Canva is an internet-based, graphic design software that makes it easy for practically anyone to create beautiful graphics and printables in a drag-and-drop platform, without the hassles and technicalities that come with more sophisticated programs like Illustrator or Photoshop.
While Canva has its limits, it is more than enough for bloggers and content creators to design beautiful, high-quality graphics such as social media and Pinterest graphics, PDF documents, simple animations, etc.
Now, Canva is totally free to use, and the free version is enough for a lot of bloggers who do not have heavy-duty needs.
However, if you want to go the extra step, Canva Pro – the premium, paid version of Canva does offer some pretty sweet features that I find are totally worth the investment of 13 bucks a month (10 if you pay annually).
In fact, I recommend that after investing in a custom domain (from NameCheap), An excellent hosting company for your WordPress blog (SiteGround), a fantastic email marketing platform (ConvertKit), the next thing you should invest in is Canva Pro.
And that’s why, in this post, I will try and outline some of the Canva Pro features that I believe all bloggers would benefit from.
1. Design with Transparent Background
If you’re a brand new blogger, chances are that you’re on a tight budget, having to watch out for every single dollar you spend on your blog. Hiring a designer to create a professional logo for your blog may be impossible at this point in time.
But fear not!
Canva was founded with people just like yourself in mind. You may not be a professional graphic designer, but chances are that you have an idea for what you want your logo to look like. And now, with Canva, you can easily, and quickly, create a logo in minutes!
It won’t be what a pro would create for you using a program like Illustrator, for example, but it will be good enough for your brand new blog.
However, with the free Canva, all of your designs will automatically have a background color. Unless you set a background color, all of your designs will have a white background.
But logos often sit atop other elements, so you benefit from having a transparent background for your logo. With Canva Pro, you can download your designs to have a transparent background.
Not only logos, but you often may need to design elements that would benefit from having transparent backgrounds, such as icons and buttons.
To download a design with a transparent background, simply check the “transparent background” option when downloading. Make sure that the file type is set to “PNG.” Only .png images can have a transparent background.
2. Compress Images Right on Canva
As you already know, one of the biggest culprits for slow-loading websites tends to be large image files. With Canva Pro, when you design a graphic for your blog, you now have the option to download the design file as a compressed version, which automatically makes your file size much smaller.
This means that now, you can design and compress your designs using the same program. A huge time-saver if you ask me.
To compress a file, simply make sure to check the “Compress File” option when downloading a design. This option is available when you’re downloading a “PNG” file.
3. Quickly Change Design Dimensions with Magic Resize
Often, you may find yourself needing to quickly resize a design. For example, maybe you designed something for your Instagram feed, but you find yourself needing the same design, but for a Facebook banner or something else requiring different dimensions.
If you’re on a free Canva account, you’ll have to redesign the entire thing from scratch with the new dimensions. However, with Canva Pro, you can do it with just a couple of clicks.
On Canva pro, you have a feature called “Resize.” It has a lot of built-in options that you can choose to resize your designs into. It also has a custom dimensions option that you can use for resizing to whichever dimension you fancy.
To resize, click the “Resize” tab in the main menu on top-left. This will open up all the different dimension options. Choose of them or use the “Custom Dimension” option to specify the dimensions you need. And then, click “Copy & resize” to create a new copy of the design with the new dimensions.
5. Access over 2 Million+ Premium Stock Photos for Free
Did you know that Canva has a vibrant photo gallery of high-quality photographs? Not just a few hundred or a few thousand, but practically MILLIONS of photos?
With the free Canva account, you only have access to free stock images (very similar to all the other free stock photographs you have access to via other stock photo sites). But if you wish to use any of the premium photos in your design, you have to purchase the photos.
However, with Canva Pro, you can use over 2 million of these premium photographs for free!
In my opinion, this alone is worth investing in Canva Pro.
Here’s the thing. I use Pinterest as my primary method for driving blog traffic. Since Pinterest is a visual search engine, it’s important that the graphics you create stand out from the crowd. Free stock images are always overused, and they tend to sort of blend in. It’s hard to get traction with free stock photos.
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