For the past week or so, I’ve been using canva.com to create some new blog images (examples below and the image above). I’ve been listening to quite a few podcasts that have mentioned Canva so I thought I would check it out. First and foremost, I was rather surprised because it’s free and I haven’t found any gotchas, hooks, or gimmicks. However, there is a paid version if you want some more bells and whistles.
What is Canva?
Why do I like Canva?
Glad, you asked… Here are a few reasons:
- Free to use! You start paying when you decide to use their paid text options or images. At the end of the day, you can upload whatever you want to edit, created collages, or do what I did – upload an image and add some text.
- Intuitive. Photoshop can take some time to learn but with Canva, you can easily manipulate and create new graphics.
- All of your creations are saved on the internet. If my computer crashes, all I need to do is go back to Canva and all of my awesome creations are there.
- Canva has a stock image inventory for you to search and use from – additional cost.
- If you want to make a collage, there are plenty of templates to choose from!
- It’s stupid simple to copy a previous project to create a new project. For example, if you have a graphic with the fonts or image that you like, just copy it and edit if for your new need.
Recent Examples
What don’t I like?
- How the heck do I resize the canvas, image, or whatever it is that I’m editing after I’ve created a new “project”?
- There are times where it’s very confusing when you’re trying to move a text block. You need to hover on the text block just right to get the icon that indicates that you’re moving the text block. – That make not make sense until you try it yourself 😉
Will I continue to use Canva?
Yes, but it will be limited. I like the idea that I can quickly create a graphic or collage and that everything is saved online, but I want some of the features that Photoshop has. I will say that Canva allows me to quickly prototype a graphic.
Then again, I might get some additional options for a paid account, but I already pay for Photoshop.
What else could I use?
Well, there are quite a few other solutions that you could use instead of Canva or Photoshop. Here’s a quick list!
“All of your creations are saved on the internet. If my computer
crashes, all I need to do is go back to Canva and all of my awesome
creations are there.”
The key word here is ‘crash’, I cant run canva without it crashing my pc. Maybe I’m uploading too many images, but I usually get about 15 mins work out of it before it slows my PC down to a snails pace.