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How to Use Canva in Presentation Mode

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Founder of CanvaTemplates.com & Professional Graphic Designer

Jake Tucker

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Canva is a popular graphic design tool that allows users to create visually appealing designs for various purposes. One of the features of Canva is its presentation mode, which enables users to present their designs in a slideshow format. Using Canva in presentation mode is an effective way to showcase your designs to an audience, whether it’s for a business presentation, a school project, or a personal project.

To use Canva in presentation mode, users can simply select the “Present” button on the top right-hand corner of the screen. From there, they can choose from different presentation modes such as full-screen mode or responsive mode. Canva’s presentation mode also allows users to add animations and transitions to their slides to make their designs more engaging. With its user-friendly interface and customizable features, Canva’s presentation mode is a great tool for anyone looking to create a visually stunning presentation.

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced designer, using Canva in presentation mode can help you elevate your presentations to the next level. By following some basic design principles and utilizing Canva’s features, you can create a professional-looking presentation that will impress your audience. In the following sections, we will explore the different presentation modes available in Canva, as well as some tips and tricks for creating a successful presentation.

Getting Started with Canva

Creating an account.

To get started with Canva, the first step is to create an account. This can be done by visiting the Canva website and clicking on the “Sign up” button. Users can sign up using their email address or by connecting their Google or Facebook account. Once an account has been created, users can start creating designs using Canva’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface.

Exploring the Dashboard

After logging in, users are taken to the Canva dashboard. From here, users can access all of their designs, create new designs, and browse through Canva’s extensive library of templates. The dashboard is divided into several sections, including “All your designs,” “Your brand kit,” “Shared with you,” and “Discover templates.” Users can also access their account settings and upgrade to Canva Pro from the dashboard.

Overall, getting started with Canva is a straightforward process. By creating an account and exploring the dashboard, users can begin creating professional-quality designs in no time.

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Understanding Presentation Mode

Presentation Mode is a feature in Canva that allows users to turn their designs into presentations. This feature is ideal for those who want to present their work to a group of people.

Features of Presentation Mode

When using Presentation Mode in Canva, users can access several features that enhance their presentation experience. The following are some of the features available in Presentation Mode:

• Presenter View: This feature is ideal for those who want to see their presenter notes while presenting to a group of people. Choosing the presenter view opens two windows. The audience window shows the design in standard view, while the presenter window displays page notes and the upcoming slides.
• Full-screen mode: This feature enables users to present their designs in full-screen mode, allowing the audience to see the design more clearly.
• Responsive presentation templates: Canva offers responsive presentation templates that allow users to present decks and presentations both on mobile devices and on bigger screens.
• Left and right arrows: These arrows allow users to change slides during the presentation.

Navigating Presentation Mode

Navigating Presentation Mode in Canva is easy. To enter Presentation Mode, users need to click on the “Present” button in the top right-hand corner of the screen. To exit Presentation Mode, users can press ESC on their keyboard or click “Exit full screen” on the bottom corner of the screen.

In conclusion, Presentation Mode is a powerful feature in Canva that allows users to turn their designs into presentations. With its numerous features and easy navigation, users can create engaging and interactive presentations that capture the audience’s attention.

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Designing a Presentation

Designing a presentation in Canva is an easy and straightforward process. With a variety of templates to choose from, you can create a professional-looking presentation in minutes. Here are some tips to help you get started.

Choosing a Template

When you first open Canva, you’ll be presented with a range of templates to choose from. These templates are designed to suit a variety of presentation styles, from corporate to creative. Choose a template that matches the tone and style of your presentation.

Customizing Your Design

Once you’ve selected a template, it’s time to customize your design. Canva offers a range of tools to help you do this. You can change the background color, add images, and adjust the layout of your slides. Use the toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen to access these tools.

Adding and Editing Text

Adding and editing text in Canva is simple. To add text to a slide, select the text tool from the toolbar and click on the slide where you want to add text. You can then type your text directly into the slide. To edit the text, simply click on it and make your changes. You can change the font, size, and color of your text using the toolbar.

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Using Advanced Tools

Canva presentation mode offers a variety of advanced tools to help users create engaging and interactive presentations. Here are some of the most useful tools that can take your presentation to the next level:

Inserting Images and Videos

Canva allows users to easily add images and videos to their presentation slides. To do this, simply click on the “Uploads” tab on the left-hand side of the screen and drag and drop your files into the designated area. You can also browse through Canva’s extensive library of stock images and videos to find the perfect visual elements for your presentation.

Using Canva Elements

Canva Elements is a powerful feature that allows users to add a wide range of design elements to their presentation slides. These elements include icons, shapes, charts, graphs, and more. Users can customize these elements to match their brand or presentation theme by changing the colors, fonts, and sizes.

Animating Your Slides

Canva also offers a range of animation tools that can add a dynamic and engaging element to your presentation. Users can choose from a variety of animation styles and effects to make their presentation more visually appealing. Animations can be applied to individual elements or entire slides, and can be customized to match the presentation’s overall style and theme.

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Sharing and Presenting

Canva makes it easy to share and present your designs with others. Whether you want to export your presentation, present live, or share your design with others, Canva has you covered.

Exporting Your Presentation

Once you’ve finished creating your presentation in Canva, you can export it as a PDF or PowerPoint file. This makes it easy to share your presentation with others who may not have access to Canva.

