Understanding Canva: An Honest Review

You might have heard of Canva from your friends and colleagues or from your virtual assistant team. Have you been curious enough to look into what it is really? Well, you should.

If you’re thinking of going for digital marketing, you’ll be inclined to do more graphic designs. Going with words alone wouldn’t take you and your business much far. Well, you don’t have to worry anymore. With the help of Canva, creating graphic designs has become a lot easier. Whether you’re a novice or an expert, a virtual assistant, or a business owner, this software solution is just right for you.

Let’s feed our curiosity and find out what this amazing platform is.

What is Canva? (And What It’s Not)

Canva is a powerful software solution intended for graphic designs. Online businesses and their virtual assistant team use this platform to create branded PDFs, invitations, business cards, social media posts, website and newsletter designs, and a lot more.

It boasts a drag-and-drop interface and thousands of professionally-made templates that are fully customizable.

Oh, and it’s always free!

Most people often ask, “So, is it an alternative to Photoshop?”

Wait. Canva vs. Photoshop? That would be comparing apples to oranges!

Again, Canva is a graphic design platform. Contrary to most existing reviews, Canva is NOT a photo editor. It has the features of basic photo editing (such as background remover, crop and resize tool, and image filters) but that is just that. It doesn’t have Photoshop’s ability to creatively modify an image with a brush.

The fact is, most experts use the combination of Canva and Adobe tools. That said, Canva and Photoshop can work together and not be compared with each other.

Pros and Cons of Using Canva

Canva is being used by millions of online businesses and marketers. To better know Canva, it’s best to take note of its top features and its cons.

1. Definitely FREE! Or Opt for a Very Affordable Paid Plan.

Is Canva really free? Oh yes, it definitely is. Forever? You bet. This free plan is good for beginners who want to try and see what Canva can do for them. Canva’s paid plans, Pro and Enterprise, are amazingly 47-59% lower compared to other similar platforms. And it offers an even lower price for an annual subscription. A perfect choice for solopreneurs who need lots of graphic designs to market their products/services.

CONS: Canva plans are very affordable, but for those who are using a free account and want to use a premium photo or clip art— the unit price for each of these is at least $1. Quite pricey, don't you think?

2. Access to a variety of elements, photos, and templates.

Boasting a drag-and-drop interface, Canva gives access to millions of stock photos, elements, videos, and templates. This gives a lot of flexibility to the user’s artwork. You can quickly finish a design in minutes!

CONS: Pro account users can use premium designs. But, when they share their design with a free user? The Canva watermarks remain plastered on the design.

3. Templates are categorized and with preset size and orientation.

All templates in Canva are categorized. No need to worry about the compatibility of the design to the platform you'll publish it on. Whether you plan on making a graphic design for FB posts, FB covers, IG stories, IG posts, e-book/branded PDFs, newsletters, business cards, YouTube thumbnails, LinkedIn banners, or anything else... you can rest easy that design is always the correct size.

CONS: The preset sizes of different templates are more suited for your design to be viewed on desktop. Wait, isn't that a good thing? Yes, but this also means that viewing a design on mobile crops off a part of your graphic. Perhaps, in the future, Canva will make templates that are both desktop AND mobile-friendly.

4. Offers slideshow presentation and light video editing.

Canva can help you out when you need a branded presentation that will WOW your clients. You can add animations, video clips, and GIFs. You can also make short video clips, personalized GIFs, and export your files with ease.

CONS: Since Canva is mainly a graphic designing tool, its video editing tools are limited. For one, you can only add animations to select elements. If you plan on editing a video and adding special effects, you're better off using a dedicated video editing software.

5. Canva is compatible with any browser and it has an autosave system.

You can work on Canva no matter what browser you’re using and share your design with anyone! Plus, Canva has an autosave system! This means you won't be at risk of losing your work.

CONS: Canva has no option for offline mode. So, if your connection gets cut off, you can't work on your projects until you get back online.

6. Canva has social media posts scheduler

If you have created a bunch of social media post designs, you can actually schedule them through Canva! Convenient, huh? You can finally say goodbye to using a social media scheduler app.

CONS: You can only post on limited social media platforms. If you're using something like Facebook or Instagram. then this shouldn't be a problem for you.

Conclusion

We highly recommend Canva!

With its drag-and-drop interface and premade templates, one doesn’t have to be an artist to create stunning designs. It’s very easy to use and is compatible with almost every social media platform, browser, and skill level. Canva proves that even YOU can make quality designs for almost anything!

Why don't you give Canva a try? You can even sign up right now with just your Gmail account!

See you on our next blog. 😊