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Canva Photo Book Review (Quality, Price, & Photos of My Order)

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Founder of CanvaTemplates.com & Professional Graphic Designer

Jake Tucker

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Canva Print is a neat service offered by Canva where you can turn your digital graphic designs into physical printed products. I was one of the first to test this service, and used it both for my small business and to furnish my house. However, it can be tough to tell what a Canva print product will actually look like.

Of course, the online renderings generated by Canva look nice, but it that how the products really turn out? So I decided to order a bunch of test products from Canva, and share the photos of the products I received, and provide my overall review as a graphic designer.

This article will focus on my order of a Canva photo book. It includes my overall review of the product and photos from my test order. I hope you find this useful!

Canva Template Brand Elements Applied

To make it easier to compare multiple Canva print products, I ordered all the products using the same brand elements from my own website ( CanvaTemplates.com ):

Canva Paper Bag Review

I ordered a Canva photo book for this test. Specifically, I ordered a Canva photo book with the following specifications:

Canva Print Preview Images vs. Received Product

Below are the preview images Canva generated for my design:

And below are some photos I took of the Canva photo book once it arrived. While the lighting at home wasn’t perfect, I think it provides a useful look into the final delivered product:

Canva Photo Book Quality

I received my custom-printed white paper bags from Canva, and I was happy with the finished product. The pristine white background perfectly showcased the vibrant design, creating an elegant and eye-catching look. The quality of the printing exceeded my expectations, making every detail stand out with clarity. From the sturdy construction to the crisp imprint, this custom bag easily met my expectations.

While it was slightly annoying to have to purchase 5 of the paper bags (minimum order size), I would generally say that this was good purchase and use of Canva Print! The bags were light, yet sturdy, and the logo printed quite well on them! If you want to learn more about how to use Canva Print , be sure to check out our blog !

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Using Canva To Create Your Photo Book

When you first think about making a photo book for any occasion, it sounds like it could be fun and exciting! However, for many people, it can be overwhelming, especially if you only have basic knowledge of design and formatting book interiors. No need to fear, we got you covered.

Creating a photo book can now be fun and easy when using Canva. 

What Is Canva? 

Before I begin to discuss my process of making a photo book on Canva and uploading it to Lulu, let’s talk about what exactly Canva is. Canva is a graphic design platform that allows customers to edit and design images, graphics, covers, presentations, and all other visual content. They now offer design templates for photo books. It is the easiest way to create a beautifully designed photo book without the headache. Though, this platform is a bit different than let’s say other design software like Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, because of its ease of use. You do not have to have any prior experience in design to create aesthetically pleasing content that looks like it was done by a professional.

Canva offers a wide range of features for free and has a paid upgrade with additional features. But if we are strictly talking about creating a photo book, using the free version is the best option, because there are no additional features between the paid version and the free version. If you are really interested in knowing more about the paid upgrade, check out Canva’s plan comparison page . 

Why Should You Use Canva To Create Your Photo Book?

The question really should be “Why Wouldn’t You Use Canva To Create Your Photo Book?”

Canva has 75+ templates depending on which photo book size you choose. Each template has a different design to fit the genre that best suits your book. For example, if you are creating a photo book for a wedding you recently were involved in, they have a wedding photo book template. If your photo book is mainly being used to showcase your photography, they have a portfolio template. 

I mean really anything you can think of, they probably have it. Canva has really thought of every possible design and brought it to life to make the experience easier for users. Using their templates helps make sure your book fits into the genre that you want. Canva also offers a bunch of free stock images, if you need a few extra pages in your photo book. Being that you probably have all the photos you need to create the book, you might not need this feature. 

All in all, Canva is by far the easiest and cheapest platform to create a stunning photo book.  So if you’re asking yourself, should I use this platform? Will it be easy enough? Will it have what I need? The answer to all of these questions is YES. 

Things To Know Before You Start

Now that I’ve made my case and convinced you all to use Canva to create your photo book, here are some things that you should know before you begin that process: 

• Make sure that all the images you upload are between 200 ppi – 600 ppi (pixels per inch) for the best results. If your image resolution is higher than 600 ppi, then it won’t have the best quality when printing. If your image is less than 200 ppi, it may result in grainy or pixelated images when printed.
• The minimum amount of pages Lulu requires to create a photo book is 24. If it is lower than that, the file will not be accepted. So make sure you have plenty of photos before creating. 
• Before going to Canva, please visit our website and check out the sizes we offer . That way when you are in Canva you can select a photo book trim size that we offer. 
• Edit your photos before uploading and creating your photo book on Canva. Whether that’s in Adobe Photoshop or another photo-editing platform that you use. However, if you do not have another software you could use, that’s okay, just upload the photos onto Canva and edit it straight from there.
• We recommend the 80# premium paper for image-heavy material. The 60# standard paper will not be the best quality and the ink will bleed into the other pages. 80# paper is the way to go when creating a photo book. 
• Price out your photo book with our Pricing Calculator so you get a sense of what it can cost you before you start creating. 

How To Create Your Photo Book Using Canva 

To see what it was like using Canva I created my own photo book to share with you guys, to make it even easier when you give it a shot. I chose the sizing 11 × 8.5 in because we offer that on our website and it is a common choice all around for photo books. 

When you create your account and log in, it will automatically direct you to their homepage. In the center, you will see “Design anything.” Type in “Photo Book” and the sizes will appear. Just like in the image below. 

Once you choose your size it will give you all of the templates they have at that size. I specifically chose the “By The Beach” template, because my photo book contains all images that have to do with the beach and I personally loved the look of the template. 

But choose the best template that works for you. And if you don’t like any of the templates you can also choose a “Blank Template” and create your photo book from scratch. Whatever template you decide on, click on it and it will take you to the editor.

Using Canva’s Editor

From this picture, you can see the menu: uploads, photos, elements, texts, styles, etc. 

You are going to want to click “Uploads” first and upload all of your pictures onto Canva. Once your photos are uploaded you can drag and drop them into the template and Canva will automatically adjust it to fit the template. 

However, if the picture in the photo book is cutting off an aspect of the photo that you want in the book, you can double-click on that photo and move it, crop it, and push it back or forward to fit it best for you. You can also enhance your photos with filters and effects, and add text to personalize your photo book. There are so many different styling and typography options to choose from. 

This photo contains only a few options from the many you can choose from. 

Furthermore, you can take the template that you chose and switch it up if you want to. In the photo book I created, it had 6 pages of already-made templates, but I wanted to create some variance so I took one of the template pages and made it my own. Below is an example of this: 

As you can see, Canva sets you up for success and ease, but also allows you to customize, and still hold creative control. The possibilities are endless. 

Uploading Your Book To Lulu 

Once the photo book is completed on Canva you are going to want to download it and convert it to a PDF. Canva makes this easy by just a few clicks. On top, there will be three buttons. Share, preview, and that icon to download. Click the download button. (Please make sure you choose PDF Print for best results).

After the interior is done downloading, please log into your Lulu.com account to begin creating your photo book and upload the PDF. 

Cover 

When the interior PDF is uploaded, our system will ask you to upload your cover. You are more than welcome to create your cover on Lulu.com or on another software or platform. But if you are already using Canva to create your interior, you are also welcome to create your cover on there as well. Here is a great blog post that dives into making a cover on Canva .

Create Your Book

Use Lulu’s free templates to easily create and publish your book today.

Review 

After uploading both the interior and cover onto Lulu.com, our system will ask you to review the book using the preview tool. 

Above is an example of the photo book I created in the preview section of Lulu.com. The arrows are pointing to the margins of the book. Whatever is past that blue line will be cut off. Now for me, I’m okay with it being cut off because it’s taking a slight bit away from the sky and the ocean. 

However, let’s say your family member’s face was at the edge of this photo, their face would be cut off. This means you are going to want to keep text and important imagery 0.5″ from the edges. Now once you have reviewed the preview section, and you feel like your book is ready to go, just proceed through the remainder of the steps to complete your book!

Well, there you have it folks, a complete photo book, done in a few easy steps. Canva was a great option for me to create the photo book, and I hope it will now be an option for you. 

Anna-Marie M

– Archived Author – Anna-Marie is the Marketing Project Manager at Lulu.com . Her job is to make sure campaigns go out smoothly with no hiccups. When she’s not hassling people for deadlines you can find her on the couch watching reality TV with her cat Kobe-Bean.

– Archived Author – Anna-Marie is the Marketing Project Manager at Lulu. Her job is to make sure campaigns go out smoothly with no hiccups. When she’s not hassling people for deadlines you can find her on the couch watching reality TV with her cat Kobe-Bean.

I’ve downloaded your PDF templates for a 11×8.5 photography book. How do I load them into CANVA to use them?

Hi Michael, To use our template, you’ll need to start by creating a Custom design on Canva. From the Canva home screen (once you’ve logged in), click Create a design and select Custom size . Set the size to your full bleed page size (in this case, 11.25 x 8.75 inches). This will open a new tab with your blank canvas. You can upload the interior page template from your template bundle (use the PDF file). It should upload to the ‘Projects’ folder on Canva. Once it’s there, you can add it to your page! Just remember to remove it before you export your pages so you don’t create print-ready pages with the template.

Keep Reading

9 Best Custom Photo Book Makers to Preserve Your Memories

Print travel photos with Mixbook, and customize baby photos with Artifact Uprising.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Our tech-savvy pros considered factors like expert input, past in-depth research, positive online reviews and consistently popular brands to find the best photo book makers on the market today.

Our top picks:

Best Overall Photo Book Maker

Shutterfly photo books.

Best Value Custom Photo Book Maker

Walmart photo custom photo books.

Most Aesthetic Photo Book Maker

Artifact uprising photo books.

Best Themed Photo Book Maker

Mixbook photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Beginners

Printique photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Young Kids

Pinhole press photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Google Photos Users

Google photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Amazon Prime Members

Amazon prints.

Best Photo Book Maker for Families

Chatbooks custom photo books & albums.

Though our experts in the Good Housekeeping Institute Media & Tech Lab are still testing photo book services for 2023, we previously tested the best wedding photo albums for every budget and style. We also test photo websites, photo-editing apps and photo-related products and score them based on ease of use, performance and features. You'll find more information on how we chose the best custom photo books at the end of this list, plus expert advice for what to keep in mind when shopping for the right photo book maker to fit your needs.

As holiday gift season begins, keep a photo book in mind for a meaningful personalized present . Regardless of the occasion, a custom photo book is the perfect sentimental gift for someone special, whether you need an affordable Valentine's gift , a family-orientated present for Grandma or a DIY Father's Day and/or Mother's Day gift that the kiddos can get involved with.

Shutterfly offers basic photo books at an affordable price. You can choose from a wide selection of themes, like birthday, travel or wedding, or neutral styles , such as modern or rustic. You can also create your own book and choose the book size, cover style and page style, then embellish it with Shutterfly's extensive library of stickers and ribbons to make your book extra special. We appreciate how easily users can edit within their chosen template and the brand's high-quality photo book paper, making Shutterfly a top pick.

You can also opt for one of its 6" x 6" Instant Books , which let you add photos from your phone, tablet or computer in minutes. These mini photo books have only 20 pages, but they're a great place to store goofy candids or Instagram posts you never want to forget. The possibilities are essentially limitless, though the vast array of options could be overwhelming for those starting out.

If you don't want the pressure of deciding on a layout, the brand offers a Make My Book option, in which Shutterfly's professional designers curate your photos and design the book for free. Plus, you'll still have the opportunity to put finishing touches on it before it gets printed. Whether you choose for 50 or 800 photos (the maximum), you'll receive an email notification within 24 hours that your book is complete.

Crunched for time? Design your photo book online and pick up select styles at a Walmart store near you in as little as one hour. Photo books picked up in one hour can have 15 single-sided pages and a linen cover, while same-day pickups (ready in a few hours) can have up to 20 double-sided pages and the option of a hardcover.

On top of the speedy turnaround, Walmart has a great selection of styles : You can choose everything from the photo size and layout to type of cover, including hardcover glossy or matte, linen, leather and lay-flat glossy or matte. If you need help narrowing down the choices, there's also the option to shop by occasion, whether you're looking for a one-year anniversary or 15th-year anniversary gift .

Despite the fast shipping and variety, our expert tester, Rachel Rothman , chief technologist and executive technical director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, did note that the quality is not as high as the options offered by other photo book makers on this list — but that may be expected considering the bargain price tag. Regardless, these photo books still make a superb present that can cost under $10 without compromising on sentimentality.

No matter the occasion, you can't go wrong with one of Artifact Uprising's high-quality photo books. There are numerous design options, including preset books to celebrate the birth of a new baby or commemorating a marriage. You can choose from lay-flat albums, books with photo strips and even softcover Instagram Friendly Books for the influencer in your life. The company even has an iPhone app that lets you create a photo book right from your smartphone. However, Rachel found the app to be glitchy at times and noted there's room for improvement with the software. Still, the books come out on top for elegance and simplicity .

One online reviewer wrote, "The fabric cover is beautiful. The photos are amazing quality and look amazing even though the photos were taken on film and therefore are a bit grainy." And the overall 4.6-star rating (out of 5) backs up that review. Quality and elevated designs come with a higher price tag, but there are options for $20 or less if you're shopping on a budget.

If you have a special project and a little more money to spend, Artifact Uprising offers Design Services , which allow you to work one-on-one with an expert to bring your special moments to life. Note that the design fee is rather steep at $119 and requires an additional $100 album deposit.

When Mixbook says it has "custom photo books for every occasion," it really means it. There are 374 different themed templates to choose from . From travel and sports to weddings and recipes, there's likely a template here for you. But that doesn't mean you have to give up creative control. You can still customize the look to your liking, from fun backgrounds to stickers to text using the Editor tool. Plus, there are plenty of paper varieties, from semigloss to ultra-thick matte.

Rachel appreciated the nice balance between good photo editing and price, but she did experience issues with the lay-flat option, in which the photos bled into the crease. You can also use the iPhone app to organize your photos with a tool that the brand calls "Automagic": Simply choose the images you want and select a theme. The goal of Automagic is to help arrange your camera roll so your photos are in order when it comes time to add them to your photo book.

If you're not sure where to start, our pros love Printique because it's super easy to use. You can select one of the many predesigned layouts or create an entire photo book from scratch. Choose among portrait, landscape and square orientations, as well as hardcover and softcover options. You can even store your memories in a genuine leather or vegan leather book or pick from five different fabric colors. Although you can't choose the color for a hard- or softcover photo book, you can still customize the shape, size and paper type.

Looking for something more advanced? There's also a tool for professional photographers to design and create their own photo books. Of course, you can also build up to this software later, as you add more photo albums to your collection. You could also consider starting with one of Printique's 4" x 4" Mini Softcover photo books , which have a maximum of 40 pages and come in three sizes.