To export your presentation, simply click on the “Download” button in the top right corner of the screen. From there, you can choose to download your presentation as a PDF or PowerPoint file. You can also choose to include speaker notes, which can be helpful if you plan on presenting your design live.

Presenting Live

If you want to present your design live, you can use Canva’s Presenter Mode. This mode allows you to present your design as a slideshow, complete with speaker notes and a timer.

To access Presenter Mode, click on the “Present” button in the top right corner of the screen. From there, you can choose to present your design in full screen mode or in Presenter Mode. You can also choose to include speaker notes and a timer.

Sharing Your Presentation

If you want to share your presentation with others, you can do so by sharing a link or embedding it on your website or blog. To share your presentation, click on the “Share” button in the top right corner of the screen. From there, you can choose to share a link or embed your presentation.

Canva also allows you to set permissions for your presentation, so you can control who can view and edit it. This can be helpful if you’re sharing sensitive information or working on a collaborative project.

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How to Use Canva Presentations

Make visually appealing presentations that'll stand out among others using Canva.

Canva, a graphic design platform, is gaining a lot of traction as a design tool. Its basic premise – it’s just as easy to use for non-designers. You don’t need to be an expert in graphic designing to use Canva, and that is one of the main reasons behind its popularity.

With design becoming one of the hottest commodities for just about every field, Canva makes it accessible to everyone. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a marketer, influencer, or a blogger, you can use Canva to make fetching content for social media, posters, graphics, design your own business cards even. If you’ve got even a little eye for design, Canva can help you cut down on the costs of hiring professional designers.

But did you know you can also use it to make just as engaging and stimulating presentations? Whether you want to make presentations for a professional environment or personal use (like a birthday surprise), Canva Presentations have got you covered. Let’s dive right into it!

Getting Started

Canva offers a web app you can immediately start using on your desktop without having to download anything. Unfortunately, the web app is your only option as there is no desktop app. So you need an internet connection to work with Canva as it stores all your work on its servers.

Canva also has a mobile app for iPhone and Android, which you can use on the go. But when getting started, using the web app is the best course of action.

Go to canva.com and create a free account. Click the ‘Sign Up’ button to create a new account.

You can sign up with your Google account, Facebook account, or your email address.

Canva has a freemium structure, so you can use it for free with limited features or get a Pro or Enterprise subscription for complete access. It also offers a 30-day free trial to its Pro features, so you can try it out before deciding whether you want to convert to a paid user.

Now, from the Canva home page, click the ‘Presentations’ button under the Design anything banner. If you can’t find the option, you can also search for ‘Presentation’ from the search bar.

There are plenty of size options to choose from when creating a presentation. Let’s stick with the standard size ‘1920 x 1080 px’ here.

One of the things that makes Canva so easy to use for everyone is the sheer number of templates. The assortment of templates in existence ensures that you’ll find something to match your needs. But if not, you can also start with a blank slate and create your presentation from scratch.

For this guide, we are selecting a template for the presentation. Before selecting a template, you can see what it has to offer by clicking the three-dot menu and selecting ‘Preview this template’.

Click ‘Use this template’ to select the template if you like it or go back and select another.

Editing the Presentation

The template will load into the editing interface. Canva has an eerily easy editing interface. Let’s navigate the interface first. Below the slide is the thumbnail view where you can see all the slides in thumbnails side by side.

To turn off the thumbnail view, click the on/ off toggle (arrow).

Click the grid view button to switch views.

The grid view is helpful when there are a lot of slides in your presentation. Using grid view, you can get an overview of them all. You can also rearrange the slides by dragging and dropping slides into a new position. Click the ‘Grid View’ button again to switch back.

Click the ‘Notes’ option to add notes to the presentation that you can use for reference while presenting.

The name of the presentation can be edited from the top-most toolbar.

Now, on the left is the toolbar that houses all the tools for editing the design elements in the presentation.

When you’re using a template, almost all of the elements can be selected and edited. You can delete an element, change color, font (for text). To select an element, hover over it. The part of that element will be highlighted in blue. Click it to select it.

Another toolbar will appear above the slide with editing options specific to the element you have selected. Depending on the element, you can change it’s color, font, font size.

When you click the color option, a palette for document colors will appear above, followed by available default colors. For free users, only limited color options are available. If you have a Brand Kit (available only for Canva Pro users), that palette will also appear here.

Click on the ‘Elements’ option on the left toolbar to add elements like photos, videos, graphics, audio, charts, etc. to your presentation.

To add photos, videos, or audio from your computer, click the ‘Uploads’ button. Then, click the ‘Upload media’ button to select content. Any media you previously uploaded will also be available here.

You can also add animations to individual elements or the entire page. Select an element and click the ‘Animate’ button.

‘Element animations’ will open. To switch to page animations, click the ‘Page Animations’ tab.

Presenting your Presentation

Once your presentation is complete comes the main part – presenting it. Canva offers a lot of options for your finished presentation. You can present it right from Canva or publish or download it for various platforms.

To publish it elsewhere or download it, click the ‘three-dot’ menu on the top-right corner.

A list of options will appear. You can download it onto your computer, or as a PowerPoint presentation, share a link to the presentation, publish it as a website, embed it on your website, and much more. You can also record it while presenting with a voiceover.

To present straight from Canva, click the ‘Present’ button.

Click the drop-down menu below ‘Type’ and select how you want to present it.

