Teachers are always looking for new tools to work smarter in the classroom, especially ones that are free. I have been using Canva in the classroom for a while now and I'm completely in love. Using Canva for class work has been an innovative teaching tool for my staff and students. This is a beginners guide to Canva.
Getting Started - Choosing your template
Canva has some preset options for you to choose from grouped in different areas. These include; Events, Blogging & eBooks, Marketing Materials, Social Media & Email Headers, Social Media Posts, Documents and Ads. If you still can't find the perfect template, you can enter custom dimensions.
Begin Designing
Search
Canva makes it so easy to design amazing content. You'll start with searching through a range of images, and additional content to your design. The beautiful and intuitive interface makes this an enjoyable process.
Layouts
Inbuilt into Canva's robust platform are a number of inspirational designs for you to use as a ready-to-go template or experiment with and change to your liking. Some of these preset designs aren't free. Be prepared to splurge a little on some of the beautiful designs.
Text
Nailing typography is an art. For that reason, Canva has made choosing and designing 'text' a walk in the park! There's no way you could spoil your design through a poor choice in font. Canva have hundreds of preset text & font layouts for you to choose from or once again, you have the flexibility to create your own.
Background
Just because it lurks in the shadows of your design, doesn't mean you should forget about it! Choosing a background can make or break a good design. Theres a number of options in Canva's workflow to make sure you've always got what you need right at the click of a button.
Uploads
This is where Canva turns up the heat. Critical to it's never ending flexible output of content. Canva allows and encourages you to upload your own content through it's simple interface. What's better is anything you've uploaded will be permanently stored to use on any device that you're logged in to. In invaluable tool for teacher and students using multiple devices (including iPad's)
Finished Your Design - Share or Download
Now that you've finished your design, it's time for you to Share or Download your design. You can download as a PDF or and Image. If you've elected to use content that costs money, now's where you'll come across a payment Want more?
Canva is about to release Canva for Work! To get you insider preview you'll want to use this link --> bit.ly/1E3w7yZ