With Pinhole Press, you can choose from various photo book styles ranging from board pages to softcovers to accordion-style setups. Upload your photos and let the system do the work, or manually place the photos into the layout yourself. Rachel says her kids love the Custom Board Books , which have themes such as " Count With Me ," " Healthy Habits " and " I Can Be Anything ." These photo books aren't just visually stimulating, but they can also educate and entertain kids for years to come .

"I got my daughter the ' My First Photo Book ' as a toddler and made it all about her — like pictures with family, doing things she likes, her favorite toys, at the playground and beach, etc. — and she still is obsessed with it," says Lexie Sachs , executive director of the Textiles, Paper & Apparel Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute.

Rachel also notes the custom Photo Puzzle is a fun option for kids, and the Itty Bitty Books are easy to tote around in a work bag for on-hand entertainment. There's less variety in some categories, including Itty Bitty and hardcover books, but with so many additional photo categories other companies lack, there are still plenty of great options for kids.

RELATED: 12 Best Personalized Books for Kids

If you store your snaps in Google Photos, then Google's very own photo book maker might be the most convenient option for you. Even though there are no fancy designs, the process is seamless. Choose from two options: a 7" x 7" softcover photo book or a 9" x 9" hardcover photo book. You can include between 20 and 140 pages, and you have the option to add a spine title if you hit more than 48 pages for a softcover or any number of pages for a hardcover.

Another hallmark of Google Photos is that you can make one photo book and order multiple copies to give to family members and friends who are also pictured in the photos. Since they come at an affordable price point, you could give everyone on your gift list a copy, whether you decide to create a collection of candid photos for your closest friends or a tangible memento of a fun family trip. Though there may not be as many designs and styles to choose from, that can make the customization process less daunting.

RELATED: 50 Trendy and Most Popular Gifts of 2023

Is Amazon Photos already your preferred destination for uploading photos? Then creating a photo book through its interface is an easy solution. Similar to other photo book makers, you can create by occasion and size, or choose its 8" x 8" Premium Photo Book for a versatile option that has a laminated cover and lay-flat binding. There's also an option with standard binding at a lower cost, and all Amazon Prime members get free shipping . (Everyone else is eligible for free shipping with a minimum order of $15.)

In addition to photo books, you can shop large prints, calendars, cards and metal tabletops. There are fewer size and style options than most services when it comes to photo books, but the other photo product choices make up for the lack of available styles. After all, sometimes it's easier and quicker to have fewer options to choose from if you need to pull something together by a certain date, like a last-minute gift for your boyfriend .

RELATED: 37 Best Personalized Gifts You Can Find on Amazon

Chatbooks Custom Photo Books & Albums

"Set and forget it," Rachel says about the ease of using Chatbooks, which markets itself as "ridiculously easy." You can upload images from Instagram, Flickr, Dropbox, Facebook or your computer and edit them on your desktop or via the app . The service's Custom Photo Books & Albums option is great for families looking to personalize a family vacation , as you can choose colors, layouts, cover styles, collages, captions and more. Peruse its vast collection of more than 300 unique book covers, or shop the premium lay-flat and special occasion photo books.

Or have fun with the Instagram and Facebook series — a 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" book with 60 pages — that lets you store your favorite social media posts in a tangible place to look back on for years to come.

Unique to Chatbooks is its subscription service, which allows you to receive a softcover, hardcover or mini photo book each month. If you and your family love taking photographs of walks in the park, weekend road trips or homemade pizza nights at home, this service is ideal for getting your photos in your hands ASAP. One thing to note about the subscription option is that there are only two sizes available (5" x 7" and the monthly mini).

How we choose the best photo book makers

At the Good Housekeeping Institute , our pros in the Media & Tech Lab have been testing photo book makers for more than a decade . For this article, we referenced a robust test of photo book makers completed in 2009, examined updates to apps and ordered new products to test.

When choosing the best photo book makers, our Lab experts consider ease of use, performance and appearance . That means our pros take an in-depth look at a wide range of features, such as how easy it is to navigate the interface and add photos and text to the book; upload and delivery time; the number of styles, covers and templates offered; and the photo, paper and binding quality.

What to look for when shopping for the best custom photo book maker

Keep the following features in mind when choosing the right service for your needs:

✔️ Size: Whether you're looking for a small photo board book for kids or a much larger album to house snapshots from a long family vacation, there are regular, large and miniature photo book sizes available. It's best to think about how many photos you want to include and where you plan to store the album (i.e., will the book be too tall for your bookshelf or just right on top of your coffee table?).

✔️ Shape: Most photo books are rectangular or square in shape, but some companies also offer photo puzzles, calendars and tabletops to choose from too. The shape is really about aesthetic preference and the orientation you prefer for your photos.

✔️ Page count: Are you compiling 20 photos from your daughter's first-birthday party? Or are you putting together an anniversary album of pictures of you and your partner throughout the years? The number of pages determines the number of photos you can include in an album, so you have enough space to include everything.

✔️ Paper quality: This is probably a no-brainer, as the quality of material your photos are printed on is as important as the quality of the photos themselves. Although companies with higher-quality paper, like Artifact Uprising , may have a higher price tag, the extra money goes toward paper that won't lead to photos bleeding into the crease. But there are still services that are affordable and offer good-quality products, like our best value pick, Walmart Photo .

✔️ Binding quality: Some companies, like Google Photos , will add a binding to your photo album. This feature is especially important when considering the durability and longevity of your photo album. Whether it's a softcover, hardcover or lay-flat book, make sure the binding can withstand accidental drops and the wear and tear of passing the family album around at holiday parties.

✔️ Templates: If your photo album will have a certain theme or be centered around a specific occasion — or it's your first time using a photo book maker — choosing a service that has a variety of templates to choose from will let your creativity flow and also help you warm up to the design process.

✔️ Editing capabilities: When looking at the beginner-level or more advanced designer tools, consider how robust or simple they are to use. Having lots of control over the interface is fun, but if you're looking for a more straightforward experience, opt for a service that does the majority of the decision-making for you or offers designer help, like Shutterfly .

What is the easiest way to make a custom photo book?

" It really depends upon the service and your preference ," Rachel says. Although some online custom photo book makers also have an app, it can have limited functionality, be buggy or not as easy to use as the desktop equivalent. "Often, an app makes it super simple to upload pictures from your phone (a major plus!) but doesn't allow as much flexibility for product assortment or editing once you've selected." That said, designing a photo book on your smartphone or tablet versus a desktop may come down to how many edits you intend to make .

"If you plan to do a lot of editing, the non-app version on a larger screen would likely be your best choice. If you want to quickly make a book with limited changes, an app on your mobile device may be the way to go," Rachel explains.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

Elizabeth Berry is the updates editor at the Good Housekeeping Institute , where she ensures product reviews reflect accurate information. Prior to this role, she was an editorial assistant at Woman's Day , where she covered everything from gift guides to recipes.

To update this article, Elizabeth collaborated with Good Housekeeping Institute Chief Technologist & Executive Technical Director Rachel Rothman to gather testing notes regarding current picks. Rachel, who has tested several of the best photo book makers on this list, has more than 15 years of experience evaluating thousands of products, including toys and cars for Good Housekeeping’s annual Best Toy Awards and Best New Family Cars programs.

Amina Lake Abdelrahman is a product review writer and editor who worked as an editorial assistant at the Good Housekeeping Institute from 2018 to 2020, writing original content based on GH Institute Lab experts' product testing and analysis.

Amina is a product review writer and editor who worked as an editorial assistant in the Good Housekeeping Institute from 2018 to 2020, writing original content based on GH Lab experts' product testing and analysis. Amina graduated from Montclair State University with a B.A. in communication studies and journalism.

Elizabeth Berry (she/her) is the Updates Editor at the Good Housekeeping Institute where she optimizes lifestyle content across verticals. Prior to this role, she was an Editorial Assistant for Woman’s Day where she covered everything from gift guides to recipes. She also has experience fact checking commerce articles and holds a B.A. in English and Italian Studies from Connecticut College.

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How to Create a Photo Book With Canva: A Step-by-Step Guide

With Canva, you can create digital and physical photo albums. We're going to show you how.

If you used to visit your grandparents on the regular, you're probably familiar with the following scenario: grandma points out how grown-up you are, and how much you look like your parents, then, out comes the old photo album to prove her point.

Since pictures are now mostly digital, people rarely have physical photo books in their homes. But if you miss that feeling of flipping through a photo album, or want your grandmother to have a new one, you can easily create one with Canva . And we're going to show you how.

1. Prepare Your Images

First, you should decide what the album is about. It can cover a certain period of time, showcase pictures of you and a friend or a partner, or be more like a memory scrapbook. Whatever you decide can help you later on with the design and layout.

Next, you should gather all of the images you’d like to include, preferably in one folder—this will save you time. Most importantly, make sure that the images are high resolution. If you want to print the album, 2048 x 1536 pixels or bigger is ideal.

If you plan on digitizing old photos , make sure you also scan in high resolution. Pictures taken on a good phone or with a digital camera will probably be fine as-is. However, if you have some small images you want to use, there are ways to enlarge an image without losing quality .

2. Start a New Project on Canva

Now we can get into the nitty-gritty. Canva Photobook Maker is a great tool to help you design unique and customized albums. You can add your pictures one at a time or as collages, with background and text to complement each memory.

If you haven't already signed up, start with that (don’t worry, the free version is more than enough). Then, on the homepage, click the Create a design button at the top, type in Photobook , and pick the size you want. You can also pick a Custom design if you want to use other dimensions.

3. Find the Perfect Template

One of Canva’s most appealing features is its templates. For people who don’t have any design experience, it can be hard to figure out which colors, fonts, and elements go well together. Since professional designers created the Canva templates, rest assured, you’ll get a great result.

You can see the photobook templates on the left side of your work screen (if you can’t, type "photobook" in the templates search bar). They're divided by category to simplify browsing through them, and each contains 22 pages, so you can get a different design on each page.

Double click the template you like and then click Apply all 22 pages to use it in your document. You can also apply it to just one or more individual pages. To do that, add more pages to your book with the plus icon ( + ) at the bottom of the screen, and click on a different template page for each one.

Some templates may have a watermark on them, meaning you’ll have to pay to use them. However, if only specific pictures are watermarked, you can always replace them with your own, or with the ones from Cava’s free library.

4. Upload Your Pictures

Now it’s time to insert your images into your pages and figure out the final look of the album. For that, you need to upload them onto the Canva cloud.

Go to the Uploads tab on the left side of the screen, and click Upload media . You can also just drag and drop from the folder on your computer.

To place them in the album, pick a page, and drag the image in. Drop it once it fills the frame.

5. Add Text

If there’s already text on the template, simply double-click it to change it. If you want to add text, go to the Text tab on the left-hand side and double-click the type you want. You can enlarge it, change the color, and change the font with the tools in the bar up top.

Note that the default font for a text box is Open Sans, but if you open the font window, the first one will be the font that the template uses. It’s best to stick to that one if you want to remain cohesive.

Another thing that can help you maintain consistency in the design is the color-picker. Usually, when you click it, you can see the colors that are present in the images. This will help you color-coordinate.

6. Make Some Tweaks

This is the part where you can get creative. While a template is helpful, it’s not always exactly what you want. Luckily, Canva allows you to customize it however you want. You can delete certain pages or move them around with the bar at the bottom of the screen.

You can delete the grids and frames and add new ones from the Elements tab. This tab also has stickers, lines, and shapes which will further help customize your album.

7. Finalize the Album

Want to get someone else’s opinion before you print the album? You can use the Share button at the top of the screen to email it to them. You can even share a link to edit the album if you want to collaborate with them.

Once you’re done, hit Preview at the top of the screen to see what it will look like. Then, you can save the album as a PDF file with the download icon (downwards arrow) at the top, or share it on social media.

Related: The Best Portable Photo Printers

If you've read all of this in the hopes of printing a real-life album, don't fret. For a reasonable fee, Canva will print a physical copy of your album.

It lets you pick the print size, hard or softcover, and a glossy or matt finish. Then, before you put in your payment and shipping details, it will let you overview the images to ensure that everything is how you want it and that nothing gets cut in the printing process.

Create an Album That Grandma Would Be Proud Of

There you have it! This guide will help you create a beautiful photo book that you can cherish for years to come. And if you print out a physical copy, you can even gift it to family and friends.

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The Best Photo Book Service

By Erin Roberts

We live in a digital world overflowing with images and screens. By creating a tangible photo book, you can reconnect with your images, as well as those moments in time. And photo books make sharing memories with family and friends so much easier.

After conducting more than 100 hours of research and testing (which included creating 23 photo books and consulting with a master printer on the results), we recommend Mixbook as the best online photo book service.

Everything we recommend

Easy-to-design photo books with vibrant colors

This service offers the best book-building experience, modern design options, color-accurate photo reproduction, great customer service, and a powerful app.

Buying Options

Budget pick.

Affordable photo books for gifts or small projects

If you want to print multiple copies of a photo book to give as gifts (or for projects that aren’t meant to be keepsakes), this service delivers good-enough books at an affordable price.

Creating photo albums is fun with Mixbook , which gathers images from your computer, social media profiles, online photo-storage accounts, and even your smartphone. In our testing, it offered the best book-building experience of the bunch, as well as some of the best themed layouts. Our finished album looked vibrant, with accurate colors, and had a high-quality feel.

If you just need a basic photo book, VistaPrint can get the job done at a cost significantly lower than our top pick. It offers some of the best album-creation software we tested, including a Smart Assistant option that made album design a snap. Although the cover photo wasn’t as color accurate as that of our top pick, the photos inside were almost indistinguishable, as was the paper quality.

The research

Why you should trust us, who this is for, how we picked and tested, our pick: mixbook, budget pick: vistaprint, tips for making your best photo book, the competition, frequently asked questions.

To discover which features are important in a photo book service, we’ve researched more than 50 companies and created 23 albums since the first iteration of this guide. We’ve compiled a mixture of images from high-resolution DSLR cameras and iPhones, selecting specific examples for both color and resolution testing, and used them to directly compare the image quality of different albums.

When updating this guide, we’ve consulted several experts, including Taylor McAtee, printing expert and owner of Stretch and Staple , a print shop in Seattle. We also crowdsourced input from friends who enjoy making albums with their family photos.

If you want to create an album of your digital photos, a photo book service is absolutely the way to go. Today’s digital photo books look much sleeker and more elegant than the scrapbooks of old. They’re also much easier to replace if an original gets damaged.

Digital photo books can be customized to fit any purpose, such as for a baby book, a family trip album, or even a school yearbook. They also make great gifts for grandparents and family. And if you’re a photographer, photo books are a wonderful way to curate your work in something that can be reproduced for distribution.

If you want to make a fancier book to document a special event, such as a wedding, consider upgrading to a layflat book, which has a unique type of binding that allows two-page spreads to lie completely flat, with no crease in the middle. You could also consider choosing a more luxurious cover, such as leather or crushed silk, to match the occasion.

If you have a collection of vintage photo albums or boxes of family photos sitting around, you might want to scan those photos and upgrade to a digital photo book.

