, business cards, flyers, menus, and much more. yet!

Online graphics with Canva: how to do it?

1. Choose the format for your post or graphic To get started, choose the type of design. The formats are set to the optimal size for each image, whether it’s a social media post, flyer, or whatever. Or you can use custom sizes by searching for “custom size”. You can choose between pixels, millimeters, or inches.

2. Choose the background You can choose between a color or an image to use as a background. To choose a color, use the Color Picker tool in the toolbar at the top of the editor. To use a photo as a background, first, add a grid. Once placed on the grid, photos can be resized, cropped, flipped, and layered to create a variety of visual effects. You can find some images available on canva but if you need a specific photo you can upload one from your pc. You can add filters to change the brightness, saturation, and clarity of the photo. This technique is used a lot when overlapping text and elements.
3. Add elements Your project may include text, icons, photos, or illustrations. These need to be combined in a way that is visually appealing. When arranging your elements, check if they are centered and make sure they are not too close together.
4. Choose the format and font The appearance of your fonts can have a huge impact on your design. Canva suggests never using more than two fonts in a project, as too many fonts tend to make a project “messy”. I recommend that you choose complementary fonts, which add visual interest and go well together. This graphics software offers hundreds of preset character combinations to choose from. Don’t forget legibility – if your fonts are too complicated, the user may not understand the message you share.
5. Save and download If your work satisfies you, you can download it by choosing between different options (files in .jpeg or .png, for example). Furthermore, if you are working from a desktop but you also have the Canva application on your smartphone, you will always find your projects updated here too, to always have them at your fingertips!

In short, Canva personally changed my life! I use it a lot and will continue to do so.