Canva is indeed an amazing tool for creating amazing graphics for your blog, social media, small business and literally anything you want.
I’ve been totally obsessed with it ever since I found it and I use it DAILY for my blog and template shop.
Yikes!!
But you know what I’ve noticed? Most people who use Canva still don’t know its very cool features (and some awesome shortcuts) and how to use them in their designs.
Canva is well-known for its easy drag-and-drop editor and beginner-friendly interface. It’s also nice to have an easy-to-use platform for designing graphics but this mindset always foreshadows its amazing features.
While many users know the basics, Canva has hidden features that can enhance design efficiency.
So in this post, we will be discussing 20 hidden Canva features that you can start using from now on.
Let’s not waste any more time and jump straight to the points!
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BEST HIDDEN CANVA FEATURES
I have compiled a list of some unique, best and hidden Canva featured below. Make sure to go through each point thoroughly to understand the feature better.
The first on my list is:
1. Extract Colors from an image
Did you know that you can extract the color palette of an image very easily? Yes!!
Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Open a design in Canva
- Drag an image on the blank Canvas
- Select the image and click on the three dots
- Click on ‘apply colors to page’
- Repeat the process to get a different color palette each time
Image for reference:
2. Copy Paste Style
If you’re using ‘graphics’ elements in your designs and want to make them all of similar colors then do this:
- First, drag all the elements in your design
- Then change the colors of any one of the element
- Click on the ‘paint’ icon from the top menu (this button will copy the color palette of one icon to others)
- Click on the other elements to paste the color
Image for reference:
3. Magic Grab
This is a Canva Pro feature that you can use to create a design like this:
Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Choose any image of your choice
- Go to Edit and then choose ‘Magic Grab’
- Click on the object you want to grab and then click ‘Grab’
- This will separate the object from the image
And done!
4. T-shirt Mockups
This is one of the most mind-blowing features of Canva I found to this date. You can create beautiful product images if you’re selling custom t-shirts online.
All you have to do is this:
- Go to elements < Mockups < Apparel
- Choose any mockup design of your choice
- Upload your designed image to Canva
- Drag and drop that design on the mockup frame
You can easily customize the size and shape of the mockup. See the heart on this t-shirt? It was not there by default. This is a mockup created in Canva. Pretty cool, right?
5. Hyperlinks in PDF & interactive designs
If you’re creating an e-book, presentation, PDF or any other type of digital file which includes clickable elements then this is how you can include hyperlinks in Canva.
- Choose the text in which you want to include the hyperlink
- Click on the ‘link’ icon or press Ctrl + K on the keyboard
- Paste the link and click on done
Yes!! It’s that simple. Image for reference:
6. Swap elements
Did you know that you can swap elements very easily? Instead of manually moving them here and there, you can just do this:
- Group the elements by selecting all and pressing Ctrl + G
- You’ll see a small icon in the middle of each element, text, image whatever you have grouped together
- Click on that icon and drag it to where you want to swap it
Image for reference:
7. Remove Background
A Canva Pro feature that I use almost daily for my designs. It’s very simple to do that:
- Drag an image to the blank Canvas
- Click on the image
- Click on the ‘BG Remover’ option
Canva will automatically remove the background of the image within minutes!
8. 3D Shadow effect
You can create a realistic shadow effect in Canva very easily to give your design a lively look.
- Choose any image of your choice and drag it to the Canvas
- Select the image and go to Edit < Shadows < choose the drop effect
- You can adjust the settings like the intensity, angle and distance of the shadow
Image for reference:
You can try out different shadow effects and play around!
9. Outline Effect
This is a very trendy design that you can use in your social media posts to gain more audience and followers.
This is how to do it:
- Choose any image and drag it to the Canvas
- Use the Magic Grab tool to detach the person/object from the image (discussed in Point 3)
- Select the detached Image. Go to edit < shadows < outline
- Choose the outline color and thickness
All done! It only takes a couple of minutes to create this trendy design in Canva!