There are three options to choose from: ‘Standard’ – where you present at your own pace, ‘Autoplay’ – where the presentation advances automatically, and ‘Presenter View’ – where you can view your notes and upcoming slides, but the rest of the people cannot. Presenter View is best used when you’re presenting on a projector.

After selecting the type, click the ‘Present’ button.

Bonus Tips for your Presentation

While presenting the presentation on Canva, you can add special effects to enhance the performance with some keyboard shortcuts. All you need to do is press the associated key with each effect to bring it into action. Press the same key to stop it. You can also press multiple keys to add 2 or more special effects. With these effects, your presentation is bound to stand out to your audience and be memorable.

Drumroll : Add a drumroll before a slide by pressing the key ‘D’ before a big reveal.

Confetti : Add a shower of confetti to celebrate something with the key ‘C’ .

Countdown : Add a countdown from ‘1-9’ by pressing one of the keys.

Quiet : Bring a 🤫 emoji to screen to hush your audience with the ‘Q’ key.

Bubbles : Press down the ‘O’ key to bring bubbles on the screen.

Blur : Build tension and add drama to the atmosphere by blurring the screen with the key ‘B’.

Presentations are a huge part of professional life, whether you’re presenting to your clients, doing a webinar, promoting your brand, to name a few. With Canva, you can make presentations that’ll leave a long-lasting impact but won’t take long to make.

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How Do You Record and Present in Canva?

Recording and presenting in Canva is a breeze with its user-friendly interface and powerful features. Whether you are creating a tutorial, a presentation, or a video, Canva provides all the tools you need to make your content shine.

Recording in Canva

If you want to record your screen or yourself while presenting, Canva has got you covered. Here's how:

Step 1: Open the Recording Panel

To start recording, click on the "Record" button located at the top right corner of your Canva workspace. This will open the recording panel on the left side.

Step 2: Choose Your Recording Mode

Canva offers two recording modes - Screen and Camera. In the screen mode, you can record your entire screen or select a specific window or tab. In the camera mode, you can record yourself using your webcam.

Step 3: Configure Recording Settings

Before hitting that record button, make sure to configure your recording settings. You can choose to include audio from your microphone, system audio, or both. You can also adjust the video quality and frame rate according to your needs.

Step 4: Start Recording

Once you are ready, click on the "Record" button to start capturing your screen or yourself using the webcam. While recording, you can use various interactive elements provided by Canva like stickers, shapes, and text to enhance your presentation.

Step 5: Stop Recording

To stop recording, simply click on the "Stop" button in the recording panel or press the designated hotkey (by default it's F9). Canva will automatically save your recording in its media library.

Presenting in Canva

Now that you have recorded your content, it's time to present it. Canva offers a seamless presentation mode that ensures your audience stays engaged throughout.

Step 1: Enter Presentation Mode

To enter presentation mode, click on the "Present" button located at the top right corner of your Canva workspace. Your design will now be displayed in full-screen mode.

Step 2: Navigate Through Slides

Use the left and right arrow keys or swipe gestures (if you are using a touchscreen device) to navigate through your slides. You can also use the spacebar or enter key to move forward and the backspace or shift key to go back.

Step 3: Add Interactivity

To make your presentation more interactive, Canva allows you to add clickable links, buttons, and transitions between slides. This helps in creating a smooth and engaging flow for your audience.

Step 4: Share Your Presentation

Once you are done presenting, you can easily share your Canva presentation with others. Simply click on the "Share" button and choose the desired sharing option like generating a link or embedding it on a website.

The Power of Canva for Recording and Presenting

Canva's recording and presenting features empower users to create visually appealing and captivating content. With its intuitive interface and extensive customization options, you can effortlessly record tutorials, presentations, demos, and more. So why wait? Start exploring Canva today!

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How Do I Use Canva in Presentation Mode?

Last updated on September 27, 2022 @ 8:32 pm

Canva’s presentation mode is a handy way to quickly turn your designs into presentations. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open Canva and sign in. 2. Create a new design or open an existing one. 3. Click on the “Present” button in the top right-hand corner of the screen. 4. A new window will open up, with your design presented as slides.

5. To advance to the next slide, click on the right arrow button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, or press the spacebar on your keyboard. 6. To go back to a previous slide, click on the left arrow button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, or press the backspace key on your keyboard. 7. To exit presentation mode, click on the “x” in the top right-hand corner of the screen, or press the ESC key on your keyboard.

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How to Create Presentations in Canva

Canva recently introduced new tools to create docs, whiteboards, videos, websites, and presentations. As such, you no longer need to rely on traditional software solutions like Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Keynote to create an upcoming business presentation. You can easily create presentations in Canva using its familiar suite of editing tools.

Canva offers real-time collaboration, several export options, a present tool, AI add-ons, and much more to make a professional PPT. Canva also lets you make instant presentations with pre-filed slides. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Pick Up an Aspect Ratio and Template

Before you start, make sure to pick a relevant aspect ratio for your presentation. If it’s a traditional PPT, go with a 16:9 aspect ratio. If you plan to show your PPT on mobile, use the 9:16 aspect ratio.

Tablet users can start with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Canva also offers some ready-to-use templates to get started. We highly recommend starting with a template to save some time.

You can also filter templates via style, theme, feature, and color. For example, you can check company, marketing, corporate, marketing, school, and other templates. Most templates are free to use, while some may require a Canva Premium subscription.  

Under templates, you also find an option to create instant presentations. You can enter a prompt and check Canva’s suggestions to get started.

