Gradients in Canva are more versatile than they might first appear. You can apply them to shapes, text, borders, photos, videos, and page backgrounds — and with a colour-to-transparent fade, you can create soft overlays that make text readable without covering what’s underneath.
This video covers all of it in one place: how to build custom gradients, how to copy them between elements, and how to save them to your Brand Kit so you’re not rebuilding the same gradient every time you need it.
Gradients themselves are available on the free plan, but saving them to your Brand Kit for consistent reuse is a Canva Pro feature. If you’re not on Pro yet, you can start a free trial here before working through the Brand Kit section at the end.
Transcript
Gradients are a great way to add depth and interest to your Canva designs, whether you’re creating a subtle background, adding an overlay to make text pop, or building a signature branded style. Canva offers a variety of pre-made gradient options, but you’re also able to create your own custom gradients for much more control.
To create a custom gradient in Canva, you start by applying it to an element.
How to Add a Custom Gradient to a Shape in Canva
Let’s look at how this works specifically with shapes.
Start by adding a shape to your design, and you can find shapes under the Elements tab, or use keyboard shortcuts. For example, you could press R on your keyboard to add a rectangle, or C to add a circle.
Once the shape is selected, click the colour option in the floating toolbar, and then you’re going to want to click the plus sign under Document colours. In the colour panel, switch from the Solid tab to the Gradient tab, and you’ll notice that Canva will automatically apply a two-colour gradient to the shape.
From there, you can click on each gradient stop to select your own colours, and you can add additional colours to create a multi-colour gradient. You can also adjust the style of the gradient by choosing from several linear and circular gradient options.
At this time, you can’t create your own gradient style, but you do have full control over the colours and their order.
You can also apply a gradient directly to the page background by clicking on the page itself and using the same colour and gradient options.
Now, if instead of filling the entire shape you want the gradient to appear just on the *border* of a shape, you can do that as well.
With your shape selected, turn on the Border style option in the floating toolbar and increase the border width to your desired thickness.
Then click the border colour option, click the plus sign under Document colours, switch to the Gradient tab, and choose your colours and preset gradient style the same way.
This gives you a gradient outline instead of a filled gradient shape, which can create a lighter, more subtle effect depending on the design you’re working on.
How to Add a Gradient Border to a Photo or Video in Canva
The same border technique also works on photos and videos.
Select the photo or video in your design, and then in the floating toolbar, turn on the Border style option and increase the border width.
Click the border colour option, click the plus sign under Document colours, and switch to the Gradient tab.
And from there, choose your colours and select one of Canva’s preset gradient styles.
How to Add a Gradient to Text in Canva
Gradients can also be applied directly to text in Canva, and the process is going to look incredibly familiar to you now based on what we’ve already covered.
To apply a gradient to text, select your text box and click the colour option in the floating toolbar.
Click the plus sign under Document colours, switch to the Gradient tab, choose your colours, and select a gradient style.
Gradient text works especially well for headings or short emphasis text, but for longer body text, readability should always come first.
How to Create a Colour-to-Transparent Gradient in Canva
Up to this point, we’ve been working with colour-to-colour gradients.
But sometimes what you really want is for a colour to fade out completely.
That’s where a colour-to-transparent gradient comes in.
Start by selecting the element you want to apply the gradient to, for example a rectangle, and then click the colour option in the floating tool bar. Then you’re going to click the plus sign under Document colours and switch to the Gradient tab.
You’ll want to choose your desired colour for one gradient stop and then for the second stop, open the colour picker and reduce the opacity slider all the way down to zero. This creates the transparent end of the gradient.
Once your colours are set, click through Canva’s preset linear and circular gradient styles to choose the direction or shape of the fade that works best for your layout.
The fade effect comes from the combination of colour and transparency. You’re still choosing from Canva’s existing gradient styles, but you’re simply adjusting one end to be fully transparent.
How to Copy a Gradient in Canva (and What to Know)
Once you’ve created a gradient on one element, you can use the Copy style tool to apply that same gradient to another element.
Select the element with the gradient applied, click Copy style in the toolbar, and then click on another compatible element to apply it.
There are a few limitations to keep in mind.
Custom gradients can only be applied to certain element types, such as shapes, text, frames, grids, borders, and the page background. At this time, they can’t be applied directly to most graphics from the Elements library, including icons and illustrations, even if those graphics allow you to change their solid colour.
It’s also important to note that when you copy a gradient from one element to another, it applies to the same property.
For example, if you copy a filled shape with a gradient and apply it to another shape, it will apply to the fill — not to the border. You can’t copy a shape’s fill gradient and apply it directly to just the border of another element.
How to Save Custom Gradients in Your Brand Kit
Now that you know how to create and apply custom gradients, let’s look at how to save them so you don’t have to rebuild them every time.
Custom gradients created inside a Canva design aren’t automatically saved for reuse. If you want to use the same gradient consistently across multiple designs, you’ll need to save it in your Brand Kit, which is a Canva Pro feature.
To save a gradient, go to the Brand Kit, then scroll to the Brand colours section and click to add a new colour. Instead of choosing the Solid option, switch to the Gradient tab.
When you add your gradient, you’ll choose the gradient colours, the order those colours appear, and a preset gradient style.
And if you’re *recreating* a gradient from an existing design, it helps to note the exact hex codes, the colour order, and which gradient style you originally created that you want to replicate.
Once saved, the gradient will appear alongside your other brand colours whenever you’re working on a design, making it much easier to stay consistent without rebuilding gradients each time.
