TECHNOLOGY CANVA: A PRACTICAL, ACCESSIBLE GRAPHIC

Introduction

anva is a web-based graphic design

tool that allows users to create dig-

ital and print images to customize so-

cial media pages, enhance blog posts,

and create printable marketing mate-

rials. With Canva, users create layouts

from scratch or start with templates,

pre-loaded with thematic fonts, ob-

jects, color palettes, text boxes, and

platform-specic dimensions. Users

have the ability to share designs and

collaborate with team members to

create visually-appealing marketing

materials designed to attract the at-

tention of their target audience.

Canva’s Features

ith Canva’s drag-and-drop tech-

nology, users can create graphic

content using templates and pre-for-

matted layouts. Canva allows users

to enter custom size dimensions for

their projects, or choose a pre-loaded

template for projects such as social

media posts, infographics, posters,

blog graphics, and other marketing

materials. After choosing a template

and a layout, users can customize their

design by adding icons, shapes, charts,

frames, or images. Users can upload

their own images or select stock imag-

es from Canva’s database of customiz-

able graphics.

Canva’s photo editing

p. 26 | MARKETING LIBRARIES JOURNAL

TECHNOLOGY

CANVA: A PRACTICAL,

ACCESSIBLE GRAPHIC

DESIGN TOOL

Katherin R. DeFord (katherin.r.d[email protected])

Christopher D. Curtis (christopher[email protected])

Donald A. Fitzpatrick (donald.a.ﬁt[email protected])

Stephanie B. Hill (stephanie.b[email protected])

Heather A. Johnson (heather[email protected])

Biomedical Libraries, Dartmouth College

capabilities are similar to popular pho-

to sharing apps and will be familiar to

many users. Canva has photo editing

tools like cropping, ltering, and re-

sizing. In addition to customizing their

project with images, users can add

text. Canva oers unrestricted access

to hundreds of unique fonts and cus-

tomizable text templates, which can

be resized and recolored. Canva users

can also add patterned backgrounds to

their projects, and can create graphics

with transparent backgrounds for ad-

ditional functionality.

In addition to the user-friendly graphic

design interface, Canva allows users to

collaborate with colleagues. Users can

share and work on designs with indi-

viduals and teams by sharing a link via

email. In the team environment, a user

may create a team space, which is sep-

arate from a user's personal account.

In this workspace, team members may

access folders and collaborate on de-

signs, and can even “like” and provide

feedback on designs. The original cre-

ator of a design may designate permis-

sion levels—view-only or editing priv-

ileges—to collaborators with a Canva

account.

Furthermore, Canva users

can also collaborate with the greater

Canva community by “following” other

users and using public member-creat-

ed designs.

Once projects are ready to be shared,

Canva makes it easy to disseminate

graphics to a larger audience. Users

may allow Canva to access their social

media accounts directly and push their

graphics to Twitter and Facebook. Us-

ers with a blog or website may embed

content with a Canva-generated code,

and users can also use the Canva app

on an iPhone or iPad in lieu of access-

ing Canva on a desktop computer.

When using Canva on a mobile device,

users wishing to post Canva designs to

social media channels must have those

social media applications installed on

their device. Users may also save de-

signs to their photo album and share

designs via text, email, or other mes-

saging apps such as WhatsApp and

Google Hangouts.

Canva also oers a free learning

course called Design Essentials, pro-

viding step-by-step tutorials on basic

graphic design techniques. Some top-

ics include choosing fonts and colors,

arranging layouts, using shapes and

icons, branding, enhancing images,

and creating strong backgrounds.

These tutorials can be a helpful refer-

ence when creating designs.

Paid vs. Free Versions of Canva

ree accounts provide users with ac-

cess to rich design features and may

prove sucient for casual users. Li-

braries may also wish to purchase one

of two subscription accounts, either

Canva for Work or Canva Enterprise.

