Getting Started with Canva

Course contents
SECTION: 2
Project 1 - Social Post Design 3:51
SECTION: 11
Project 3 - Proposal Document 2:30

Questions

Course info

85 lessons / 8 hours 23 quiz questions 20 projects Certificate of achievement

Overview


Welcome to the Canva Design Essentials course! Led by professional designer Dan Scott, this course is your gateway to mastering Canva and building a strong foundation in design principles. Whether you’re new to design or looking to sharpen your skills, you’ll learn how to create impactful, real-world designs with ease.

With 17 years of professional design experience and multiple teaching awards, Dan has taught over a million students worldwide. His hands-on approach and industry insights make learning engaging and accessible, empowering you to reach your creative potential.

You’ll learn:
  • - Design Fundamentals
- Social Media & Marketing Graphics
- Logo Design & Branding
- Create Professional Documents & Presentations
- Learn how to Edit Video
- Canva’s AI Features

This course is ideal for beginners in Canva and design, whether you’re a teacher, student, small business owner, or aspiring designer. With step-by-step instructions, you’ll gain confidence in creating visuals that communicate effectively and look professional.

Take the first step toward becoming a Canva Hero—sign up now to transform your design skills!

Requirements:
  • - All you need is a free Canva account. You can get a free trial from Canva here to get started.

Who this course is for:
  • - Absolutely no previous Canva experience is required.
  • - This course is designed for newcomers to Canva and design in general, so no prior design experience is necessary.
  • - This is a relaxed, well-paced introduction, perfect for producing a wide range of projects. Only basic computer skills are necessary - if you can send emails and surf the internet, you're more than capable of mastering this course.

What you'll learn:
  • - Creating Designs in Canva
    - Working with Free & Paid Images in Canva
    - How to Crop Photos in Canva
    - How to Crop with Frames in Canva
    - How to Name Your Canva Documents Right
    - Uploading Your Own Images into Canva
    - Where to Get Free Photos for Canva
    - Understanding Workspaces
    - Squares, Circles + Layers & Position
    - How to Export a JPG & PNG from Canva
    - Mixing Colors in Canva
    - Design Styles & Color Palettes in Canva
    - Working with Text & Fonts in Canva
    - Adding Drop Shadows to Text in Canva
    - Curving Text Around a Badge
    - Group, Lock & Aligning Elements in Canva
    - Creating Dotted & Arrowed Lines with Text
    - Modifying Shapes in Canva
    - Changing Color of Graphics & Collections
    - Editing the Background Remover Tool
    - AI Image Generator with Magic Media in Canva
    - Mockups in Canva
    - Testing & Posting on Your Phone for Instagram
    - Editing Canva Designs on Your Phone
    - Using Canva Template Logos
    - MoodBoard WhiteBoard Brainstorm
    - Using Markup Tools, Stickies, Comments & Sharing
    - Logo Competitor Analysis in Canva
    - Designing a Custom Logo in Canva
    - Picking Fonts for Your Logo
    - Choosing Logo Colors
    - Using Gradients in Canva
    - Understanding Brand Kits
    - Light, Dark & Stacked Versions of Your Logo
    - Working with a Word Style Doc in Canva
    - Font Combinations & Pairing in Canva
    - Changing Text Styles in Canva
    - Styling Tables in Canva
    - Designing Header Banners in Canva Docs
    - Using Highlight Blocks, Dividers & Quotes in Canva Docs
    - Presentation Templates & Styles in Canva
    - Using Layouts in Presentations in Canva
    - Page Transitions in Presentations
    - Animating Pages & Page Elements
    - Creating Charts in Canva
    - Adding QR Codes in Canva
    - Adjusting Images in Canva
    - Darkening Images for Text Overlays
    - Using Magic Eraser in Canva
    - Magic Edit in Canva
    - Magic Expand in Canva
    - Trimming Video in Canva
    - Applying Video Filters & Adjustments
    - Animating Text & Changing Timing in Canva
    - Changing Stickers & Adding Motion Effects
    - Animating Photos in Canva
    - Finding Free Videos for Canva
    - Exporting Video for Social Media in Canva

Daniel Scott

Daniel Scott

Founder of Bring Your Own Laptop & Chief Instructor

instructor

I discovered the world of design as an art student when I stumbled upon a lab full of green & blue iMac G3’s. My initial curiosity around using the computer to create ‘art’ developed into a full-blown passion, eventually leading me to become a digital designer and founder of Bring Your Own Laptop.

Sharing and teaching are a huge part of who I am. As a certified Adobe instructor, I've had the honor of winning multiple Adobe teaching awards at their annual MAX conference. I see Bring Your Own Laptop as the supportive community I wished for when I was first starting out and intimidated by design. Through teaching, I hope to bring others along for the ride and empower my students to bring their stories, labors of love, and art into the world.
True to my Kiwi roots, I've lived in many places, and currently, I reside in Ireland with my wife and kids.

