Canva Basics: Finding Images
So, I am a huge fan of Canva and use it on a daily basis, as do many of you.
But, from the PMs I receive, I know that some of you are not using it to its full capability, and are missing out on some useful features.
I thought I might do a quick series of posts taking you back to basics.
This will be ideal for beginners, and perhaps be a refresher for those of you with more experience.
Let's start with the Canva image library, there are over 2 million photos you can use for personal and commercial projects.
Some of these are for Pro users only, but you can filter these out if necessary.
Let's see how to search the library.
When you are ready to design your project, click Photos on the left-hand dashboard.
Now, head to the search bar at the top and click the Filter option, the icon on the right, that shows the number 2 on my image below.
Select the Free or Pro option as required, and the orientation of the image.
You can also narrow the results by a specific color.
Now, type in your search term.
Note how it then offers further suggestions, to get more specific, and you can click the arrow to see more.
You will no doubt get hundreds of results!
Once you have found an image you wish to use, you need to add it to your project.
There are 2 ways of doing this, depending on your desired result.
First, you can just click the image and it will place it in the center of your design, as below.
You can see it doesn't fit the full screen.
From there, you can drag it elsewhere, or resize it by grabbing the buttons on the edges.
But, if you want it to cover the entire size, then don't click it, but hold your mouse on it, and drag it over to your design, and when you let it go, it will resize automatically to fit your project.
Now, if you want to edit your photo, or add any special effects, simply click the image, and it will bring up a range of different options to play with at the top of the screen.
And that's my next lesson, where we discover lots of fun hints, tips, and tricks to make your image really stand out!
Recent Comments
23
Great tutorial DianeScorpio!
I am a daily user of Canva too. I used it for all sort of projects but mainly for creating Pinterest Pins. I also upgraded to a Pro account after a few years of having it free. The free version does give you access to photos as well as other great options.
Hi - pretty sure you should have access to free images.
It's possible to hide tabs from the dashboard, so if that has happened, click on Apps to find them.
Hello Diane, I am enjoying your blogs on Canva as I am a new user and really now learning. Thank you.
Was wondering if you could shed some light on a recent hiccup I had with Amazon kdp. I created a book cover using Canva (very, very basic / simple) using one image. Amazon alerted me that I have to show rights or license authorization for the use of the image. I deleted the image, but would really like to know if Canva cannot be used to create for Amazon.
Hi - as far as I am aware, you can use Canva for KDP.
However, you do need to change the design/template in some way to make it unique.
An unaltered image will be subject to copyright.
Thank you. I’ll continue to try.
When you say “alter” do you mean add more designs etc to make it unique?
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I heard some time ago that we could use the image on Canva for the content etc. What I mean is that we could download it and then use it.
I have never been sure about it, and must admit that I doubt it, but do you know about it?