Articles

Canva Article

<hr /> In March of last year, we told you about <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/ci-hub">CI HUB’s</a> seven-figure investment from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.scalecapital.com/">Scale Capital</a> to revolutionize how creative professionals access their digital assets and data.Since then, a lot has happened in the DAM space, particularly with the advent of AI. Not only have generative technologies transformed automation, but many <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-digital-asset-management-dam-system">digital asset management</a> systems have introduced mindboggling features to help enhance the design experience at a DAM level.Take <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/cloudinary">Cloudinary’s</a> immersive <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cloudinary.com/products/3d">3D capabilities</a>, which enable users to render their product’s multi-dimensional models into configurators, AR experiences, or even photorealistic images and videos – with no 3D expertise required. It’s just one example of how the tools are being enriched with new capabilities.Connectors have long been a key part of the integration landscape, enabling a more seamless journey to new features and enhanced stacks. CI HUB has built a strong reputation around its connector ecosystem for creative platforms, offering an easy-to-use integration with tools like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe Creative Cloud</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/cut-paste-delete-why-adobes-canceled-merger-with-figma-is-good-for-innovation">Figma</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sketch">Sketch</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a>, and others. Now, it’s unveiling a new integration with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/canva-button-gives-cms-users-integrated-graphic-design-tools-for-visual-content">Canva</a>, the incredibly popular graphic design platform for creating visual content – and it's definitely a move in the right direction. Here's why.<h3 id="powering-canva-creators-with-the-right-assets">Powering Canva creators with the right assets</h3>If you don't use Canva, you probably know someone who does. It's a powerhouse platform that effectively integrates everything a designer needs in one place. You can create social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents, and other marketing materials in one place. With over <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/canva-2024-wrap/">220 million monthly users,</a> the AI-infused unicorn has become a fixture in SOHO and enterprise marketing departments. Why has it become so successful? Because Canva is the epitome of a user-friendly tool, offering a stable drag-and-drop interface, built-in templates, stock photos, videos, and production elements that simplify the design process for users at any level – turning a graphic-design novice into a full-blown content creator.Let's talk enterprise, which has been a growing segment for Canva. One of the biggest challenges for large organizations is providing governance around brand-specific content and assets. DAMs help assure that layer of control, and having access to approved assets within a company’s Canva ecosystem is where the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canva.com/apps/AAGCGSDkBdg/ci-hub-connector">CI HUB Connector for Canva</a> really shines – integrating all relevant DAM and cloud storage systems with the creativity platform. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:94.29%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/image-1754155433281.png" /></figure>"Our new integration with Canva is a game-changer for content creation,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasmichalski/">Andreas Michalski</a>, CEO and Founder of CI HUB.  “Companies can now maximize the ROI of creative assets by ensuring they are right at the user’s fingertips. This new integration demonstrates the confidence and trust Canva places in CI HUB to bring their world-famous content platform to the next level, for every user, team, and organization.”  According to CI HUB, the connector strengthens Canva’s position as the “go-to” tool for content creation across an enterprise. It supports creative workflows and gives everyone secure access to the company’s pre-approved assets in one simple panel.<h3 id="key-features-of-the-ci-hub-canva-integration--">Key Features of the CI HUB Canva Integration  </h3>We all know the rigors of finding stuff in our digital detritus. This is where the structure of a well-organized DAM can make all the difference, especially for large enterprises with distributed teams. By combining digital asset libraries and Canva designs, the CI HUB Connector enables creators to stay aligned, on-brand, and moving fast. The company says that individual users can typically save up to 40% of their time normally lost to searching, downloading, and other redundant manual tasks. That could translate into huge productivity gains.From a feature perspective, the connector provides comprehensive asset access to images, graphics, and more. This isn’t limited to DAMs – you can also tap PIM, MAM, cloud storage, and even stock image providers, all within Canva.  