how to presentation in canva

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 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.

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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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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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10 Free Canva Alternatives For Eye-Catching Designs And Presentations

I n the digital age, eye-catching designs and stunning presentations are more important than ever. Canva has long been a go-to tool for creating these visuals. However, there's a world of options beyond Canva, each with its unique strengths and capabilities.

Whether you're a small business owner, a blogger, or someone looking to spruce up a presentation, each of these tools has something helpful to offer. They made the list not just for their affordability but also for their ease of use and flexibility in design. From editing PDFs to creating social media graphics and beyond, these platforms can expand your creative possibilities.

We have explored each alternative's features, such as background removal tools, advanced editing capabilities, and user-friendly templates. The goal is to equip you with the knowledge to choose the right tool for your design needs so you can create stunning visuals without breaking the bank. Here are the best 10 free Canva alternatives for eye-catching designs and presentations.

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Stencil  is a great tool for creating easily shareable images tailored for social media, small business owners, and bloggers. Stencil's focus is to make image creation easy with a free all-in-one app. It has an impressive stock photo library available to both free and premium users, and creating images for social media or blog posts is intuitive. The actions are simple clicks and drag-and-drop functions that users of all tech and graphic design levels will recognize.

Posting images is simplified through several convenient features. Users can directly send images via SMS or post them to Facebook or Instagram feeds through login integration. Additionally, there's an option to connect with a Buffer account to schedule posts after creation. Stencil's free option allows users to save 10 images per month with access to a limited stock library. It won't be enough for a full-time blogger, but it's a great test drive. Unlocking everything Stencil has to offer costs $12 per month or a yearly fee of $86.40. This essentially removes all limitations and gives full access to its stock library. There are no other microtransactions or add-ons.

Snappa is another great alternative to Canva, especially if you're not a graphic designer. Its user interface is remarkably user-friendly, with easy adjustments made through simple sliders and menus. Snappa has over 6,000 templates to get started with, as well as an impressive library of free images and graphics. The images provided are royalty-free and can be used for any project without incurring additional costs.

The downside to Snappa's simplicity and ease of use is that graphic designers may find it lacks the functionality of some of the other services on this list. It's ideal for beginners and those who need an image but don't have any idea how to make one.

Snappa's free version functions more like a trial, granting access to all templates and images but limiting users to only three downloads per month. Access to all other features requires a paid account, which is priced at $15 per month or $120 annually -- equivalent to $10 per month.

Adobe Express

While the AI image creator Adobe Firefly has been getting most of the press these days, Adobe still has plenty of traditional image editing tools available. One of the most affordable is  Adobe Express , an entry-level software that's ideal for those unfamiliar with Adobe's range of products and as a user-friendly image creation and editing tool.

You'll find many of the standard Adobe tools you would with Photoshop and other Adobe products , but they have been streamlined for ease of use for beginners. Users can quickly create images for social media and smaller projects with ease. Included are numerous templates that can be customized for different projects, as well as options for creating vector images.

The free version of Adobe Express provides users with a limited capacity for image generation each month and offers access to a basic range of templates and stock photos. For those who want more comprehensive features, there's a premium subscription available at $100 per year or $10 per month that unlocks full access to all tools and an extensive stock library.

Adobe Express is much more intuitive and easy to use than Photoshop, making it a good starting point for beginners. However, those without any design experience may find it a bit challenging. In addition, more experienced users will find it easy to use but less comprehensive than Photoshop.

If you're looking for a powerful no-frills editor, Pixlr X is a great place to start. It's completely free, although the website monetizes itself through ads. However, this means you don't even have to make an account and can jump right into editing and content creation.

As a free product, Pixlr X offers its complete range of features through a web app. The app itself has a streamlined interface with menus that provide a wide array of customization tools and options, allowing precise image alterations according to user preferences.

The software includes templates and settings for virtually every need. It features ready-made templates for popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch, allowing users to create perfectly sized images right from the start. Additionally, Pixlr offers templates for podcast cover art and much more.

The user interface of Pixlr X is clean and uncluttered, without any distracting graphics. It presents a simple menu packed with various editing options. The toolset is comprehensive, making it easy for beginners to use while also offering enough advanced features to satisfy experienced users and graphic designers.

