Canva is a fantastic tool that can help you create beautiful visuals for your ecommerce store.
There are many ways to use Canva for your ecommerce store. You can create product images, promotional materials, packaging labels, newsletters, custom logos, and even video content.
Whether you want to entice customers or market your brand, Canva can help you do it in minutes.
Not only is it easy to use, but it's also free, and you don't need any design experience to get started.
In this article, we'll share how you can use Canva to design various elements of your ecommerce store.
What is Canva?
Canva is a graphic design platform that lets you create various designs, such as social media posts, presentations, flyers, and more.
It's incredibly user-friendly and allows you to create designs even if you have no prior experience in graphic design.
What makes Canva better than most other graphic design tools is that it offers a wide range of templates, tools, and design elements that can be customized using the drag-and-drop editor.
Its intuitive interface certainly makes life easier when it comes to creating stunning visuals quickly.
Canva has a freemium business model and offers the following three plans:
- Free
- Pro
- Enterprise
The Free plan has more than 250,000 templates and one million photos and graphics that you can use without any copyright issues.
The Pro and Enterprise plans have unlimited features with 100+ million stock photos, videos, and graphics, costing $13 and $15 a month, respectively.
Since Canva gives access to so many features in the Free plan, you might not need to subscribe to their Pro plan initially. But the Pro plan unlocks premium features like the following:
- Background remover: Remove the image background with a click of a single button.
- Magic resize: Resize images for different social media platforms instantly.
- Content planner: Collaborate and organize your content with your team.
- Animations: Make your content stand out using live animations.
- Brand kit: Keep your designs consistent by adding your brand's logo, font, and colors.
- Premium video: Access premium video editing features.
Canva clearly marks Pro elements with a crown icon, so you know if you're using a free or a paid element.
How do you use Canva for your ecommerce store?
As you've gathered by now, Canva is a design tool; you can't use it to run an online store.
A code-free platform like Shopify is a much better way to host your online shop. (Or one of these ecommerce platforms)
That said, Canva has many features that can help you improve the design of your website.
Here are ten ways in which you can use Canva for your ecommerce store:
1. Create product mockups
A product mockup helps you visualize a product before it is created. You can use it to see how the final product will look before production begins.
This eliminates costly mistakes which may happen due to incorrect design elements or functionality during planning stages.
Here's how easy it is to create product mockups on Canva:
- Create a new document by selecting the purple 'Create a Design' button on the top right or using one of the options in the 'You might want to try…' section.
- Select the 'Uploads' tab from the left side menu panel and upload the design.
- Select the image and click 'Edit image.'
- Scroll down, go to 'Smartmockups,' and click 'See all.'
- Choose one of the options, and Canva will automatically place your design on the selected mockup.
- Don't click outside the image. Instead, click the selected Smartmockup option on the left side panel to adjust the design size.
- Click 'Apply.'
And voila! There you have your product mockup!
Here's what our Do Dropshipping logo looks like on a white hoodie:
Tip: Did you know that you can connect a Shopify or WooCommerce store to Canva? With DataPocket, you can access your store's information, including product images, descriptions, and pricing, directly from Canva!
Plus, whenever the data changes (like replacing product images), it will automatically sync to your designs on Canva. Learn more about DataPocket here!
2. Design custom graphics for product packaging and labels
The first thing a customer sees when they look at your product is its packaging and label.
That's why you should pay extra attention to creating a design that helps you attract customers, differentiate your product from its competitors, and build a lasting brand.
Canva's label maker makes it super easy to create eye-catching packaging and label designs. You can use one of their professionally designed templates or experiment with different colors and fonts.
Just open a document, go to the 'Design' tab on the left side menu panel, and search for 'Product label.' You'll see hundreds of templates you can use or edit to your liking.
Tip: Did you know that Canva has a free Design School as well? Check it out here to learn more about how to design with Canva!
3. Design promotional flyers and posters
Flyers and posters may not be as popular today as they were back in the 90s. But they're an excellent way to convey information to your customers.
Most people almost instantly tune out promotional ads and emails. But when you send them a personalized flyer or poster with their order, you can bet they'll notice it!
Canva's flyer design tool has thousands of fully customizable templates. You can create a flyer/poster in landscape or portrait mode by selecting the design type in your Canva dashboard.
There are thousands of templates available, so make sure you use the right keyword in the search box to find the template.
Tip: Canva offers a printing service that lets you get your flyers and other products printed and delivered to your doorstep in a few clicks.
4. Create video content for product launches or promotions
Videos are the best way to market and promote your products. They usually get more engagement than images, so it's super easy to create some buzz around an upcoming product launch with a promotional video.
Canva's video maker tool lets you create a marketing video in a few different ways, such as:
- Using Canva's stock videos.
- Creating an animated video from scratch.
- Uploading and editing your own video.
- Using a mix of all of the above.
To get started, select 'Videos' on the 'What will you design today?' section from your dashboard.
Then choose one of the preset options like 'Instagram Reel,' 'Facebook Video,' or 'YouTube Video Ad.' Then select one of the templates and customize it or create a video from scratch.
Email is one of the most reliable marketing channels for ecommerce store owners.
But to get the most out of your email newsletters, you don't just need good copywriting skills, and you also need great email design skills.
And thanks to Canva's email newsletter builder, you don't need to start from scratch!
It lets you design on-brand newsletters using its drag-and-drop tool in minutes. Plus, with Canva's Mailchimp integration, you can also export your newsletter to Mailchimp with one click.
If you're new to email marketing, then don't forget to check out our complete beginner guide here!
Social media is one of the best channels to increase brand awareness and drive more traffic to your online store.
