{"id":241,"date":"2025-03-06T12:35:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/?p=241"},"modified":"2025-05-20T15:23:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:23:04","slug":"canva-tips-and-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/2025\/03\/canva-tips-and-tricks\/","title":{"rendered":"Canva Tips and Tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to design within Canva<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Social media graphics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Print-only documents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Web\/digital graphics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Canva is NOT for designing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Slide-based presentations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PDF fliers, documents, publications that will be sent out digitally<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Video<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Canva approval process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Design<\/strong> &#8211; Start with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/folder\/FAEneX83GZM\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/folder\/FAEneX83GZM\">a Miami template<\/a> (preferred) or start from scratch.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Submit for Approval <\/strong>&#8211; Be sure to answer the required questions to give us context. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Review\/Edit &#8211; <\/strong>Review required and suggested changes. Rinse and repeat as necessary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Download\/Distribute &#8211; <\/strong>Follow-through with your accessibility promises! <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tips and tricks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tip #1 &#8211; Use the provided brand assets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"370\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/Snip20250304_4-370x1024.png\" alt=\"screenshot of the Canva project edit screen showing the left navigation tabs with the &quot;Brand&quot; tab open. The tab shows a row with brand templates, logos, color swatches, fonts, brand voice, and photos for the user to select from.\" class=\"wp-image-245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/Snip20250304_4-370x1024.png 370w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/Snip20250304_4-108x300.png 108w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/Snip20250304_4.png 433w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 370px) 100vw, 370px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<p><strong>Brand assets<\/strong>, including editable elements, can be found on the left under the Brand tab in the design editor. In this tab you will find: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Brand templates<\/strong> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/folder\/FAEneX83GZM\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/folder\/FAEneX83GZM\">Templates<\/a> for postcards, full-page ads, Instagram posts, trifold brochures, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Logos<\/strong> &#8211; Primary and secondary logos, beveled-M&#8217;s, and wordmarks. Review <a href=\"https:\/\/miamioh.edu\/miami-brand\/system\/logo-usage.html\">logo usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Color palette<\/strong> &#8211; Review <a href=\"https:\/\/miamioh.edu\/miami-brand\/_files\/documents\/brand-standards-2025_508.pdf#page=28\">brand color guidelines<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fonts<\/strong> &#8211; Review <a href=\"https:\/\/miamioh.edu\/miami-brand\/_files\/documents\/brand-standards-2025_508.pdf#page=32\">brand typeface guidelines<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Photos<\/strong> &#8211; Photos taken by our campus photographers. Review <a href=\"https:\/\/miamioh.edu\/miami-brand\/_files\/documents\/brand-standards-2025_508.pdf#page=38\">photography use guidelines<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Graphics<\/strong> &#8211; Frames, lines, gradients, and wedges. Review <a href=\"https:\/\/miamioh.edu\/miami-brand\/_files\/documents\/brand-standards-2025_508.pdf#page=44\">common element guidelines<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Icons<\/strong> &#8211; Icons relating to ur campus, culture, classrooms, and traditions. Review <a href=\"https:\/\/miamioh.edu\/miami-brand\/_files\/documents\/brand-standards-2025_508.pdf#page=37\">iconography guidelines<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lock-ups<\/strong> &#8211; These can be found on the left under the &#8220;Projects&#8221; tab when in the design editor. Select that tab and then use the search to quickly get to your department&#8217;s lock-up logo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tip #2 &#8211; Utilize the style sheet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/design\/DAExuNWu1uk\/LQbhYVBDx9QQ2GokinT8JA\/edit?utm_content=DAExuNWu1uk&amp;utm_campaign=designshare&amp;utm_medium=link2&amp;utm_source=sharebutton\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/design\/DAExuNWu1uk\/LQbhYVBDx9QQ2GokinT8JA\/edit?utm_content=DAExuNWu1uk&amp;utm_campaign=designshare&amp;utm_medium=link2&amp;utm_source=sharebutton\">our style sheet<\/a> to easily copy\/paste design elements into your project. The style sheet can be found on the left under the &#8220;Brand&#8221; tab, in the &#8220;Brand Templates&#8221; section. In the style sheet you can find shapes, photo frames, editable tables, display options for profiles, sidebars, photo brackets, strokes, stats, quotes, CTA&#8217;s. There are also examples of ways to combine text styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To use the style sheet, open the template in a separate tab or window from where you&#8217;re editing your design. This will allow you to easily copy and paste from the style sheet document into your own project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"731\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-1024x731.png\" alt=\"a screenshot of a section of the style sheet that gives options for formatting profiles.\" class=\"wp-image-260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-1024x731.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-768x548.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image.png 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-1-1024x433.png\" alt=\"a screenshot of a section of the style sheet that shows CTA box examples. There are 5 individual CTA box examples and then two cta list examples and a qr code cta.\" class=\"wp-image-261\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-1-1024x433.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-1-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-1-768x325.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/files\/2025\/03\/image-1.png 1345w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tip #3 &#8211; Use the PhotoShelter and Frame Maker apps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Connect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/your-apps\/AAGICfjBWyg\/photoshelter?q=PhotoShelter\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/your-apps\/AAGICfjBWyg\/photoshelter?q=PhotoShelter\">the PhotoShelter app<\/a> in Canva to easily browse our campus photo archive and to select images to use in Canva designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/your-apps\/AAF9Z7S4lbA\/frame-maker?q=framemaker\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/your-apps\/AAF9Z7S4lbA\/frame-maker?q=framemaker\">the Frame Maker app<\/a> to create your own custom frames and image masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tip #4 &#8211; Be an accessibility ally<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When using Canva for web, Canvas, or email graphics, ensure accessibility in the distribution tool. For example, add alt text in the CMS when uploading Canva images. If the distribution tool lacks accessibility features, the documents or graphics should be created in a different program that enables you to make the piece accessible upon creation, such as Adobe InDesign, Google Docs, Word, Google Slides, or PowerPoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If using Canva, use Canva&#8217;s in-app <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/help\/using-design-accessibility\/\">Design Accessibility tool<\/a>. It reviews alt text, color contrast, and typography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact Miami&#8217;s AccessMU team at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:AccessMU@MiamiOH.edu\">AccessMU@MiamiOH.edu<\/a>&nbsp;if you have any questions regarding creating accessible content. They also have a number of resources available on their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/miamioh.edu\/it-services\/accessmu\/get-help\/document-accessibility\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>&nbsp;to help create accessible documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tip #5 &#8211; Be bold in your designs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously, the typeface \/ font \u201cGotham\u201d in our Brand Kit could not be bolded or italicized. Now you can bold URLs, emails, and more without making an new text box!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Want a Canva account?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Faculty, staff, and student workers may request a license by submitting a <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLScfeSeKvjEGFxjnweMvh3AVD0qaGISqsQkXsNhCnP57C6hQRw\/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Canva License Application<\/a>. Brand Overview Training and Canva Training are prerequisite courses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When to design within Canva Canva is NOT for designing: Canva approval process Tips and tricks Tip #1 &#8211; Use the provided brand assets Brand [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9165,"featured_media":268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,17,42],"tags":[57,55,21,59],"class_list":["post-241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessibility","category-brand","category-design","tag-bam","tag-canva","tag-miami-brand","tag-training-and-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/in-the-loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}