Ease of use is key, and CI HUB has consistently delivered in this department. The UX offers drag-and-drop functionality that allows you to effortlessly apply assets to your designs, making content creation intuitive and efficient. Finished designs can be saved back into your asset storage solution with a simple export and upload feature.There’s also native in-app file management that makes navigating folders, searching for assets, uploading new content, and updating existing files super easy within the Canva platform. You can also view your asset metadata, which gives you the right context for using assets appropriately. <h3 id="pricing">Pricing</h3>Like most of CI Hub’s plans, the new Canva connector is reasonably priced, clocking in at $9.00 per month. This includes all updates and a full year of support. Each plan in its model is available for individual designers or teams, and there’s a general 30-day free trial. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://ci-hub.com/pricing">You can learn more here.</a> The connector license is valid for one user on up to three devices. The list prices were last verified in 2023, so it’s worth contacting their sales department for confirmation and to explore any enterprise options.  <h3 id="the-verdict">The verdict</h3>DAMs are securing a bigger space within the enterprise stack, either as pure-play solutions or integrated DXP product components. Enterprises are drinking from an asset firehose, struggling to manage and control the breadth of digital “stuff” in their collective ecosystem. In response, DAMs are enriching their offerings to meet the scaling demand and deliver greater value.Connectors like CI HUB help smooth out the rough patches by surfacing the power of digital assets in an intuitive and meaningful way. Its latest integration with Canva reflects just how profound an impact the design platform is having at the enterprise level, and where a deeper alignment with brand-specific digital assets and content can enhance and accelerate productivity and speed to market. Understanding how creators think and use assets is the key. CI HUB has clearly listened to its base and enabled its connector superpowers up and downstream – from its innovative CI HUB Drive, which provides an instant “DAM on Desktop” experience, to its Professional and Corporate solutions.If you’re a Canva user (or Adobe, Salesforce, or Microsoft 365), CI HUB is a slick way to connect your DAM to the tools you depend on – and take performance to the next level.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-ci-hub?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on CI HUB? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaSee Agility CMS at the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

CI HUB Powers Creators with New DAM Integration for Canva

matt-garrepy

Ah, the bliss of early autumn. Can you feel it in the air?
As September ends and nature's majestic foliage blooms across the Northern hemisphere, our editorial staff is catching its collective breath. It's been a summer like no other, with a pandemic still stoking uncertainty in most parts of the world. But one thing is still certain: digital transformation is exploding – and shows no signs of slowing down. 
In the CMS and DXP territories, we've been following the continuous saga of consolidation and the rabid race to expand features. This month alone, we saw <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-acquires-video-collaboration-platform-frame-io/" target="_blank">Adobe acquire Frame.io</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-ai-powered-search-platform-reflektion/" target="_blank">Sitecore purchase Reflektion</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/duda-snaps-up-snipcart-to-boost-e-commerce-capabilities-qa-with-ceo-itai-sadan/" target="_blank">Duda snap up Snipcart</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/" target="_blank">Acquia buy Widen</a>. The game is getting tight at the enterprise level, and we'll be monitoring activity across our sector as we approach the end of the year. 
In the meantime, here are some other snippets we've been following in September. 
 
<h2>Cloudways releases Top 9 WordPress page builders based on performance</h2>
<img style="max-width:750px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/best-wordpress-page-builders-banner.jpg" alt="Best WordPress Page Builders Banner" />
<a href="https://www.cloudways.com/en/" target="_blank">Cloudways</a>, the managed cloud hosting platform, has selected the top 9 WordPress page builders based on active installations and positive user reviews. The company vetted each entry through a rigorous testing and review process, giving us their top choices based on a variety of criteria. 
So what is a WordPress page builder, anyway? Quite simply, it's a plugin that replaces the classic WordPress editor with a third-party UI. In most cases, this interface lets you drag and drop elements like buttons, social icons, galleries, and images onto a template. There's no code or complexity involved, and almost any user can be successful without a steep learning curve. 
That said, most drag-and-drop builders do bring a modicum of frustration and compromises to the experience (translation: you don't always get exactly what you want). There's often more complexity than you bargain for, and page builders do lock users into their own unique, non-standardized code - so you're stuck with it. They also have a tendency to <a href="https://pagely.com/blog/wordpress-page-builders/" target="_blank">slow down a website</a> with added bloat.