In researching online photo book services, we looked for those that allow you to create a customizable book with captions and multiple photos on one page. We eliminated services that don’t let you at least arrange and reorder photos. And, on the flipside, we dismissed any that looked too technical or complex for people with no design experience.

Many photo-printing services offer frequent, deep discounts and promotions throughout the year, so it can be difficult to make an accurate pricing comparison—but holidays and annual shopping events are a great time to finally click the albums you have waiting in your cart. Otherwise, we can’t say for sure whether one service will be cheaper than another at any given time, so we prioritized services that offered basic, 20-page, approximately 8-by-11-inch books for under $50.

In general, these are the key features we considered:

• Customization options: The best photo book services strike a fine balance between offering a creative, diverse range of editing options and overwhelming people with a dizzying range. The service should work for photo junkies and for people who just want to quickly make a wedding album.
• Intuitive photo book software: The editing tools should be easy to grasp, even at an amateur level. Ideally, they should include all of the basics, such as a black-and-white filter, shadows, brightness, contrast, and saturation, plus the ability to rotate, resize, and reorder images.
• Elegant, ready-made layouts: You should be able to choose from a wide range of photo layouts that can suit any number of photos in a variety of orientations. You should never feel the need to create your own design.
• Flexibility in design: For more-ambitious people, a good photo book service allows you to design a layout from scratch.
• Print quality that’s true to the source files: The photo book shouldn’t make your high-resolution photos look blurry, grainy, or oversaturated. It should capture the resolution and colors as accurately as possible, even if you mostly use photos from Instagram.
• Variety of cover and binding options: The cover is the first thing people see when they look at a photo book. We preferred services with a range of options that look nice and can withstand years of handling.
• High-quality paper choices: We looked for paper that is durable, of high quality, and resistant to tearing. Photo book services should offer a variety of paper types, such as gloss, semigloss, and pearlescent.
• Easy to reprint and revisit: Unlike traditional, scrapbook-like photo albums, digital photo books can be reproduced at any time. Therefore, the service you use should save your photos, layouts, and projects so you can return to print or edit them whenever you want.
• Flexible upload options: A good service should at least be able to receive photos from your computer, as well as from online platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
• Layflat spreads: These spreads allow you to depict one picture across two pages without the center crease of a traditional bound book. Though this sounds fancy, it’s a common offering from photo book services and a worthwhile upgrade in photography or wedding books. We didn’t make this option a requirement, but we gave extra points if a service offered it.

To test these services, we made 20-page photo books using DSLR shots taken by professional photographers, as well as iPhone snaps taken during my honeymoon trip to Tahiti. We specifically selected images that can be harder to print to see how each service performed when tasked with HDR (high dynamic range) images, tricky colors, black-and-white photos, and even dimly lit iPhone snapshots.

We laid out each book in the same order, using the service’s most basic, white template. We also used each service’s default font for captions, sticking with whichever typeface and size were assigned to the theme we chose. All of the companies allow you to change fonts, but that can be a hassle, and we decided the default font would look nice enough. For each book, we also used the default cover and paper options (which are the cheapest or second-cheapest available).

Over the years and several rounds of testing, we’ve asked printing expert Taylor McAtee to compare and contrast print and page quality. We’ve asked friends who enjoy making family photo albums to examine the photo books, and they’ve provided helpful, real-world observations, such as which paper finish might hold up best in the grubby hands of a 5-year-old.

Mixbook has easy-to-use and intuitive design software, vibrant and accurate colors, and modern layouts that make it our pick for the best photo book service for most people. It is one of the few services that offers a dedicated mobile app in case you prefer designing from your phone, and you can invite collaborators to help with or review a project before it goes to print.

Versatile image-uploading options makes it easy to find the photos you want. If most of your iPhone photos end up trapped inside your phone (like ours do), you’ll likely find that adding mobile images directly to Mixbook makes the design process much more efficient.

Using a QR code on your computer screen, Mixbook guides you in selecting and loading pictures from your phone. After you refresh your screen, voilà—your iPhone snaps are now available for you to add to your current project. You can also upload directly from a computer, your social media (Facebook and Instagram), and photo storage accounts (Google and SmugMug).

Its book-building software is the easiest to use. The Auto-Create option feels like magic: after you’ve uploaded your images, a single click of a button builds your book using “only the best images.” It’s an efficient way to get a solid first draft, and it’s easy to customize from that point.

Unlike some of its competitors, Mixbook offers a swap button to swiftly replace one image for another. You can quickly change layouts too: The software displays recommended layouts using your images and may be filtered by number of images per design.

It offers helpful tips to make sure you never feel lost. Mixbook’s guidance boxes were the most helpful resource of any service we tested. These pop-ups, which you can close as needed, provide tips as you start to build a book.

Its photo-editing tools are simple and efficient. These include the same basic options offered by most other services: brightness, saturation, contrast, and opacity. You can crop and zoom in and out of photos easily, though the free-rotation tool was tricky (to fix your horizon lines, you have to click and hold down the arrow in the circle).

Six filters can give your printed photos an Instagram feel; you can also play with shadows and borders or even make a heart-shaped image. Text was easy to insert, and Mixbook offers a plethora of font choices and controls.

Thoughtful little touches make a big difference. When you’re pulling from an available image library in Mixbook, you simply have to hover over a photo to make it bigger. We really liked this feature, since it can be tough to choose your next image based on a tiny thumbnail. (When we used other services, we sometimes had to add the actual photo just to determine if it was the one we’d meant to include in the first place.)

It offers more templates than the competition. Each well-designed template can be kept as is or modified.

Mixbook offers 138 “everyday” album templates, from the simple Minimal White design (which we chose) to birthday, wedding, and seasonal themes. Plus, the themed layouts show actual photo examples, a truly useful feature when envisioning what you’ll create.

Photo reproductions are vibrant and color-accurate. As in previous testing, our 20-page, 11-by-8.5-inch Mixbook photo book was one of the most vibrant among all of the books we created, and the colors most-closely matched those in our original photographs.

Mixbook did a good job of correcting a tricky photo of me about to board a helicopter for the first time: I’m a too-dark, shadowy subject in front of the sunny landing platform where a helicopter and pilot wait. Mixbook struck a better balance of the contrast, picking up more detail in my face while retaining the vibrant background colors.

We reached out to Mixbook to ask about its color-correction practices. CEO and co-founder Andrew Laffoon confirmed that Mixbook automatically applies “very minimal” autocorrection, and that the feature can’t be turned off.

Mixbook uses high-quality paper. Of the six books we created in our most recent round of testing, Mixbook’s simplest album option came with the second-thickest pages—akin to the pages of a coffee-table book. The pages felt durable enough to stand up to the grubby paws of a small child, and they had enough sheen that we also thought they could endure a small mess and be wiped clean.

Its pricing is on a par with that of competitors. Mixbook albums cost about as much as or slightly more than other comparable albums in this category. But it’s always worth seeking out a discount, since the service usually offers an active 50%-off coupon .

If you don’t see a coupon at checkout, you can always make the book and then wait to purchase it until you can get a discount. This is especially handy if you opt for upgrades, like layflat pages, which can nearly double the price of an album.

Mixbook doesn’t spam you with email ads. Unlike Snapfish , which took our order as an invitation to send promotional emails daily, Mixbook didn’t automatically inundate our inboxes with promos once we created an account. We actually had to go into account settings to sign up for Mixbook’s email offers (and you can unsubscribe just as easily).

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Other photo book services offer more photo editing tools. We worked with Mixbook’s available brightness, saturation, and contrast sliders to boost a cloudy day photo. Though the results looked a bit better on screen, the printed version still appeared dark. Of course, you could use an external image-editing program, but we often found we needed to make another small tweak or two once we placed images on the page; editing that image elsewhere and then reimporting it to use in our design felt like a time-consuming chore. A more robust editing suite within Mixbook’s interface would mean we could make any necessary edits seamlessly while creating a photo book.

For a basic photo book at a lower price than our top pick, VistaPrint gets the job done, even if the cover photo was a little oversaturated and the design process wasn’t quite as smooth.

It lacks our top pick’s cute design templates. When you start creating your VistaPrint photo book, you can only select from seven size options, and it doesn’t have any design templates to start from. You can add some 1990s clip art or masks within the editor, but that’s not nearly as attractive or easy as selecting from one of the hundreds of templates Mixbook offers.

Adding photos is easy, yet limited. Unlike our top pick, VistaPrint only allows uploads from your computer and doesn’t allow for HEIC files, which is how iPhones and iPads save images by default.

You can change your device’s camera settings to shoot JPEG, and it’s not difficult to convert HEIC files to JPEG after the fact, but it is one more hurdle that can get in the way when you’re itching to start designing. You could opt to create a book via VistaPrint’s mobile site, which works fine with HEIC files, but that platform isn’t as easy to use as the desktop site.

Photo-editing tools are few, but print quality was nearly perfect. VistaPrint’s editor offers even fewer photo-editing tools than our top pick, and it doesn’t offer a way to fix an imperfect horizon line—a photographer’s pet peeve. By default, VistaPrint will “enhance” all photos automatically; a pop-up window bears this warning as you begin to create your photo book.

We left the auto-enhancement option on, and the results were as good as our top pick, with accurate color reproduction and impressive corrections on our tricky test images. Only the cover image appeared oversaturated, and VistaPrint had two tries at this, since the first copy arrived with a slight wrinkle in the corner of the cover.

Customer service is responsive, too. VistaPrint was responsive to our complaint; it requested images of the damage and then sent us a new copy for free. The new book arrived in just a few days. The cover was unwrinkled but still a bit oversaturated, which made skin tones appear too pink.

It’s a great book and good value. If you just need a simple book, perhaps at a price that makes multiple copies possible, VistaPrint is a solid option. The final result was a very close second to our top pick in terms of color accuracy and page quality, with just a few flaws noticed during the creation process and a not-quite color-accurate cover.

Printing expert Taylor McAtee said you should trust the experts at whichever photo book service you choose. “Just pick the photos you like,” McAtee said, explaining that because your home computer likely doesn’t have a color-calibrated monitor, the on-screen edits you make could look much different when printed.

He also offered two additional tips for selecting photos for a printed book: Avoid washed-out, intentionally very bright (aka high-key) images, which often don’t look as good in print as they might on a glowing digital screen. And don’t apply Instagram filters or use other editing apps that may compress your iPhone files, since doing so can result in a low-resolution photo when it’s printed.

Snapfish was about the same price as our top pick but, as in past years, delivered a book with dull and muted photos and some of the thinnest pages we saw in testing. Snapfish also sent us the most promotional emails following our order—at an annoying pace of about one every other day.

The photo book we built with Pikto looked a lot like the results from our budget pick, VistaPrint, but the service cost a bit more, and its software was clunkier, with no swap button. It was also difficult to connect with its customer service: No one ever answered our calls during business hours, no chat help was available, and the back-and-forth email assistance we did receive was slow.

Walmart Photo is a past budget pick, but the album we created this year wasn’t as good as in previous years. The cover image was oversaturated, making skin tones appear pink and not true to life. Color accuracy was also off throughout the thin pages, appearing dull compared with the competition.

Though Shutterfly was previously a top pick, the last time we physically tested the service, its image quality was a letdown. We took a fresh look for this update but found for its price, about $10 more than our top pick, other photo book services offer better editing tools.

Though we love the minimalist look of Artifact Uprising ’s designs, the books we ordered were both oversaturated. We tested the Hardcover Photo Book and the Photo-Wrapped Hardcover Book, the two most-expensive options we tested. In each book our photos were oversaturated, but especially so for the Photo-Wrapped Hardcover Book. This made my skin look especially reddish-pink in many photos, as though I had a significant sunburn throughout my trip (I didn’t). While turning up the vibrancy can make an image really pop, the downside can be inaccurate skin tones.

Google Photo’s photo books are the path of least resistance for people who already use Google Photos. Although it’s a fast and brainless solution, the automated process allows for little control or creativity. Photos are autofilled in chronological order, and it’s a hassle to move images around if you’d like a different format. If all of your photos aren’t already stored with Google, that adds another step in the process. Layout and design options are limited, and it doesn’t have image-editing tools.

We also checked out Amazon Photos . As with the Google option, creation is a breeze as long as you’re already using it to store your photos. The online software allows for slightly more control over image placement, but it doesn’t have image-editing tools or enough design options overall.

Apple also allows you to create a photo book right from Photos, using the Motif app. But just like the Google Photo and Amazon Photo, this option is very specific to the platform, and you have very little control over design or photo editing.

We made two books with Blurb —one with its web-based software, Bookify, and another with its downloadable software, BookWright.

We were disappointed with the options available in Bookify; it had very few layouts, and they had too much white space for our liking. We also experienced major glitches with captions.

BookWright, meanwhile, offers a huge range of design options, including layouts and fonts, with very little glitching. It reminded us a great deal of Photoshop or InDesign, so if you’ve used those programs before, you may be familiar with the added controls. We also liked that Blurb allows you to upload a PDF to create your book, and that it offers plug-ins for Adobe InDesign and Lightroom. BookWright could be a good choice for amateur photographers or anyone looking to print a series of books.

Nations Photo Lab , our pick for the best online photo printing service , continues to disappoint us with photo book software that offers almost no photo editing and only basic layouts, at a more expensive price than our top pick.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.

Where can I get a same-day photo book?

Our previous budget pick, Walmart Photo , offers same-day pickup. And the site, which has some of the best photo-editing tools available, makes designing and customizing an album easy. Other services, like CVS and Walgreens , offer same-day pickup, but we haven’t tested them.

Which photo book services offer apps?

Several photo book services have a mobile app. Our top pick, Mixbook , has an app for iPhone owners . Though our budget pick, VistaPrint, doesn’t offer a dedicated app, the mobile version of the website is okay.

Which service has the best-quality photo books?

Among the 17 books we tested, Mixbook had some of the most vibrant color pages, and the colors most closely matched the colors in our original photographs. Mixbook also had more user-friendly software than most of the other services we looked at.

Meet your guide

Erin Roberts

Erin Roberts is a freelance writer reporting on cameras and camera accessories at Wirecutter. She started her career as a photojournalist working in newspapers—shooting film—and was the mobile-imaging editor at DPReview. She is also a professional photographer who has made her living photographing everything from rock stars to humpback whales.

Further reading

The Best Instant Camera

by Arriana Vasquez and Erin Roberts

The best instant camera for taking high-quality, retro-cool photos is the Fujifilm Instax Square SQ40 .

The 16 Best Tech Gifts for Any Gadget Lover

by Samantha Schoech

Looking for gifts for a tech-obsessed loved one? We have Wirecutter-tested picks, including headphones, speakers, camera tripods, and more.

The Best Online Photo Printing Service

by Phil Ryan

We’ve tested dozens of online photo printing services, and we’ve consistently found that Nations Photo Lab is the best place to get prints.

