Canva is a school social media manager’s best friend!
With free access to tools like photo editing, graphic creation, AI tools, video editing, and more, Canva can help streamline your communications and elevate your content.
Whether you’re new to Canva or looking to refine your skills, these tips from our recent Canva Camp (held inside our #SocialSchool4EDU membership group) will help you make the most of this powerful tool. Let’s explore how Canva can help you keep your school community engaged and informed!
Get Organized with Canva
These first few tips are for Canva newbies – but it doesn’t hurt to double-check that you have everything organized properly!
Tip 1: Register Your Account as “Canva for Education”
First thing first: Make sure you’re signed up for Canva for Education. It’s totally free for educators and comes with fantastic features.
Tip 2: Set Up Your Brand Kit
Once you have an account, set up your Brand Kit.
In your Brand Kit, you can upload your school’s logo, pick your fonts, and set your colors. This helps keep your designs looking sharp and consistent across all your materials.
Bonus Tip: You can also set up brand kits for each building in your district! Check out how Emily Jones from Fort Wayne Community Schools in Indiana has her brand kits organized:
Tip 3: Set Up Your Brand Voice
Set up Brand Voice as part of your Brand Kit. Abby Geotz from Crosby-Ironton Schools in Minnesota suggests using your school’s mission statement to help create a consistent voice.
Save Time with Canva Features and AI
Canva isn’t just a design tool anymore. In particular, its AI features are game-changers for busy social media managers. Check out some of these time-saving features!
Tip 4: Schedule Posts in Canva
Did you know you can schedule your graphics/videos right from Canva to your social media platforms? Ronda Pounds from Ashdown Public Schools in Arkansas likes using the scheduling feature because it saves the extra steps of downloading and re-uploading her designs.
Find the scheduling option in the “Share” menu in the upper right corner.
You can view all of your scheduled posts in the Content Planner in Canva.
Tip 5: Use Magic Write
Canva’s Magic Write is similar to ChatGPT, but it’s built right into Canva. Use it to help generate text for your posts, newsletters, and more!
Bonus Tip: Once your Brand Voice is set up, you can ask Canva to rewrite your text using your Brand Voice. Just highlight what you want changed and click on “Magic Write” to see the “Apply Brand Voice” feature.
Tip 6: Use Translations
You can easily translate your content into multiple languages within Canva using the “Translate” option, so you can reach ALL your families.
Tip 7: Try Bulk Create to Save Time
Bulk Create is perfect for quickly creating a series of graphics or certificates in one shot.
Edit Your Photos and Create Beautiful Designs
Canva became popular because it makes graphic design and photo editing accessible for people who aren’t using high-tech design programs. Check out these pro tips for editing and design!
Tip 8: Shuffle Brand Colors
Use the “Shuffle” feature with your Brand Kit colors to quickly recolor templates to be on-brand with all of your designs!
Tip 9: Recolor with DuoTone
Using an element that isn’t set up to be recolored easily? Don’t worry! You can recolor ANY element with DuoTone! Simply click on the element and choose “Edit.” DuoTone can be found under “Effects.” Use a preset option or choose a Custom filter to set your own colors.
Tip 10: Improve Blurry Photos
Tired of receiving blurry photos from your staff? Try the Image Upscaler to improve image quality before posting. Check out this before and after! 👇
Tip 11: Create QR Codes in a Few Clicks
You can generate QR codes right in Canva for easy access to resources or event details.
Bonus Tip: QR codes are great for printed materials or designs that will be displayed on-screen, but they are harder to use on social media. Be sure to include the actual link in the caption of your social media post!
Tip 12: Add Motion with Speed Painter
The Speed Painter app in Canva is a fun way to add motion to your design! Give it a try with your school logo – and then add it to your next graphic/Story to draw attention!
Tip 13: Use Resize / Magic Switch for Different Sizes
Tara Adams from Lakeside School District in Arkansas effortlessly adjusts the size of her designs for all social media platforms using the Resize/Magic Switch feature.
Tip 14: Remove Backgrounds in One Click
The Background Remover tool (in the Edit menu) is one of our favorite Canva features! By removing a busy background, you can keep the focus on the staff member and seamlessly add their smiling face(s) to your great design.
Check out this example from Deedra LaPray of Region 5 Education Service Center in Texas:
Tip 15: Remove Unwanted Elements
The Magic Eraser tool (in the Edit menu) helps remove unwanted or distracting elements from photos.
Tip 16: Access Layers for Easy Positioning
Use the Layers area in the Position menu to “grab” or move elements that are layered beneath others. Select multiple layers to move, group, or resize easily.
✅ BONUS TIP: Join Our Membership Group to Access Our Canva Directory!
Inside our #SocialSchool4EDU membership group, we offer access to a Canva Template Directory filled with hundreds of Canva templates tailored specifically for schools. Whether you need a staff feature, spirit week graphics, quick Reel templates, or recruitment flyers, we have templates ready for you to customize and use!
What is YOUR favorite Canva tip?? Which of these tips are you most excited to try out? We’d love to hear from you! Email andrea@socialschool4edu.com and let us know!
This is a guest post from Melissa Marti. Melissa is the Director of Membership at #SocialSchool4EDU and is an account manager for two of our management districts. She is a former high school teacher who loves staying connected virtually with students, staff, and all things education while chasing around her own busy kids. Melissa says, “There are amazing things happening in our schools every day. It’s powerful to be able to share those stories with our communities so together we can celebrate our students and staff!”