Customize a Page With Editing Features

Once you pick up a template, you have the option to add all pages to your presentations. You can click ‘Apply all pages’ and check every slide at the bottom. You can always select a slide and hit delete to remove it from your presentation.

Canva lets you change every aspect of the template with different text styles, filters, and image editing tools. You can change color, tweak transparency, copy style, and more.

We suggest spending some time with editing tools to customize your Canva presentation and add some personal touches.

Add Graphics, Stickers, and Images

Your presentation will not seem as interesting without graphics, stickers, images, and videos. Unlike Google Slides or PowerPoint, you don’t need to import media files to Canva to complete your slides. You can easily add relevant elements from the sidebar.

Step 1: Open a slide in your Canva presentation.

Step 2: Select Elements from the sidebar. Add graphics, icons, stickers, tables, videos, and more.

Step 3: You can explore the AI image generator and turn your creative ideas into images and videos with a single click.

You can add simple descriptions and even turn generated images into videos. Canva also offers a long list of graphics packs in several categories. The possibilities are endless here. It’s up to you to make a compelling slide using useful tools.

Tweak Page Animation

Once you create a page, tweak its animation to make a smooth transition between pages.

Step 1: Select a slide in Canva.

Step 2: Click Animate at the top.

Step 3: Check basic, exaggerated, photo movement, and other animation types from the left sidebar.

You can also tweak the animation intensity, which is great.

Add Presenter Notes

Do you plan to present your Canva PPT on a video conference? You can add notes to each slide so they appear during the Presenter view (more on that later).

When you create a PPT, select a slide and hit Notes at the bottom. Enter your notes that you want to remember or talk about during a video meeting.

Collaborate and Edit in Real Time

Similar to Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint, Canva lets you share and edit a presentation in real time. You can take inputs from your colleagues and create a share-worthy presentation in no time.

Step 1: When you are done making changes to your presentation, click Share at the top.

Step 2: Enter people, groups, or your team. Expand the collaboration link menu and select Anyone with the link.

Step 3: Expand the permission menu and select Can edit.

You can also share a link with view or comment-only permission. Select the Copy link and share it with your co-workers.

Enable Presenter View

Presenter view is a thoughtful touch from Canva to give presentations over a Google Meet or Teams call.

You can open a presentation in Canva and select Present at the top. Click Presenter View and check two windows opening up on your computer.

One window shows your presentation with notes open on the sidebar. Another window displays the current slide you are sharing with others over a call.

Download and Share Your Presentation

As expected, Canva gives several options to share and export your presentation. When you complete your presentation, click Share in the top-right corner and expand Download.

You can convert a presentation to PDF, PPTX (Microsoft PowerPoint compatible), MP4, JPG, PNG and SVG formats. Check our dedicated post if you wish to print your Canva presentation .

Use Canva Like a Pro

Canva has done a solid job, granting users access to rich tools to create a convincing presentation. We can’t wait to see how the Australian startup enhances our PPT experience with AI features in the future. Speaking of which, we would love to see a feature similar to ‘Design Ideas from Microsoft PowerPoint’ on Canva. Do let us know if you use Canva for presentations in the comments below.

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Last updated on 07 January, 2024

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

The article above may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. The content remains unbiased and authentic and will never affect our editorial integrity.

DID YOU KNOW

Parth Shah is an evergreen freelance writer covering how-tos, app guides, comparisons, listicles, and troubleshooting guides on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and smart TV platforms. He has over five years of experience and has covered 1,500+ articles on GuidingTech and Android Police. In his free time, you will see him binge-watching Netflix shows, reading books, and traveling.

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Canva – 11 Keyboard Shortcuts for Presentations (Updated 2021)

Canva can be used to create stunning presentations, either from many of their pre-existing templates (which can be customised) or by starting from scratch with a blank presentation. This blog post covers using keyboard shortcuts in Canva during presentations. For information about all other keyboard shortcuts in Canva, just click here .

Keyboard shortcut to start a presentation in Canva

To enter presentation mode in Canva, use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + P

Canva keyboard shortcuts while presenting

You can add some great effects during a presentation! These include:

To end a presentation in Canva…

Keyboard Shortcuts for Presentations Video Tutorial

I hope you enjoyed these keyboard shortcuts during presentations in Canva. If you know of any other ones, please add them to the comments section below 🙂

A quick reference guide showing all Canva keyboard shortcuts (or, at least all the keyboard shortcuts that I know of!) is available on my blog here and as a downloadable .pdf in the Resources Section of this website.

There is also a blog post about general keyboard shortcuts in Canva available here , and one about keyboard shortcuts when working with text here .

I hope you find them useful!

• ← Curved Text in Canva
• Using the Background Remover Tool in Canva →

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M – does a mic drop G – summons a ghost S – summons a spider U – adds a red curtain (i think dats all ik that is not here ᕙ(⍢)ᕗ)

Thank you! I really appreciate the fact you took the time to comment. I can’t get G or S to work… perhaps it was for Halloween?? (starts counting days until next Halloween…)

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Home Blog Design How to Use Canva and PowerPoint for Presentations

How to Use Canva and PowerPoint for Presentations

Creating the perfect presentation design is a challenge that speakers often aim to achieve, only to find themselves lacking graphic design knowledge. Although high-tier options like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator help users worldwide to put their ideas into pixels, the reality is they are not user-friendly interfaces for people outside the graphic design industry, namely business professionals, marketers, and educators. Hence, the need to find an alternative for making powerful graphics to use in our presentations – and here’s where Canva comes into the picture.

