by Debbie Disher
Are you creative? Would you like to be? Do you find yourself putting together Powerpoint Presentations, invitations, flyers, etc. and you are never quite happy with your final results? Then I have the perfect solution for you. Canva.
Canva, which is based in Australia introduced an online graphic design site in August of 2013. I learned about this site 5 months ago and since then have fallen in love with it. I do not have many creative genes in me, so anytime I find something to help me look like I at least have a few, they have me. See some of my examples below.
The online version of Canva can be found at www.canva.com. There is also an iPad app available for Canva, although I haven't tried that out yet.
Canva uses a simple drag and drop tool to assist you in building your graphics. It consists of templates for presentations, posters, Facebook covers, Facebook posts, Instagram posts, letters, business cards, flyers, gift certificates, postcards, invitations, cards, photo collages and more. The library consists of more than a million images/photos, some of these are free but most are available for $1 a piece. You can also upload your own graphics. Once you have created your graphic you can download it either as a PDF or as an image file (png). If you have used premium images, you will be asked to pay for them at the time of the download.
Being a Media Specialist I am always concerned with copyright and want to respect the rights of the creator, so I've been trying hard to find graphics that I can legally reuse. I use Google image search and then once the images come up I select Search Tools and then under Usage rights, I choose Labeled for Reuse. Download the image you want for your project and then in Canva you select Uploads and then drag your image in. See the screen capture below.
Google Image Search
Are you creative? Would you like to be? Do you find yourself putting together Powerpoint Presentations, invitations, flyers, etc. and you are never quite happy with your final results? Then I have the perfect solution for you. Canva.
Canva, which is based in Australia introduced an online graphic design site in August of 2013. I learned about this site 5 months ago and since then have fallen in love with it. I do not have many creative genes in me, so anytime I find something to help me look like I at least have a few, they have me. See some of my examples below.
The online version of Canva can be found at www.canva.com. There is also an iPad app available for Canva, although I haven't tried that out yet.
Canva uses a simple drag and drop tool to assist you in building your graphics. It consists of templates for presentations, posters, Facebook covers, Facebook posts, Instagram posts, letters, business cards, flyers, gift certificates, postcards, invitations, cards, photo collages and more. The library consists of more than a million images/photos, some of these are free but most are available for $1 a piece. You can also upload your own graphics. Once you have created your graphic you can download it either as a PDF or as an image file (png). If you have used premium images, you will be asked to pay for them at the time of the download.
Being a Media Specialist I am always concerned with copyright and want to respect the rights of the creator, so I've been trying hard to find graphics that I can legally reuse. I use Google image search and then once the images come up I select Search Tools and then under Usage rights, I choose Labeled for Reuse. Download the image you want for your project and then in Canva you select Uploads and then drag your image in. See the screen capture below.
Google Image Search
I hope that you enjoy this tool as much as I do. I would love to see what you are able to create with this great site.
Canva examples:
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