The 19 Best Gifts for Photographers

by Arriana Vasquez and Phil Ryan

Photographers can be picky about gear—which is why selecting a gift for a shutterbug can be a sticky wicket. Here are stellar finds endorsed by our staff photographers and reporting experts.

Can I Make a Photo Book on Canva?

Photo books are a fantastic way to showcase your cherished memories and create a lasting keepsake. If you're wondering whether you can make a photo book on Canva, the answer is a resounding yes! Canva is not only known for its incredible design capabilities but also offers a user-friendly platform to create stunning photo books with ease.

Why Choose Canva for Your Photo Book?

Design Capabilities:

Canva provides an extensive range of design tools and templates that enable you to unleash your creativity and personalize your photo book. With features like drag-and-drop functionality, customizable layouts, and a vast library of elements such as stickers, frames, and backgrounds, you can design a unique photo book that reflects your style and vision.

User-Friendly Interface:

Whether you're a design novice or an experienced user, Canva's intuitive interface makes the photo book creation process seamless. The simple navigation allows you to easily add photos, text, and other elements to your pages. You can also rearrange the layout effortlessly by dragging and dropping elements until you achieve the desired arrangement.

Creating Your Photo Book on Canva

Selecting a Template:

To get started on creating your photo book, log in to Canva and click on the "Create a design" button. In the search bar at the top of the page, type "photo book" to browse through the available templates designed specifically for creating stunning photo books.

Note: Canva's template library offers both free and premium options. While free templates are excellent choices, premium templates provide additional customization options.

Add Photos:

The heart of any photo book is, of course, the photos themselves. Canva allows you to upload your own images or choose from their extensive collection of stock photos. To add your pictures, simply click on the "Uploads" tab and select the desired images from your computer. You can then drag and drop them onto the template pages.

Customize Layout and Design:

Once your photos are in place, it's time to unleash your creativity. Experiment with different layouts, frames, and backgrounds to complement your pictures and create a visually stunning photo book. Canva's drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to resize and reposition elements until you achieve the perfect arrangement.

Add Text and Captions:

To enhance the storytelling aspect of your photo book, consider adding text or captions. Canva offers a variety of fonts, colors, and styles to choose from. You can use text boxes to insert personal messages or captions beneath each photo.

Review and Finalize:

Before completing your photo book, take a moment to review each page for any necessary adjustments or edits. Ensure that all photos are aligned correctly, text is legible, and layouts are visually appealing. Once you're satisfied with the final result, save your project.

In Conclusion

Canva empowers you with its user-friendly interface and vast design capabilities to create beautiful photo books that capture treasured moments in a visually engaging way. Whether you're creating a memory-filled album for yourself or crafting a heartfelt gift for someone special, Canva provides all the tools you need to bring your vision to life.

If you haven't tried making a photo book on Canva yet, I highly recommend giving it a go! So gather those cherished memories and let Canva help you create a stunning photo book that will be treasured for years to come.

About the author:

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Canva review

We put canva to the test and ask if it’s worth upgrading from the free version..

Our Verdict

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use program where you can make designs that look professional and are on-brand, you’ll love Canva, and you might even want to pay for Canva Pro. On the flipside, if you’re a graphic designer, you’ll have no need for it – it’s aimed squarely at those needing to look like design pros, not those who genuinely are.

• Cohesive look across designs
• One click Background Eraser and Animate tools
• Super-simple to set up and use
• Needs internet connection

Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

Canva is an online design tool that aims to make creating graphics quick and easy. I've been a user of Canva’s free version – on both mobile and desktop – for a few years now. So, I’ll start by saying that I find the app handy for quick design tasks, such as creating personalised thank you notes. I also recently used it to create a quick but cute birthday party invite for my son (see below). I’ve always found the app version to be identical to the desktop version and I’ve used them side-by-side without any issues. 

In this review, I'll outline the key things the free version has to offer. Bearing in mind we already rate Canva free as one of the best logo designers and best online poster makers , I wanted to try out the Pro version and see how that measures up. In the company’s own words, Canva Pro "has been designed to make you look like a pro". But does the Pro version have anything to offer the actual pros? 

To test the app, I've been using the Pro version for the past few weeks, and have used it to create social media posts for some clients I do social media marketing for, to make a presentation complete with animation and to rework my CV. For a comparison of Canva and its main rival, VistaCreate (formerly Crello), see our Canva vs VistaCreate piece.

Canva free: features

The free version of Canva really is quick and easy to use. I have recommended it to lots of friends with small businesses who need to create quick but sleek social media posts, banners, cover photos etc. With the free version of Canva, you just select a template to work with – a FaceBook cover image for example – and then add your own elements, via drag and drop, to a pre-done and pre-sized design. It's quick, easy and handy. 

The free version of Canva enables you to work with thousands of templates which cover everything from cards to social media cover photos and presentations, but it's restricted in that you can't create bespoke designs. And as I mentioned previously, I do think it’s super for quick creations to send to friends and family. 

The main gripe I have with the free version of Canva, and I seriously doubt I’m alone here, is when you’ve scrolling through designs to use for something and all the ones you like (i.e. the best ones) are always paid for / free on the Pro plan. 

So, while the free version of Canva is worth a look for on the hop designs for friends, as well as marketeers, blogger and the like, it’s far too basic and restrictive for creative professionals. Although in fairness, it's likely that creative professionals are already going to be using other software. Canva Pro, then is aimed at the middle market. Those who need more than the free version, but aren't confident creating their own designs in more serious graphic design software .

Canva Pro: features

Let’s start by saying that Canva Pro really does have you covered for all your digital creations – from presentations, video (from YouTube options, Insta reels and LinkedIn Ads to video messages) to every type of social media post and marketing products (from flyers and business cards to stickers and tickets). There’s an 'Office' tab too, where you’ll find templates for everything from CVs to reports and invoices. 

Now, on to look at the standout features. To compare to the templates offered by the free version, you're looking at approximately 400,000 as opposed to 25,000, as well as all the additional features mentioned below.

Canva Pro: Brand Kit

Canva Pro’s Brand Kit feature allows you to create a cohesive brand identity, which will enable users with a company to stay on-brand with every design they create with the software. Building your own brand kit is made super simple and once set users, and their teams, can access pre-set brand fonts, brand logos, brand colours and pre-designed templates. For new and expanding businesses looking to establish brand consistency across every touchpoint, this is a standout feature. 

Canva Pro: Photos Unlimited

With the Pro version of Canva you have access to what seems like endless photos, graphics, videos, audio and fonts – Canva says the number is in excess of ten million. The photos available for Pro users are a real highlight with a distinctly premium feel, you’re effectively getting an image library included with your membership. If you’re a regular image library user, you may well find that you could forgo buying images outside of Canva (see the best stock photo libraries for your other options). 

Canva Pro: Background Remover tool

Canva Pro’s Background Remover tool works like a dream and in a single click, I was able to create what would have usually taken me personally about ten minutes in Photoshop . I can see this being a really great feature for anyone who promotes products using their own photography. The brightness, contrast and saturation are super-simple to use too and although they don’t provide as much control as you can get via Photoshop, they would be fine for pretty much everyone bar pro photographers. See the best photo editing software for more options. 

Canva Pro: Magic Resize 

Users of Canva Pro aren’t likely to be professional designers, so the chances are re-doing a design for another use is likely to be time consuming. Not with the Magic Resize tool, another feature we really rate, which works on everything you’ve created within the software – simply add your dimensions and it sorts the rest! 

Canva Pro: Animation creator

Another feature not seen in the free version of Canva is animation creator, which quite simply allows users to animate their designs with a single click. All you need to go is press the animate button on any design – from social media posts to work presentations – click once to animate, then download as a GIF or video format. There are 14 animation styles to choose from, which gives a nice amount of choice to your style, too. It's very easy to use, though obviously not as complex as the best animation software .

More Canva Pro features

There’s a lot to fit into this review as Canva Pro really is feature laden. Other points that we can’t conclude without mentioning include: more than 3,000 included fonts, easy to use direct print feature, the ability to plan and schedule content direct from Canva Pro (great for social media creatives) and Version History that enables users to see what’s changed and restore versions of designs. Canva Pro also has all the publish options modern creatives need (including logos with transparent backgrounds), 100GB of storage and lastly, the ability to use Canva Pro across all your devices. 

Canva plans and prices 

The free version of Canva gets you 250,000 free templates, over 100 design types and some free photos and graphics, you also get 5GB of cloud storage. This will be more than enough for casual users.

With Canva Pro you get all that plus the features we've mentioned above. Canva Pro costs $119.99 / £99.99 per year, or $12.99 / £10.99 per month for up to five people, and a 30-day free trial is available. 

To compare, the premium version of Adobe's Creative Cloud Express , which offers similar features to Canva (and seems to have been created to compete with Canva and other similar software), costs $9.99 / £10.10 a month per person, and offers a 30-day free trial – there's a free version available, too. Photoshop or another single app from Adobe , such as Illustrator , costs you $9.99 / £9.98 per month, although with these apps, the learning curve is a lot steeper.

Serif's apps are cheaper, and arguably easier to get to grips with than Adobe's offerings. The likes of Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer will set you back $54.99 / £47.99, but that's a one-off fee.

We feel Canva Pro is good value for a single person if you're going to be using it a lot, but if you do work with a team of five, it’s an absolute steal. There’s only one Pro Plan but bigger businesses should look at the Enterprise plan too, which costs $30 / £24 per month, per person and has everything the Pro plan has along with a host of benefits centred around team working, including built-in workflows, template locking, unlimited storage and 24/7 support. 

Should I use Canva?

Canva is super simple to set up and use, so you've got nothing to lose by giving it a try. You don't even need to download the app if you don't want to, just create an account online and you're ready to go. It's particularly handy for creating quick graphics to share on social media, or a poster or invite for an event. 

Should I buy Canva Pro? 

We were very impressed with Canva Pro and certainly found it to be significantly better than the free version. But should you get it? Ultimately, that depends on what type of a creative you are and how advanced your graphic design skills are. 

Someone working as a graphic designer will have little need for the shortcuts like the background remover tool offered in Canva Pro and won’t struggle to make their own designs for the plethora of things offered by Canva Pro, without the template element. However, someone like a print maker looking to expand their business without having to get to grips with complicated software will be elated with the results they can get from Canva Pro. Its brand specific and encompassing every design and marketing need we can imagine. In a nutshell: if you’re a design pro: you don’t need it, if you’re a creative and need to look like a design pro: you should get it. 

Read more: The best infographic makers

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Rachael is a British journalist with 18 years' experience in the publishing industry. Since working on Creative Bloq's sister site, Digital Camera World, she’s been freelancing, and contributing to some of the world’s best-loved websites and magazines including T3.com and TechRadar.com. She has also had a book, iPad for Photographers, published. Rachael is passionate about art, design and contemporary crafts and enjoys photography, macramé and upcycling. 

The best photo books in 2024: Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Snapfish and more tested

What service should you use to make the best photo books and photo albums? We reviewed and compared five of the most popular services to find out

The quick list

Best overall, best image quality, other services we tested, how we test photo book services, when is the best time to buy a photo book.

• How to choose

1. Best overall 2. Best image quality 3. Best value 4. Other services we tested 5. How we test 6. Photo book test scores 7. The best time to buy a photo book 8. How to choose

Whatever the occasion, a personalized photo book always makes a great gift. But where do you begin if you want to turn your photos of a summer trip to Spain or a surprise birthday weekend in the mountains into a beautiful present?

We’ve been testing the best photo book services for more than five years by doing what you would do: creating a photo book. In the process, we looked at which service was the easiest to use, which offered the most options for things like clip art and binding, which had the best image quality, and which offered the best value. 

This year, we tested Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Vistaprint. We've also included shipping information where available, as photo books take time to make — and will cost more the longer you wait to order. 

And be sure to check out our picks for the best photo calendars , and best photo cards , and discover 9 tips to make the best holiday cards .

Great features, excellent image quality, the easiest-to-use software, and even online chat support make this our top pick overall.

Read more below .

If image quality is your number-one criteria when choosing the best photo book service, go with Printique, which also has powerful design software.

Read more below.  

While not the flashiest of services, Vistaprint had good-enough quality and affordable prices to make this a solid value pick among photo books.

Read more below.

The best photo book services

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Mixbook was the best service overall for making photo books of the five we tested. Its combination of ease of use, top-notch image quality and good value should make it appealing to a broad range of users. Newbies will love Mixbook’s fun and easy-to-use software while more advanced users will appreciate the wide range of customization options to help you get creative. And the image quality of our 20-page, hardcover book came in a close second to Printique.

If you’re intimidated about designing a photo book, Mixbook takes out the stress with clear and fun-to-use software that helps make the process a breeze. At the same time, there are hundreds upon hundreds of ways to customize your book, including 644 design templates alone, if you want to take a deeper dive. Mixbook had among the best-looking and most user-friendly project editing software of the services we reviewed, matched only by Snapfish . The interface offers a myriad of options but isn’t cluttered and optimizes the space by providing a roomy preview of your project.

In terms of image quality, our finished book from Mixbook tied Printique for the best cover while coming in second place for its interior pages. For the photo books we created during testing, we used an image of a waterfall we shot at Yellowstone National Park. The photo was captured at sunset and Mixbook did a great job of reproducing detail in both the brighter light at the top of the waterfall and the shadow areas in the valley below. On the inside pages, Mixbook's default Everyday Semi-Gloss finish produced solid, pleasing contrast. Both light and dark skintones in our portraits were rendered true-to-life.

Other things we liked about Mixbook are its well-designed mobile app that lets you manage your projects on the site or create products from the photos on your phone. And finally, Mixbook’s handy 24/7 chat support is built right into the design interface, so it’s always available if you get stuck while making a book.

If you order a photo book from Mixbook, be sure to check out its shipping information and deadlines .

Read our full Mixbook review . 

2. Printique

If image quality is your main concern for photo books, Printique is the service for you. While some competing companies have caught up in other ways, Printique still makes the best-looking books around. Their overall stature, however, has slipped a bit, dropping them to second place behind Mixbook after being ranked first for books in years past. What’s changed? Printique’s software feels dated now and is a challenge to use, which could turn off less experienced users. Printique’s photo books are also significantly more expensive than the competition.

For serious photographers (including pros), though, the trade-offs may be worth it. The most distinctive thing about Printique’s books are their very thick, rigid pages, which are similar to what you’d find in a professional wedding photo album. Similarly, even the entry-level books come with a layflat binding that prevents a furrow in the seam between pages, making this design perfect for images that span spreads. The pages display really well with excellent color, skin tone, contrast and sharpness/detail. We also liked the results of a few black-and-white photos we included in our book, which looked dramatic without losing detail.

While Printique’s software offers the most control of the services we tested, we feel it’s better suited to the advanced user than newbies. Seasoned designers will appreciate the variety of rulers, gridlines, submenus, and toolbars offered in Printique’s feature-rich interface, but beginners might be intimidated. 

