Hi my lovely people, it’s Natalia and welcome back to my channel where I help you
create better content and grow on social media!
Today, I’m back with another Canva tutorial slash Canva tips & tricks video to help you
discover some of the most recent exciting updates.
If you already know Canva and want to use it more effectively, you’re in for a treat
because we have some very fresh news and some hidden gems that you probably haven’t heard
of!
If I helped you to find a tip that you liked, go ahead and hit that like button and subscribe
for more videos.
1.
Remove video background
This latest Canva update is mind-blowing!
Do you know you can remove backgrounds from any image in Canva and it’s like THE favorite
feature for everyone?
Well, now you can do the same thing with videos!
Yes, we can now do it with one click and it’s amazing!
Find any video from the library or upload yours, then select it and just as with an
image you’d click Edit Image here, now you choose Edit Video and here’s our Background
Remover.
See, it works like magic!
Now imagine all the different things you can do with it!
First of all, with the Canva video editor, you can use different animated green screen
elements from the Library and use them as overlays on your videos.
If you’re feeling a bit more funky and want to extend your personal brand a little, you
can create gifs or animations of you to use within your designs.
It’s also a cool option if you’re creating a Reel in Canva and want to replicate the
green screen effect that we know so well from Instagram or TikTok.
Or you can just use your clip and switch up the background for something completely different.
So many great possibilities from this one update!
(IG) And if you want more cool Canva tips like this, don’t forget to follow me here!
What you need to know about the new Canva Video Background Remover is that it’s still
in the beta phase so it definitely works better with simple backgrounds, however, I’m sure
it’s going to get even better over time, just like the second update.
And now, before I move on, I’d love for you to join the waitlist for my upcoming Canva
course!
It’s a full, comprehensive course that’s going to help you master the platform and
efficiently design engaging graphics for your business and social media.
The link is in the description!
2.
PDF
Another exciting update that Canva released is the PDF editor.
This is the feature we had in beta for a while but now we have access to the fully developed
function.
You can simply upload your PDF from the homepage and Canva is going to, again, work its magic
to break it down into separate editable elements.
So say you have a flat PDF meaning a PDF that’s not been saved with the layers retained.
You can click Create a Design here on the homepage, click Import File and choose this
PDF.
Canva is going to create a new project for you and identify all the different text boxes,
images, and graphics so that you can edit them freely.
Just look at this PDF that I’ve just uploaded.
Instead of a flat document, I now have a fully editable design and that’s a game changer
in my opinion.
When I first talked about the beta version of the Canva PDF editor, I said that it’s
not always perfect and that it doesn’t get a lot of things right.
Well, that is now much much improved.
You can see that I can now change the font of the headline here at the top, I can make
this image bigger or smaller, I can move the arrow here because it’s been perfectly identified
as an element by Canva and what’s new and really cool is that I can now treat it as
an editable element just like some of the ones in the Canva library and change the colors
to whatever I want.
It even divided the colors for the body of the arrow or the shaft, right?, (the dashed
lines), and the point of the arrow.
How cool is that!
I’m so happy that it’s now a full release because before, I would not be able to grab
these numbers from behind the text box.
It wouldn't be identified correctly by Canva.
But now, easy peasy, I can just grab them, change the color, move them around, so cool!
Of course, editing the PDFs is the most exciting part of this new update, but I want to mention
the other possibilities that this editor gives us.
So often, we have to merge PDF files, reorder the pages, move something from one page to
the other, and now all of this is possible within Canva.
I can import two PDFs, go to the thumbnail view, and literally copy over entire pages
of the document to the next one!
If I just want one page, I can do that too and easily download the PDF with the current
page option.
We no longer need to use Adobe Acrobat Pro or look for free online editors like smallPDF
to be able to do all of those things!
Not to mention, you can now use your existing PDFs and transform them into presentations
or social media designs, and if you’ve gone through the process of rebranding, you’ll
be able to apply your new brand guidelines to your PDF easily.
(YT) By the way, if you’re always on the lookout for more cool Canva content like this,
make sure you’re subscribed and you can check out this video next to discover Canva
tips & tricks you might not have heard about before!
3.
New shapes features
You probably know that we’ve always had access to a variety of generic shapes within
the Canva editor.
You had your standard circle, and rectangle, and triangle, but you couldn’t do much with
them other than stretch them out in different directions or change their color.
Now, we have a whole new layer of editing available with these simple shapes!
Let me add a rectangle so that you see what I’m talking about.
First of all, you can see straight away a text bar is flashing within the shape meaning
we can start typing and it’s going to act like a text box.
The top panel has been updated with new functions and the text options are readily available
for you there.
But notice this Shape button at the very beginning.
When you click on it, we can change the rectangle into any other one from the shapes library
which is very handy ESPECIALLY when you include text there.
That’s already quite a useful improvement but I want to move on to the part that excites
me the most and that’s the button with these little unassuming lines.
It looks simple but it hides a few really cool options that we’ve missed within Canva.
First of all, you can add a border and choose anything from a plain line, through dashed
lines, all the way to the dotted effect.