This web-based graphic design tool has quickly become the preferred choice of teachers, social media influencers, and small business owners due to its free-tier plans and pro plans at a convenient subscription-based fee. 

In this article, we will see how to use Canva presentation in PowerPoint and how to export Canva to PPT, to create visually appealing presentations.

Table of Contents

Canva vs. Microsoft PowerPoint: Pros and Cons for Presenters

Designing with canva, how to export a canva presentation to powerpoint, how to use canva-made graphics in powerpoint, final words.

Although presenters often see Canva as an alternative to PowerPoint, the reality is that they differ in one single aspect: Canva is a graphic design tool, whereas PowerPoint is a presentation design software. Some of the tools available in PowerPoint are not there in Canva, and vice versa.

Going into more technical aspects, here are the Pros and Cons of working with either software as a presenter.

Pros of Canva as a Presentation Tool

User-friendly interface.

Canva’s drag-and-drop feature makes it easy for non-designers to create presentations by using its library of shapes, graphics, text styles, and other resources.

Wide Range of Templates

It offers a vast library of Canva templates, which can be easily customized in their online editor, saving time on design. There’s a con associated with this point, which we shall discuss later.

Magic Studio for Canva was released mid-Q3 this year with the idea of powering designs with AI tools. This tool is available in Canva search features and in the editor at the bottom right corner, which features the list options:

• AI text generation
• Suggested graphics to match your design
• Suggested photos to match your design

Collaboration Feature

Allows multiple users to simultaneously work on the same presentation, which is great for small team projects. Compared with PowerPoint, it does not require all users to be Premium to collaborate online.

Web-Based Platform

Being an online platform, it allows users to work from any device with Internet access without needing software installation. This particularly helps users with legacy computers who cannot install current versions of Microsoft Office. 

Integrated Stock Library

Provides access to a broad selection of stock photos, illustrations, and icons within the platform. Just like with the Canva templates, there’s also a con to this point.

Customization Options

Users can upload images and fonts, enabling brand consistency across presentations. Note: The upload fonts feature is only available for Canva Pro users.

Photo Editing and Animation Features

Canva lets users tweak their graphics with simple-to-use controls. These options help us to adjust opacity, apply photo filters, add animation effects, add bevels and shadows, and more.

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Can export presentations to various formats (as a PDF document, as a video presentation in MP4 format, or even as images), making them viewable on different devices and platforms. The export options allow us to post directly into social media, create printables, post to the web, etc. While some export formats require an upgrade to a Canva Pro subscription (like the ability to export to SVG format), the basic export features are enough for simple presentations and beginners.

Cons of Canva as a Presentation Tool

Limited offline functionality.

Requires an internet connection for full functionality, which can be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity, for business people working on an airline flight, while using Airplane mode, or for people traveling in other zones without Internet access.

Fewer Animation and Transition Options

Unlike PowerPoint, the available options for animations and transitions are limited. Users can find this reiterative, which may be unappealing to using these effects in our presentations. 

Premium Content

Although the Canva library is extensive in terms of assets, the reality is that most of these elements are only available for premium users. This applies to templates, shapes, images (mostly), and exporting options. Resizing the graphics you create in Canva to repurpose your design is only available to premium users.

Template Overuse

Popular templates can be overused, making presentations look similar to many others. This is of particular interest to business professionals, as people tend to easily associate some designs as being made with Canva.

Design Decisions

Unlike using a PowerPoint template , you have to work your way with Canva content, as the PPT templates tend to be quite generic and do not offer tools for data representation. Consequently, you have to know how and where to introduce those elements on your own rather than working with a presentation template that already assigned the space for such graphics.

Lack of Advanced Multimedia Integration

Integrating complex multimedia elements like videos is not as seamless as in some desktop applications. You won’t find options to link to source elements; you need to upload the content to your personal Canva library and manually add the resource to the slide. Presenters can also lose third-party integrations via plugins for some multimedia resources.

Pros of PowerPoint as a Presentation Tool

Widespread use and familiarity.

PowerPoint is the leading market tool for presentations, making most audiences and presenters are familiar with it at a basic operational level. This can help us to outsource technical issues quickly rather than aiming to use web-based interfaces to share Canva-created content.

Offline Access

PowerPoint can be used offline, which is ideal for people traveling, areas where the Internet connection is unreliable, or simply because we want to focus on creating the slides rather than facing distractions via the Internet.

Integration with Other Microsoft Office Tools

Seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft products like Excel and Word, making it easy to import data and documents. This is ideal for creating complex graphics for data representation, where the content can be synced, importing databases, working with Gantt Charts in software like Microsoft Project, and more.

Also, Microsoft PowerPoint has the same text editing capabilities as Microsoft Word – a striking contrast with Canva’s limited features.

Templates and Design Options

This is PowerPoint’s forte: the capability of using third-party presentation templates, like the ones provided by SlideModel . Users can buy pre-designed slide decks from professional vendors and ease the need to make design-related decisions. On top of that, Microsoft already includes some basic templates with its 365 subscription.

Advanced Features

Offers a broad range of features, including detailed animations and transitions, which can enhance presentations. For example, the ability to work with SVG graphics allows presentation designers to make pixel-perfect presentations without losing image quality. This is available to all users, unlike Canva, which requires a subscription to unlock certain elements.