Then why use page builders? Well, in the early days of the web, deep development expertise was needed to build almost any kind of website. Although WordPress was initially designed to give people the ability to publish websites without creating and coding from scratch, the leading open source content management system has become more and more complex over the years – evolving into a platform that is vastly different from its origins. 
Today, it's getting easier to design and develop websites thanks to the evolution of more reliable website builders, and that's why Cloudways has invested in their assessment. And without further ado, here are their top 9 picks:
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.brizy.io/" target="_blank">Brizy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/" target="_blank">Beaver Builder</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/10-best-plugins-for-elementor-page-builder/" target="_blank">Elementor</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.seedprod.com/" target="_blank">SeedProd</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-pagebuilder/" target="_blank">WP Page Builder</a></li>
<li><a href="https://siteorigin.com/" target="_blank">SiteOrigin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://oxygenbuilder.com/" target="_blank">Oxygen</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zionbuilder.io/" target="_blank">Zion</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.boldgrid.com/" target="_blank">BoldGrid</a></li>
</ol>
The Cloudways page builder review is jampacked with information, including which speed testing tools they used, the number of active installations and star ratings of each page builder, and their performance analysis results according to GTmetrix, PageSpeed Insight Performance Analysis, Pingdom Performance Analysis, and K6.io Performance Analysis. Click here to <a href="https://www.cloudways.com/blog/wordpress-page-builders" target="_blank">read the review</a> and dig into the details. 
<h2>UserWay and Duda partner to make professional websites more accessible</h2>
<img style="max-width:800px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/usw_duda-60460a9263e4c180db740dd2b08cfba0.jpg" alt="UserWay and Duda logos" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/duda-snaps-up-snipcart-to-boost-e-commerce-capabilities-qa-with-ceo-itai-sadan/" target="_blank">Duda</a>, the professional website builder, announced the addition of <a href="https://userway.org/" target="_blank">UserWay's</a> AI-powered accessibility widget to their Duda App Store. 
A nearly ubiquitous fixture on websites, Userway's cloud-based widget provides accessibility solutions without refactoring your website's existing code – helping to ensure a comprehensive legal and regulatory compliance framework covering ADA, Section 508, WCAG 2.1 AA, and much more.
There are currently <a href="https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health" target="_blank">one billion people</a> living with disabilities worldwide, and over the last decade, digital accessibility has become one of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/why-your-website-has-to-be-just-as-ada-compliant-as-your-office-building/" target="_blank">the most important and talked-about issues</a> in the web and digital industries. UserWay is helping to address that with a simple, elegant solution that makes accessibility more attainable. For Duda, adding the UserWay feature helps provide their customers with more assurance that their digital experiences are more accessible. 
"We are constantly looking for ways to better serve our customers," said Itai Sadan, Duda's founder and CEO. "Adding UserWay's accessibility technology to our platform allows web professionals the freedom to design their websites without having to worry about the effects their choices have on accessibility. Some web professionals fear that being accessible will be limiting, but UserWay's solutions change that. We're proud that sites created on our platform will now be more accessible for those with disabilities."
Duda customers will be able to quickly strengthen the accessibility of their websites by quickly and easily installing UserWay's Accessibility Widget – which works perfectly out-of-the-box on any website built with Duda. This includes both purchased and premade templates as well as hand-crafted templates and designs.
You can learn more about it on Duda's website at <a href="https://www.duda.co/signup" target="_blank">https://www.duda.co</a>
<h2>Hyland launches OnBase in AWS Marketplace</h2>
<img style="max-width:720px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/e0030_thumb_big_media.png" alt="Hyland OnBase" />
<a href="http://www.hyland.com/" target="_blank">Hyland</a>, a leading enterprise content management (ECM) and process management provider, is now offering their <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-pt2svfcpfgiga?sr=0-1&amp;ref_=beagle&amp;applicationId=AWSMPContessa" target="_blank">OnBase platform in the AWS Marketplace</a>, supporting the evolving needs of organizations to better manage digital information from anywhere and support their shifting work environments.
