Do you want an unbiased Canva review?
Also, what if I tell you that I know you are not a graphics designer?
I don’t want to creep you out but this is quite obvious. If you were a graphics designer, you would not have been here, looking for the Canva review.
Well, just like you, many new bloggers, marketers, or even startups (who can’t invest in expensive software and designers) are seeking a reliable review of Canva.
And, to help them (and of course, you) decide if Canva is the best graphic design tool yet, I am sharing with you my unbiased Canva review.
Trust me, I’ve been using Canva for approximately 3 years now and know better if it’s really worth your time.
Let’s start by knowing –
What Is Canva?
This Canva review would be incomplete if I didn’t properly introduce Canva to you.
Canva is an online graphics designing and image editing tool. This freemium software has all the graphic designing features to furnish your needs.
With Canva, you can create images of any sizes, social media posts & headers, email headers, infographics or literally anything else.
And, since you are not a graphics designer, Canva provides you with numerous pre-built templates to provide you a designing cushion. Not to forget, this will immensely help you save your time.
How Does Canva Work? – Step By Step Process
Canva is probably the most simplistic but highly efficient graphic designing tool available in the market.
Yet some of us are unaware of its popularity and packaged value.
So this canva.com review will educate you about how Canva works.
Step 1 – Sign Up For An Account
Just like any other online application, you must sign up and create an account.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to use your credit card. It’s completely free..!!
Just head over to the Canva home page and sign up with Google, Facebook or your email address.
Make sure to verify your email account so that the Canva team knows that it is a genuine account.
Step 2 – Start Designing
Great..!! The Canva review has shown you how to get started and sign up with Canva.
Now, you have to take a step forward and start creating your designs.
But before you go any further, Canva will ask you the reason for using Canva i.e. for personal use, business, education or for a non-profit cause.
Simply click the option that suits your designing requirements and move forward.
Step 2.1 – Choose A Ready-Made Template
Any Canva app review would be incomplete if it doesn’t mention or talk about Canva’s most sought after feature – ready-made templates and designs.
After choosing who you represent and how do you intend to use the software, Canva showcases some pre-built template categories to help you quickly get started.
Some of these templates include pre-built graphics & designs for Instagram posts, Twitter posts, Facebook covers & posts, presentation slides, flyers, business logos, and much more than these.
If the options listed don’t show the required graphics template, you can of course search for it in the given search box.
It’s that easy and still, if you are unable to find it, you can close the pop-up and create a new design with custom dimensions.
Don’t worry! You can easily import the design of any templates in your custom templates too.
But for this Canva review, I am going to create a new business logo.
Step 2.2 – Editing & Using Canva Drag & Drop Builder
You can very well identify the actual ease of use of Canva by using its drag & drop builder.
But before that, you must incorporate a design template from its library.
Since we are creating a business logo, Canva offers a set of ready-made logos and logically categorized them based on their industry.
Mind you, each logo category can be further expanded to explore more designs.
And, once you find the ideal design that you think would be able to make a good impression then simply click on it.
The design and all the elements will be incorporated into the editor.
After this, it’s as simple a driving a hot knife through butter.
Each design element can be further customized and molded to match your brand. All you have to do is click on it and use the toolbar given above for editing.
There are thousands of fonts, vectors, and colors available for use in Canva. That too for free!
Also, Canva autosaves your progress to reduce the burden of manually saving each change and edits.
Step 3 – Download Or Share Your Design
Lastly, when you think that you have created a masterpiece all you have to do is either download it or directly share it over social media.
Along with social media sharing options, Canva also allows you to upload it on Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, share it via email, and many other mediums.
Now, after seeing how easy it is to get started and creat designs with Canva, don’t you think that it will score high in the “ease of use” department?
If not then allow me to list down –
Other Important Features Of Canva
Honestly speaking, Canva has so much to offer that you will barely even use all of its features.
And, because of this, the review of Canva may extremely lengthy, filled with unrelated content.
Hence, I am listing a few but the important features of Canva to let you know how beast of a graphic design tool it is.
1. All In One Social Media Graphics Tool
If you start using Canva, you may never have to use any other online graphic design tools. It furnishes all designing requirements for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube and Tumblr.
Here are some of the snapshots of the social media templates –
Facebook –
Instagram –
Twitter –
Social Media Animations –
2. Thousands Of Free Stock Photos
Canva offers a plethora of stock photos that you can use in your graphics.
In addition to this, there’s an inbuilt image editor which can be used to apply filters, crop or adjust the contrast of the image.
3. Several Design Elements & Shapes
To make your designs stand out among the competition, Canva offers tons of design elements, shapes, etc. for free.
4. Thousands Of Fonts & Font Combinations
Fonts play a vital role in graphic designs. And, this fact is well accepted and followed by Canva.
There are several fonts and font combinations available that can be incorporated in a single click.
5. Royalty-Free Music & Video Clips
Apart from creating visually pleasing graphic designs, Canva also lends a helping hand by offering many royalty-free music and videos.
This could work well for your Social Media ad campaigns.
6. Background Images, Textures & Colors
Canva never forgets to give you an option to add an appealing background to your designs.
You could add an image, textures or solid colors as background to your graphics.
Other than all these awesome features, Canva also allows you to upload your own images, manage your created designs, collaborate with your team members and also integrate with other applications.
Now, to help you see the clearer picture, I am going to list down all the advantages and disadvantages in this Canva review that I have faced while using it.
Is Canva For Free?
Yes, absolutely..!!
As I’ve said earlier, Canva is a freemium online graphic design tool. While you get most of the important features for free, you may have to pay for advanced features.
Since this Canva review is primarily focused on the free version, I won’t be exploring the premium version or their pricing plans in detail.
However, here’s a quick rundown of the premium plans of Canva –
- Canva Pro – This plan comes at a monthly subscription fee of $12.95 per team member. If you opt for the annual subscription, the same plan will reduce to $9.95 per team member / per month.
- Canva for Enterprise – The enterprise plan comes only at a single price of $30 per team member / per month.
Apart from this, if you (free user) happen to use a premium design element like vectors, images, sounds, or anything else, you may have to pay separately for that element.
If not then you may not have the permission to download the graphic or even share it.
But in spite of this, you may have realized that Canva is still securing full marks in the department of “value for money”.
Pros & Cons Of Canva (As Per Personal Experience)
Here are some of the benefits that I have exploited out of Canva –
- It helped me save a lot of time.
- Since it is free, I never had to spend a single penny on graphic design.
- The designs created by Canva help me create a good impression on readers and subscribers.
- I get everything in Canva. Hence I don’t have to rely on other tools.
- Even while I was a beginner, its tutorials and training helped me grasp a better understanding of designs and color combinations.
- Apart from graphics, I had created a lot of PDFs.
- Canva also comes as a mobile application for Android and iOS.
While there are uncountable benefits of Canva, I also happen to face its drawbacks –
- A basic feature like the transparent background is available in premium plans.
- Image resizer is also a premium feature.
- Canva doesn’t work offline.
As you can see, the benefits of Canva outweighs its drawbacks.
Canva Review Verdict – Is It Worth Using?
In my opinion, yes..!!
I have been using Canva for 3 years now and I can proudly say that I am satisfied with its service. It is one of the best blogging tools I can recommend you.
Even if you are not a blogger, Canva will do wonders for you. And, many authors, publishers, eCommerce businesses, startups, and other small businesses would agree with me.
So, I would like to conclude this Canva review by sharing my honest and unbiased ratings according to –
Ease Of Use – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 4/5 Stars
Efficiency – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 5/5 Stars
Value For Money – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 5/5 Stars
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