Another barrier for entry is price. Printique doesn’t really have an “entry-level” book that’s comparable to the other services since it only offers the premium layflat binding option with lavish, thick pages, which cost more. This level of quality doesn’t come cheap.

When ordering a photo book, be sure to check out Printique's shipping information and deadlines , so you know how long to expect before it arrives.

Read our full Printique review .

3. Vistaprint

If you think Vistaprint is only adept at making business cards and other marketing materials, think again. The company has expanded in recent years to include a wide range of personal print-on-demand services including photo books. While it’s difficult to find the book-making option on Vistaprint’s vast website, once you do, we think you’ll be pleased with the process and the results, as we were. Plus, the prices can’t be beat, making it the best value of all the services for books.

For testing purposes, we made hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. At $30, Vistaprint’s book was the cheapest of the five companies; $5 less than Shutterfly, which was the second cheapest, and a whopping $45 less than Printique, which was the most expensive. As an added bonus, Vistaprint’s entry-level books come standard at 24 pages, while all the competition’s books start at 20 pages.

Given the affordable price, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of our photo books from Vistaprint. Our wraparound matte cover shot of a waterfall had rich detail even in the highlight and shadow areas, showing good dynamic range. The white endpapers for the front and rear inside covers have a classy look and feel as does the well stitched binding. The image quality of the interior pages was inconsistent though, with some of our landscape and cityscape images looking vibrant and crisp, while portraits were flat and overexposed at times.

Vistaprint’s software isn’t snazzy, but it gets the job done. It may look basic and a bit dated but unlike Printique’s complicated and outmoded interface, Vistaprint’s rudimentary software provides a relatively stress-free experience for making photo books. Just don’t expect anything fancy or a vast assortment of editing tools and you won’t be disappointed.  

Read our full Vistaprint review .

4. Shutterfly

Shutterfly is an easy to use and reliable service that does a lot of things right. In particular, the paper quality was great overall, and it did a decent job with its photo printing. Mixbook remains the best photo book service overall for its higher quality and better software, but if you want a relatively stress-free experience in creating solid if not spectacular books from a seasoned brand, Shutterfly is the one for you. 

We thought Shutterfly’s software offered a good compromise between providing full control over a project and not overloading you with too much information. If you get stuck while making a product, just click the question mark icon in the lower left to bring up the help overlay. The only downside is we found the software somewhat slow to use; in particular, there was a noticeable lag of a few seconds before images displayed in a layout.

Despite its robust and intuitive software, the resulting photo books were a mixed bag. While the page quality was the best of all the photo books we reviewed, the color was just ok, with some pale skin tones in portraits getting washed out while darker skin appeared oversaturated with a loss of detail.

The default glossy hardcover was quite eye-catching though, and the color of our waterfall shot looked natural with ample detail. But the shiny cover surface is prone to glare. Inside, the pages have a good weight and the smooth matte finish produced minimal reflection. Some brighter images, however, appeared slightly washed out in print. We also weren’t so keen on the binding, which felt flimsy, and cut off the edges of the images in the center crease. So, while Shutterfly did a good job overall, there are enough misses to fall short of the top tier of Printique and Mixbook.

Before ordering, be sure to check out Shutterfly's shipping guidelines .

Read our full Shutterfly review .

5. Snapfish

With how easy and user-friendly Snapfish’s software was to use, we really wanted to like this service more than we did. The process of creating photo books, calendars, and cards with Snapfish was so pleasant, we expected the finished products to be equally satisfying. Unfortunately, its photo book came in last among the services we tested.

The bright glossy hardcover of our book didn’t look bad from a distance, but when inspected closer it lacked detail in the flowing waterfall shot. Not awful but not great either. The print quality of the inside pages is where Snapfish really stumbles. The floppy pages in our standard 8 x 11-inch book were the thinnest of all we created from the various companies. On the other hand, while the stitched perfect binding of the book looked cheap, the crease between pages cut off only a small portion of the images. Comparatively, most of the other books in our testing obscured noticeable portions of photos in the binding.     

We wish all of the photo printing brands would emulate Snapfish’s snazzy software. It’s not only simple to use and logically laid out, it turns the process of creating a photo book into a pleasure rather than like pulling teeth. When creating a book, you can scroll through an authentic looking visual representation of the entire book to see all of the pages more easily. Snapfish’s book builder also had the fastest load times of the various companies we tested, with virtually no lag when dragging and dropping images or scrolling through layouts. 

In the end, Snapfish is something of a conundrum. While we would recommend it for anyone who might be intimidated by the process of creating products, those with more discerning image quality taste for books should look elsewhere.

Read our full Snapfish review .

For testing purposes, we created similar custom-designed books from the five services in our evaluation, Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Vistaprint, which we deemed to be the top companies on the market. We made 20 to 24-page hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. The only major difference in the five books was the one created with Printique, which only offers a premium layflat binding and professional-quality, thick pages, even as an entry-level option. 

While creating our books, we picked layouts and designs that were similar across the five services as well. For photos, I used my own portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes, which were shot in both studio and natural light. For portraits, the subjects encompassed a variety of skin tones. The three main factors the services were judged on were software, image quality, and value. For the book-making software, we considered both the levels of customization offered and the ease-of-use. 

For image quality, we compared photos across the selection of books, as well as against the original digital images displayed on a MacBook Air retina display. Criteria for judging included cover quality, paper quality, color, skin tones, contrast, and sharpness/detail. For value, we took into account both the price of the photo books and the level of quality of the finished product. So, for instance, a good quality book that cost a low price would get a higher value score than a poor quality book at a similar price. The same value scale was used for more expensive books in our testing.

This year, we evaluated Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Vistaprint, and Snapfish. However, in years past, we've also tested a number of other services, none of whom made it into our top tier. If you'd like to read those older reviews, they're listed below. Just bear in mind that the quality of some of these services may have changed since we last reviewed them.

  Motif review | Artifact Uprising review | Amazon Prints review | Mpix review | Picaboo review | Blurb Bookify review | CVS Photo review | Walmart Photos review | Mimeo review

Procrastination is a natural human instinct, but it will cost you when it comes to photo books. In particular, if the book is a gift for the holidays or if you just want it quickly for yourself, you’re going to be paying more for rush delivery services, which can increase the cost greatly. And in our experience, fast delivery is the one thing that is seldom discounted by book companies. 

So, try to order you books as early as possible. Not only does it save you time, it gives you the chance to look over the book and order a reprint in case there are any errors. Another reason to order as early as possible is that many of the best photo book services offer big discounts throughout the year — up to 50% off in some cases, or with other extras thrown in. 

How to choose the best photo book service for you

Image quality The most important factor for most people is that their book should look good. But what does this mean exactly? In simple terms, it means the quality of the photos should be great — skin tones should be accurate, lighting should be correct, and details should be crisp. In the best photo books, you should have good contrast, deep blacks, and an overall evenness in color gradation. 

Book construction A photo book should also be built well. You shouldn't see pages coming free from the binding, the paper itself should have a substantial weight and feel, and images and text should be aligned properly.

Book-creation software If a company has poor software, you’re likely to either not be able to create the photo book you want or grow frustrated with the process and give up. While ease-of-use is a key factor, customization is also important too and our favorite brands offered a good combination of both with their software. You should be able to fully edit the book templates, easily find background art and more, and make fine adjustments to your photos, too.

Cost Price is also an important factor. With the exception of the most and least expensive options, you won't find too much variation between photo book printing services. However, some services offer options like better paper, different-size books, and things like lay-flat binding, which means you can open the book flat on a table, and not worry about breaking the spine.

More from Tom's Guide

• Best photo storage and sharing sites
• Best digital photo frames
• Best photo editing apps

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Dan Havlik has worked in the photo industry for over decades and is currently editor-in chief of Wild Eye ( www.wildeyemagazine.com ), a new magazine devoted to the celebration of nature, wildlife, and underwater photography. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Outdoor Photographer and Shutterbug magazines. He has been an editor and writer for a variety of other publications and websites including Photo District News (PDN), Rangefinder, Wired, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Consumer Reports, Maxim, Men’s Journal, Imaging Resource, and LAPTOP. Dan is also an avid runner with three marathons under his belt and has written fitness reviews, including guides to the best running shoes and GPS watches, for Business Insider.

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One mom tried 5 digital photo book services: Here's how they compared

Remember photo albums -- books with clear plastic pockets that held your favorite photos to keep track of memories and memorialize a year of your life?

We don’t do that much anymore. When was the last time you even printed a picture?

But the joy of thumbing through a memory book of photos is still a thing, so services have sprung up online to turn your digital photos into bound books. While some have been around for decades, other newcomers have also come along. Prices and formats vary wildly, so how should you choose the right service for your images?

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"Good Morning America" asked mom Sheila Madrigal from Morgan Hill, California, to order photo books from 5 different services: Snapfish, Shutterfly, Mixbook, Amazon and Costco. She used the same 60 photos in all five books and tried to get the size and layouts of the books as similar as possible. The photos were taken with both her iPhone and DSLR camera.

After the books were created, ordered and arrived at Madrigal's house, we took them to Sam Hoffman of San Francisco’s Lightsource, a fine art print lab. While they don’t make print books at Lightsource, Hoffman evaluated the quality of the books.

Best Image Quality: Costco & Shutterfly

The primary factors Sam evaluated were contrast, warm skin tones, shadow detail, and saturation.

One of Madrigal’s photos showed her family in a field of yellow flowers, her husband Israel is tossing their daughter in the air. Both the Shutterfly and Costco books impressed him with how they handled the image.

In the Costco and Shutterfly books, the field had a rich golden color and skin tones were warm.

“I see the darkness of the blues. The separation of darkness and lighter colors,” said Hoffman.

He used that photo to judge two bottom performers in the image quality category, Snapfish and Amazon.

“There is a greyness in the flesh tones [Snapfish] and this one is the least vibrant of them all [Amazon],” he said.

Best Binding: Shutterfly

According to Hoffman, all the books used semi-matte paper, but the production from each company varied. In some books there was no cover page while others had sophisticated stamped paper in the cover and back page positions. Another difference was the binding. Some had a simple stitched binding that was visible between the pages, while others had stitched and glued binding that looked more sophisticated. Shutterfly’s book had a luxe cover page made of stamped paper, stitched and glued binding, as well as a back cover that was in a different color and design.

Ease of Creation: Snapfish

We let Sheila, who created the books, weigh in on this category. She said the Snapfish tool took her 20 minutes from start to finish to create the book. Uploads were fast, layout was simple and the user interface was intuitive. She ranked Mixbook, Shutterfly and Amazon slightly below Snapfish, but still easy to use.

She gave the Costco the lowest ranking in this category, complaining that the upload of her images took twice as long as some other sites. She said that when she used the Costco tool, it arbitrarily populated her book with the pictures she uploaded, but she had a specific order in mind and had to go back through the tool removing all the pictures then adding them back into the layout where she wanted them.

There was one more problem from the Costco book: it cut her baby's picture in half!

The online tool showed a picture of her three kids fitting on the page but when the printed book was inspected, the baby was only half visible. Sam explained that the image was placed too far into the center of the page, an area printers call the “gutter,” and the baby’s face was obscured. Sheila said it did not look like that in the online tool. Costco declined ABC News' request for comment.

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Least expensive: amazon.

The most expensive book was from Mixbook at $47.63. Shutterfly came in at $40.72 , Costco and Snapfish were a penny apart at $32.68 and $32.67, and Amazon had the least expensive book at $27.24.

One thing to consider with pricing is that many of these services offer outrageous deals on photobooks with special seasonal codes, sometimes 50 to 60% off.

Here’s a pro tip: keep a file of your favorite photos on your desktop, copy them in there as you take them each month, and when you see a killer deal come up, you’ll be able to create the book and nab a great keepsake at a fraction of the price.

Overall top pick: Shutterfly

Ranking ease of creation, image quality, price and the overall feel of the book’s production, Hoffman liked Shutterfly the best.

Our mom Sheila also liked Shutterfly the best, and resolved to make a memory book every year from now on.

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Canva review

Canva offers a free online graphic design app that excels in providing simple, accessible tools.

TechRadar Verdict

Canva is a really impressive suite of graphic design tools available on the web as well as Android and iOS. You can use it to create a whole host of different types of products, from newsletters to social media posts, and it's particularly friendly towards beginners.

Huge number of templates and graphics

Can create any kind of visual project

Intuitive interface that's easy to navigate

The best features require a subscription

Advanced users will want more options

Doesn't work when you're offline

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

• Pricing & plans
• Stock asset libraries
• Using stock assets
• Docs and ChatGPT
• Final verdict

With demand for visual content on the rise, businesses found they needed a tool for quickly producing design assets with professional results - whether they had access to an experienced designer or not. 

It’s in this space that Canva effortlessly sits, serving up a free, online design app for your browser. 

Hailed by marketing teams as one of the best graphic design software , the the drag-and-drop tool continues to grow its user-base in part because of its streamlined interface (anyone can create a masterpiece here). And partly because it boosted its offerings with everything from the Canva PDF Editor to Canva Video , the company’s basic and free video editing software .

The web-based digital art tool comes packed with an impressive number of features too, whether you need to add text and stickers to your social media photos or totally revamp your printed assets. But will it hit your creative spot?  

• You can sign up for Canva here

Canva: Pricing & plans

Canva may be subscription based, but its lowest tier is free, which is definitely cause for celebration. With it, you get access to their media editor, over 250,000 templates, 5GB of online storage, and what we’re most interested in for the purposes of this review: over a million photos and graphics.

Should you wish to upgrade to ‘Canva Pro’, you’ll get premium templates, and stock media as a bonus, a crucially useful resize tool (which includes resizing your canvas), and 1TB of online storage, among many other features. This would cost you $120 per year.

If you work with colleagues, you can opt for ‘Canva for Teams’. This would give you all the advantages of Pro, but with the addition of collaborative tools, among others. It’s $150 per year for the first five people you add to your account, and your ‘Pro’ subscription will be automatically upgraded the moment the second person joins your team.

Canva does offer you to try out the Pro version free for 30 days, or use the ‘Free’ tier to test most features out.

Canva: Features

Canva is a versatile graphic design tool that runs in your browser and as an app on Android and iOS: it lets you create brochures, flyers, posters, social media graphics, invitations, calendars, videos, presentations, cards, logos, infographics, labels, letterheads, resumes, menus and more. You can start off with a template or a completely blank slate, and build your design up however you want.

The platform includes an impressive number of editing and layout tools as well – covering everything from image cropping to blur effects to background removal. Objects can be easily arranged and layered in a project, and it's straightforward to add extras like text captions or fun stickers on top of whatever you're doing.

Canva prides itself on being simple to use for anyone, with or without graphic design experience, and it's certainly true that the templates and intuitive tools mean you can create something very professional-looking very quickly. However, it's not just a suite of apps for beginners – seasoned design professionals can also get plenty of use out of Canva, as long as they don't want too much detailed control over what's on the page.