But you need to post attractive designs every day to keep your audience engaged. Canva's ad maker lets you create ads for all major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and even YouTube.
That way, you can create multiple versions of the same ad and use it across different platforms for a consistent branding experience.
7. Create custom logos for your website
Your logo represents your brand. Everything from the colors of your logo to its font creates an impression in your customer's minds.
So it's important to design a logo that's memorable and a reflection of your brand.
Canva has tens of thousands of pre-designed logos that you can use for inspiration. And it even lets you upload and edit your existing logo with its drag-and-drop design tool.
It's worth mentioning that you can't trademark any logos that use Canva's logo templates. So you should only use it to design a logo from scratch or edit your existing logo.
Read our article on designing a logo for ecommerce stores to learn how to create an attractive logo for your store.
What's the first thing your customers see when they land on your website or social media profiles?
It's usually your banner or cover image. Banners take up a large amount of screen space, so it's essential to design banners that create a lasting impression.
Canva's banner maker lets you create banners for all types of uses. You can select existing presets for popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter or choose your own dimensions for your website banner.
9. Create graphics for your product listings
Good copy is crucial to highlight your product's benefits. But your copy will only work when customers take the time to read it.
Another way to convey your product's features is to use custom graphics on your product listings.
Take this Amazon product listing template, for example:
You can use professionally-designed templates to create appealing product listings.
10. Create a brand kit
When you're trying to establish your brand, a brand kit ensures your company is represented consistently and uniformly across all forms of content.
For example, when you're outsourcing printing, sending your brand kit to the printer will leave no room for any errors. The printing company will know the exact hex codes and typography they need to use.
So what is in a brand kit? A brand kit has logos, fonts, color palettes, graphics, and templates.
There are hundreds of brand kit templates on Canva that can be filtered by feature, style, theme, industry, and color.
Canva also allows you to create an internal brand kit for your team. When your team member is creating a custom graphic, they can simply click on the brand kit and use the preset fonts, logos, and colors to automatically change the graphic's styling.
However, this feature is only available on Canva Pro, Canva for Education, Canva for Teams, and Canva for Nonprofits users.
What are the copyright rules for Canva?
The copyright rules for Canva vary based on how you create a design.
Basically, if you create a design on your own, you hold the copyright for that design even when you create it on the free plan. But if you use Canva's templates or stock media, you don't own its copyright.
Canva's content license agreement describes how, when, and where you can use its content in detail. It gives you perpetual, non-exclusive rights to use Canva's content and design elements. But there are limits to what you can do with it.
Although you can use their designs for things like social media posts, prints, and online publications, you can't use them as part of a trademark, design mark, or business name.
So if you want designs you can trademark or resell, it's better to use platforms like Fiverr to hire professional designers.
Now, let's explore more commonly asked questions so that you can understand Canva's copyright rules a bit better.
Can you buy exclusive rights to a graphic from Canva?
You can't buy exclusive rights to graphics created on Canva unless you designed the graphic from scratch without using Canva's design elements or stock media.
Canva only gives you non-exclusive, non-transferable rights to use its content online and offline. It doesn't allow you to resell designs commercially unless you're the original creator of the design.
So if you want exclusive rights to a graphic from Canva, make sure it's designed without Canva's resources.
Can you use Canva to sell things?
You can't use Canva to sell things the way you would using an ecommerce platform like Shopify.
But you can use Canva to create original designs and sell those on your print on demand store or as digital products. (Here's how to start a print on demand store)
Are all fonts on Canva copyright free?
Yes, you can use all fonts on Canva to create copyright-free designs and sell them commercially.
The free version of Canva gives you access to hundreds of copyright-free fonts, and the pro version unlocks access to thousands more.
Can you use audio tracks in online ads?
You can use Canva's audio tracks in online ads on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
But you cannot use them on traditional advertising channels like TV, radio, and podcasts.
Do you need to attribute Canva element creators?
Canva's content license doesn't require you to attribute Canva elements in your design to their original creators.
However, you can credit creators by including a copyright note next to the image or in a separate credits section as: '© by [Media Element Creator's Name or Username] via Canva.com.'
Can you own the graphics you create on Canva?
Yes, you can own the graphics you create on Canva if you've created them from scratch without using any design elements or stock media.
However, if you use Canva's stock media in your graphics, you can only use it according to Canva's license terms.
Can you use Canva for print on demand?
Yes, you can use Canva for print on demand as long as you create the designs from scratch without using Canva's stock media.
Canva's license agreement only allows you to use its design elements and media for promotions. You cannot use them to sell print on demand products.
Taking action
Reading and absorbing information and knowledge is great (definitely if it’s free!), but do you know what’s even better?
Taking action!
So, to help you with taking action with what you have learned in this article, take a look at the bullet points:
- Use Canva to create product mockups, packaging, labels, and listings.
- You can also use Canva to create marketing materials like flyers, posters, banners, brand kits, video ads, email newsletters, and social media campaigns.
- Canva offers printing services in select countries.
- The copyright rules for Canva depend on how you create a design. If you make it from scratch, you can hold the copyright for that design.
- You can use Canva to sell things as long as you create original designs and do not use stock images or templates.
Conclusion
Canva is a powerful yet simple tool for creating stunning visuals for your ecommerce store.
With Canva, you can create product images, social media posts, and ads that will capture potential customers' attention.
You can also use Canva to organize your content and create templates for a more efficient workflow.
Plus, you can save money by creating visuals yourself instead of outsourcing them.
If you have any questions on how to use Canva or just want to share how you're using Canva to improve the design of your ecommerce store, just drop a comment below. We'll be happy to hear from you!
Want to learn more about ecommerce?
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