Hyland is best known for its <a href="https://www.onbase.com/en" target="_blank">Onbase</a> and <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/perceptive" target="_blank">Perceptive</a> content management products, which securely centralize enterprise content and deliver relevant information to users across a wide variety of industries – including healthcare, finance, insurance, higher education, and manufacturing. Hyland commands the second-place position in the Leader Quadrant of <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/explore/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-content-services-platforms" target="_blank">Gartner's 2020 Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms</a> and has been <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/learn/it-programs/forrester-wave-content-services-Q2-2021" target="_blank">named a content platform leader</a> in the Forrester Wave Report for Content Platforms, Q2 2021.
Designed to efficiently manage content, processes, and cases, OnBase connects and centralizes business-critical content in one secure location. As more organizations choose cloud technology to run their operations, Hyland's cloud-first vision and development methodology set the foundation to support evolving business practices – delivering relevant information when and where users need it to increase productivity, improve customer experience, and reduce risk across the enterprise. 
The addition of OnBase in AWS Marketplace with further Hyland's cloud-first vision – providing organizations across the globe with the business dexterity they need, leveraging content management, business process management, and intelligent automation solutions with the scalability, reliability, and security of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
"Our <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/company/partner-program/strategic-alliance-partners/aws" target="_blank">work with AWS</a> has never been stronger, and we're proud to leverage its infrastructure to power OnBase in the Hyland Cloud," said Ed McQuiston, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Hyland. "With joint customer success stories spanning the healthcare, government, insurance, and financial services industries, Hyland and AWS are better together, providing leading cloud-based content services solutions to help organizations thrive in the next normal."
Hyland had been on a buying spree in the past few years, acquiring both <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-acquires-alfresco-focuses-on-cloud-and-global-expansion-of-enterprise-cms/" target="_blank">Alfresco</a>, an open-source content services platform, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-enters-agreement-to-acquire-nuxeo/" target="_blank">Nuxeo</a>, a content services and digital asset management (DAM) platform.
<h2>WordPress Gutenberg 11.5 achieves a full site editing milestone</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/headings-framecap-2048x1152-1.jpg" alt="WordPress Headings framecap" />
Did Gutenberg ever take a break from his printing press? Not likely. Once books could be printed at scale, the demand was never-ending. 
 The same holds true for the folks at WordPress – who seem to never pause on their updates and improvements the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gutenberg-2-years-later-is-wordpress-better-off/" target="_blank">Gutenberg editor</a>. Just two weeks after releasing 11.4, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-5-16-september/" target="_blank">11.5</a> hit the streets with a host of new features. Busy bees to be sure.
Here are a few noteworthy additions:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33991" target="_blank">Block Gap support</a> now provides opt-in to control for users to choose the distance between items within a block. This feature has also been added to the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34456" target="_blank">Columns</a>, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34570" target="_blank">Title</a>, and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32367" target="_blank">Navigation</a> blocks.</li>
<li>Following the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33359" target="_blank">introduction of Flex Layout</a> in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/" target="_blank">11.2.0</a>, now Flex Layouts are supported within the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34493" target="_blank">Social Links</a> and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34535" target="_blank">Group</a> blocks. </li>
<li>The Social Links block now has a "Flex" justification option for automatic best-fit. </li>
<li>There's a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34535" target="_blank">new variation of the Group block</a> that allows for Flex Layout. You can try it by choosing "Row" from the block inserter.</li>
<li>The Heading Levels menu has been redesigned to a vertical orientation, making it easier to visualize the hierarchy.</li>
<li>There's also a new setting to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33656" target="_blank">customize the Next and Previous Page indicators</a> in the Query Pagination block, allowing the addition of an arrow or a chevron to your designs.</li>
</ul>
To see the full list of updates and fixes, check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-5-16-september/" target="_blank">WordPress 11.5 release notes</a>.