We'll explain the pricing plans a little later on, but free and paying users alike get access to thousands of different templates across more than 100 categories to get designs started, while those who are paying a subscription can also get at millions of stock photos, videos and design elements to play around with.

From tweaking your pet photos to putting together a full social media campaign, Canva can turn its hand to almost anything in the world of image editing and graphic design. With no software to install on Windows, macOS or Linux you can just jump straight in and start using it.

Canva: Interface

Canva's ease-of-use is one of its most appealing features, and everything really is well laid out and organized. Just tell Canva what it is you're trying to design, and you'll be met with a wealth of different templates and layout options – one of the strengths of Canva is the number of templates you can work from, which run into the thousands even before you start paying up for a monthly subscription.

Once you have a template or a blank page in front of you, getting elements together is very straightforward. You can change the entire theme of a design – colors, fonts, background images – with a couple of clicks, so it won't take you long to start personalizing the basic template so that it fits with your brand image or whatever you're looking for.

When it comes to layouts, Canva is a little more restrictive than the top-tier professional applications – you can take full control over where everything is in a design, but there's not quite the same level of depth in terms of pixel-by-pixel tweaking. Still, Canva does a great job of keeping everything simple for beginners while also packing in plenty of features to cater for more ambitious designers.

As you move elements around the page, helpful guides appear to enable you to keep everything aligned and looking consistent, while swapping out parts of a design (such as a photograph) can be done with a couple of mouse clicks. Whatever you want to do, whether it's dropping in a new background or embedding a video, Canva makes the process stress-free and intuitive.

The same approach is evident in the mobile apps as well: obviously it's not quite as easy to manage and adapt designs on a smartphone screen, but the Android and iOS apps are as user-friendly as the main web portal. You might be surprised of the quality of work you can get done on your mobile, which again is testament to how well put together and powerful Canva actually is.

Canva: Stock content library

Looking for Canva's free stock photo , video, and graphics library? By default, the sidebar is focused on the project’s Templates, but click on ‘Elements; instead, and scroll down until you see thumbnails for Photos and one row down, Videos. 

This is where Canva’s stock libraries were hiding. As you scroll down, you’ll see other libraries, for Audio, Charts, Frames, and more. Click on ‘See All’ for any of them to replace the sidebar with a larger view of what Canva has to offer for each of these categories.

Take Photos as an example. The sidebar will now show you trending thumbnails in an endless scroll format. Top of the sidebar is a search field, which allows you to find more specific images. 

The concept is as simple as you’d expect it to be: type in some keywords, and Canva will return a bunch of results. Notice that some thumbnails have a little gold crown to their lower right. This indicates those photos are premium ones. All those without the crown can be used for free.

Mouse over a thumbnail to reveal a circle with three dots inside it, top right. Click on that to get more information about the image, like it, add it to a folder, or see other media taken by the same photographer.

Canva : Using stock assets

To use a chosen piece of media, simply click on it, and it’s instantly added to your project. You’ll find handles on the corners and sides of the image, so you can crop and resize it to your liking. You can add as much media as you’d like into your project, and reposition them at will - you’ll notice magnetic guides will help you snap to the centre or edges of the canvas, or any other media already added to your project. All of this applies to photos, graphics, and videos Canva showcases.

You can of course use them with any template for anything Canva caters for, or should you fill your canvas with just the media you chose, you’ll be able to download it straight to your computer, via the ‘Share’ button, top right of the interface.

Select ‘Download’ from that dropdown menu, choose the correct file type you’re after, and download your media.

If that’s all you’re after, there is a much easier way: as we mentioned earlier, there’s a button top right of each thumbnail granting you access to information about it. One such data happens to be where it comes from. It seems most free ones originate from Pexels or Pixabay, while the premium ones can be found in Getty Images. Maybe it would be easier to grab them directly from the source?

As it stands, although Canva offers a stock media library, and you can browse and extract samples for your own use elsewhere, it’s not really ideally suited for use outside of its own templates. Although it can be done, there are easier ways to achieve the same goal, like grabbing them from the original libraries they came from.

Canva: Docs and ChatGPT

In recent months, the company has continued to add new tools and features to the platform. In a move away from pure graphic design, Canva Docs is the latest.

Since the dawn of the word processor , tools like Microsoft Word and Google Docs have had a fundamental problem. It’s nigh-on impossible to design smart-looking documents. A sentence with just one word too many can send everything off-kilter. Text boxes spiral off onto new pages. Images create yawning chasms of negative space no matter how many times you resize them. 

Canva Docs solves this challenge. It effectively bridges the gap between word processor and page layout designer - a sort of simplified DTP software . And it works in a similar fashion to the excellent Canva PDF Editor (and, to be fair, the platform as a whole, with its intuitive design consistency). Notably, you can take these pages and transform them into a PowerPoint -style document using the Docs to Deck function. 

Docs also features a really useful Magic Write tool. Drawing on the power of chatGPT AI , you can quickly get writing prompts and text by clicking the plus and typing what you want from the bot. In our tests, this worked really well to produce content fast - although it’s always best to give these things a good proofread.  

Canva: Final verdict

When you weigh Canva up against something like Adobe Creative Cloud , there's nowhere near the level of complexity or number of features, but then not everyone is looking for what Adobe CC has to offer – some people will prefer a simpler, more intuitive option that takes seconds to learn and get into, and that's exactly what Canva is. In fact, it's arguably a cleaner, more intuitive than its closest competitor, Adobe Express .

While advanced users are going to want more in terms of functionality and flexibility, there's no arguing with the quality of the results that Canva can come up with – the app is capable of producing some really professional-looking designs, with less effort on your part than you might think.

• Best drawing apps and digital art software : Top programs for artists and illustrators

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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Reviews 2.6.

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Very fast turn around, a good price & excellent address label images

Very fast turn around & a good price in comparison with other companies - free from the host of add-on charges that often lie in wait. You can actually choose from a huge range of illustrations & typefaces for address label variants although the website is not 100% user friendly for the unfamiliar.

Date of experience : April 22, 2024

Not happy about the changes to premium…

Not happy about the changes to premium downloads, this makes it impossible for businesses now to use this platform, canva needs to make the change back for it to be viable or be willing to lose custom.

Photographers avoid!!!!

Photographers avoid!!!! I am in the process of deleting all my submitted photos to Canva. Had 340 downloads and got $6 !!!! Absolute rip off. Nothing was transparent in the beginning, I thought I would give it a try :) Shutterstock pays more, I got today $3 for 2 photos. So be careful, do not give away your best images to Canva.

Date of experience : April 17, 2024

Proceed Cautiously, If At All...

It is useful as a free service and I have not found any issues with it as a source for graphics. Did not use their apps for much. But sketchy is as sketchy does. Everything (including their policies) sounded reasonable in writing. Until I read that they require payment information **at the beginning** of the "free" trial period. I very nearly provided them with the payment information to go ahead with the free trial because I was in a hurry. But then I decided to look at the reviews. It seems that the evidence indeed points to Canva being sketchy. If I were to go ahead with the trial, I would use a credit card that I can cancel without any trouble on my end. In my opinion: If the company was indeed interested in doing business in a fair, honest manner, they would provide a truly free, no-significant-strings-attached trial period.

Date of experience : April 16, 2024

Very, Extremely poor customer service

Very poor customer service, I tried to cancel because there designs are not printable and bad quality. I can't log in because it keeps on saying my email or phone number don't exist on there system, but still they keep on taking money. I did email support but they dont' reply. I don't have any idea how to stop the payment, because I don't exist.

Date of experience : April 10, 2024

Cancelled account and they are still taking payments even after this was disputed with my bank. Had a payment refunded, was told account has been cancelled and they have now taken another payment

Less than one star

Less than one star! Terrible costumer service. They are thieves. Charged my credit card and have not refunded the money. Please stay away from this.

Date of experience : April 01, 2024

Excellent Customer Service, Special Thanks to LA

I encountered a problem with my shop and designs created on Canva, but the customer service provided was exceptional. Correspondence with LA made the process seamless! I had a tedious issue and it was swiftly solved inunder 3 days! Fabulous! Thank you to LA and Canva for their outstanding assistance :)

Date of experience : April 03, 2024

Beware of paying for Canva Pro...

I have paid for a Canva Pro subscription and a week later still cannot access the features I paid for. I have a presentation that I am making shortly- and despite five emails, I still cannot access the Pro features. The problem is with their customer service. They send you an automated response and give you lists of things to try to sort out the problem yourself. I have done everything they have suggested and still don't have the service I paid for. I have sent copies of my payment receipt to prove I have paid - but the features are still inaccessible. Buyer beware of Canva Pro - its a money grab.

Date of experience : April 13, 2024

I have been unable to upload pictures…

I have been unable to upload pictures and videos to Canva Pro, an app that I am paying for, over a month. After several complaints and emails, and asking for a refund for the time it is unavailable this was their response. "“The Service is provided on an “as-is” and “as-available” basis. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law and subject to any non-excludable rights and remedies you may have under applicable law, Canva, its licensors, and its suppliers, expressly disclaim any and all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Canva does not warrant that your use of the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free.”

Great app &company

Great app &company. I really enjoyed making an academic poster for my university assessment. I am so grateful for the free trial which allowed me to get access to all the pro features. They email you before your bill date to remind you about your subscription. Overall Great Ignore the reviews by incompetent people who forgot to cancel their subscription or forgot their password to cancel.. They are great:)

Date of experience : March 16, 2024

One of the best design websites out…

One of the best design websites out there, their free resources are fantastic and the paid ones are even better. Being able to resize to any dimensions, remove backgrounds and more flawlessly with ease when photoshop is so much more expensive and harder to use is a lifesaver.

Date of experience : March 23, 2024

its a terrible UI

its a terrible UI, I tried to edit a small video and it's laggy, constantly freezes, when you drag the audio track around it randomly changes the volume, it drops video clips randomly so suddenly just this one clip is gone. The only thing that impressed me was how bad it was. wow!!

Date of experience : April 15, 2024

Excellent customer service

Excellent customer service I made a mistake and got in touch and they refunded so I could re-order Thanks!

Date of experience : April 09, 2024

Horrible company to do business with

Horrible company to do business with, if i could give a score with a minus on i would !! , their customer service is abysmal ! they are happy to spam you with emails telling you your domain is up for renewal , but when you actually try to pay for it , they do not take the funds , then spam you again a couple of days later with the same message ! They rely on bots to spam you irrelevant info , no matter which platform they are on you will never speak to an actual human just bots , think its about time to cancel everything i have with these wannabes and move to a more professional company instead !

The best and fastest growing saas for…

The best and fastest growing saas for online design. Everyday new and improved features rock. Best value for money app. Other saas developers need to learn.

Date of experience : March 28, 2024

Slow poor tech support for business print on demand. Low quality.

Slow poor tech support for business. I’ve had a great experience using this app & designing on it. I ordered my first print on demand item as a prototype & the print is misaligned & in the wrong place. It’s impossible to find out how to rectify this. I won’t be using them for print on demand for my business launch. Not reliable or quality.

Poor support, poor application

Poor support, no possibility to recover designs. My project were deleted by accident: I deleted team and all designs were automatically deleted without any warning. When I asked support to recover they replied with automated e-mail and nothing and after a while said it is not possible.

Date of experience : March 25, 2024

Cool, useful

Date of experience : April 21, 2023

I like this photo app

I like this photo app, it makes my daily work easy and it is great.

Date of experience : February 01, 2024

The 6 Best Custom Photo Book Companies in 2023 (July)

Canvas champ.

In the digital age, we live in a world where memories are quickly captured and forgotten. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become the new photo albums, where we scroll through hundreds of images in a matter of minutes.

But what about the pictures that hold significant meaning, the ones that remind us of cherished moments or the people who have touched our lives? The ones that we want to treasure and pass down to future generations? Enter the custom photo book. The Best Custom Photo Book, to be exact.

With the capability to add text, customize layouts and backgrounds, and select from a variety of sizes and finishes, photo books are quickly becoming the new standard for preserving our precious memories. No longer do we have to sift through boxes of dusty old photos and hope they don’t get lost or damaged.

Now, we can create a stunning, one-of-a-kind book that tells the story of our lives with just a few clicks. Imagine a beautiful hardcover book filled with glossy pages filled with your most cherished moments that will last for generations to come.

Selection Criteria for the Best Photo Book Services in 2023—Buying Guide

As someone who loves to turn digital memories into tangible keepsakes, I had to find the best option. I started my research, reading reviews, studying prices, and comparing shipping times.

Would the paper quality be satisfactory? Will the photos print with vibrant colors? Would the layout options be aesthetically pleasing? I poured over every detail of each site, how their design tools worked, the price of each copy, and the ease of the creation process. Finally, after days of contemplation, I placed my orders, and now, the wait begins.

Will my books arrive on time, and will they be as beautiful as I pictured them in my head? Only time will tell, but I remain optimistic. In this day and age, when we document every moment of our lives, it’s crucial to have a high-quality photo book to preserve those memories for future generations to come.

Whether you’re creating a book for your child’s first year of life or a friend’s wedding day, it’s essential to find a custom photo book site that meets all your needs. My hope is that through my thorough research, I have helped make that decision a little easier for others.

Based on our research, there are various elements to consider when looking for an online custom picture book provider to ensure that you receive the most value for your money and that the end product meets your expectations. Here are some things to keep an eye out for:

• Print Quality: One of the most important elements to consider when looking for an online personalized picture book provider is print quality. Look for a business that provides high-quality printing with brilliant colors.
• Ease of Use: The website or app interface should be simple to use and navigate. The customization procedure should be straightforward, with drag-and-drop tools and a wide range of templates and layouts to pick from.
• Pricing: The service’s pricing should be straightforward, with no hidden fees. Look for a service that has reasonable prices and frequent discounts and promotions.
• Customer Service: When interacting with any online service, a dependable customer service team is essential. Look for a provider that offers good customer service and prompt assistance by phone, email, or chat.
• Delivery Time and Alternatives: Examine the picture book’s estimated delivery time as well as the shipping alternatives available to you. Some services charge a fee for expedited shipping.
• Options for Customization: Look for a service that allows you to add text, borders, and backdrops, among other things. The more possibilities for personalization you have, the more personalized your photo book may be.

Top Product Recommendations for the Best Custom Photo Books in 2023

• Overall Best Photo Book Service: CanvasChamp
• Best Professional Custom Photo Books: Mixbook
• Best Design Software for Custom Photo Books: Printique 
• Best Add-On Options Photo Book Services: Shutterfly 
• Best Themed Photo Book Services: Artifact Uprising Photo Service
• Best Value Custom Photo Book: Walmart

1. Overall Best Photo Book Service—CanvasChamp

Photo Book Selection Criteria

• Quality – 10/10
• Website Ease of Use – 10/10
• Pricing – 10/10
• Customer Service – 9/10
• Delivery Time and Alternatives – 9/10
• Options for Customization – 10/10

About CanvasChamp

CanvasChamp is a custom photo book service provider that has been making waves in the industry, and for a good reason. After thorough research and testing, it is evident that CanvasChamp is the best overall custom photo book service provider on the market. 