VistaCreate

VistaCreate is an excellent tool for creating visual marketing materials and ads for your business. The platform is designed to be easy to use and user-friendly while still providing visually impressive results. It offers templates for different seasons and industries that users can easily alter and customize to quickly create promotional materials, even if they lack an eye for design. Included with the editor is a massive library of tools like stock photos, videos, logos, fonts, and more that all can be used for free without licensing issues.

Signing up for the premium membership unlocks all of the available templates and graphics. Most users won't be stunted by the offerings from the free version, but the premium version has significantly more variety. If you want to try it before you buy, VistaCreate does offer a 14-day trial that gives access to the premium version. However, this trial requires a credit card entry, so you need to remember to cancel before the trial period ends to avoid charges.

The free version is free forever. It offers a respectable 10 GB of storage for projects and files. The premium version has unlimited storage, more templates and graphics, and access to unique tools like a background remover and instant sticker makers. VistaCreate premium costs $13 per month or $10 per month if paid annually.

Visme is a fantastic and incredibly versatile tool. It's a single app that can do most things that you'd want from an image editor, plus a few extra features that go beyond simple image content creation and editing. 

Like many other platforms, it has a host of templates, fonts, and stock images that make it easy to create brandable materials, social media posts, and digital media. However, in addition to the simple image editor, Visme also has a lot of intuitive tools for small businesses. Users can easily upload data from spreadsheets and graph it visually using a simple, drag-and-drop interface that can readily be branded. Images and content you create on Visme can also be turned into videos and edited directly on the platform.

The only downside to Visme is its price. The website offers a free version that allows you to take the system for a test drive, but it doesn't allow you to export any of the files that you create. While there may be workarounds, it may be better to consider purchasing a membership or choosing another service from this list. The Starter membership costs $12.25 per month when paid annually, or $29 monthly, and the Pro membership costs $24.75 per month when paid annually, or $59 billed monthly. Although this pricing is on the higher end compared to other services, Visme's comprehensive all-in-one solution justifies the cost for many users.

If you need infographics, PowerPoint presentations, or short videos, then Piktochart is one of the best alternatives to Canva. The platform doesn't concentrate on pure image design and generation. Instead, it focuses on bringing data to life through fun and interesting infographics.

For businesses that generate significant traffic through social media or understand the value of SEO, Piktochart recognizes that a well-crafted infographic can be a powerful asset. Its tools and templates are designed to present data in a visually attractive manner, highlighting key points. All of Piktochart's tools and templates present data in visually appealing ways while still clearly showing key data points. The user interface is very user-friendly and comes with tutorials on every aspect of the system. There's even a quick crash course that claims can get you up and running within an hour.

Piktochart also has rudimentary video editors that are surprisingly easy to edit. While it may not offer the extensive functionality of dedicated video editing software, it meets the needs of most users. There's also the option to quickly turn images into PowerPoint presentations and videos, making it an excellent choice for office workers. Piktochart is free but only offers limited online storage options. It's essentially a forever-free trial that allows users to get started with the system and determine if they can make use of it. The paid version costs $14 per month when paying annually or $29 monthly. 

The makers of DesignCap took all the fun aspects of making a poster or collage for grade school and turned it into software. Surprisingly, the software is known for its ease of use, making image creation as straightforward as those school projects.

DesignCap presents itself as a one-stop shop for all of your design needs, but in reality, it works better if you look at it like a poster maker. The platform can help users create simple images using templates and tools for social media posts, cards, wedding invitations, posters, and social media.

While it's not advanced enough for a professional graphic designer, it is ideal for someone who needs to make some eye-catching visuals. The free version has a smaller library of templates and stock photos available and is limited to five image saves. The only other limitation is export file formats. It has fewer options than some of the others on this list, but if you just need JPEGs to post or create images quickly, DesignCap is a great resource.

For more advanced users on a budget, Photopea is a fantastic solution. Photopea is not specifically tailored for bloggers or social media users -- instead, it is fundamentally an image editor. This focus on image editing first is reflected in its user interface and color scheme, which might not be specifically designed for bloggers and influencers but still offers useful functionality for them. The UI is very bare bones, devoid of any testimonials or marketing trying to upsell users.

