Canva is a free website and app for making invitations, posters and social posts without any design training. In this lesson you will find your way around, and you will make your very first design in about ten minutes.
Please note: Canva offers a free plan and a paid plan. Everything in this course can be done on the free plan. Never pay unless you decide you want to, and only on the official Canva website or app.
What you need
A computer, tablet or phone, and an email address. Go to the official Canva website, or install the Canva app from your phone's own app store. Sign up with your email address. If you already have an account somewhere else, you can use that instead.
A quick tour of the screen
Once you open a design, you will see the same four areas almost everywhere.
- The canvas: the page in the middle. This is your design.
- The left panel: where you find templates, text, photos, shapes and uploads.
- The top bar: changes depending on what you click. Click on text and it shows fonts and colours.
- Share button: top right. This is where you download or send your finished design.
Do not worry about breaking anything. There is an undo arrow at the top, and Canva saves your work automatically.
Why start from a template
A template is a ready-made design that you change. Someone has already chosen the layout, fonts and colours, so you only swap the words and pictures. Starting this way is not cheating. It is how most people use Canva, and it gives a tidy result on the very first try.
Make your first design: a simple invitation
- On the Canva home page, type invitation into the search box and press Enter.
- Click a design you like. Choose one with plenty of empty space, because it is easier to read.
- Click Customize this template. A new page opens with your design.
- Click on any piece of text. Select all the words, then type your own, for example the event name.
- Click the next piece of text and change the date, time and place. Keep each line short.
- Click a picture you want to remove and press the Delete key. Then open Elements or Photos on the left to find a replacement.
- Look at the whole page. Is the most important thing, such as the event name, the biggest? If not, click it and make the text larger.
- Click Share, then Download, and choose PNG. The picture is saved to your device and you can send it in a message or email.
Three beginner rules that always help
1. Fewer words. If people have to squint, they will not read it. Keep only what they need to know.
2. Big and small. Make one thing big, one thing medium and the rest small. This tells the eye where to start.
3. Leave space. Empty space is not wasted. It makes a design look calm and professional.
Try it now
- Create a free Canva account if you have not already.
- Search for "birthday invitation" or another event you know about.
- Change the words to a real event, even a pretend one.
- Make the event name the biggest text on the page.
- Download it as PNG and send it to yourself or a friend to see how it looks on a phone.
If you can do this, you can already use Canva. Everything else in this course builds on these same steps.
What to remember
- Canva is free to start, and templates do most of the design work for you.
- Change the words and pictures, then make the main thing biggest.
- Download as PNG to share on a phone or send in a message.
In the next lesson you will learn how to choose fonts and colors that look good together, without needing an eye for design.