Multimedia Capabilities

Supports embedding of various multimedia elements like audio, video, and images directly into presentations. You can use hyperlinks to embed content or work with third-party plugins for specific tasks.

Extensive Support and Resources

As a long-established tool, users can find tutorials everywhere, support communities, and additional resources available online.

Cons of PowerPoint for Presenters

Some features can be complex to use, and the interface may be overwhelming for new users. In particular, this is linked to editing PowerPoint Shapes and graphs, working with Slide Master , applying advanced animation effects and so on.

Unlike Canva or Google Slides, PowerPoint requires purchasing Office 365 or a standalone license.

Heavy Files

PowerPoint files, especially those with multimedia content, can become large and difficult to share via email. As a side effect, those heavy files can be complicated to handle in computers that lack sufficient RAM and processing power. Moreover, they require significant free disk space on your PC.

Time-Consuming

Creating a high-quality presentation with custom animations and graphics can be time-consuming. That’s the reason why we highly recommend users work their way with PowerPoint templates, and mix and match designs to create a unique slide deck .

Learning Curve

Users need to invest time in learning the software to fully utilize its advanced features. This applies to both acquiring the knowledge and practicing the skills you learned. And still, for some users, it feels frustrating not to achieve results relatively quickly. 

In this section, we will learn how to use Canva to create graphics for a product presentation. The idea is to create placeholder graphics containing images of a product; then, we will export that content to continue creating our presentation in PowerPoint.

After creating our Canva account, we find ourselves at the Home screen. Go to Templates, and you will see something similar to this UI. 

We can go straight to the Presentations (16:9) option or use the search bar to locate the template we want. In this case, we will opt for that scenario and search “Product.”

The images that show a little crown at the low right corner are premium templates, which means we cannot use them with a free account. We will pick a template that fits the needs of our presentation by clicking over it. At the contextual window that opens, select Customize this template .

The Canva builder may take a bit to load, especially if your internet connection is slow. You will find yourself with a window like this one, opened at the Design tab, which offers alternatives for other templates similar to the one you chose.

The Styles tab allows us to quickly change the layout, altering color themes and fonts. Sometimes, that can suit our needs immediately; sometimes, it requires extra work to customize to our preferences.

We can click on any element in this design and customize its content. Depending on the element type, the options are available for us. For this presentation, we will change the text and images, and alter font color at the button to make it stand out.

Next, it’s time to replace the images. We can drag and drop the image into Canva, or we can go to the Uploads button and add the content from there.

In this case, we’re using DALL-E-generated images for this product presentation, you can also use illustrations, photos, videos, or Midjourney illustrations . Once the images are uploaded, drag and drop them to replace the images in the placeholder areas. To complete this design, we removed the shape that came with the template – you can add a new shape by going to Elements > Graphics .

Learning how to use Canva for PowerPoint is pretty straightforward. Download your Canva design as a PowerPoint presentation, which you can do by accessing your design and going to the top-right corner to locate the button Share . Click on it, and then click on Download .

Under File Type , we will select PPTX , as it’s PowerPoint’s native format. Click on Download , and wait for the process of downloading the file to be completed. Depending on the graphic assets included, it can take a while.

At this point, don’t be surprised if you’ll be prompted to upgrade your Canva plan (if you don’t have a premium account). The reason is that Canva will charge you for exporting what they call premium graphics, and since most of the Canva presentation templates use premium graphics, this will be a limitation when exporting your Canva slides to PowerPoint. 

A simple workaround is removing the premium graphics before exporting from Canva to PowerPoint. Although, take in mind this may affect the overall design of your presentation.

As you can see below, the PowerPoint file is entirely editable. Something to consider is that unless you have the font installed on your computer, PowerPoint will reassign to a generic font.

Remember the design we created before? Well, it’s time to use that image as part of a marketing deck presentation , which will represent a social media post to be used by the marketing team to promote the brand.

The first step is to download the design we created as PNG. We can close Canva after that.

We opened our PPT template, which is the Annual Marketing Plan PowerPoint Template , and customized the PowerPoint theme colors . Go to Insert > Pictures > This Device .

Select the image we created in Canva and upload it here. We will add some image shadow effects via Shape Format, and a textbox below that describes what the image is about.

And that’s how easily we can use graphics from Canva in our PowerPoint presentations. Remember, it’s best to work with PNG images rather than JPG to reduce file size and preserve image quality.

You can invite others to collaborate on your design by sharing a link to the editable design or by adding them via email as team members on your Canva account.

Canva uses standard cloud storage security measures to protect your data, but like any online platform, it’s important to use a strong password and follow good security practices.

There are two methods for this. You can upload a PPT template into Canva via the Canva Homepage by clicking on Projects , and then go to the Uploads folder. Drag and drop or click on Upload, as we’ve seen before. Once imported, you must click on that file to open it in the Canva editor. The second method is on the editor: go to the Uploads button and upload your PPT file as if it were an image or another media asset.

Yes, you can use SlideModel presentation templates in Canva. As a SlideModel subscriber, you can download .pptx files to import into Canva presentations. This way, you can enjoy the creative slide templates and graphics provided by SlideModel in your Canva presentations

Unfortunately, no, as Canva doesn’t have the same toolset to enable editing functions. That also applies to changing color, so we highly recommend you work with a final PPT file before switching to Canva.