Upon visiting the Photopea site, users can immediately upload and start editing images. The more you use Photopea, the more functionality you'll discover in the software. Users can create vector images, create layers, apply filters, and so much more. There's a dedicated tutorial section of the site to help users navigate the numerous features. If you can't find the answer there, Photopea also has a very active Reddit community as well as email support.

Photopea is unique in that beginners can do all of the simple editing that they'll need, while advanced graphic designers will also find a lot of useful tools to make something truly memorable. Photopea is a free service that supports itself through ads. Users have the option to purchase a premium membership, which removes ads and supports the developers. The free version already provides full access to all features, although premium users benefit from prioritized email support.

Desygner is a budget-friendly alternative to Canva that was specifically designed to be a more user-friendly alternative to Adobe InDesign. Desygner has intuitive controls that allow users to easily choose and modify templates. Like many of the other alternatives on this list, it comes equipped with a large stock image and template library that is free to use for commercial and personal use.

One of its best features is its PDF editor. All of the easy-to-use tools can be used to edit and alter PDFs to create impressive documents. These are perfect for flyers, notices, resumes, and much more. This task can often be tricky in standard word processors, but Desygner simplifies it with the same tools used for image creation. Another standout feature of Desygner is its background removal tool. If you've been creating images for a business, you'll know how essential this feature is, not to mention how frustrating it can be when it doesn't work well.

In terms of affordability, Desygner is very budget-friendly. Its pricing is among the most economical on this list, at approximately $5 per month when paid annually or $10 paid monthly. The free version of Desygner provides access to many of its tools and templates. While the free version is sufficient for smaller businesses and casual users, the premium version is a worthwhile investment for regular image creators. It includes the background remover tool and offers a significantly larger selection of stock images and templates.

Read the original article on SlashGear .

Android Police

How to curve text in google slides.

Grab everyone's attention with curved text in presentation slides

Google Slides offers formatting options to tweak text, photos, videos, and other elements in a presentation. However, it lacks a few important add-ons. For instance, unlike PowerPoint, there isn't a built-in way to curve text in Google Slides. If you want to make your presentation stand out among the rest, use the tricks below to curve text in Google Slides.

Adding curved text is a neat way to elevate your presentation. Still, don't go overboard with curve text in Google Slides. It may create unnecessary distractions and make it hard for your audience to read a slide. Instead, highlight a few headings or text you want to separate from the other paragraphs.

Although Google Slides is available on mobile platforms like iPhone and Android phones , we focus on the web version in the steps below.

Curve text in Google Slides using PowerPoint

There are a couple of ways to curve text in Google Slides. If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription plan, use the PowerPoint desktop app to curve text and copy it into Google Slides. In another trick, you can use a web tool like Canva or InkPx to get the job done. Let's start with PowerPoint.

• Open Microsoft PowerPoint on Windows or Mac.
• Create a new presentation and go to any slide.
• Resize a text box and enter the text you want to add in Google Slides.
• Expand the text effects icon and click Transform .
• Check your curved text in action. Drag the white dots around the text box to resize it.
• Open a presentation in Google Slides and select a slide where you want to add curve text.

PowerPoint offers dozens of curved text styles. You'll have no trouble finding a style that matches your presentation tone and theme.

How to delete a text box in Google Slides

Use an online tool to curve text in google slides.

PowerPoint requires a paid Microsoft 365 plan. If you don't have a subscription, use the tools below to generate and upload curved text in Google Slides.

Curve text using Canva

Canva is one of the best graphic design tools available. The web app offers several editing tools to create curved text in a design. You can download the image with a transparent background and upload it to Google Slides. Follow the steps below.

• Use the top menu to tweak text style, color, size, and more.

The ability to download an image with a transparent background requires a Canva Pro subscription.

How to add transparency to an image in Google Slides

Curve text using inkpx.

InkPx is a web tool for creating curved text. You can make one and upload it on Google Slides.

• Visit InkPx .
• Enter text and pick a color, style, and size. Then, tweak the radius, spacing, and other details.
• Pick a PNG or JPG image type and save the image.
• Launch a presentation in Google Slides.
• Select your image and open it in Google Slides.

Unlike Microsoft PowerPoint and Canva, InkPx is free to download and use. And unlike other web tools, you don't need to create an account to use the service.