The quality of the photo book is truly second to none. CanvasChamp uses high-quality paper and printing technology that produces sharp and vivid images. The colors are accurate, and the pages are sturdy, which ensures that the photo book will last for years. Also, the user interface is user-friendly, and the customization process is straightforward. The website has a wide variety of templates and layouts to choose from, making it easy to create a personalized photo book that suits your style. CanvasChamp offers competitive pricing with frequent discounts and promotions. There are no hidden fees, and the pricing is transparent, which makes it easy to plan and budget for your photo book.

Lastly, their customer service is top-notch. The team is responsive and helpful, with support available via phone, email, and chat. They are always willing to assist and provide solutions to any issues that may arise. Finally, CanvasChamp offers quick and reliable delivery. The estimated delivery time is displayed upfront, and they offer expedited shipping options for an additional fee.

• High image quality 
• Great variety of layout options
• Themed photo albums: weddings, baby books, couple, graduation, and more
• No online photo storage
• Not compatible with Google Photos

2. Best Professional Custom Photo Books—Mixbook

Selection Criteria

• Pricing – 8/10

About Mixbook Photo Books

The Mixbook program allows you complete freedom of expression in the design of your own unique photo album. With more than 500 available topics to choose from, Mixbook has you covered for all your photo needs, whether they be romantic, holiday, family, everyday, travel, or kid-related. The extent to which you alter the premade templates is entirely up to you, and you can always begin with a clean slate and a blank document.

One of the main reasons why Mixbook is suitable for business use is because of its design tools and flexibility. Mixbook allows you to personalize every facet of your book, from the fonts and backgrounds to the borders and design templates. With so many options, making a picture book that fits the requirements of a professional project’s branding is a breeze.

Mixbook’s professional-grade printing and paper options give your picture book the look and feel of a high-quality publication while still allowing for extensive personalization. You can pick the paper that works best for your project from a selection that includes thin, inexpensive paper and thick, high-quality options.

Mixbook’s more advanced capabilities include tools for group collaboration that let numerous people work on the same project at once and compatibility with industry-standard photo editors like Lightroom and Photoshop. Although the Mixbook software is intuitive, a tutorial is available on the Internet in case any questions arise. 

• Mixbook creates truly high-quality photo books
• Wide variety of photo layouts
• Promotional codes open in a new tab when going through checkout, so you can always get the best deal
• High number of templates may be overwhelming

3. Best Design Software for Custom Photo Books—Printique 

• Website Ease of Use – 9/10
• Pricing – 9/10
• Customer Service – 10/10
• Delivery Time and Alternatives – 10/10

About Printique

Printique is head and shoulders above the competition as the most user-friendly and feature-packed photo book design software available today. Printique’s wide variety of design tools and a user-friendly interface allows users to make picture books that are both beautiful and unique.

Printique’s design software shines due in large part to its adaptability. It provides a large library of editable designs from which users can pick the perfect layout for their needs. Using the simple drag-and-drop interface, you can quickly and easily rearrange and resize photos, as well as add text, graphics, and backdrops.

Printique’s design software has powerful editing tools that let users adjust and improve their photographs without leaving the program. The software has everything one needs to make their work look professional, from the most fundamental controls like brightness and contrast to more advanced functions like filters and effects.

Printique also has an exceptional eye for detail. The program provides automatic filling of layouts based on provided photos, accurate alignment, and spacing guidance. This attention to detail helps produce a work that is both professional and unified.

With Printique’s software, users can easily import photographs from social network, cloud storage, or even professional editing tools, thanks to its intuitive interface and solid design features.

In general, Printique’s design software is the gold standard when it comes to making unique picture books. Professional and amateur designers alike flock to it for its comprehensive suite of design tools, intuitive interface, powerful editing options, and meticulous attention to detail when creating visually stunning and uniquely personalized picture books.

• Metal and leather covers are an option
• Specializes in skin tones, and all your photos are bound to very accurate and impressive
• Excels in how many photos you can have in your photo album
• You can upload photos, but there is a learning curve to using the software

4. Best Add-On Options Photo Book Services—Shutterfly

• Quality – 9/10

About Shutterfly

For good cause, Shutterfly has become a household name in the realm of personalized photo books. Shutterfly’s extensive collection of customization options and features sets it apart from the competition and makes it ideal for clients looking to make photo books that are genuinely one-of-a-kind and special.

The variety of stickers, die-cuts, and ornamental borders available on Shutterfly is one of the service’s most distinctive qualities. Customers can make their photo books more unique and interesting by using these accessories.

Shutterfly’s ability to connect with other websites and services is another plus. Customers may quickly and easily add their favorite photographs from Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites to their photo book.

To help clients get their photographs looking just right before adding them to a photo book, Shutterfly provides a number of editing tools and filters. Even if you don’t consider yourself a designer, you’ll be able to make beautiful photo albums with the help of the company’s online design tool.

Last but not least, Shutterfly provides a diverse selection of paper types, from normal economy paper to premium, thick sheets that do a great job of showcasing your photographs. Customers can design a photo book that is perfect for them by selecting from a variety of book sizes and cover styles.

Shutterfly collaborates with vendors to salvage usable materials from printing press byproducts like oil filters, ink cartridges, and press parts. It also claims to donate any unused materials to community organizations.

• One of the best photo book websites when it comes to customer service
• Great personalized photo book design options, with a wide variety of add ons
• ‘Make it Fast’ option may produce uneven printed photos

5. Best Themed Photo Book Services—Artifact Uprising Photo Service

About Artifact Uprising Photo Service

Artifact Uprising is head and shoulders above the competition as the best themed picture book service due to their extensive and carefully selected theme options that greatly improve the narrative potential of personalized photo books. When it comes to themed picture books, Artifact Uprising is in a league of its own thanks to the meticulous care they put into their work, the high quality of the materials they use, and the sophistication of their designs.

Artifact Uprising’s carefully conceived and executed themes are a major asset of the studio. Each option, whether it’s a wedding, a trip, a baby’s first year, or just daily moments, is purposefully crafted to elicit a particular feeling or tell a particular story. The photographs and their accompanying themes work together to produce a unified and interesting story.

The dedication to environmental responsibility shown by Artifact Uprising is also noteworthy. They place a premium on ethical production techniques and eco-friendly materials. The high-quality paper used in their themed picture books creates an elegant and memorable product.

Artifact Uprising’s themed picture books are incredibly well-made. Everything, from the typeface to the colors, was carefully selected to work in harmony with the overall concept. This level of care is also present in the theme’s adaptability settings, which let users make unique adjustments without compromising the overall design.

Artifact Uprising’s passion to happy customers shines through in the quality of their customer service. They are quick to respond to inquiries, and they go out of their way to assist consumers when they create and order their products.

• Best quality photo books
• Easy design process
• Creative freedom for page layouts
• Price point is higher than the competition

6. Best Value Custom Photo Book—Walmart

• Options for Customization – 9/10

About Walmart Photo

When it comes to generating personalised picture books, Walmart stands out as the most cost-effective and dependable solution. Walmart is an excellent alternative for individuals looking for budget-friendly picture books because of the low prices, wide range of customization options, and widespread availability.

The low price of Walmart’s photo book customization option is one of its best advantages. Creating professional-looking photo books doesn’t have to break the bank when you use Walmart’s services. 

Walmart does not skimp on quality despite its low prices. The photo books are expertly made; they have strong bindings and printing that does the photographs justice in terms of color and depth. The photo book’s longevity in appearance and feel can be attributed to the high quality of the paper used.

Walmart’s online editing tool is intuitive and provides numerous ways to make the photo book uniquely yours. Customers have complete control throughout the design process, from the cover to the photos inside. This method is perfect for individuals who value efficiency and minimal effort.

The convenience of Walmart’s extensive presence is also a plus. With a widespread network of retail outlets, customers may place an online order and pick up their finished photo books at their convenience.

• High quality photo books, with a large variety of lay outs
• Budget-friendly option, without sacrificing quality
• Many pick up locations
• Same day pick up option
• No metal cover option

Conclusion—The Best Photo Book Service 2023

In conclusion, when it comes to creating the best custom photo book, it all boils down to the details. The little things can make all the difference, from the quality of the paper to the layout of the images.

But beyond that, what makes a great photo book is the personal touch that you bring to it. Every image that you choose, every caption that you write, is a reflection of your memories, your experiences, and your unique perspective on the world.

And that’s what makes a photo book truly special, whether you’re creating it as a gift for a loved one or as a way to preserve your own precious moments. So take your time, choose your photos with care, and let your creativity flow.

Whether you opt for a sleek, modern design or a more classic look, the best custom photo book is the one that tells your story in the most beautiful and meaningful way possible. And that, at the end of the day, is what we’re all striving to achieve as we navigate this strange and unpredictable world we live in.

In conclusion, CanvasChamp is the best overall custom photo book service provider. With their high-quality products, user-friendly interface, competitive pricing, excellent customer service, and reliable delivery, they provide a superior photo book experience.

Shutterfly is the greatest online picture book provider with regard to offered extras. It’s simple to produce a unique and interesting photo book thanks to the app’s extensive selection of embellishments, social media integration, photo editing capabilities, and paper selections.

Finally, Artifact Uprising is one of the best themed picture book providers to create your own photo book online because of their extensive theme library, high-quality materials, meticulous design, and kind, helpful staff. Their themed photo books are an exquisite way to preserve and display treasured memories while also providing a compelling narrative experience.

So go forth and create your masterpiece – we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

We hope you found our analysis of the top custom photo book services of 2022 to be helpful. Consult our associated guides for further sources of comparable items for the artistic lifestyle.

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Canva Print Review: How Do Canva’s Printing Services Compare?

In the past, we’ve covered Canva’s value as a digital asset. When it comes to creating graphics destined for the web, it’s one of the best free options around. But, sometimes the best way to get across a brand or message is with something a bit more tactile.

Luckily, Canva’s still got its customers covered. The site offers a wide range of physical products that take just a few minutes to design, preview, and ship. We took the time to order a few for ourselves to see how they stack against competitors.

Read on to see what a Canva print has to offer!

When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. We evaluate products independently . Commissions do not affect our evaluations.

About Canva

This site is a drag-and-drop design tool to help creatives build branding materials and beyond. Many utilize Canva for social media posts, infographics, and online advertising. However, users may also order physical print products for promotional and personal use alike.

Free users and paid subscribers can take advantage of Canva’s printers. Paired with slick design templates and tools, they make it easy (and affordable!) to transform your ideas into something eye-catching.

Designing and Placing an Order

By design, Canva is optimized for easy use. Making photo prints, in particular, couldn’t be more simple. All there is to it is uploading your image file and dragging it into place on your composition.

Once you’ve done that, just press the “print” option in the top righthand corner. You’ll be immediately redirected to the next steps in placing your order.

First, you’ll be asked to specify the size, paper weight, finish, etc. of your print. This is also the step in which you specify how many copies (if any) you’d like made. Conveniently, the quantity drop-down includes the total price and price per unit of your order.

Next, Canva prompts you to double-check your order preview. If you have image sizing or print resolution issues, they’ll be addressed here. The site also reminds you to proofread any text files in this step.

After that’s sorted out, all that’s left to do is input your shipping information and complete the order. If you’re using a Pro account, the charge is automatically made to the credit card/payment method attached to your profile.

Even though I’m far from Canva HQ and currently experiencing frequent mail delays, all of my pieces arrived within a few days of placing my order. It is important to note, however, that everything arrived separately. In addition, the large poster took a few days more than the mailbox-friendly postcards. Depending on what it is you’re ordering, shipping times may vary, so plan appropriately!

My Canva Print Experience

For any customer, convenience and ease of use is always a plus. We already know that Canva provides plenty of that. But how effective are they as printers?

To find the answer, I placed some orders across different styles and sizes available. Here’s what arrived at my door, fresh from the printer.

Order #1: Poster

When you want to show off a favorite photograph, printing it poster-size might not immediately come to mind. But the Canva Print shop makes it possible to produce big, bold reproductions of your best shots.

At 21×28″, this is the largest print available. It’s large enough to grab attention and make a statement, making it an excellent choice for promotional purposes. My one complaint? The size diverts from the standard measurements used for posters. If you had planned on framing your purchase, you may run into a few roadblocks in your search for an appropriate frame.

As far as image quality goes, I don’t have any gripes. The color reproduction is accurate, and there wasn’t any pixelation or distortion present from stretching to such a large size. There were no unpleasant surprises or mistakes that I could identify, which always makes for a good first impression.

Canva does not allow you to customize the paperweight or finish as they do with many of their other products. For better or worse, the materials used for the poster I received are indistinguishable from an average poster. It has more of a luster finish than a true gloss, which minimizes glare for better display. In addition, you can easily roll up these prints for transport without damage – a nice change of pace, considering how fragile photo prints usually are!

Order #2: Flyers

Frankly, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from Canva’s flyer. Generally, I associate flyers with being made by the hundred on a copy machine. They’re no-nonsense and tend to prioritize quantity and print speed over image quality. How would a photo print translate to this medium?

As it turns out, pretty well!

These aren’t the sort of flyers you’d pull fresh from a Xerox copier – it’s clear that Canva put the same effort into this product as they would any other. This full-bleed 8.5×11″ print sports a full range of tones and colors, which far surpassed my expectations.

If I were to order again, however, I might choose different materials. This time around, I requested a premium paper. In retrospect, I think I would have gotten more of a traditional “flyer” feel with their lighter weight standard paper. On top of that, I also chose a glossy finish. On one hand, this provided the same stark look and feel of the poster. However, it cannot be written on and has the feel of an actual photo print more so than a true flyer.

Order #3: Post Cards

Finally, let’s take a moment to go over Canva’s selection of postcards. While the individual 5.5×4.3″ is at least double the price of your run-of-the-mill postcard, I wanted to see how Canva handled variations in size, paper, and finish. So, I ordered one card on premium paper with an uncoated finish, and a second on deluxe paper with a matte finish.

The physical differences were distinct from my previous two purchases. However, the postcards themselves were pretty similar. Deluxe paper is a bit heavier and more durable than the premium. The matte finish has the slightest of sheens compared to the uncoated. That said, the differences between the two are so subtle that I doubt the average viewer would be able to identify them.

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Both pieces impressed me. But, honestly, I’m not sure that I’d classify either a postcard in the traditional sense. Rather, both had the feel and image quality of a print that you might order from a fine-art photo printer.

So long as you know what you’re getting into ahead of time, these prints will serve you well. As promotional giveaways, it’s a handsome way to showcase a photograph or logo. The tones and colors are vibrant, and the details came out beautifully. I like them enough that I’d even consider hanging these pieces on my wall.

However, those expecting something to write a letter to grandma on might be disappointed. The paper used doesn’t seem like it’s particularly well suited for writing on, though I’m sure you could. What’s more, these pieces are definitely more prone to damage than your standard postcard. Though Canva (very considerately) wrapped my pieces in protective plastic, I’m skeptical about how well these prints would typically travel in the mail.

