Tech Review: Canva

Creating effective imagery is a key element of charities’ marketing and storytelling – whether it be through websites, posters, information leaflets, or social media. But with many charities facing resource and capacity issues, as well as challenges around having the right digital skills, tools that make such processes quick and easy are more than welcome.

 

There are a range of graphic design tools that can do just this, but at Charity Digital, we use Canva. In this review, our Content Writer Laura Stanley evaluates Canva, including its features, the learning curve, and value for money.

 

 

In one word

 

Empowering. It allows people to create graphics (infographics, presentations, images) quickly and easily. Because it is quite intuitive, even design novices like myself can create images that look professional and smart, without spending hours learning how to use a complicated design tool. Though I will say having an eye for what looks good is ultimately what differentiates good graphics from great graphics, so the tool does require something from the user. 

 

 

Uses

 

I’ve been using Canva for more than two years, it was one of the first tools I was introduced to at Charity Digital. I started off using it to resize images but have since used it to create infographics that summarise reports and presentations for our webinar series.

 

We use Canva to create our presentations because the design capability of the tool is higher, making our slides look more interesting and engaging. We find it is easier to add extra levels of detail that make our content stand out during lengthy webinars.

 

We have also added our brand colours and fonts to Canva so that everyone in the Charity Digital team can create content that is consistent. It means, for example, that the team does not have to refer constantly to the branding guidelines to locate the right colours; the palette is readily available whenever adding colour to a design. 

 

 

Features

 

All the design features are brilliant, from resizing images easily to adding logos, graphics, and charts within images. The preset templates are also really helpful when starting from scratch, giving you the correct image sizes for different social media platforms, infographics, presentations, and more.

 

I particularly like how easy it is to use Canva’s wealth of stock imagery and illustrations to tell a story visually. It’s usually very easy to find the image I’m looking for to represent the ideas I’m trying to get across through its search function. Using Canva, I can quickly create charts and graphics to display statistics clearly on infographics and arranging them all neatly on the page is simple with Canva’s positioning support.

 

Canva also gives additional image suggestions which is helpful when you click on an image that’s not quite right for your purpose, but close – the additional suggestions underneath offer more options along the lines you’re looking for.

 

It’s also great to be part of the Charity Digital team on Canva, making it easier to share templates and projects with each other. The ability to download content in multiple formats (including PDF and PowerPoint) is also really helpful for cross-collaboration.

 

Personally, one of my favourite features is the Background Remover tool, which does exactly what it says on the tin, removing the background of images so you’re just left with the element you want to add to graphics as you see fit.

 

I’m aware that Canva has more features available than I have explored as yet. I did initially find it difficult to copy slides from one presentation to another, but upon looking, I found instructions within Canva’s Help Centre which provided the solution almost immediately. I do feel the guidance provided in the Help Centre may be better supported with images, however.

 

 

The learning curve

 

I’ve personally found using Canva to be simple, even at first, but this was helped by having clear image guidelines internally. As I mentioned, we used Canva initially to resize images to accompany our articles online – knowing the sizes we need for our site and the format (JPG) makes it a lot easier to use.

 

It is easy to explore and experiment with Canva, making learning how to use it a lot simpler. I think experimenting is the best way to get to know the tool and understand which elements add what to your images. Even if part of a team on Canva, projects can only be seen by the whole team when your settings allow them to – this means users can experiment with little pressure until the finished product is ready for feedback.

 

I feel it is relatively straightforward to use, particularly for people who have experience of using computers and digital tools regularly but who don’t have any expert graphic design knowledge.

 

 

Value for money

 

Premium subscriptions to Canva cost upwards of £99.00 per year – for teams, it costs £129.90 per year for the first five users. This is quite expensive, particularly for larger teams, but considering the time and money saved by being able to create simple, everyday graphics in-house, I think it is good value.

Additionally, Canva also has a scheme for nonprofits, where eligible organisations can apply to access the tool and its premium features for free.

 

 

Pros and cons of Canva

 

Pros:

• Intuitive to use and explore
• Can produce a wide variety of graphic types 
• Ability to add brand colours and fonts 
• Wealth of templates and stock imagery available
• Help Centre holds answers to most problems 

Cons:

• The best features only available on premium subscriptions – though Canva does have a free nonprofit scheme available for eligible charities
• Good for everyday graphics, but can look generic and basic if used for more complex projects

 

 

Final score

 

9/10 - it’s brilliant for giving everyone the basic ability to create clean, branded images for social media, articles, and banners. But, especially as more people use the tool, graphics risk looking “Canva-fied” - best to not use for projects where you want to stand out from the crowd.

 

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Laura is a content writer for Charity Digital. Writing primarily alongside our charity’s partners, she has created articles, podcasts, and webinars on everything from cyber security to climate action, recently producing Charity Digital’s report on climate change in the UK charity sector.