This tutorial video will be revised after Canva Create in May 2024 to reflect Canva’s updated interface.
Resources Mentioned
- 45 Day Free Trial of Canva Pro (Affiliate Link)
Tutorial Transcript
Note: This transcript may include affiliate links.
When you log into your Canva account, it is going to look pretty similar to what you see here and I’m going to start by walking you through the options here on the main Home landing page.
For some of you, the quickest way to find an existing design that you’ve already created in the past may be to use this search bar at the top.
So for example, if I wanted to find the Lead Magnet Icons design I’ve already created in the past, I could search on “lead magnet icon” because I know I included that in the title of my designs and then that shows up here to choose from.
So this is a really quick way to find the specific design you might be looking for.
You will also see that you can navigate through these icons here, which make up Canva’s Visual Worksuite.
So we have Docs, Whiteboards, Presentations, Social Media, Videos, Print Products, Websites… and then you can also click on More in order to find other types of design documents.
You can also navigate for designs by staying on this default “For You” icon that appears to the left of the Visual Worksuite icons.
This is not search based, instead this one is visually based, so you’ve got little thumbnail examples of the various kinds of designs you can create.
For example you can choose to create a Facebook Post sized design… or a Presentation…
Presentation is the layout that you would be using most often if you are doing a webinar slide for example, or some other sort of presentation slide.
You can scroll over using the arrow to see more options.
Or you can choose to start a new design with custom dimensions.
If you know that you need something with very specific dimensions, you can create a design that has those specific dimensions.
You can also start your design by uploading an existing document or file, for example if you have a PDF or Word document that you want to modify inside of Canva.
You’ll also see that you can access all of your recent designs in this area of the homepage, but this is not the best place to go looking for your designs, as you can see how you could spend a lot of time scrolling and searching for a design you created awhile back.
Instead, you’ll want to explore the Projects section to find and organize your designs and images.
Projects
So on that note, let’s turn to your left hand sidebar navigation.
The first option here is Projects, and the Projects area is where you’ll be spending most of your time when you’re looking for your designs, as this is the area of your Canva account where you’ll be able to create an organizational structure.
You’ll be able to create custom folders in this section and you should definitely be utilizing folders in order to properly organize all of your designs and images.
Note that you can only create folders and organize your designs and images in the Projects area… you can’t organize the designs on your home screen, so that’s why I always recommend that you jump right into the Projects section immediately if you’re looking for something you’ve already created.
Templates
When you click on Templates, it’s going to take you directly to Canva’s template library which will look something like this.
You can look for templates in a variety of ways, including using the search field at the top of the page, browsing through the various choices that are presented to you here in the main feed area of the templates library, or by using the options presented to you in the templates navigation on the left hand side.
Brand
Brand is a Canva Pro feature and it enables Canva users to store and manage their branding assets in one centralized location inside of Canva.
This area is where you’ll go to upload your brand’s logos, colors, fonts, photos, graphics and icons, which can then be easily accessed when you’re working in the design editor.
Plus it can also be accessed by any of your team members, which helps ensure that all designs adhere to the brand’s guidelines and maintains a consistent look and feel.
In addition to brand assets, the Brand area also houses your brand templates and various brand controls to ensure that any new designs created by team members adhere to your brand’s guidelines.
Though if you’re an individual business owner, you’ll primarily be using just the brand kit component for the most part.
Knowing how to use the brand kit in Canva is typically the focal point of a LOT of what I teach in Canva and the reason I focus a lot of time on this component is because I believe it is so central to being able to create consistently branded graphics in Canva that look professional and unique to your business.
So you’ll want to ensure that you add your own brand kit components into this area of your Canva account.
Apps
The final section is Apps, and on the Apps landing page, you’ll see all of the various third party apps that Canva integrates with, and this basically just give you access to a variety of content apps, image enhancement apps, and publishing apps.
For example, you might want to be able to integrate your Canva account with Dropbox to have easy access to images you’ve saved in your Dropbox account, for use in your designs in Canva.
You will also find some Recommended Apps already featured here for you.
First is Content Planner.
When you click on the link, a calendar will appear and you can use this tool to create posts that can be directly scheduled to many social media platforms. That said, I personally don’t use this scheduling tool myself as I feel that it still requires a bit more polishing on Canva’s part before I will be replacing my existing social media scheduling tools with the content planner.
Next is Mockups.
Canva’s Mockups app is a feature that allows you to create realistic mockups of your designs on various real-life objects, like computer screens or clothing or all kinds of other things.
And then they are also highlighting their new Product Photos app here, which enables you to bulk edit photos to prep your product imagery.
Other Options
Then your final options in the left hand navigation are to invite members to your Team…
Or to access your trash folder, which will contain any of the designs or images that you have recently deleted.
Top Navigation
Now let’s go up to the top navigation. In all honesty, I don’t think I ever use these menu options up here, but I want to give you a little tour of what’s up here so you feel confident navigating the dashboard in its entirety.
On the far left, you’ll see this little hamburger menu, that is the 3 lines stacked on top of each other. Clicking on that will cause the sidebar navigation to appear or disappear.
Then there’s the Canva logo, which you can click on anytime to take you to your main dashboard homepage.
Beside that is Design Spotlight. In this area, Canva provides more information about specific design features. For example, if I click on Presentations, it will take me to an information landing page providing more details about the Presentations options they provide, and Canva has put a lot of effort into their Presentations templates.
Similarly, clicking on these various other options will take you to more information landing pages.
Under Business, you’ll also find various information landing pages related to some of the features available to Canva users, as well as information pages about how various industries or departments can use Canva.
For example, if I click on real estate, this page will outline some of the ways that real estate agents and agencies can utilize Canva in their business.
The Education menu option here provides more resources and information specifically for teachers and students.
The options under Plans and Pricing link to more information about the various Canva plans.
And then under Learn, you’ll find some categories of content to provide you with supplementary tutorials and design trainings on how to use Canva as well as some more fundamental topics such as graphic design basics, branding, and so on. And you’ll find a link to their blog as well.
Final Notes
And then any account information is going to be up here when you click on this icon. So if you need to change your account settings, for example, your billing information or any account information, that’s going to be up here. And you can also access the account settings when you click on your account profile icon in the top right corner.
You can also get help when you click on the purple question mark icon in the lower right portion of your screen.
So it’ll pop up a quick little help feature that you can search for tips, things that you’re maybe having trouble with.
So that is the Canva dashboard.
Try Canva Pro for 45 Days
If you haven’t yet upgraded to Canva Pro, I encourage you to give it a try. Learn more about how to get a free 45 day trial of Canva Pro at BrendaCadman.com/45days.
