Why I use Canva for creating social media posts, business holiday cards, event posters, and more (…even my personal wedding invitations).

I love Canva. When people ask me about our social media posts, or the holiday cards we sent out last year, I can’t help but smile. Then, I ask “Have you ever used Canva?”

I spread the word and introduce Canva to almost every client I’ve ever spoken to. You may ask yourself why I’m such a raving fan of a freemium online tool, especially one I’m not getting paid to represent. Well, it’s because I truly love it that much.

Canva is a free online tool that you can use on your computer or on your phone*. I’ve spent days creating social media posts, memes, account profile images, product designs, invitations, event posters, and yes, even my own wedding invitations, all using Canva.

I will tell you upfront—there is a small learning curve for this tool. But Canva has a self-paced tutorial to help new users learn the tool as quickly as possible. Plus, Canva’s online catalog of blogs and video tutorials can help answer any questions you may have.

Thinking about trying it? Here are some reasons to jump in:

1. It’s easy to use.
2. It stores your work for you. You don’t have to download anything. You store your artwork and edits online in Canva. Creating a draft and don’t have time to finish? That’s fine, just come back to it when you have time and your artwork will be there, just as you left it.
3. It has an “import” option. You can import images, logos, and whatever you need to make your ideas become artwork. It also saves them for you so when you start a new design, your logo is right there for you to use.
4. It’s free. Well, free to use. (Canva is what you’d call freemium. It is free to sign up and it has tons of images, texts, colors and designs that are free for anyone to use. However, they do have images, fonts, designs and elements that you can purchase.)
5. If you have a bit of money to invest, you can upgrade your designs but STILL come in under budget. For example, I purchased a design element for my wedding invitations. It was a polka dotted gold element that I could not live without! So I paid a one-time fee of, get ready for it: $1.99. I didn’t have to pay until I downloaded my final, print-ready pdf file.
6. It allows you to download your designs in multiple forms. You can save and download the files easily as an image for web, a high quality image (PNG), PDF for print, or just standard. You can even click a button to create crops and bleeds. You can create any design you want and choose to publish it online, print it out on paper, or have it professionally printed with each of these options.
7. You can share! You can send your designs to teammates or colleagues so they can help you edit or give you ideas for your work.
8. They help you be a great designer, even if you’re not a designer at heart. You can start with a template or custom dimensions. The geniuses at Canva have created an array of templates for you to choose from. Once you’ve chosen a template you can add or delete any text, elements, or images to make the design yours. Want to create the perfect Instagram post? Canva has the dimensions already laid out for all social media posts. Just click on the avenue you had in mind and it will automatically fit your design for their needs. Have a specific project in mind? Canva allows you to choose your specific dimensions for your project ahead.
9. You can stay brand specific. Canva now allows you to store your logo, colors, and fonts that you use for all of your materials. It saves time for you, and if you’re designing for others, it can help keep you organized and not send two items with different colors of blue.
   
10. There is a Canva design school. It includes video tutorials, color palates, inspiration, and more. Sometimes when I’m feeling stuck or I need inspiration, I go to the Canva school to kickstart my creative mind.

As much as I love Canva, it can’t always substitute for a professional designer. When you’re redesigning your website or creating a brochure for a 1,000-person conference, it’s better to leave it to the professional designers.

But Canva is a great way to save yourself and your company some money by creating the small things in house. You can create holiday cards, menus for small events, programs, product designs, shower invitations, flyers, and so much more in Canva.

Go to Canva.com to get started!

* Canva just came out with the mobile version about a month ago and are still working on the updates. I’ve personally used the web version on my computer many, many times and am just jumping into the app version.