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In this Canva review, we will walk you through the pros and cons of an increasingly popular browser-based design tool.
Is it right for your business, or should you use a desktop app like Photoshop or Illustrator instead?
What is Canva?
This design tool lets you easily create professional-looking visual materials without needing graphic design skills. This can be used to design social media graphics, videos, presentations, slides, posters, and other visual assets. A wide range of templates and royalty-free images is provided to help you do this easily.
Although you can install the Desktop version on your computer, there’s no need to do so, as it works fine in a browser.
Download Canva Desktop App Here
You do need to be online to use it, however. But is this any good? To answer that question, we will take you through some of the key pros and cons of the app.
Canva pros
Let’s look at five key reasons why. You might want to use this.
1. Canva is really easy to use.
Canva promises to make graphic design easy for non-designers, and it really delivers on that promise.
Its interface is simple and intuitive, and anyone with the most basic computer skills shouldn’t face much of a learning curve from it.
2. it’s excellent value for money.
They give you access to hundreds of thousands of design templates, royalty-free graphics, photos, and videos for a very low monthly fee.
Not only this, but it also lets multiple users access your account. Additionally, They provide a generous free plan that comes with a significant amount of functionality and a large number of templates and royalty-free images.
Even though this plan is free, you can actually create some pretty stunning work with it.
You can Canva log in or register Free or Premium here.
3. Canva makes it easy to stay on brand.
Thanks to its ‘brand kit’ feature, which lets you upload your own logo and define your own color palettes, Canva makes it easy to ensure brand consistency across any materials you design using the tool.
4. Canva is really flexible.
This tool can be used to design a wide range of media types.
Without leaving that interface, you can create static images, videos, printed products like T-shirts ( Mockup for POD ), and business cards. And, thanks to its ‘magic resize’ tool, They can take an asset you’ve already designed and automatically reformat it for various channels.
5. Canva comes with a great mobile app.
You can use Canva on a mobile device, thanks to iOS and Android apps that are available for the platform.
The mobile app is really easy to use, highly functional, and ideal for creating visual assets for social media on the go. So there is a lot to like about Canva.
But where could it perform better?
Canva Cons
1. The output formats are limited.
Unlike most desktop design tools, the output formats for Canva are pretty limited. This can make it hard to start a design or video project in this and hand it over to a professional designer or editor for enhancements.
2. You can’t back up your projects.
There’s no obvious way to back up your projects in Canva. So if you accidentally delete a design or lose access to your account, you may be in trouble.
Now that said, you can retrieve deleted items from your given trash space for 30 days, which is helpful. But it would be better if a proper backup system were in place.
3. There’s no phone support.
If you’re somebody who likes to get instantaneous support by talking to a human being via phone or live chat, you may be a bit disappointed by Canva; only email support is provided.
That said, the product is very easy to use, and a wide range of online help materials are available to help you if you get stuck.
4. Producing printed products with Canva is expensive.
It’s excellent that Canva gives you the option to produce printed items like t-shirts, hoodies, business cards, and tote bags.
5. Canva doesn’t work offline.
To use this tool or service, you need an internet connection. So, if you find yourself without WiFi, you won’t be able to work on any designs.
Conclusion
We’d sum Canva up by saying that it is a great value tool that can empower your team to produce high-quality visual materials easily, even if they don’t have traditional graphic design skills.
However, if you need to output your designs in specific formats or envisage needing to work offline, traditional tools like Photoshop may work better for you. But overall, Canva gets a big thumbs up from the Style Factory team.