Canva has become my go-to App for all templates for blog post images, presentations, newsletters, Instagram stories and even videos. I love how user-friendly it is compared to Apps like Adobe or other paid design platforms. And, you can make anything within minutes. Like the image above is a result of quick edits in less than two minutes – by just dragging & dropping some Elements on a pre designed template. Jump right into how to use the App for your next design edit. And not just the App, we love the story of its CEO.

Melanie Perkins & Canva’s SUCCESS STORY

“Fusion Books” started as an online tool to create and design yearbooks and was supported from Melanie’s mom’s living room. This was the idea leading to the inception of Canva. Like any startup, Canva was rejected by a lot of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. For networking Melanie picked up the sport “Kite-surfing”, to get entry to a unique resort for kitesurfing enthusiasts and investors in Silicon Valley, called MaiTai.

The rest is history & the numbers speak for themselves. Canva now has 100 M+ users in 190+ countries, with 10B+ designs created. Despite this huge a success, both the founders are very cautious spenders – they got engaged with a 30$ ring!

How TO CREATE AN AMAZING DESIGN ON CANVA IN 5 SIMPLE STEPS?

1.Create a log in on the official website or download the App on iOS or Android App Store to use on your smart phone.

2. To start designing, click on “Create a design” or Templates or type into the searchbox in the screenshot below. Let’s say, if you want to make birthday invites, type in “Birthday invite” and you will get hundreds of pre-designed templates to choose from. Free ones are good enough, but in case you want a design that has a paid sigh on it, you will have to pay a membership fee.

3. While editing your template, you can choose from thousands of free stock photos, design elements, text fonts and colors – all for free. Whatever you would like to add, pick from the panel on the left as shown in the screenshot below.

4. Just like Microsoft powerpoint or any other design tool, you can bring your element forward, send it back, align it with guided position pointers etc. You can change the transparency of an object. Check out the highlights in below screen shot.

5. Finally, all you need to do is Click on “Share” to download it.

WHY WE LOVE CANVA?

It is user-friendly. You need not be a designer to create perfect designs and layouts. You need not learn complex softwares like Adobe Illustrator to do your design! Leverage on the thousands of templates available.

It is free. Like any other App, it does have a Pro plan, but the free plan is absolutely worth it! I have been using it for years now and it has thousands of free images and elements that can give a professional look to your designs.

Have you tried Canva yet or know of any other free Apps for creating beautiful presentations, image edits, banners etc? Let us know in the Comments section.