Make your presentation stand out

Aside from curve text, there are other ways to make an interesting pitch. However, creating an engaging presentation from scratch can be time-consuming. Check the top Google Slides templates to get started and complete an applaud-worthy presentation in no time.

Canva Acquires the Affinity Suite of Professional Design Apps

Last week, Canva , which specializes in online design for the masses, and Serif , makers of the Affinity suite of professional-level design apps, announced that Canva has acquired Serif for approximately $380 million. We’ve mentioned Canva only once before, but it’s a privately held Australian firm with 3500 employees and $2 billion in revenue. In 2019, Canva also acquired stock photography sites Pixabay and Pexels . Canva had about 100 million active monthly users as of December 2022, while Serif says over 3 million designers use its tools.

The match is a good one. The Affinity suite provides significantly more layout power than Canva’s browser-based tools, but Canva offers cloud and collaboration capabilities that are missing from the Affinity apps. I have long maintained that collaboration tools will win out over other features in the mass market because most modern projects involve multiple people. That’s why I do all my writing in Google Docs instead of the more powerful Nisus Writer Pro or BBEdit.

Similarly, although I wrote glowingly about the Affinity suite in “ Consider Switching from Creative Cloud to Affinity V2 ” (5 December 2022), nearly all my design work has moved to Canva. That’s because the Finger Lakes Runner Club’s communications team standardized on Canva in 2023 because of its collaborative capabilities (the free subscription for nonprofits helped, too). Up to that point, I had been producing flyers, calendars, and forms myself, with comments from others, but once a group took over those tasks, collaboration became king. Now, everything the club generates is in Canva, where anyone on the team can view, comment, and edit designs. We’ve settled on a working style where we trust others to make small changes on their own, but if someone has more radical suggestions, they show what they have in mind on a duplicate page. We’ve even occasionally used Canva’s built-in ordering options when they’re easier than printing locally.

Despite the fluidity of collaboration in Canva, I’ll admit to some annoyance with its design tools. For instance, it doesn’t support tab leaders, those evenly spaced dots that help you connect a right-aligned page number with its left-aligned Table of Contents entry—or, in our case, a right-aligned race date with a left-aligned race name in a calendar list. I also desperately miss arrows like those in Preview, which you can easily curve by dragging a mid-line control.

Nonetheless, Canva is a far more appropriate tool for the level of design the club needs and a better match for my design skills. With luck, Canva’s developers will extract a few of the more subtle features from the Affinity apps.

On the other side of the equation, the Affinity suite didn’t compete well with Adobe’s Creative Cloud in online collaboration. With Canva’s platform, collaborative capabilities are far more likely. Serif wrote:

Many of you would like to see a way to easily sync your Affinity documents and assets to all your devices, and also to be able to share and collaborate on your Affinity files. For us to build the infrastructure required for this was always going to be challenging, but it’s now certainly achievable via Canva’s platform.

Apart from a competitive feature set, what made the Affinity suite so attractive to some Creative Cloud users was the price. Where Adobe went all-in on the monthly subscription model—I was paying $54 per month when I switched to Affinity—Serif maintained traditional licensing with sales and discounts for major updates . Each of the three apps costs just $69.99, and a Universal License gets you all three apps for Mac, Windows, and iPadOS for just $164.99. Affinity currently has a sale that drops the per-app prices to $48.99 and the Universal License to $114.99.

The initial acquisition announcement wasn’t crystal clear about Canva’s plans regarding Serif’s perpetual license model. Canva relies on a subscription model that tries to entice users to move from a generous free account and pay $120 per user annually. Within a day, however, Canva and Serif issued four pledges to the Affinity community that promise to:

• Offer affordably priced perpetual licenses forever
• Expand and enhance the Affinity products
• Provide Affinity for free to schools and nonprofits
• Listen to and be led by the design community

In particular, Canva and Serif say that any future subscription model will be offered alongside the perpetual license, perhaps as a way of introducing the Affinity apps to Canva users or to take advantage of Canva as a collaborative platform.

Of course, there are no guarantees in an acquisition, but the FAQ that accompanied the acquisition announcement made all the right noises—the companies have similar cultures, there will be no layoffs, and so on. With luck, Canva will make good on all these promises and provide designers of all levels with an even more compelling alternative to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Perhaps that, in turn, will spur Adobe to develop innovative new features and offer solutions to those for whom Creative Cloud is overkill.

