Tools for Indie Authors: Canva

Canva is an online graphic design app. Canva won’t help you write your book, but it can help you market and promote your book. Indie authors can use Canva to create the following:

  • Book covers
  • Logos
  • Flyers and posters for book signings
  • Twitter header images
  • Images for blog posts and tweets
  • Business cards

Using Canva

When using Canva you start by choosing what you want to design: book cover, logo, poster, etc. After making your decision either start with a template (Canva calls them layouts) or a blank canvas.

If you start with a template, the next step is to modify it to suit your needs. Some of the ways you can modify a template include the following:

  • Replace the placeholder text with your text
  • Change the color of text and other elements
  • Change the font and font size of the text
  • Change the text alignment

If you start with a blank canvas, you’ll have to add a background, text, and other elements. You can either go with a solid background color or choose from dozens of background patterns. For text you can add headings, body text, or choose from dozens of templates that let you have text inside shapes. Canva has the following elements to add to a design:

  • Photos
  • Grids
  • Frames
  • Shapes
  • Lines
  • Illustrations
  • Icons
  • Charts

Text and elements can also be added to designs that start from a template. You can also upload your own photos and images to use in your designs.

What’s nice about Canva is the templates provide a good starting point towards designing something that looks professional. But there are also enough ways to customize your designs to make them stand out.

Pricing

Canva provides a free version for teams of up to 10 people that includes 1 GB of storage for your designs. The free version should be sufficient for indie authors. There’s also a paid version for $13 a month that provides the following benefits:

  • Unlimited storage
  • More templates, photos, and illustrations to choose from
  • The ability to upload your own fonts
  • The ability to quickly resize your designs
  • Support for teams of up to 30 people