Certificates

We’re awarding certificates for this course!

Check out the How to earn your certificate video for instructions on how to earn yours and click the available certificate levels below for more information.

How to earn your certificate

Work your way towards your certificate for this course by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz (Merit level courses only)
  • Complete the Distinction Certificate Project (Distinction level courses only) - look out for the video marked with
  • Upload your Distinction project to the My Projects area in your account
  • Request your certificate when you've completed the requirements for the certificate level you're working towards

Good luck!

Pass certificates

We're awarding 'Pass' level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your 'Pass' certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Don't forget to request your certificate when all your projects are complete

Good luck!

Merit certificates

We're awarding 'Merit' level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your 'Merit' certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz
  • Don't forget to request your certificate when you have passed the quiz and completed all your projects

Good luck!

Distinction certificates

We're awarding 'Distinction' level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your 'Distinction' certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz
  • Complete the Distinction Certificate Project - look out for the video marked with
  • Upload your Distinction project to the My Projects area in your account
  • Don't forget to request your certificate when you have passed the quiz and completed all your projects

Good luck!

Downloads & Exercise files

Transcript

Alright, you're inside. Uh, welcome. Uh,  first things first getting started is you need  to download the exercise files. Okay? There'll be a link on the page for those just so  that you can keep up with  everything we're doing in the course. Um, inside those exercise files, there is a shortcut sheet.

You can download that and print it up  and stick an ST computer  and highlight the ones that you think are really useful. We're not gonna like, go through every single  shortcut in this course. We're essential link. Uh,  but there are some ones that are just,  it makes sense, they're easy. Alright? Next up, uh, make sure you install Canva  or sign up for it.

At least you can use the Canva, uh, in the browser  or you can download a separate app  and use it on your desktop. They do the exact same thing. They look the same thing. It's up to you whether you wanna use Canva in your browser  or Canva on the desktop. That's the same thing. I'm not sure I'm typing.

Now, when you do sign up for Canva,  make sure you use my link here. Um, because there is a free and a pro version of Canva. Obviously the free version's, free the Pro, um, you pay for. And there are some features that are limited, um,  in Canva to pro only. And what I'm gonna do is, if you are doing this course,  my advice is to, even if you're gonna keep the free version,  you're like no, never gonna pay for it. Okay?

Do the 30 day trial for the pro version  and just cancel it  before the end of the 30 days while you're doing this course  because yeah,  I'm not gonna hide from all the pro versions, okay? There's so much you can do for the free version. So if you're only gonna stick to free,  you'll totally be fine in this course. But sign up for the 30 days, get a sense of  what the pro features are. Um, so you can make a decision whether you want to go back  to free or stay it free. It's totally up to you, but do it.

So you get to follow along with the course. And if you use my link here, um, where is it? Here somewhere. Um, if you do use my link, uh,  Canva does give me a referral fee. It doesn't cost you anymore. Just so you know.

Next is I get excitable and I talk really fast. I think I talk fast. Some people think I talk too slow. Either way, you can speed me up or slow me down. There's a cog over here in the corner. You click on it and you'll be able to change the speed,  either slow, slightly drunk sounding Dan  or super chipmunk Dan, it's up to you.

And lastly, Canva changes so fast. It's kind of a dynamic growing blossoming product,  which is a pain in the butt for me as an instructor  because they keep moving things around. So, uh, if there are big changes, I'll update the videos. If there're small changes, I'll have a little pop-up. Go Taylor with your pop-ups. Have a look out for those.

Um, and Taylor will put those in if  there are small little changes. Um, but just keep an eye out. You might be the first to see  the change when they roll it out. So have a look at the comments, have a look for Pop-ups, um,  or I'll cut in and update it,  but it is changing so let me know in the comments if you  spot something that's moved. Alright, that is it. We've got it started.

Let's get into the course. Alright,  before you go, um, you know  how I just mentioned there will be, uh, potential updates. They've gone and updated it. Um, while I'm recording this course, I've had  to come back here and just kind of point it out. It's an easy one, okay? But, uh, during this first half  of this course, okay, uh, watch this.

When I click on something like text here, watch this. This is a video of me playing, um, in the  Course. Okay? And  here I can go over here  and I used to click on this little double arrow  and all the tech stuff would appear over here. This is true for a lot of things. They appear on this right hand side that I've decided  that it's better on the left hand side.

That's all that's really changed. So just kind of moved it from the right hand side  to the left hand side. I'll show you in the new version of Canva. Uh, it is here. If I go into say text here,  can you see it appears on this left hand side here. Now if I want to go to Effects, same thing.

They're no longer on the right,  they're on the left hand side. No biggie. It was on the right now it's on the left. There you go. Those are the kinds of little UI updates  that Canva's always making that cause my life pain,  but make the product better, which is good for you. There you go.

Now you can start the course. Let's go.
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