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Comments About Canva Acquires the Affinity Suite of Professional Design Apps

Notable replies.

2 minor points: I bought Affinity Photo 2 and Publisher 2 last year. I didn’t know they were available free to non-profits (I run one), but the cost is not a deal-breaker, by any means, especially on sale. If I ever upgrade to a higher version, I’ll check that out. Secondly, just so you’re not surprised when you pay for it, don’t be surprised if you get a foreign transaction fee tacked on to your credit card if your bank charges them. Again, even less of a deal breaker, but a surprise, nevertheless!

I really hope they don’t destroy Affinity, as often happens in these acquisitions….

I’m with you! The Affinity Suite has been great for me since I came over from the Adobe suite.

This is terrific news in my book.

To clarify a possible misconception, Affinity Photo was never free for non-profits or students, they did generously offer six month free trials to students during the pandemic which was key in my student uptake of the suite.

Now with Canva offering hopefully full versions of the suite for free as well as a set of their collaboration tools, I am thrilled. I have to maintain two variants of a module I teach, one is fully online and the students there use a set of licensed Affinity apps which I manage. The others are in person and they use the Adobe suite, it has meant two sets of lesson plans, two sets of tutorials, two variants of templates etc. None of these students are design majors, Affinity more than answers their needs. If it’s free the IT Dept won’t have an issue installing.

Sorry if I implied that. Canva provides a free subscription for nonprofits, and among the pledges that Canva and Serif make is one that suggests Affinity will also become free to nonprofits in the future.

I still run the perpetual version of Adobe Lightroom 6 and Photoshop CS6 – but I also have Affinity Photo. Photo is a good/great replace for Photoshop. I’m still waiting for them to develop a digital asset manager/RAW photo converter that is a replacement for Lightroom.

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A message to our amazing Affinity community

I am thrilled to announce that Affinity is joining the Canva family.

This is a moment of great excitement, anticipation, and profound gratitude for all of you who have been part of our story so far.

We know that those of you who’ve put your faith in Affinity, some since we launched our very first Mac app, will have questions about what this means for the future of our products. Since the inception of Affinity, our mission has been to empower creatives with tools that unleash their full potential, fostering a community where innovation and artistry flourish. We've worked tirelessly to challenge the status quo, delivering professional-grade creative software that is both accessible and affordable.

None of that changes today.

In Canva, we’ve found a kindred spirit who can help us take Affinity to new levels. Their extra resources will mean we can deliver much more, much faster. Beyond that, we can forge new horizons for Affinity products, opening up a world of possibilities which previously would never have been achievable.

Canva’s revolutionary approach to design democratization and commitment to empowering everyone to create aligns perfectly with our core values and vision. This union is a testament to what can be achieved when two companies that share a common goal of making design accessible and enjoyable for everyone come together.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to our incredible Affinity team. Your passion, dedication, and relentless pursuit of excellence have been the driving force behind our success so far, and I can’t wait to continue this journey with you all.

To our loyal users and the creative community, your support and feedback have been invaluable. You’ve inspired us to push boundaries and continuously improve, and we’re excited to embark on this new chapter together.

The future is bright, and I am incredibly excited to continue our story together and create a world where design is within everyone's reach.

You helped us start a movement. Today, that movement becomes a revolution.

With heartfelt thanks,

Ashley Hewson CEO

As of today (26 March 2024) Affinity is part of the Canva family. Canva has acquired Serif, the company behind the Affinity suite of professional creative software.

From the very early days of developing Affinity, our aim has always been to empower the world to design with incredibly powerful professional creative tools which do not cost a fortune. We are really proud of everything we have achieved so far, with more than three million designers around the world using our apps.

We have to say that selling Serif was not on our minds at all, but when Canva contacted us (only a couple of months ago!) there was something about it which just felt right. Product-wise it is a great fit as Canva do not have professional design tools as part of their offering, and we do not have any cloud or collaboration as part of ours. But more than that, our overall philosophies align so well and Canva’s culture (despite being a much larger company than us) is very similar.

We do believe that together we can produce the world’s most comprehensive visual communications offering, while at the same continuing to serve our existing creative professional community with more rapid development of our apps.

