How to Use Canva for Instagram
In this post, I'm going to share how you can use Canva to create any graphic you could possibly need on Instagram. Canva is an easy-to-use design tool that makes it easy to create on-brand graphics for all your social media platforms.
Can I use Canva for Instagram?
Yes! Canva can be used to create Instagram feed posts, Instagram stories, real graphics, and even Instagram highlights. The nice thing about Canva is that you can post to Instagram right out of the workspace if you aren't using a scheduling platform already.
How to Use Canva for Instagram
Decide What Type of Design You’re Going to Make
When you're ready to start designing you can either create a blank template of your own or browse Canva’s extensive design template library. The nice thing about templates is it saves you a ton of time and can get you a really professional look and very little time. I recommend this option if you don't have a strongly established brand or are just starting out.
If you have an established brand already but are looking to save a little bit of time you could use one of these templates and then just customize the typography and colors to create your own cohesive branded Instagram templates.
Set up Your Workspace
One of the great things about Canva is that they have a search bar built-in that allows you to search for what you're creating, whether it's a Pinterest pin or in this case an Instagram post. This means you can simply search for what type of Instagram post you want to create and you're good to go. This saves the step of having to look up what the most current image sizing is. In general, an Instagram story should be using 9:16 ratio whereas an Instagram post is a standard 1:1 square image.
Design Your Graphics
Recommendations on Color
When you're designing your Instagram graphics on Canva, I recommend sticking to a pallet of 3-5 colors. This helps your feed look less busy and allows for a more cohesive brand image to shine through. Since Instagram is such a tiny square on people's screens I always think simple is better. You want to make sure that anything you put on that square is legible which means that it has enough color contrast so that people can read it on their device.
Recommendations on Design
Instagram is often used for inspirational images but you can also create shareable infographics that can be repurposed on other social media platforms like Pinterest. You want to make sure that you have a clear title and that all your content is readable. If you have too much content fit on one page you can do an Instagram gallery to make a more complex topic easier for your audience to digest.
How do you post a Canva on Instagram?
The majority of people use an Instagram scheduler to plan and schedule their content but if you don't, you can use the publishing feature in Canva.
To use this all you need to do is go to the “Share” link in the top right of Canva. In that menu you'll see a “share on social” button. When you click that button you'll get a whole menu of different social media platforms where you can post your design to.
Choose Instagram and it will walk you through exactly what you need to do to post and that's it. It's super easy and really comes in handy if you're posting on the go or coming up with an idea on the fly.
Bonus: Saving Time If you Have a Premium Membership
If you have a Canva Premium Membership, did you know you can save a ton of time by using their resize function to quickly create posts for different formats? For example, you could create an Instagram feed post and then use the resize tool to quickly create an Instagram story version of that graphic and just one click.
To use this feature, simply go to the top bar of Canva, and next to “File” you'll see a button called resize. When you click this link you'll be given the option to change the size to whatever you're doing.
To make it even better is that they have a drop-down menu that shows common social media sizes so you can use those to save even more time. This is a great way to get a lot of bang for your buck for the time you sink into creating really nice shareable graphics.
If you liked this post, save it for later!
I hope you found this post helpful! If you liked this article, save it for later by pinning one of the images below. I can’t wait to see what you create!