Today’s orders represent only a fraction of what Canva has to offer its customers. Aside from the traditional paper prints, we’ve covered, customers can print their designs on any of the following:

• Business Cards
• Menus and Programs
• Invitations and Cards
• Canvas Prints
• Photo Books

Canva allows you to work outside the box, so don’t limit yourself!

Our Thoughts

Canva print review.

Product Name: Canva Print

Product Description: Designer-made templates, customized in a few click, and delivered it to your doorstep.

Brand: Canva

Offer price: 6.00

Currency: USD

Availability: OnlineOnly

• Print Quality
• Ordering Process
• Preparation and Shipping Speeds

Canva is a great comprehensive design and print service. Their selection of prints and affordable mass-production business pricing make it a great printing option for large scale purposes. Overall, print quality is high and the products are processed and shipped rapidly. 

Order Canva Prints

If you’ve already got an account, there are a lot of great reasons to order yourself a Canva Print. But there are a few things to keep in mind before placing an order.

Firstly, do your math. On an individual basis, product prices skew high. However, bulk buys yield greater savings. The more that you buy, the less you’ll pay per unit. So, while Canva consistently offers excellent savings on orders of 1000, you may not find the same bargain prices if you only need 5 or 10 copies.

Secondly, it’s important to go in with the right expectations. While I was happy with both my flyer and my postcards, they didn’t exactly fit the mold that I expected. If you’re looking for a product for strictly utilitarian purposes, these may not accomplish the job you need.

So long as you keep those two points in mind, you cannot go wrong with a Canva Print. Across the board, the results are consistent and good looking. Getting your personal brand out into the world is no easy feat, but this line of prints begs for attention. Order a test print today to see for yourself – you won’t be disappointed!

Meghan is an artist and writer based out of Boston, MA. With an interest in everything from instant film to experimental videography, her work has been featured internationally in a variety of photographic exhibitions and publications. You can connect with Meghan on Instagram .

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5 thoughts on “Canva Print Review: How Do Canva’s Printing Services Compare?”

First time ordering prints off of Canva, and I was beyond impressed with how they came out. They were invites for my wedding, that I actually made myself with the Canva app. Really great price & super fast shipping- received with 2 days of ordering! Overall, the prints came out beautiful, and exactly how I imagined. 10/10 would definitely purchase more prints again in the future!

hi there! I am using Canva for my wedding save the dates but I am having trouble as the photo is not coming out high quality. the first time I printed, I used postcards, with matte finish and premium paper. I am now going to try uncoated finish with deluxe paper. what did you select, if you don’t mind sharing?

Lies… canva business cards are terrible

I have never ordered prints from Canva before. I am looking at stationary (flat cards) but it does not give any information about what the envelopes look like, what color options (if any) there are…what style the envelopes are. Were you able to learn any of this information?

Thank you! That was very helpful.

Canva 101: How to Use Canva as a Book Influencer

To help NetGalley members create strong platforms for sharing their book reviews, we’ve rounded up tips for starting a blog , Bookstagram , Booktube , and BookTok channel. Most of these posts mention the free resource Canva as an option for creating images, and members have been wanting to know more about how to best use Canva. Here we’ll go over some ways that you can use Canva to share book reviews, create templates for other readers, and brighten up your social media feeds. (Psst: This post isn’t sponsored by Canva, we’re just fans of the tool and want to share the love!)

What is Canva?

Canva is a graphic design platform. You can sign up with a free account, and they also have a paid program that offers even more tools and assets. For book influencers, I’d recommend the free account!

When you log onto the Canva homepage, you’ll find options for creating new projects with pre-set dimensions, such as an Instagram story or a X header. Use these to ensure that anything you design is the perfect fit for the platform you’re uploading it to.

You can watch their Tutorials and Courses to learn even more about using Canva!

Adding book covers to device images In the past, I shared tips on how to add book covers to ereaders . A few members wanted a closer look at the process I use in Canva, so let’s dive in! From the Canva homepage, I click the Instagram Post option under the Recommended tab—or find it by typing Instagram into the search bar. 

To make your picture look more seamless and natural, it’s best to mimic how a cover actually looks on your ereader. On my device there’s a black bar at the top and bottom of the cover. 

Whenever possible, I screenshot the cover on my iPhone to ensure that the dimensions are a perfect fit when I transfer them to my ereader. Not everyone is able to screenshot covers on their reading device, so I’ll show you here how I add covers that I didn’t screenshot.

In the Canva design you’ve started, drag and drop your photo so that it fills the entire square. Then add the book cover. 

To create the illusion of the cover being on an ereader, go to the elements tab in the sidebar and type the word ‘rectangle’ into the search bar. Add the first search result to your design. Yours will be black, but I’ll make mine purple so it’s easier to see.

Start by fitting the rectangle onto your ereader. You can adjust the height, width, and rotate until you’re happy with its placement. 

Then straighten the rectangle so its parallel to the book cover. Place the book cover over the rectangle (you may need to click Position in the menu bar and move the book cover to the front) and resize until it fits within the width. The top and bottom of the rectangle should be visible and equal in size. I’ve made the design larger here for you to see.

Use your mouse to select both the book cover and the rectangle behind it. In the menu bar, hit Group. This allows you to move, rotate, and resize them together. From there, move the images to your ereader screen and adjust until you’re happy with the result!

Download your image and upload to social media!

Instagram Photos Bookstagrammers are using tools like Canva to create sharable eye-catching recommendation lists such as talk_about_swoon’s pairing of movies with romance novels and Bookstagramrepresent’s post of diverse debut novels .

You can create your own design from scratch or use Canva’s pre-made templates to get you started. I used one of Canva’s Instagram templates to inspire this scrapbook-style design featuring some of our team’s most recent staff reads.

You can use this style of post to roundup books that you recommend, or to showcase books you’ve included in a longer article that’s linked in your profile.

Instagram Stories Your Instagram posts aren’t the only places to share book reviews. You can also use Canva to create your own custom review templates. Here’s one I made for NetGalley reviews that includes a space for a short review, star rating, GIF reaction, book cover, and a place to thank the publisher for the ARC! Feel free to use it:

Canva also has excellent templates to help you create Instagram stories that encourage engagement with your fellow readers. Here’s one I put together for NetGalley members to share GIF reactions of their NetGalley habits:

Thumbnails Canva is a great tool for Booktubers looking to make thumbnails, which are the images viewers see when scrolling through YouTube for something to watch. 

Current trends in Booktube thumbnails include: eye-catching colors, text that hooks viewers, and a picture of the Booktuber. Using Canva’s YouTube Thumbnail design specs, I added a library background from their Photos catalog. Then I clicked Effects in the top menu and used Duotone to create the color I wanted. From there I added the text that I wanted, playing around with different fonts and font effects until I was happy.

My last step was to add a picture of myself! In the paid version of Canva, you can remove the background from photos after you upload them to your Canva library, which is what I did here. But there are also free websites that offer the same feature! 

Banners As you can see from the examples above, Canva makes it easy to design any number of graphics that can be used on book blogs. You can create artwork for blog posts, or even a banner for the top of your blog like I did here:

Using a macaron cookie outline I found in the Elements tab on the sidebar, and Effects for a font that I liked, I was able to create a simple but clear header for my (imaginary) blog. I kept things simple with the blog’s title and a subheader to further explain the blog’s theme. You could also add a picture of yourself or more design elements!

Find more bookish social media tips here!

Kelly Gallucci

Kelly Gallucci is the Executive Editor of We Are Bookish, where she oversees the editorial content, offers book recommendations, and interviews authors and NetGalley members. When she's not working, Kelly can be found color coordinating her bookshelves, eating Chipotle, and watching way too many baking shows.

I am quite inept when it comes to social media so these tips will be very helpful in stepping up my Instagram game. Thanks for sharing this helpful info!

Great post. I’ve been considering getting some high school students to help me get started. Can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks!

This is incredibly helpful, thanks so much! 😀

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Printique review: canvas print, photo book and poster printing services tested

A high-quality printing service for anything from photo books to posters, to canvas prints and more.

Digital Camera World Verdict

Printique isn't by any means the cheapest printing service but what it lacks in affordability it certainly makes up for in print quality. There are literally hundreds of different products to choose from in a range of sizes and finishes, you can preview the end result to make sure nothing has been cropped wrong and the website is easy enough to navigate.

High-quality finish

Lots of products to choose from

Complete control when designing photobooks

Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.

Printique: Products available

Printique: shipping, printique: verdict.

Printique is one of the best services I've ever used when it comes to printing high-quality photo books, prints, posters, and canvases. If you're after a professional flawless finish, it's pretty much unbeatable but you do pay a high price for the top-notch service. We ordered a photo book, several poster prints in different finishes, a range of prints in different sizes and finishes plus a canvas print so could rate the quality, color accuracy, and finish across a range of products. 

All the prices quoted in this review are accurate as of September 2023.

You can get a wide range of products printed at Printique that make perfect gifts or personal touches to your home. From classic canvas and posters, to sleek glass prints or eco-friendly wood prints, each print style has a range of sizes to choose from.

There is also a diverse choice of gift products including mugs, puzzles, photo books, calendars, and even things like water bottles, coasters, and acrylic blocks. We opted to choose more traditional products to review including poster prints, a canvas, a photobook plus photos to put in a photo frame or album. 

Canvas prints

Starting at $29.99, Printique's canvasses are by no means the cheapest you can find but the quality is good and you can choose from a range of edges, sizes, and finishes. Canvases start at 8X8 inches and go all the way up to 30 x 40 inches. If you have a very specific size in mind which isn't listed you can also get custom sizes printed up to 30x30 inches.

Up close, the canvas quality doesn't look that good but that's just due to the texture of the material it's printed on. From a distance, the canvas prints really elevate your photos and add character to a room. If you have a blank wall you want to fill with several canvas prints you can use the canvas wall designer tool to envision how they will all look before placing your order. 

Poster prints

I was blown away by the quality, detail, and color accuracy of Printique's poster prints. Seeing your photos in large format completely transforms them into works of art - especially when framed. Choose from a range of superior-quality photo papers including luster, glossy, matte, metallic, and fine art. Sizes start at 16x20 inches and go up to an enormous 40x60 inches. Luster was our favorite finish as it gave a little bit of shine without being too reflective.

A photo book is an incredibly touching gift but it's also a wonderful way of keeping all your memories from a special event in one place. We ordered a 10x8 inch, hardback 26-page photo book with a luster finish and compared to other photos I've seen, the quality is second to none. The images are pin sharp, the colors are exactly the same as the digital copies, and the pages are printed on high-quality paper. 

If quality is the most important thing to you then Printique can't be beaten however you pay a pretty penny for the high standards. A mini softcover photo book (4x4 inches) starts at $14.99 while more professional-looking hardback books range from $38.99 to upwards of $86.99 depending on how many pages you want and whether you want a custom end page (unless you pay extra it is printed with the Printique logo).

Photo prints

Again, photo prints from Printique are a little more expensive than other places starting at $0.32 for a 6x4-inch print but you get what you pay for. There are no printing lines, the colors are accurate, the images are not at all pixelated, and even photos taken on an iPhone 11 look pretty high-resolution. 

Printed on silver halide photo paper and emulsion prints, you can choose from 15 different sizes, and 6 finishes and you can choose whether you want to include a border on your print. 

Printique: Usability

The website itself is easy to navigate, products are broken down into types (e.g. photo books, prints, wall decor, gifts, etc.), and within each section, you can choose specific items. Whatever you choose to get printed, prompts help you along the way to make sure you have uploaded the right resolution image in the right size. It also enables you to crop images online to better suit the product you want printed. 

Uploading photos is incredibly simple and there are lots of ways you can do it. Either upload directly from your computer or import images from Facebook, Instagram , Google Photos, Dropbox, Lightroom , and Flickr. Once you've uploaded your images you can arrange them into galleries which are then stored on the Printique website so you can come back to them as you please.

The image uploader offers a vigorous process of double-checking that your images are cropped correctly so you don't get any nasty surprises when they arrive. So whether you're printing a canvas, a poster print, or a selection of smaller prints you can see an accurate preview before confirming your order.

Photo book designer

Designing the photo book is a little bit trickier but there are a wide range of templates to choose from if you don't want to design it completely from scratch. For those who are feeling extra creative, you can choose the blank option and then add images, text, stickers, and shapes by dragging and dropping them into place. At first, it doesn't seem like the most intuitive system as it doesn't move pictures across in their original aspect ratio but you can easily drag to resize. 

Even for someone who has designed magazines in InDesign, I found the designer to be quite overwhelming. With over 2000 page backgrounds to choose from, more than 25 page layouts, and more than 20 fonts, you will be faced with a lot of decision-making.

Page backgrounds can be anything from a solid color which you select using a dropper tool to simple texture, repeating patterns, abstract colour washes or garish clip-art style pictures. There are lots of themed backgrounds too such as baby, Christmas, birthday, graduation, love and so many more but we thought simple is best when it comes to printing a photobook so we stuck with a classic white background throughout. 

There is an option to auto-fill your pages but we found this cropped your images in the wrong place so you had to go through each one and correct them. We were impressed with the range of fonts including a range of classic and some more "trendy" ones to choose from. When designing the cover you can either opt for a classic plain white finish or pick from a range of abstract patterns, textures, floral prints, dots and so much more - we went for a stone effect finish and it looked very stylish. 

If you want to add a frame to your image you might be surprised that Printique's frame options are rather limiting. Rather than framing your image with a simple border, Printique's frames crop your image into a shape such as a heart or a star - in our professional opinion they look quite tacky and we steered well clear opting to create a photo book with elegance. 

While the design tool might be overwhelming every part of the process is fully customizable so that if you wanted each page to look completely different it would. If you're including text, be sure to triple-check before sending it off to print as the photo book designer doesn't spell check for you.  

Printique currently only ships within the US and to Canada. If you live in New York, you can pick up your order from either the Brooklyn or Manhattan pickup locations. If you opt to collect your order you will not be charged for shipping, otherwise, shipping is calculated depending on your order, how big it is, and how heavy it is. 

When it comes to quality, Printique will be hard to beat. It truly is a photo printing service for professionals and customers looking for a polished finish. If you have a lot of things to print and are conscious of cost, you might be better off with another service such as Mixbook as the balance of cost vs. quality is more appealing. But if you're after a fast turnaround, the best finish, and extensive customizable options Printique is perfect. 

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Having studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of the West of England Hannah developed a love for photography through a module on photojournalism. She specializes in Portrait, Fashion and lifestyle photography but has more recently branched out in the world of stylized product photography. For the last 3 years Hannah has worked at Wex Photo Video as a Senior Sales Assistant using her experience and knowledge of cameras to help people buy the equipment that is right for them. With 5 years experience working with studio lighting, Hannah has run many successful workshops teaching people how to use different lighting setups.