Since our inception, both of our companies have shared the same mission and vision. We were both founded with the belief that design shouldn’t be limited to those who can afford complex software.

Our goal has been to make the highest quality design tools available to the largest number of people with fair, transparent and affordable pricing at our core. By joining forces, we’re looking forward to accelerating this shared vision. As part of that, we’ve made Four Pledges to the Affinity community .

Affinity and Canva share a commitment to making design fairer and more accessible. For Canva, this has meant making its core product available for free to millions of people across the globe. And for Affinity, this has meant a fairly priced perpetual license model. We know this model has been a key part of the Affinity offering and we are committed to continue to offer perpetual licenses in the future as one of our Four Pledges to the Affinity community .

If we do offer a subscription, it will only ever be as an option alongside the perpetual model, for those who prefer it. This fits with enabling Canva users to start adopting Affinity. It could also allow us to offer Affinity users a way to scale their workflows using Canva as a platform to share and collaborate on their Affinity assets, if they choose to.

We believe Affinity is the highest-quality professional-grade design suite on the market. It’s non-destructive, superfast, and easy to use. As such, we want to reassure you that Affinity is here to stay – and will only get better.

In fact, as one of our Four Pledges to the Affinity community , we’re committed to using our shared resources to continue expanding Affinity’s products through further investment in Affinity as a standalone product suite.

Absolutely! We’re looking forward to accelerating the rollout of highly requested features such as variable font support, blend and width tools, auto object selection, multi-page spreads, ePub export and much more.

These additions will further cement Affinity as the best advanced design suite on the market and will be released over the coming year as free updates to V2.

We plan to start the beta of version 2.5 in the next month or so – if you would like to get involved in that you can sign up to our beta program .

Yes, it’s likely there will be some integration between Affinity and Canva in the future, particularly in consideration of the workflows of enterprise customers. Creative and brand management teams need professional tools to create and edit assets, images, icons, logos and other elements - and Affinity apps are the perfect choice for that.

Being able to quickly sync those assets to Canva for the wider organization to easily use within their documents, presentations, whiteboards and other visual communication materials would make a lot of sense.

Any integrations we do will be done using additional resource from Canva and will not get in the way of us continuing to develop the features and improvements you want to the Affinity apps.

Many of you would like to see a way to easily sync your Affinity documents and assets to all your devices, and also to be able to share and collaborate on your Affinity files. For us to build the infrastructure required for this was always going to be challenging, but it’s now certainly achievable via Canva’s platform.

Very early days and we don’t have a specific plan, but the main thing to say is that this is now certainly a possibility in the future!

No, your Affinity account remains the same and our website will continue to sell our apps and add-ons. You can continue to manage your purchases and downloads in the same way you always have.

As for individual users, you can expect to benefit from continued updates to your apps including many new features and improvements. If your school, university or business also uses Canva you will additionally benefit from some of the future integrations mentioned above between our platforms.

In fact Canva, which has pledged 30% of its value as a company towards doing good in the world through its two-step plan , offers premium plans at no cost to schools and nonprofits all over the world. More than 60 million students and teachers, plus 600,000 charities and registered nonprofits, benefit from this each month.

As one of our Four Pledges to the Affinity community we’re excited to extend this programme to include free access for schools and nonprofits to Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher. These professional-grade tools will add enormous value to this free offering, helping millions of students to master the craft of design, and empowering mission driven organisations to amplify their voices and maximize their impact.

We’ll share more details on this in the coming months, including what it means for our education and NFP customers that already use Affinity.

No, there are not going to be any layoffs. This was something that Canva were immediately clear on when initially discussing the acquisition – they are investing in the team we have here and it’s very important everyone is part of the future.

The team behind Affinity remains in place and our approach remains the same – and this is something that Canva is very focused for us to maintain too. Yes, we are now a division within a larger company, but we believe this will allow us to serve our community even better in the future and give us even greater freedom and ability to challenge the status quo.

There’s every chance there will be some expansion of our team over time – vacancies will be posted on our website as appropriate.

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Canva’s affinity acquisition is a non-subscription-based weapon against adobe, but what will result from the companies' opposing views on generative ai.

Scharon Harding - Mar 27, 2024 7:27 pm UTC

Online graphic design platform provider Canva announced its acquisition of Affinity on Tuesday. The purchase adds tools for creative professionals to the Australian startup's repertoire, presenting competition for today's digital design stronghold, Adobe.