Pretty cool.
Of course, you can then adjust the border weight with the slider right here and now
for what’s my favorite shape update - the corner rounding.
I love this feature, it definitely makes my life easier not having to search for specific
elements to achieve this look.
It’s so simple and it has the power to really transform the shapes you’re using.
When you think about it, if your brand is a bit more organic in feel, and you don’t
use many harsh lines, this feature is going to help you a ton.
Let’s switch this rectangle to a harsher shape like this four-pointed star.
When I use the corner rounding, it just completely transforms the shape so that’s definitely
a much-needed update from Canva.
4.
Whiteboards
We’re getting more options to actively collaborate in Canva as teams!
The new feature is called Whiteboards and it’s the perfect tool to brainstorm, plan,
work on projects, collaborate during meetings, basically anything you’d do with a big whiteboard
in a group of people in real life.
There are already so many templates for you to use from the library to inspire you and
help you use this new feature.
You have a remote meetings whiteboard, project journey templates, voting boards, diagrams,
mood boards, mindmaps, and even games, it’s actually quite incredible how many options
we get so early after the launch of this new option.
I highly recommend you scroll through this extended library of templates to see what
may work for you personally and within your workflow.
When you choose a whiteboard template to work on or actually create a blank one (because
you can do that too), you’re taken to a whiteboard editor and this is a part of its
magic.
It kind of is infinite.
I mean, technically it isn’t, when you zoom out, you’ll see there’s a limit, but from
a practical standpoint, you’d be pressed to try and use up all that space.
When you zoom in, you can see how close you can get to specific elements which gives you
almost a tunnel vision but I’ll get back to it in a moment.
Now, this new nearly-infinite editor for whiteboards reminds me of a cool software I used to use
a ton as a student and then later on as well which is called Prezi.
It’s a tool that for me revolutionized the way we looked at presentations at the time
when PowerPoint was the name of the game and you’d look at boring slides all the time.
Just like now in Canva, you could literally build your whole presentation on an interactive
backdrop and build slides from zoomed-in or zoomed-out snippets.
There were transition animations when you moved from slide to slide, very cool.
Let me know down in the comments if you remember or ever used Prezi, I’d be super curious
to know if it’s like a well-known tool!
I used to love it so much so it’s great to see a similar concept in Canva now, albeit
used for a slightly different purpose.
Back in the editor, within our Elements tab in the left panel, you’ll notice some new,
whiteboard-specific categories like sticky notes, stickers or whiteboard graphics, and
the regular library is available to you too.
Now when you look at this particular template and it’s similar in many others, you see
that they’ve prepared a bunch of different elements for you and your team to use.
You can literally duplicate a sticky note from here and add it to a specific board,
just like any of the connectors or stickers.
There’s also this mode called Quick Flow which allows you to do all of these things
even quicker so let’s say I have a new strength to add in this column.
Unless I want a specific element from the master board here, I can literally just select
the sticky note and hit the plus sign wherever I want to add a new one and it creates a new
one beneath straight away.
So cool.
And you can do it to all the other elements too like this big one right here.
If you don’t like it or don’t need it, you simply right-click on any element and
select disable Quick Flow.
If you ever need more space anywhere, you can easily stretch an element just like you
would in a regular Canva editor.
With each of the elements, you and your team members can add comments anywhere they want
to it makes for an even more collaborative workspace.
Another thing I want to mention is that you have the timer here at the bottom so that
you can time each member of the whiteboard and make sure everyone gets enough time.
You can also time your sessions, it’s so useful, a really nice touch for team collaboration.
Whiteboards save within your projects like a regular design would and when you’re done
collaborating, you can export the finished whiteboard as a pdf or a jpg or even as a
video if you’ve used any animated or video elements.
I’ll be honest, even without a team, the Whiteboard feature is really interesting to
me and when I first saw it, I was definitely inspired by all the possibilities so I’m
curious what you think about it!
5.
Canva Websites
I have included websites in the first video on Canva Tips & Tricks but now we’re getting
something even better!
With the official launch of the full Canva Websites feature, we can now turn PDFs, documents
or presentations into simple, responsive Websites and it’s the responsiveness that seems to
really have been improved - we’re getting device previews now.
We previously had no options with own domains, but now we can purchase a branded domain from
within Canva or use a domain we ourselves own.
Although a simple Canva website cannot really replace a fully fleshed-out, professional
website to represent your brand well online, I think this new update is fantastic for a
variety of simple applications.
The biggest upside?
No coding or previous experience with websites required!
You can create your own media kit, a simple landing page or a press release.
If you’re looking for a job, this can be a website slash resume to showcase your experience,
you can use it to create resources for your clients or even a personalized dashboard for
them.
As an artist or a designer, this can be a great way to build and be able to quickly
update your own portfolio.
If you create websites for clients, this feature allows you to share mockups with them and
work out the finer details before you build the official website elsewhere.
I’ve previously shared a tutorial on how to create a link in bio through Canva for
your Instagram link and there are really plenty of different ways you can use Canva Websites
in your business and life.
