Creating a Design

Choosing a size

When you create a new design in Canva, the first decision is the size. Here are the most common options for Rotary materials:

To create a design:

1. Click Create a design in the top right corner of Canva.
2. Search for the size you want, or enter custom dimensions.
3. If you are working inside a team folder, you can also click Add new > Design > Create new from within the folder, and the design will be saved there automatically.

Starting from a template

You do not need to design from scratch. Canva has thousands of pre-made templates.

1. Once your blank canvas opens, click Templates in the left sidebar.
2. Search for what you need (e.g. "club poster", "event invitation", "social media post").
3. Click a template you like to apply it to your page.
4. Click the Brand button, then Colours > Shuffle to instantly apply your Rotary brand colours to the template.
5. Select all text elements (click and drag across the page), then change the font to Open Sans from the font dropdown.

You are now most of the way to a finished design without having started from zero.

Key editing techniques

Selecting and grouping elements

• Click and drag across multiple elements to select them all at once.
• Click Group (in the toolbar) to lock them together so they move as one unit.
• Shift-click an element to deselect it from your selection without losing the rest.
• To edit individual items in a group, click Ungroup first.

Alignment and symmetry

• When you drag an element, Canva shows purple guide lines that snap to other elements on the page. Use these to keep things aligned.
• For precise centring, select an element and click Position in the toolbar, then click Centre (horizontal) or Middle (vertical).
• If two elements need the same spacing from a reference point, drag them until the pixel-distance numbers shown between elements match.

Resizing text

• Click a text box, then drag the font size slider in the toolbar, or type an exact number.
• After resizing, drag the edges of the text box inward so the margins around the text are tight. This makes alignment tools more accurate.

Layering

If an element is hidden behind another, select it and go to Position > Arrange. Use Bring forward (one layer at a time) or Bring to front (all the way to the top).

Using folders to stay organised

Store your designs in team folders so everyone can find them.

• Navigate to Projects in the left sidebar to see your team's folders.
• Create designs from within a folder (Add new > Design > Create new) to save them there automatically.
• If a design is floating loose, click and drag it into the correct folder from the Projects view.

Duplicating elements and pages

• Duplicate an element: Select it and press Ctrl+D (or Cmd+D on Mac). This creates an exact copy, which is useful for making matching elements (e.g. two identical info bubbles).
• Duplicate a page: Click the three dots at the top of the page, then Duplicate page. Useful for creating a static version and a video version of the same design.