Have you ever felt the need to edit images for your social media management or YouTube thumbnail creation? However, many people give up because they lack image editing skills. Image processing is often thought to be a difficult task for beginners, requiring a lot of time and money.

That’s where “Canva” comes in as a highly recommended app. This excellent tool allows anyone to easily create all sorts of designs without needing specialized knowledge or skills. However, even hearing the name Canva, some people might not know where to start or what to do, giving them a difficult impression.

In reality, many people want to create business cards, flyers, and logos on their own, but professional software like Photoshop and Illustrator can feel complicated and intimidating to use. In that respect, Canva has a significant advantage: it’s very intuitive and allows you to easily try your hand at design online.

What is Canva?

The fact that you can start using Canva for free is also a major attraction. Regardless of your design skills, users can access a vast library of templates and image素材 (materials) and fully unleash their creativity. This guide will provide a detailed explanation of Canva’s basic functions and how to use them. Furthermore, it will delve into the differences between the free and paid plans and the benefits of each.

So, now is the perfect time to start using Canva and experience its ease of use. It’s an excellent opportunity to discover the fun of design and acquire new skills! We hope this guide can help you take your first step into the world of design. We sincerely wish you success in your creative projects.

Canva, while seemingly simple, is a surprisingly multi-functional online design tool used by many people worldwide. Developed in Australia, this platform launched its Japanese version in 2017 and has since rapidly gained popularity in Japan. It is now said to have over 100 million users worldwide.

Graphic design software like Photoshop and Illustrator, which many people are familiar with, is certainly very powerful for professional design work. However, these programs often require complex operations, and purchasing and using them can be expensive, which can feel like a high barrier to entry, especially for design beginners or those who want to enjoy design as a hobby.

On the other hand, Canva offers an intuitive and user-friendly operability that even people with little design experience can use. For this reason, while it’s suitable for business settings that demand professional design, it’s also ideal for students creating presentation materials or for families and friends easily designing cards and albums.

Furthermore, Canva provides a wide variety of templates and design materials, which means you don’t have to create designs from scratch. By simply selecting a template and customizing it as needed, you can quickly complete sophisticated visual content. This allows you to quickly visualize your ideas and express them in various media, such as social media, business documents, and printed materials.

In addition, Canva can be accessed from any device with an internet connection and supports teamwork collaboration. These combined features make Canva more than just a design tool; it’s a powerful platform for bringing people’s ideas to life, further enhancing its presence.

The Appeal and Convenience of Canva

1.Design Experience You Can Start for Free

The basic features of Canva are surprisingly available for free. Even those new to design can easily create various visuals, and the results are of sufficiently high quality. Because many features are available in the free plan, it’s loved by a wide range of users, from beginners to intermediate designers.

Furthermore, for those who want to take their design skills a step further or use specific paid templates and materials, there’s a paid plan called “Canva Pro.” This plan not only provides access to even more materials and templates but also adds various convenient features, making it extremely useful for those who want to create professional-quality designs.

2.An Overwhelming Number of Templates and Materials

Canva is truly a “treasure trove of creativity.” Including the Pro plan, it’s said to offer over 600,000 templates and more than 100 million 素材 (materials). Thanks to this vast library, you can flexibly adapt to any design concept and quickly bring your ideas to life. With templates available for every genre and style, you can easily create your own unique original designs.

3.Flexibility Across All Devices

Another advantage of Canva is that it doesn’t require a computer or special software. You can design online using a web browser, so it doesn’t matter what device you’re using. This allows you to access and continue editing from anywhere using not only a computer but also a smartphone or tablet. You can perform quick edits on your smartphone while on the go and then make final adjustments on your computer when you get home, enabling flexible work. This feature supports remote work and flexible work styles, leading to an efficient design process.

Canva’s flexibility in meeting diverse needs and its ease of use have garnered support from a wide range of users, from professionals to individuals. Why not unleash your creativity by taking advantage of this platform that’s bringing a fresh breeze to the world of design?

Because Canva automatically saves your data, you don’t need to manually overwrite and save. Even if you’re working on different devices, you can proceed without worrying about saving errors, which is very reassuring.

4.A Wealth of Customization Options to Bring Out Your Individuality

Canva not only offers a wide variety of templates and a wealth of materials, but it also boasts an exceptionally high degree of freedom in editing and processing. With a rich array of design patterns, you can naturally express your originality depending on how you use it. Even when using templates, you’re not limited to the original design; you can customize basic elements like color schemes, fonts, and layouts to your liking. This prevents your designs from looking the same as others and broadens the scope of your self-expression. In particular, the ability to adjust the placement of materials and photos down to the millimeter offers a level of freedom not found in other tools.

5.Intuitive Operation Makes It Easy for Anyone to Use

Canva’s operation is surprisingly simple, requiring no prior learning of special skills or knowledge. You can create designs through an intuitive flow of selecting, then dragging & dropping, and finally clicking. While professional design software like Photoshop can have the image of being difficult for beginners to handle, Canva offers a very user-friendly experience in that regard. It’s also easy to operate on smartphones, allowing you to finalize designs with just your fingertips.

Canva is praised for being approachable for beginners because it doesn’t require complex operations.

6.Design Templates Optimized for Specific Purposes

Because Canva allows you to clarify your purpose before you start editing, users can proceed with their work without unnecessary effort. It offers templates optimized for various uses, from Instagram posts and stories, YouTube thumbnails, to commercial applications like business card creation and advertising flyers. Furthermore, the appropriate size settings for these purposes are automatically applied, eliminating the need to search for materials anew. With Canva, you can consistently move through the design process smoothly.

7.Freedom for Commercial Use, Allowing You to Use It with Peace of Mind

Works created with Canva can be used commercially, allowing them to play an active role in business settings. For example, they can be used without limitation on websites, YouTube, and in printed materials such as business cards and flyers. However, certain restrictions exist, such as the inability to trademark your creations, so it’s necessary to comply with these guidelines when using them commercially. Even so, this high degree of freedom in usage is one of the reasons why Canva is chosen by so many people as their design tool.

Information about Canva’s Pricing Plans

Before you start using Canva, let’s explain its pricing structure.

Basically, Canva is widely used by many as a free design tool. The free plan offers a wealth of templates and materials, making it sufficient for general design creation.

However, for those seeking even higher-quality designs, we recommend Canva Pro, which is the professional plan. This plan is available for 1180 yen per month, or 11800 yen for an annual contract, which comes out to approximately 1000 yen per month.

Also, if you’re considering collaborating with a team, you might want to look into the Canva Teams plan.

Upgrading to Canva Pro gives you access to background removal, as well as an increased variety of templates and fonts, significantly expanding your design possibilities.

Instructions on How to Sign Up for Canva

Next, here’s a guide on how to register for Canva.

First, let’s go to the official Canva website!

① Once you’re on the site, click the “Sign up” or “Register” button!

② Choose your preferred method for signing up or logging in!

You’ll need to choose which account you want to use for registration. The available options are Google Account, Yahoo! JAPAN ID, Facebook, or email address.

For this example, we’ll register using a Google Account.

③ Select your account!

When you choose the Google Account option, a list of available Google Accounts will appear. Select the account you want to use.

After selecting your Google Account, a confirmation message asking “Do you want to log in to CANVA with your Google Account?” will appear. Click “Next” to proceed.

④ Select your purpose for using CANVA!

Select your purpose for using CANVA and click it.

⑤ Free Registration Complete Finally, you’ll be taken to the CANVA homepage. Once you can see your account name in the upper right corner, your free registration is complete.