Digital marketing. Transform your online presence and drive results.

In this one-day Canva training course, you will learn how to create beautiful, professional graphic designs even if you have no prior design experience. Effortlessly create eye-catching graphics using Canva’s intuitive templates, drag-and-drop features, and extensive content library. You will design portfolios, presentations, marketing material, print material, posters, videos, social media posts, and web layouts from scratch with Canva, an all-in-one design tool.

Aims

The aims of this course are to:

• equip you with the skills and knowledge to create professional-quality graphic designs using Canva, regardless of prior design experience
• provide hands-on training to help you understand and utilise Canva’s features effectively, enabling you to produce stunning and impactful visuals
• confidently create and customise graphic designs for various purposes, such as presentations, social media posts, portfolios, and more, using Canva’s tools and resources
• show you how to navigate Canva’s user-friendly interface, utilise its drag-and-drop functionality, choose and customise templates, and access its vast content library to design professional-quality visuals from scratch.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to: 

• navigate the Canva Editor
• create a new document from scratch
• using and customising templates
• uploading and use photos
• using and editing elements
• work with text
• create & save brand colours
• work with graphics and images
• uploading video and audio
• add animations to your designs
• share your designs in multiple formats.

Content

Opening Canva for the first time

• Free versus Pro versions
• Home workspace overview
• Creating a blank document
• Setting custom dimensions

Creating and editing templates

• Create and edit templates
• Changing images on a template
• Editing text and adjusting fonts
• Changing colours
• Saving brand colours and styles
• Adding shapes and lines 
• Text effects and fonts

Elements and images

• Adding and editing elements
• Searching keyword content
• Uploading photos
• Adding and editing included stock images
• Changing a background

Editing graphics

• Grouping elements
• Aligning and spacing text
• Locking elements
• Changing the transparency
• Resizing your designs
• Align and distribute
• The Background Remover tool (pro)

Video and audio

• Create a social media video
• Upload video
• Edit, rearrange and trim a video
• Add text and graphics
• Add video transitions
• Export video formats

Animations

• Create animated social media posts
• Design animated presentations
• Add motion to infographics

Downloading and sharing

• How to download a design
• How to share your design
• Linking to social media
• Creating clickable links
• How to create a QR code

Exporting

• Exporting finished projects
• Choosing formats (PDF, PNG, JPG, animated gif)
• Sharing for social media platforms

Intended audience

This course is ideal for beginners with little to no graphic design experience who want to learn how to use Canva to create professional-quality designs.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the basic functions of a computer operating system such as navigating the environment using a mouse and keyboard, starting applications, copying and pasting objects, formatting text, creating folders, opening files, saving files, familiarity with the accessing the Internet, and using common web browsers.

Delivery style

One-day workshop

Face-to-face classes

These classes run in a classroom and you will need to bring your own device with access to Canva. You should ensure it is fully charged as access to power is limited. Please note that the University does not carry any responsibility for your lost, stolen, or damaged devices whilst on the University premises.

Online classes

You will need your own device with access to Canva. We also recommend using a computer with a larger screen, or two screens/devices. A small laptop screen provides limited space, and it can be difficult to manage following the facilitator’s screen and using your own software.

Delivery Modes

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught training
• Online training via the platform Zoom

Materials

Any course materials are provided electronically

Before the course

You will need a Canva account (free or Pro) to participate. Please bring your account login details to class.