<h2>Canva Raises $200 million at $40 Billion valuation, fueled by the global demand for visual communication</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/canva_cofounders_ltr_cliff_obrecht_melanie_perkins_cameron_adams-scaled.jpg" alt="Canva cofounders" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/canva-button-gives-cms-users-integrated-graphic-design-tools-for-visual-content/" target="_blank">Canva</a>, the graphic design and collaboration platform, is now officially a "unicorn" valued at $40 billion. This comes after the company raised another $200 million in funding led by the investment management firm <a href="https://www.axios.com/canva-200-million-billion-valuation-t-rowe-price-8ace330a-2b17-403f-9d9f-97efdc223885.html" target="_blank">T.Rowe Price</a>.
Melanie Perkins, the CEO and the co-founder of Canva, launched the first version of the platform in 2013 to make graphic design accessible to everyone. The Canva platform can be used for many things, from designing resumes to creating a wide array of marketing materials including social media images, logos, posters, business cards, presentations, cards, reports, reports, infographics, and more. 
With 60 million monthly active users across 190 countries, there are now 7 billion total designs created on Canva at a rate of more than 120 designs every second. Canva also boasts over 500,000 paying teams on their platform, with their latest release catering to large teams and enterprises across the globe.
The latest funding round will be used to expand Canva's team of more than 2,000 employees, which the company expects to double in the year ahead.

CMS Monthly Recap: Canva Raises $200 million at $40 Billion Valuation, Hyland Launches OnBase in AWS Marketplace, and More

paris-tuzun

CMS Monthly Recap text lockup with image of autumn trees and foliage

Graphic design has always been one of the more elusive layers of the digital stack. While websites have become increasingly more dynamic (think FontAwesome for iconography), custom graphics – at least the really good ones – continue to rely on third-party apps like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.
For CMS users, that means generating graphics outside the system and bringing them in separately. And for many content creators, it means relying on a graphic designer to do the job – someone who knows their way around Bezier Curves, or if a font is serif or sans serif.
For many design professionals, the more advanced tools of the Adobe suite will likely stay the course (although Sketch and UXPin have become great alternatives for prototyping). But they’re also not the domain of the layperson or laydesigner who simply wants to jazz up their blog or social post with a cool graphic.
Now, thanks to Canva, almost anyone can produce beautiful, custom graphics that feel like they were created by a professional agency – and start for free.
While Canva’s paid subscriptions offer more robust features and access to enhanced imagery, even their basic account lets you create some pretty awesome stuff. In just a few minutes, you can watch a design tutorial, master their intuitive tools, and drag your way to a gorgeous social media graphic or poster art.
Canva isn’t new to the graphic design scene, but they’re now integrating with CMS platforms to streamline content creation. We did a fresh review of the platform and its features, and checked out their Canva “Button,” which makes it even easier to launch Canva within your app or page, make a dynamite graphic, and publish it to your website without leaving your platform.
<h3>What is Canva?</h3>
Canva is a SaaS-based graphic design platform that lets users create beautiful graphics and visual content. That can be almost anything: presentation elements, posters, templates, background patterns, photographic imagery, and more. It’s available for both desktop and mobile, and features millions of graphics, images, fonts, templates, audio, video and other assets that are “off the shelf” and available to use in your own designs.
Founded in 2012, Canva has been something of a startup wunderkind. Last year alone, their valuation doubled from just over $3 billion to $6 billion – and they now boast an active global user base of 15 million subscribers across their free, Pro, and Enterprise offerings.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/canva-sample-image.png" /><figcaption>Sample Facebook Cover Template</figcaption></figure>
How was Canva able to grow so rapidly? Well, it’s more than just having a great product and word-of-mouth social exposure. 
Simply put, Canva solved a problem that no one had managed to crack: making good design accessible to everyone.
There’s no questioning the value that design brings to a brand’s communication and its impact on customer experience. It’s like an unspoken language that can either help – or hurt – your brand’s perception and reputation. While every business relies on design to reach and influence their audiences, it’s not always attainable or cost effective for basic, everyday applications.
The other problem has been the complexity of graphic design programs. Photoshop can takes weeks (or more) of training to perform even the most foundational tasks, and may be overkill for most content creators. Vector graphics are on a whole other level of complexity, and really necessitate a skilled designer to create custom logos, iconography, and other assets.
