As a new Teachers Pay Teachers Seller, I was at a loss when it came to making products and thumbnails. In fact, I started using PowerPoint for my Thumbnails and covers.
But after several months, I became frustrated because my covers weren’t looking as amazing as my fellow Sellers. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Until a Seller, I followed mentioned using Canva for her products.
These days, it seems like everyone is telling you to use Canva. But I don’t see a lot of honest reviews on the ins and outs of Canva.
When I first started as a TPT Seller I had so many questions like:
- What is Canva?
- How much does it cost?
- What can Canva be used for?
- How do I use Canva in my Product Creation?
And that’s what I want to cover today.
After a couple of months of using PowerPoint, I started using Canva for my Thumbnails, Previews, and even some of my products.
Today I am going to walk you through the ins and outs of Canva and how you can use it to transform your business.
(This post may contain affiliate or external links. Meaning I get a commision if you purchase anything through my links at no cost to you. Read full disclosure here.)
What is Canva?
Canva is a designing tool you can use for creating pretty much anything. They include hundreds of user-friendly templates for everything from Instagram Posts to Worksheets.
It even has stock photos you can use in your designs. Even for Commercial Use.
Oh, and did I mention that it’s FREE?!
Yep, this drag and drop resource is free to use.
With the Free Plan, you get access to thousands of Free Templates, hundreds of free photos, and 5 GB of memory.
However, I should warn you that there is a Canva Pro. Which is $12.95 a month.
With the Pro version, you get access to everything that the Free Option has PLUS you can create a Brandkit.
A BrandKit allows you to pick out fonts, colors, and more so that your designs can have a cohesive brand.
You also get access to over 40,000 templates for free and over 75 million videos and photos.
Another perk to having Pro is that you can save design templates for your team. This is amazing if you plan on hiring a Virtual Assistant at one point.
Canva Pro also includes 100GB of storage which is awesome! If you are interested in trying out the paid version, click here.
Now a quick Disclaimer, you DO NOT have to use Canva Pro to get started. If you want to check out the Free Version click here.
What is Canva Used For?
Now that we have covered what Canva is, let’s talk about what it can be used for and how it is relevant to Teachers Pay Teachers Sellers.
Thumbnails
Canva is great for Thumbnails!
Before I used Canva for my Thumbnails I used PowerPoint. And let’s just say that my designs on PowerPoint were not the best.
I love how they have templates ready to go. They also have clipart you can just drag and drop as well!
As soon as I got my design down for thumbnails, I just created a template. Now I can just drag and drop for different activities. And let me tell you, this saves a lot of time!
Another way I use Canva is for Pinterest.
It has a ton of Templates to create Pins for Pinterest. When I started as a TPT Seller I browsed Canva for templates that I liked.
Once I found designs that I liked I just adapted the designs to fit my brand and then made templates. These Templates save me so much time. Now I can make 20 to 30 Pins in less than an hour!
Products
The final thing I use Canva for is Product Creation. This is something I haven’t heard a lot about which is surprising.
One of the Free Products I created is a Polar Express Scavenger Hunt for “Wonderful Activities for “The Polar Express” While Distance Learning.”
Since it is super user-friendly I love using it for repetitive products or content that I can just drag and drop.
I also use it for worksheets, books, workbooks, and more!
How To Use Canva
Now that we’ve covered what Canva is and how it can be used, let’s go over how to use it.
The first thing you will need is a Free or a Pro Canva account.
Thumbnail
First, let’s create a Thumbnail of a Product. Go to “Create a Design” and then “Instagram Post.”
Next, you are going to go to shapes and click on the rectangle. Put this on the top of the design like this. Now you can change the color to fit your brand.
Now click on the text box and add a title. Type the desired title and you can change the font as desired to fit your brand.
You can also adjust the appearance of your title by clicking on “Effects” on the top.
Now you can pick a photo for the background by clicking on the desired photo. Or if you have clipart or backgrounds that you purchased you can always upload them.
After you have your background you can upload a preview of a product to put on your thumbnail.
The final step is to add your logo and download the new thumbnail as a PNG or JPEG.
Product
To create a Product you can follow the same process above. First, decide on a header and enter a textbox. Adjust the “Effect” of the text as necessary.
Now upload different elements as you desire. For example, I created this clipart which you can purchase on my TPT Store. I just drag and drop into place to create my Scavenger, Hunt.
Finally, I added these dots for people to know where to cut. I also like them because they are aesthetically appealing as well.
Don’t forget to write copyright at the bottom. For this just add a textbox and type ‘(C) ________.’
Now download the content as a PDF and you’re done!
Why I Love Canva
Today we covered the following:
- What it is
- What You Can Use Canva For as a TPT Seller
- Step by Step Instructions How to Use Canva to Create Amazing Thumbnails and Designs
Overall, I LOVE Canva because it is easy to use, and it has hundreds of photos and templates to choose from.
I love that you can use Canva for Commercial use and it’s Free!
In all honesty, I did eventually upgrade to Canva Pro because I loved the usability! But when you first start you don’t have to. I used Canva Free for months before I made enough in my business to upgrade to Pro.
I absolutely love this resource and it’s so much easier than PowerPoint!
Have you used Canva? What do you like to use it for? Leave a comment down below to share your thoughts!
Thank you so much for reading, I can tell you how much I appreciate you. Feel free to reach out to me, I love hearing from you!
Happy Teaching!
