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Create your free Canva account
Follow these steps to get set up:
3
Sign up with Google (easiest) or your email address
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When asked what you will use Canva for, choose Personal or Student
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You are now on the Canva home screen — the dashboard
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Canva Pro vs Free: Canva will offer you a free trial of Canva Pro. You do not need it. Everything in this course uses the free version only. If it asks for payment, click "No thanks" or "Continue with Free".
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Finding your way around the dashboard
The Canva dashboard has a few key areas to know:
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Search bar (top)
Type what you want to create — "poster", "Instagram post", "A4 document" — and Canva will show you the right size and templates.
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Your designs (left panel)
All your saved designs live here. Canva saves your work automatically, so you never need to worry about losing anything.
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Templates (main area)
Ready-made designs you can customise. We will use these in Lesson 4. For now, just browse and see what is available.
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The editor: your design workspace
When you open or create a design, you enter the Canva editor. Here are the five things you need to know about it:
1.Left panel — where you find elements, photos, text styles, and your uploads
2.Canvas (centre) — the white area where your design lives. Click anything to select it.
3.Top toolbar — changes depending on what you have selected. Click text to see font options. Click an image to see image options.
4.Share button (top right) — download your design or share it directly
5.Undo (Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z) — your best friend. Made a mistake? Just undo it.
✅ Your task for this lesson
Go to Canva, create your free account, and open a blank A4 document. Just explore the editor — click on things, see what happens. You cannot break anything. Canva auto-saves everything.
🎨 Open Canva