The companies didn't provide specifics about the deal, but Cliff Obrecht, Canva's co-founder and COO, told Bloomberg that it consists of cash and stock and is worth "several hundred million pounds."

Canva, which debuted in 2013, has made numerous acquisitions to date, including Flourish, Kaleido, and Pixabay, but its purchase of Affinity is its biggest yet—by both price and headcount (90). Affinity CEO Ashley Hewson said via a YouTube video that Canva approached Affinity about a potential deal two months ago.

Before its Affinity purchase, Canva claimed 175 million users, which interestingly includes 90 million accrued since September 2022, when Canva launched Visual Suite. Without Affinity, though, Canva hasn't had a way to appeal to the business-to-business market.

Affinity, which works with iPads, Macs, and Windows PCs, meanwhile, has a creative suite that includes a photo editor, professional page layout software, and Designer, a vector-based graphics software that "thousands" of illustrators, designers, and game developers use, Obrecht said when announcing the acquisition.

Of course, Affinity's user base isn't nearly the size of Adobe's. Affinity claims that 3 million creative professionals use its tools. Adobe hasn't provided hard numbers recently, but in 2017, it was estimated that Adobe Creative Cloud had 12 million subscribers, and Adobe currently  claims to have 50 million members on its Behance online community.

However, Affinity has earned a following among creative professionals seeking an alternative to Adobe. Speaking to Bloomberg, Obrecht was keen to point out that Apple has featured Affinity apps in presentations about creative products, for example.

Perpetual Affinity licenses will still be available

Since being founded in 2014, one of the biggest ways that Affinity has stood out to creatives looking to avoid the costs associated with Adobe, including subscription fees, is perpetual licensing. New owner Canva pledged in an announcement today that one-time purchase fees will always be an option for Affinity users.

"Perpetual licenses will always be offered, and we will always price Affinity fairly and affordably," an announcement today from Canva and Affinity said.

If Canva ever decides to sell Affinity as a subscription, perpetual licensing will remain available, Canva said, adding: "This fits with enabling Canva users to start adopting Affinity. It could also allow us to offer Affinity users a way to scale their workflows using Canva as a platform to share and collaborate on their Affinity assets, if they choose to."

As we've seen with many other acquisitions, though, it's common for companies to start changing their minds about how they're willing to operate an acquired business years  or even months after finalizing the purchase. And, of course, Canva's idea of pricing "fairly and affordably" could differ from those of long-time Affinity users.

What about AI?

Canva also vowed to keep Affinity available as a standalone product and said there will be upcoming free updates to Affinity V2. However, Cameron Adams, Canva's co-founder, pointed to potential future integration between Canva's and Affinity's offerings when speaking with Sydney Morning Herald :

Our product teams have already started chatting and we have some immediate plans for lightweight integration, but we think the products themselves will always be separate. Professional designers have really specific needs.

Canva's announcement today said that the company plans to accelerate the rollout of "highly requested" Affinity features, "such as variable font support, blend and width tools, auto object selection, multi-page spreads, [and] ePub export." With Canva, which was valued at $26 billion in 2021 and generates over $2.1 billion in annualized revenue, taking ownership of Affinity, the creative suite is expected to have more resources for improvements and updates than before.

Notably, though, Canva hasn't revealed to what degree it may try to incorporate AI into Affinity. Canva is fully aboard the generative AI hype train and, as recently as this Monday pushed workers of all types to embrace the technology. Affinity, meanwhile, has said that it won't make any generative AI tech and is "against anything which undermines human talent or tramples on artists' IP." Affinity's stance could be forced to change one day under its new owner.

To start, though, Canva's acquisition helps to fill the B2B gap in its portfolio, and it's expected to use its new appeal to go after some of Adobe's dominance.

“While our last decade at Canva has focused heavily on the 99 percent of knowledge workers without design training, truly empowering the world to design includes empowering professional designers, too. By joining forces with Affinity, we’re excited to unlock the full spectrum of designers at every level and stage of the design journey," Obrecht said in Tuesday's announcement.

Meanwhile, Adobe abandoned its own recent merger and acquisition efforts, a $20 billion purchase of Figma, in December due to regulatory concerns .

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