This is where Canva is changing the game by offering a platform for novice or even non-designers. It simplifies the process by offering libraries of beautiful, modern design elements that are easy to access. Users can select from stock photos, background patterns, fonts, templates, and even music and videos inside an intuitive drag-and-drop interface – and customize them into their own graphic design creations.
Guy Kawasaki, who joined Canva in 2014 as Chief Evangelist, <a href="https://www.canva.com/learn/guy-kawasaki-chief-evangelist/">describes it as “a platform for democratizing design</a>” – just like how Macintosh democratized computers and eBay democratized commerce.
<h3>Create all kinds of visual content</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/canva-templates.png" /></figure>
Canva offers a sandbox of design tools and learning resources which are all available through its online SaaS portal. You can sign up for free in just a few seconds and even connect with your preferred social media account.
The first thing you’ll notice on the Canva website is the Template categories. This makes it easier for casual users to find what they need quickly and not fumble through expansive libraries like the major stock houses provide.
What’s great is that all of the template elements are ready-to-use. That means they work seamlessly on your "canvas," allowing you to drag and reposition in exactly the way you want. You can also import your own logos, images and graphics and instantly remove solid backgrounds to isolate elements (think of a headshot getting cut away from a background to use in a new layout). 
Once you settle on your graphics and images, it’s simple to add custom text to promote sales offers, event details, and more.
The main design sections include:
<ul>
<li>Social Media: Create graphics for channels like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.</li>
<li>Personal: Design custom invitations, postcards, planners, t-shirts, and even resumes to promote your personal brand. </li>
<li>Business: Build presentation templates, website graphics, logos, business cards, and tools like invoice and proposal templates. </li>
<li>Marketing: Make posters, flyers, infographics, brochures, newsletters, menus and more.</li>
<li>Education: Create lesson plans, worksheets, certificates, storyboards, bookmarks, class schedules and other educational resources.</li>
</ul>
There is also a “Trending” section where the most popular templates are displayed. These can include seasonal specific elements for major holidays or events. Need to make a Christmas graphic for your homepage hero? You can quickly create a custom holiday theme with beautiful images, iconography, background patterns and more.
<h3>Canva Features</h3>
It’s true that Canva has a lot of off-the-shelf components, and some users might worry that they’ll be using the same graphics as other brands. But Canva allows you to be free with your own designs, giving you the ability to edit graphics and templates, compose unique layouts, import your own logos and elements, and truly make any design your own.
Canva’s user-friendly editor makes it all possible. The sidebar menu includes:
<ul>
<li>Templates: Search thousands of templates by keywords to find exactly what you're looking for. </li>
<li>Uploads: Import a custom image, logo, or video from your computer and place it in your design template.</li>
<li>Custom graphic control: Group and position elements on a page and hyperlink graphics.</li>
<li>Edit imagery: Adjust the transparency and settings on photos, add artistic filters, and crop to custom sizes.</li>
<li>Elements: Select from a huge cache of free illustrations such as geometric shapes, stickers, charts, gradients, lines, connectors, and icons.</li>
<li>Text: Add and edit text within your composition. You can add a heading, subheading, or body text to your template, and also add links.</li>
<li>Videos: Browse a wide variety of free videos to add to your webpage or post. You can choose from one of the main categories or search for specific content.</li>
<li>Backgrounds: Add colors, patterns, or create your own custom backdrop.</li>
<li>Folders: With a paid Pro or Enterprise subscription, any images you purchase with a license will be displayed in a “Purchased” folder – and the photos and elements you like will be displayed in a “Likes” folder. Additionally, you can create your own custom folders.</li>
</ul>
These are just some of the core features that Canva provides, but what’s really amazing is how simple it is to start using the entire suite of tools. Unlike Photoshop, there’s no complexity around layer controls or color settings. In minutes, the most novice technical user can get a sense of the navigation and start creating custom graphics.