Objects like charts, SmartArt, 3D objects, and WordArt aren’t supported in Canva and won’t be rendered if you upload a slide that contains them.

Yes, all users can download Canva presentations to PPTX format. In case the original Canva design isn’t a presentation file, like a banner or social media post, you won’t be able to resize for that output unless you have a premium account.

Yes, the file must be smaller than 70 MB, and you can import up to 300 slides.

Canva and PowerPoint can collaborate as complementary tools to help presenters overcome the limitations of each individual tool. It takes a while to create your desired workflow, but once that’s accomplished, you can elevate the quality of your PowerPoint or Google Slides presentations with Canva. 

We don’t advise using Canva as an alternative to PowerPoint as the current state-of-the-art indicates it won’t support data representation or other PowerPoint stellar tools that make part of most PPT templates. 

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How to Use Canva to Create and Give Presentations

Canva makes it easy to edit text, make GIFs , and create content for social media like Instagram . But Canva also makes it easy to create presentations and if you are in a hurry and forgot your PC, Canva allows you to give that presentation using your smartphone. Here is how you can create and give presentations using Canva while on the move.

Table of Contents

Create Presentation Using Canva Templates

One of the things that make Canva so much easier to use is templates. They offer free and paid templates for almost all sorts of content that you may think of. We will be using a free template to create a presentation on Canva’s web app.

1. Open Canva in your browser and search for Presentation in the search bar.

2. You will be taken to the presentation templates page . You can filter by category or just scroll through until you find something that catches your eye or meets the criteria. You can also click on the empty frame with +sign to create a new presentation from scratch but that would be time-consuming.

Note: Templates with a golden crown icon are paid templates.

3. Click on any template and you will see a pop-up menu with more details about the template. Click on Customize this template to begin making your template. Click on the star icon to bookmark it for later perusal.

4. Now, in the left sidebar, you will find all the slides in the presentation. When you select a slide, you will be able to edit it on the right side. Each element can be edited or removed including text, image, and various elements. It is easy to add, edit, and format text .

5. You can choose from a variety of apps from the marketplace to make your work easier including AI apps like Dall-E. Simply click on Apps in the left sidebar and choose the one that you want to use.

6. You can also draw on slides or use stock images from sources like Pixabay and Pexels without having to leave Canva.

7. To add a slide, click on the plus icon at the bottom. You can also right-click on the existing slide and select Duplicate page to create an identical new slide that will retain the formatting and layout of the first slide. So all you have to do is change the text and some elements.

When you are happy with the presentation, you have a couple of options. Let’s have a look at them in the below sections.

Give a Presentation Using Canva

There are two ways to do it. You can present a presentation made in Canva using both the web app and the Android or iPhone app.

Give Canva Presentation on PC

1. Go to Canva homepage and click on Projects in the left sidebar.

2. Click on the presentation that you want to give to open it.

3. Click on the Present button in the upper right corner. You will see three options to present.

• Present full screen – this will begin a full-screen presentation for everyone to see.
• Presenter view – this presents the slides that you have created along with notes that you may have.
• Autoplay – this will let you set a timer so that once you begin the presentation on Canva, slides will change after the chosen time (in seconds) automatically.

4. Once you selected a form of presentation, click on the Present button to begin.

Have you heard of Adobe Spark? We did an in-depth comparison between Canva and Spark . Find out who won and why.

Give Canva Presentation on Mobile

If you are working remotely or traveling and don’t have your laptop on you, Canva allows you to give presentations directly from mobile.

By Sharing Presentation Link

Open the Canva app and go to the Projects tab. Now open the presentation and then select the Presentation menu (TV icon).

If you are casting your mobile screen on a bigger screen, this will work beautifully.

Using Phone as Remote to Give Presentations

This is one neat trick up Canva’s sleeve. You would have noticed how presenters on stage have a small remote in their hands that they use to change slides. You don’t need anything but your smartphone to give presentations saved on Canva now. And it is quite easy.

1. Open the presentation on your web or mobile Canva app. Here we are using the web app. Click on the Present button to begin the presentation.

2. Select an option depending on how you want to present. We discussed the three options above. Now click on Present button.

3. Once the presentation begins, click on the meatballs menu (three-dot icons) at the bottom right corner of the screen and select Share remote control option.

4. Either scan the QR code or Copy the link and paste it on your mobile browser. Any browser will do.

5. You can now control the presentation and slide movements right from your mobile browser. Here is how it looks. Tap on the left or right button to move slides.

Presenting, Canva!

Canva not only makes creating presentations easy thanks to the wide variety or free and paid templates, but it also offers intuitive ways to present your slides. But that’s not all that Canva can do. We use Canva to create featured images, resize images , make background transparent , and so much more.

Gaurav Bidasaria

Gaurav is an editor here at TechWiser but also contributes as a writer. He has more than 10 years of experience as a writer and has written how-to guides, comparisons, listicles, and in-depth explainers on Windows, Android, web, and cloud apps, and the Apple ecosystem. He loves tinkering with new gadgets and learning about new happenings in the tech world. He has previously worked on Guiding Tech, Make Tech Easier, and other prominent tech blogs and has over 1000+ articles that have been read over 50 million times.

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2 Easy Ways To Zoom In Canva Presentation

You can zoom in Canva when your presentation is on full-screen preview and while you are editing your presentation. In this article, you will learn how to zoom in Canva presentation.

How To Zoom In Canva Presentation?