These accounts provide access to addi-

tional features that may allow for more

ecient workows and robust design

capabilities. Canva for Work is priced

at $12.95 per month or $119.40 when

billed annually, and includes a 30 day

free trial. Users interested in a Canva

Enterprise account may contact Canva

directly.

VOL. 1, 2017 | p. 27

One of the most prominent features

of a paid account is Magic Resize. With

this tool users may, for example, cre-

ate content using a template sized for

Facebook, then use Magic Resize to

replicate the image for other media

platforms. With the free version, users

are not able to easily convert images

from one template size to another; in-

stead, they must recreate each image

for the template size of their choosing.

Additionally, with the paid version, us-

ers may create a brand. Branding with-

in Canva allows users to create an or-

ganization-specic template that can

be layered over unique designs. Tem-

plates may include logos, slogans, col-

or schemes, or other elements a library

wishes to associate with their image.

Canva’s free and paid versions also of-

fer dierent collaboration tools. With a

free account, users may create teams

of up to ten users. With a Canva for

Work account, users may create teams

of up to 30 users

, while Canva Enter-

prise accounts allow access for groups

larger than 30. Users with paid ac-

counts may designate team members

to one of three categories: Administra-

tors, Template Designers, or Members.

Users with free accounts may assign

members to one of two categories:

Members or Administrators. With re-

gard to storage, the free version oers

1GB, while the paid versions oers

unlimited storage space.

In terms of

organization, users with paid accounts

can organize designs and photos, while

free accounts oer only two folders.

Limitations

hile Canva is eective at creat-

ing visually-appealing market-

ing content, it has limitations that can

impede productivity and usability. The

most signicant limitation pertains to

users’ ability to manipulate objects and

fonts. While objects can be resized,

they maintain their dimension ratios,

meaning that squares may not be

converted to rectangles, for example.

Furthermore, all text within text box-

es must use the same font properties,

such as font type, size, and color. Last-

ly, it is not possible for users to convert

one element to another. For example,

if a user has inserted a font template,

but would like another instead, they

would have to insert a new object, rec-

reate the previously-inputted text, and

delete the original template.

Users are also limited to how Canva

interacts with social media. While us-

ers may post content to social media

directly from the Canva environment,

users may designate only one Face-

book account and one Twitter account

per Canva account. Therefore, libraries

with multiple social media accounts

will require multiple corresponding

Canva accounts.

Conclusion and

Considerations for Use

anva is an eective, low-cost solu-

tion for libraries seeking to create

professional-looking materials to mar-

ket programs and services. Its usabili-

ty makes it a reasonable solution for

libraries wishing to create marketing

materials on a limited budget, and

p. 28 | MARKETING LIBRARIES JOURNAL

with sta lacking graphic design train-

ing and experience. When considering

Canva as a graphic design solution,

users should consider their needs, in-

cluding the amount of available sta

time, frequency of use, and social me-

dia presence.

Canva should be considered as an al-

ternative to Microsoft Publisher or

Adobe InDesign. Similar to Publisher

and InDesign, Canva users may easily

customize templates, graphics, and

text. However, Canva’s ability to col-

laborate on the same design, push to

social media, and provide access to a

free account set it apart. Canva is con-

tinually adding new features and im-

proving the overall ability to help users

create visually-appealing designs to

attract the attention of their target au-

dience.

Endnotes

1. Users can also purchase stock photos,

layouts, and other graphics from Canva if

they desire an option outside the free of-

ferings.

2. Canva's collaborative features are cur-

rently in beta; users should use caution

when concurrently editing a design since

changes may not be permanent.

3. Canva oers a mobile application for iOS

devices, there is no application available

for Android devices, and the company has

not indicated that an Android app is being

developed.

4. Each team member will incur an addi-

tional monthly fee.

5. In both the free and paid versions, users

can download their work and save it on

their own computers rather than rely exclu-

sively on Canva, but storing graphics with

Canva may be desirable to some teams.

VOL. 1, 2017 | p. 29

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