<h3>Learning, Training, and Tutorials</h3>
Canva’s learning resources are a huge part of their value offering. From the “Learn” tab on their homepage, you can access a library of resources, from design basics to business branding. You can also browse ideas and inspiration from articles that show you how to edit photos or design for print applications.
Canva offers its tutorials through their "Design School," which features classes like “Personal Branding with Dr. Talaya Waller.” Each course provides a wealth of insights and actionable instructions for creating your own successful projects.
As if the software wasn’t awesome enough, the learning resources make Canva nearly indispensable – which explains their explosive growth.
<h3>Canva Integration</h3>
Canva’s API has everything developers need to integrate Canva with their apps, enabling access to photos, images, and online media inside the editor. Currently, Canva has integrations with major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Dropbox, Giphy, and Mailchimp.
The newest and most popular integration is called the Canva "Button," which allows users to design with Canva without leaving the webpage they’re working on. Imagine writing a new blog and suddenly needing a custom graphic. By clicking the Canva Button, you can automatically launch the Canva editor and design a graphic or select an image. Once completed, you simply click "Publish" and your creations are pushed to the appropriate part of your page or experience.
It only takes a few of lines of code to add the Canva Button, but it does require a Canva account for a user to make the activation. To learn more about the Canva Button and how to integrate it with your website, click <a href="https://www.canva.com/button/">here</a>.
<h3>Canva and Content Management Systems (CMS)</h3>
Canva is steadily broadening its integrations with CMS platforms. For content creators, this eliminates the extra steps of uploading designs manually from Canva and switching back and forth between apps. It also gives the non-designers on any team the ability to add beautiful images and graphics to their pages within the CMS, making their content more compelling. 
While several platforms already offer a native integration, <a href="https://about.canva.com/wordpress/">WordPress provides a plugin</a> for designing custom graphics for your blog or website. Browse millions of graphics, images, and layouts in Canva – and once you're finished designing, your creation is automatically inserted into your WordPress post for publishing.
<h3>Pricing</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/canva-pricing.png" /><figcaption>Canva Pricing Plans</figcaption></figure>
Canva offers three plans: Free, Pro and Enterprise. Anyone can <a href="https://www.canva.com/signup">sign up for a free account</a> and start creating right away. But like any "freemium" software model, it does have its limitations. For example, you can't resize your designs for different form factors, and there are only a few hundred graphics and images to choose from. But with 8,000 templates to peruse, you can create some pretty cool designs – and it's all free. 
The Pro subscription, which is considered the "best value," is $9.95 per user per month (if paid annually). It's really an incredible deal when consider what you get: access to an expanded library with millions of images and graphics, over 60,000 templates, and the ability to create your own custom "Brand Kit." This is one of the most powerful features in the Pro, as it gives you control over your visual identity by collecting reusable assets like logos, fonts, colors and more – so you can maintain your brand standards.  
The Enterprise plan is built for teams, enabling you to manage Brand Kits for multiple properties or customers. You also get access to permissions that lock down template elements and limit access to specific team members, so you can protect your brand ecosystem. There's also 24/7 support, which is more apropos for an enterprise engagement with lots of customers and users. 
Licensing for graphics and images can always be tricky, particularly with stock libraries. With Canva, there's an upside and a downside: if you cancel your subscription, you won't be able to access or use any of the elements that were stored in your account. However, you can continue using the elements you created during your subscription period (for example, a blog image on a specific post). 
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
Canva is making good design more accessible, and it's worth checking out – particularly if you're a content manager or digital marketer. It's a natural addition to your CMS stack, but also brings significant value to gig-minded solopreneurs and enterprises alike. 
Like the name suggests, it's your "canvas." But you don't have to be Picasso to make it beautiful. 
To get started with a Canva account, click <a href="https://www.canva.com/">here</a>.
<h3>About Canva</h3>
<a href="https://www.canva.com/">Canva</a> empowers users to create social media graphics, presentations, posters and other visual content. Featuring a simple drag-and-drop user interface and a vast library of templates and design ingredients such as fonts, illustrations, stock photography, video and audio content, and the power to include content from the web such as Giphy and Google Maps, anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful. Canva  is available on the web, iOS and Android.

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