There’s a graphic design platform that has been doing the rounds for a while now. You may have heard of it, and you may have even used it. The name Canva has become a common software name mentioned often in freelance circles; people either ask for graphic design to be done on Canva or people pitch their graphic design / virtual assistant services involving Canva. 

For non-designers who want to dabble in design or put together a quick social media post, Canva is a one-stop solution for all things visual in today’s fast-paced business environments where we want a poster, graphic, or template delivered yesterday. 

Canva is extremely user-friendly and it’s so easy to get lost in a sea of eye-candy templates spanning social media posts to quirky Zoom virtual backgrounds. But let’s peel back the layers and evaluate why Canva can have its limitations depending on whether you’re a seeker needing design done on Canva or if you’re someone who uses Canva: 

IF YOU’RE A SEEKER, HERE’S WHAT YOU WANT TO BE MINDFUL OF:  

Canva isn’t the same as Adobe Creative Cloud 

You may have a graphic design requirement and post a freelance job ad that asks for someone who knows Canva and / or Adobe softwares like Photoshop or Illustrator. These platforms are not fraternal twins in the design world; it takes a lot of practice to understand Photoshop, while Canva involves drag-and-drop features that take a couple of minutes to pick up. Canva isn’t a shorthand or ‘easier version’ of Adobe softwares, it is a whole different platform. A graphic designer using Illustrator can create a design from scratch for you, whereas a Canva-user just chooses good looking elements and puts them together. The output from both can look the same, but the work on Illustrator is more detailed, time-consuming, involves knowledge and skill that comes with practice alone. Asking for someone who knows both Canva and Adobe Creative Cloud is like asking for a person who can drive a car and fly a plane, you either need one or the other for the task, not both. 

You Get Cookie Cutter Results 

Canva has some stunning visually-appealing templates that you know will stand out on your poster / publication. And guess what? Other business owners / Canva users are thinking the same and choosing the exact same template as you. Every template on Canva is accessible to you just as it is to everyone who can use Canva. You can have the colour and font changed all you want, but the structure of the design is always going to look and feel the same as another design out there that was also created on Canva. 

A graphic designer, however, can create custom designs that come from ideas (yours and theirs) that are unique to your business needs alone. 

Bows and Buttons Only 

If you’re using Canva for your business’s promotion on public platforms like social media or design, you’re costing your business a unique positioning. Every template you use may look different from the one before it with just the logo slapped on, and ironically it could be the same template that another business is using. Your business is losing out on consistent messaging, and looking unique. Canva has fun accessories to put on templates, but lacks strategy to guide your brand. Strategy is the driving force and foundation of brand design.

IF YOU USE CANVA OFTEN, HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: 

Terms Of Use 

Though Canva’s terms of use are outlined clearly in simple language, we all scroll to the bottom and click to agree to the terms of use and miss some nitty-gritties. Canva’s terms of use as of 2021 has legal restrictions, some being you cannot use their free media if it is associated with a trademark or logo. Certain design elements on Canva come with a One Design Use license. This means the elements can be used on social media (with limitations), but not on merchandise. It seems like too much of a grey area to invest time into siphoning the black and white legalities to ensure you’re not violating Canva’s use. Whereas, when you create a design on Photoshop or InDesign, the mere act of creating it gives you intellectual property rights. 

Software-Dependent 

Imagine this: you’ve got a deadline coming up for a project that you’re working on Canva. It’s the date of the deadline and you’ve got a few more touch ups to make before you’re done with the design and then you’re gonna upload it on social media. You open your laptop, log into Canva and the website is down or the server is undergoing maintenance. All your working files are now inaccessible. You have to wait till the website is back up and running to finish the design. A desktop-based application allows you to back up your files, work offline, and not be subject to the staunch finger-wagging of a 404 page. 

Canva’s designs are not scalable 

Once your design is complete, you’re limited to downloading it in PDF, JPEG, and PNG formats. So if your client wants a design enlarged for a print, you wouldn’t be able to do it from a Canva file. This way, Canva doesn’t allow for collaboration with other designers, they can however edit the design on Canva itself through the Teams feature, but again, the team’s capabilities are limited to what Canva can do. Advanced editing is out of the question with Canva. 

By now, you probably think that my peers and I love to pummel all potential out of Canva. Not quite, Canva is a lot of fun if you’re looking to jazz up your social media feed, or create a cool party invite. For a newbie who is just dipping their toes into colour palettes, Canva is the perfect playground to experiment with colour without getting overwhelmed by the intricacies of Photoshop. Canva is a great tool, but that greatness is determined by the user and the purpose.