Create Smarter in Canva 01: Tips, Tricks, and Shortcuts
If you’re new to Canva or you want to work faster and more confidently, this guide walks you through some of the most useful features: how to upload and organize your assets, move through your document with ease, zoom in and out efficiently, change colors confidently, and work with layers like a pro.
If you prefer learning visually, the full YouTube tutorial is embedded at the end of this post.
Uploading and Organizing Your Images
One of the first things you’ll want to do in Canva is bring in your assets and keep them organized.
To upload images, open your design and go to the Uploads tab.
You can click Upload files to browse your computer, or simply drag and drop your images directly into Canva.
Once you upload at least one image, the Folders tab appears.
This allows you to create new folders and subfolders, and upload your images straight into them.
If you already have images in your Images tab, you can move them into folders by selecting them, clicking the Folder icon, and choosing an existing folder or creating a new one.
As you continue adding more assets, you’ll also see Videos and Audio tabs appear automatically.
Keeping your uploads organized early on makes your workflow smoother, especially as your library grows.
Navigating Pages and Using Grid View
When working on multi-page designs, knowing how to move around your document efficiently is essential.
You can scroll through your pages using your mouse wheel, or click Pages in the bottom right corner to reveal page thumbnails.
From there, click any thumbnail to jump to that page, or swipe through using your mouse scroll wheel. Click Pages again to hide the thumbnails.
For a full overview of your entire document, switch to Grid View.
This lets you:
- Add new pages from the top toolbar or between existing pages
- Select one or multiple pages
- Duplicate or delete pages
- Drag pages to rearrange them
- Hide pages using the Eye icon
Hiding pages works exactly like hiding slides in presentation tools. Hidden pages stay in your file but are skipped during a live presentation, perfect for drafts, notes, or alternate versions.
To return to your design, double-click any page or click Close grid view in the bottom right corner.
Zooming In and Out
Quick and precise zooming helps you switch between big-picture planning and detailed editing.
You can zoom using the slider in the bottom right corner, or click the percentage number next to it to open the zoom menu.
From there, you can choose:
- Specific zoom levels
- Fit (shows the full page)
- Fill (fills your screen with the page)
For even faster control:
- Ctrl (Windows) / Command (Mac) + scroll wheel = zoom in and out
- Ctrl + 0 (Windows) / Command + 0 (Mac) = reset zoom to 100%
Once you get used to these shortcuts, moving around your project becomes effortless.
Working With Layers
Any time your design has overlapping elements (text boxes, shapes, images), it helps to understand how Canva’s layering system works.
If you right-click an element, you’ll see Layer options:
- Bring forward
- Bring to front
- Send backward
- Send to back
For full control, open the Layers panel.
You can do this by clicking Position → Layers, or by using the keyboard shortcut:
- Alt + 1 (Windows)
- Option + 1 (Mac)
The Layers panel shows every element on your current page, with the topmost object at the top of the list. You can drag items up or down to reorder them.
If you keep the Layers panel open, it automatically updates as you scroll through pages, giving you a live overview of your entire document’s structure.
Changing Colors: Text, Shapes & Backgrounds
Color plays a huge role in creating consistent, professional-looking designs. Canva makes it easy to adjust colors for text, shapes, and backgrounds, including using suggested colors, brand colors, hex codes, and the eyedropper tool.
Below are all the core color tools you’ll use.
Changing Text Color
Select any text box and click the Text color icon in the top toolbar
You’ll see:
- Document colors
- Brand Kit colors
- Photo-generated colors
- A Plus icon to add custom colors
Inside the custom color panel, you can use:
- A color picker
- A hex code
- The Eyedropper tool to sample any color from your design
Changing Shape Color
Select your shape and click the Color icon to change the fill color.
Shapes can also have borders (strokes).
To modify a border:
- Adjust Stroke style (solid, dashed, dotted)
- Change Stroke weight
- Change Stroke color
- Round the corners using the Corners slider
- Change the number of sides to transform the shape
To remove a border, choose No stroke or set the stroke weight to zero.
To create a hollow shape, set the shape’s fill color to No color while keeping the stroke active.
Changing Background Color
Click anywhere on your page’s background, then click Background color in the top toolbar.
If a full-page transparent image is covering the background and blocking it, open the Layers panel, scroll to the bottom, select the Background layer, and then change its color.
Using the "Change All" Option
When you change the color of text, shapes, or backgrounds, you may see a Change all button.
- Changing all shape/background colors updates every object with that exact original color
- Changing all text colors updates only text, while shapes and backgrounds stay the same
Use this feature carefully, but it can save a lot of time when you want consistent colors across your entire project.
And That’s a Wrap!
You now know how to upload and organize your assets, navigate pages smoothly, zoom with precision, manage layers confidently, and change colors across your design.
These are foundational Canva skills that make every project easier, whether you're designing social media posts, presentations, templates, or multi-page documents.
If you’d like to save time, you can browse my ready-made Canva templates that you can customize right away. You’ll find them linked below.
And if you learn best by watching, here's the full YouTube video tutorial where I demonstrate each step on screen and show you exactly how to use these tools in real time.
Explore Social Media Canva Templates
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