Image for reference:
10. Page Transitions
Want to create some cool animations and transitions? You can do that easily in Canva! Here’s how:
- Hover on the gap between two pages
- You’ll see a ‘transition’ option
- Click on it and add any transition you like!
I use this feature very often for my Instagram reels and it works like a charm! Image for reference:
11. Text Animations
Do you create Instagram reels to market and promote your blog or small business? Then you can use the text animations to create some professional content!
- Click on the text
- Choose the ‘animate’ option from the top toolbar
- Choose any type of animation and click on it to apply to your text
There are so many text animation options including the typewriter effect, fade effect, push effect, wobble effect and much more.
12. Curvy Text
Another trendy design for social media posts is the curvy text to give it an aesthetic look. Let’s learn how to create that:
- Drag a text box on your design
- Customize the size, font and color
- Click on ‘Effect’ and scroll down
- Select the ‘Curvy’ effect and customize the curviness of the text
Pretty simple, right? Image for reference:
13. Filter Images by Cut Out
Having difficulty finding images with no background (PNG Images)? You can do this one trick:
- Go to Elements> Photos
- Search for any picture
- Click on the filter option and click on the ‘cutout’ option
- Find images easily
All done! Now you can easily find any image with no background you want.
14. Design size guide
There are so many different design sizes to create graphics.
YouTube thumbnail has a different size, Instagram posts have different size, E-books have different sizes and there’s more to the list.
Canva has a design size guide feature where you can easily search for thorough sizes and dimensions of a design. Check out the design size guide here.
15. Magic Edit
A very fun feature to create amazing edits like this. Take an example with the first image here.
Originally the roses were red but I commanded this tool to change the color to yellow. And it works like a charm!
16. Present your designs
With Canva, you can easily create a beautiful presentation of your designs without extra editing in an external software or program.
Just click on share < presentation < choose the type of presentation and start.
I use this feature a lot to create the Canva template showcase for my shop. Very helpful indeed.
17. Magic Write
This AI feature is perfect to bulk create Instagram reels to promote your small business or blog. Just do this:
- Create a blank design
- Drag a text box and click on the three dots
- Click on ‘Magic Write’ represented by a pencil icon
- enter your prompt
Canva will automatically create content according to the given prompt just like chatgpt. Productive? Isn’t it?
18. Canva Apps
This list is incomplete without Canva Apps.
You can use any app for different features like removing background, text transformation, creating mockups, editing images and so much more!
Some recommended Canva apps:
- Easy reflections
- Smart Mockups
- Background remover
- Brand fetcher
- Text Smith
You can explore more by playing around and testing different apps.
19. Color Palette Generator, Color Palette ideas and Color Wheel
If you sell Canva templates or do client work in Canva then these three features will help you generate some awesome color palettes for your designs.
The color palette generator helps you create a color palette that matches the image. Just upload the image and Canva will create a palette for you!
Color palette ideas from Canva offer a huge library of different color scheme options to choose from.
And lastly, the color wheel teaches you about color theory and which colors to use in your designs.
20. QR Codes
Last but definitely not least is the QR code generator of Canva. I don’t know why but many people don’t talk about this feature.
To generate a QR Code:
- Open a design in Canva
- Go to apps < search ‘QR code generator’
- Choose the app shown in the image below and open it
- Paste the link to where you want people to redirect through the QR code
- Click on ‘generate’
And all done! Image for reference:
And we’ve reached the end of this post. I’ve shared the most underrated and hidden Canva features here for beginners to explore for their next design.
Did you find this useful?
There’s a lot to learn in Canva when you’re a complete beginner but so far, it’s the most easy-to-use tool for designing and editing.
I love to create posts like this! Tell me in the comments if you want more!!
These are amazing, Khushi! Thanks!
Thank you Eunice! I’m glad you like it 🙂