The best way to zoom in on a Canva presentation is to use your keyboard shortcut keys by pressing Command + the plus sign “+” on Mac or Ctrl + the plus sign “+” on Windows. You can zoom out by pressing Command + hyphen “-” on Mac or Ctrl + hyphen “-“.

If you want more details, I’ve lined up some other ways and steps in this tutorial below.

Method 1: Shortcut Keys

You can use the shortcut keys to zoom in and out of your Canva presentation just like how you use them for many, if not all apps on your computer. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Presentation Mode

The first step is to open up your design as a presentation in Canva.

Then, select the Share button in the top right-hand corner.

In the middle of the drop-down panel, select the Present button.

Select any view you like from these options: Present full screen , Presenter view , or Autoplay . Note that you can’t zoom in and out of the Present and Record mode.

Then, click on the Present button at the bottom of the drop-down panel.

Step 2: Zoom In Canva With Shortcut Keys

Next, with your Canva presentation opened up, you can zoom in by using the keyboard shortcut key  Command  and the  plus key  “ + ” on a Mac.

Or the  Ctrl  and  plus key  “ + ” on Windows.

Zooming in makes everything closer to you or bigger. Great to see tiny text like superscripts in Canva clearer.

To zoom out of your Canva design page, use the  Command  and minus or hyphen key “-” on a Mac.

Or the  Ctrl  and minus or hyphen key “-” on Windows.

When creating your presentation design on your Canva page, you are able to have your zoom percentage value reset to what it was before by pressing Command + “0” on Mac, or Ctrl + “0”.

However, when in Canva presentation mode , this keyboard shortcut does not work. You can only use the zoom-in and out shortcut keys to adjust the value.

Method 2: Slider

The other method to zoom in and out of a Canva presentation is to use the available slider in the presentation mode. It can be seen in all the views given except for the Present and Record view. Here are the steps:

Same with Method 1, select the presentation mode you like, either Present full screen , Presenter view , or Autoplay .

Then click the Present button .

Step 2: Zoom Slider

In the Present Full Screen and Autoplay modes, bring your cursor to the bottom of the screen. A set of options will appear.

Select the zoom icon represented by a magnifying glass with a plus sign inside.

Once you click on it, a slider will pop up on the right side. Adjust the toggle on the slider to the right to zoom in and slide it to the left to zoom out of your presentation.

If you select the Presenter View , bring your cursor to the left side where your presentation is shown and bring it on top of the timeline window.

A slider will pop up with the zoom slider on the left side. Use your cursor to adjust the toggle and zoom level.

Is There A Zoom Feature On Canva?

Yes, there is a zoom feature on Canva at the bottom of the Canva browser page or Canva app. You can move the toggle on the zoom slider or select the preset percentage value next to the slider to zoom in and out of your Canva page.

How To Use Zoom In Canva Presentation?

Here’s how to present Canva presentation on Zoom. To use Zoom in a Canva presentation, the first step is to enable your Zoom app to share your screen. Make sure everyone is able to see your screen.

Then, go to the Canva design page, select the  Share  button on the top right-hand corner of the Canva app or browser, then select More and click on  Present .

Select any of the presentation modes, then click the  Present  button. You can proceed to use Zoom in the Canva presentation.

Can I resize in Canva without Canva Pro?

Yes you can resize in Canva without Canva Pro by first opening a new blank canvas with the new size. Then, go to your Canva design that’s in the original size and select all the design elements. Next, right-click on your cursor and select “Copy” in the pop-up menu.

Next, go to the browser window or tab that has your Canva document or the right size . Click on the empty document, right-click on your cursor and select “Paste” in the pop-up menu.

Your design will appear on the new Canva document of your desired size . You will have to adjust your image size and layout to fit the new document size.

How Do I Change The Presentation View In Canva?

The best way to change the presentation view in Canva is to first exit your presentation and go back to the Canva design editor page. Then, select the Share button in the top right-hand corner.

Next, select the Present link and go on to select the presentation view you wish to change to. Then press the Present button.

Can You Pan And Zoom In Canva?

The best way to pan and zoom in Canva is to use two fingers to slide left and right on your trackpad and zoom in using the keyboard shortcut Command  and the  plus key  “ + ” on a Mac. Or Ctrl and the  plus key  “ + ” on Windows.

To zoom out of your Canva design page, use the  Command  and minus or hyphen key “-” on a Mac. Or the  Ctrl  and minus or hyphen key “-” on Windows.

Does Zooming In Affect The Quality Of The Presentation?

Zooming in on Canva does not affect the overall quality of the presentation. However, it’s important to use high-quality images and graphics to ensure that they remain sharp and clear even at higher zoom levels.

Can I zoom in during a live presentation in Canva?

The best way to zoom in during a live presentation in Canva is to use your keyboard shortcut keys by pressing Command + the plus sign “+” on Mac or Ctrl + the plus sign “+” on Windows. But you can’t zoom in when you are recording your Canva presentation.

How To Share Canva Presentation Link

The best way to share Canva presentation link is to click on the Share button on the top right-hand corner of the Canva app. Then scroll down and select the View-only Link. A URL will appear, click on the Copy button to copy and share the link.

Marilyn Wo is a graphic design expert. She has spent over two decades creating branding and graphic design work for clients all over the world, including X (formerly Twitter) and Samsung.

She runs MeetAnders, a graphic design company where she trains and works with a team of reliable designers. Follow her on LinkedIn .

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