The great thing about this new Canva update is that we now have access to hundreds of
templates and that we can create using all the lovely elements, and photos, and videos
from the Canva Library.
Another amazing feature is that we can keep the website private by adding a password or
choosing to hide it from search engines, which, again, works brilliantly if you’re creating
something for a client.
And of course, no website would give you a good overview of your visitors if it didn’t
provide you with analytics so Canva took care of it too.
We’re getting access to Website Insights which can help us track views, clicks and
engagement on our new page.
6.
Text to Image App
Yes, you’ve heard me right, it’s text to image, not text to speech or any similar
combination that we already know and use.
With this new feature within the Canva editor, you can generate new ideas from a simple description.
Let me show you how it works!
Let’s say I need an image for an upcoming post and I have a rough idea as to what it
should include.
When I click more here in the left panel, you can see the new Text to Image tab and
when I select it, it allows me to type our a simple sentence to then create an image
for me within seconds.
Sounds pretty cool, right?
I can let Canva generate any image that it feels will look best but I can also choose
a drawing, a photo, a 3D image, a pattern, or concept art.
Now, granted, this feature is brand new and it’s still very much in the beta stage but
just like with PDFs, I expect it to get much much better.
It can be used to create unique images that may surpass the need for stock images in the
future.
It’s also a great way to stir your own imagination and help you come up with new ideas for your
designs.
I’m very curious to see where Canva takes this new feature!
7.
Quick Create
If you’re on multiple platforms, you’ll know how hard it is to create posts for each
and every one of them and make sure they’re all the right size and vibe.
Sure, you can design one post and then use the Resize button if you’re a Pro user.
The downside is that you have to do it each time and adjust accordingly so that is looks
good.
If you’ve created a post for Instagram, you want to repurpose it for Pinterest and
that’s going to be much more vertical so it’s going to move the elements around…
then you want a visual for Twitter, and that’s a completely different size too, so you adjust
again…
In short, it’s not effortless.
Well, as usual, Canva decided to deliver!
With the Quick Create update, we now have the possibility to, well, quickly create a
bunch of posts from the same template with a few clicks.
If you’ve ever used Tailwind for Pinterest, you’ll know they had a similar option and
it was so helpful to creators on the platform so that they could produce a lot of similar
Pins all at once.
Now if you want to try the Quick Create feature in Canva, it’s slightly hidden and not so
obvious.
You’ll need to go to social media tab on the home page right beneath the big search
bar and you’ll find it as the first option here.
When you’re in this new type of editor, it allows you to speed-design a square Instagram
post and a vertical story, a Facebook post and a cover which is helpful if, for example,
you’re planning a new campaign, a Twitter post, a Pinterest Pin, a LinkedIn Post and
an email header, because let’s not forget, among all the social media portals, it’s
always crucial to have a platform that you yourself own so I love that it’s there!
Once you select which placements you want, you can add your primary and secondary text,
add an image and a logo.
Then, you’ll be able to choose the style from the library of templates.
I feel like at the moment the selection is slightly limited compared to what we’re
used to seeing in the Canva library, but the update is fairly new so I expect it to be
expanded in the future.
I hope at least!
And now for the absolute banger, we always want our designs to keep with our overall
brand image, we need to keep a consistent look and that’s where our trustee Brand
Kit comes into play.
You can now select your own color palette or choose something from the additional ones
suggested by Canva and you can apply your own fonts.
I always emphasize it, this is what really sets apart a newbie from a more professional
creator, you always want to make sure you’re keeping a consistent brand image and that’s
why this part is so important!
If you keep on clicking on the palettes, the colors are going to shuffle and you’ll see
a lot more variety so that you end up with a well-matched design.
When you’re done, you just click finish, wait for Canva to do its magic and voila,
you can now download a whole pack of your new designs, ready to be uploaded across all
platforms.
How cool is that!
One honorable mention that I want to include here that’s not yet launched is Canva Docs.
They’ve been announced at the Canva Create conference and it looks like it’s going
to be another very exciting addition to the platform.
Going beyond the boundaries of the classic documents, we’ll be able to combine rich
text, various media from the library as well as some new data visualizations like new graphs,
charts, checklists and tables plus it seems that we’re getting Insights within this
new feature too.
I’ve joined the waitlist for Docs in Beta so I’ll report back once I know more and
hopefully had a chance to test them!
Have you discovered something new and exciting today?
Jump to the comment section quickly and let me know which update is your favorite!
Now, if you want more great tips, check out the first installment of the Canva Tips & Tricks
and for more quick Canva tutorials, head on over to this playlist and see what you can
create yourself!
If you’re serious about mastering Canva and using it for social media or your business,
sign up on the waitlist for my upcoming Canva course so that you can become a pro yourself!
I have more exciting content coming up with some Canva videos as well so make sure to
subscribe and hit that notification bell so that you don’t miss this one.
If you have any questions or any other cool Canva tips, share them in the comments down
below.
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Like this video, if you enjoyed it, thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you…
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