Design Your Own Custom Prints with Canva
Learn these easy Canva basics and fall in love with creating your own designs in Canva in no time.
Want to know the best part? You can get your custom designs printed with Bright Star Crafters, you can get your designs custom-printed on all of your favorite craft materials!
This blog will show you how you can create a variety of designs on a 12-inch x 12-inch sheet. Once you’ve created your design, you can then have it custom-printed by Bright Star Crafters. You can cut and apply your custom-printed craft materials at home and make something you love!
Watch Mel, one of our designers, as she walks you through some design basics in Canva.
Follow along with these easy steps below:
Setting up Your Design Size
Visit www.canva.com and sign up for a Pro account. There’s usually a free trial period for this account level. Once you’re in, click the ‘Create a Design’ button.
To set up a 12” x 12” sheet size, click the Custom Size button. Then change the measurement from px (pixels) to in (inches). Type in 12” x 12”. Then click the “Create New Design” button.
Now you have a blank canvas that you can fill with whatever you like.
Adding Your Design or Images
You can create a design from scratch using Canva and its huge range of templates, or you might want to bring in an SVG or PNG from another stock imagery site.
Let’s start with bringing in some quotes from Creative Fabrica.
First, click on the Upload Media button, then find the file on your computer or device. You’ll need to have downloaded it first. Then click open.
This will upload your file into Canva and will appear in your Uploads section. If your file has a transparent background, it will be hard to see your file. But don’t worry you’ll be able to see it once you drag it over.
Advanced Tip: Want to change the color of the design? Keep an eye out for SVG files, which will allow you to change the color to anything you like in the little colored square beside “Edit Image”. SVG file formats can also be scaled to be whatever size you want, so your design will look super sharp in a tiny or large print.
Adding Extra Designs, Photographs, or Backgrounds
You can upload your own photos to create your custom designs. Want to add extra details to your design? Click on the Elements menu on the left-side panel.
Type in anything you want and you’ll find a bunch of things ready for you to add to your design, from full-colour backgrounds and photographs to simple shapes like a pair of scissors.
Click on your preferred design and drag it onto your canvas. Then scale it up or down to be a perfect size.
Rotating Your Elements
Rotate any element in your design or image by clicking the Rotation symbol next to it.
Changing the Color of Designs
You can change the color of some graphics, which you’ll see when you click on them. On the left one, you can’t change the color because it’s a PNG file.
However, the one on the right can be changed to any colour you want because it’s an SVG file. When you see the little square color box beside the Edit Image you’ll know you can change the color.
Checking Your Design File For Print Quality
Zoom into the image (around 300%) to see if the image is still sharp. If it becomes blurry, your image may not print very well. In the image below, because it’s an SVG, everything still looks sharp and will print perfectly.
Putting Photos into Shapes
In the search bar, you can search for Frames which are basically predesigned shapes to hide photographs in, like this circle that you can put an image of your family into.
Simply drop a shape onto your canvas, then drag a photo that you’ve uploaded over the top.
Double click the photo to open it up to change the size, rotation, or position of the photo.
There are heaps of different frames including letters and numbers.
Below we’ve created the word MUM, but you could spell out anything you like. You can’t choose a different font, though.
Now that you know the basics, explore the amazing things you can do in Canva that will help you create amazing custom craft materials with Bright Star Crafters. Easy-peasy!
Upload your files now through the links below and create your dream project:
Custom Printed Sublimation Transfers
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