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Canva Pro review: Is it worth the upgrade?
Plenty of people will be happy enough to use the offerings available in the free forever version of Canva. But, if you’re using the graphics editor a lot and getting frustrated by the limitations of the free version, then it may make sense to upgrade to Canva Pro, which offers a plethora of additional features.
The Pro version will cost you $120 or £100 per year, for one person, and you can try a 30-day free trial before you commit.
Canva: specs/pricing
| Price: | $120/£100 per year |
| Company: | Canva |
| OS: | Windows and Mac, Android and iOS |
| Processor: | 1 GHz processor/64-bit Intel or Apple M1 |
| Free space: | 1GB |
Setup and getting started
As soon as you upgrade to Canva Pro, it’s ready to use – it’s as simple as selecting a free trial, or choosing how to pay, inputting your basic details and you’re set.
There’s an exceptionally helpful dedicated ‘Get started with Canva!’ section, which is definitely worth a look. ‘Learn the basics’ takes you through using templates, adding text, using drag and drop, adding color and video and making charts. ‘Crafting Presentations’ runs through using templates and recordings, creating animation and adding transitions. ‘Brush up on Social Media’ walks you through creating scroll-stopping posts and how to download and lastly ‘Set up your Brand’ shows how to set-up and design your brand kit, set up personalized templates and brand controls.
Features
The Pro version gets you unlimited premium templates, which is useful if you need a starting point to get designing. Those who want to create their own assets from scratch can do so with the drag-and-drop editor. As well as being more plentiful, the templates available with Canva Pro are generally nicer when compared to that of the free version.
User experience
Canva Pro couldn’t really be any more intuitive to use. When you start a design project, everything you need is exactly where you’d expect to be, with additional features placed and labelled, so you get to know them. For example, when you add a photo to a project you get lots of options to edit including adding filters, removing backgrounds and using the magic eraser to get rid of distractions.
The homepage is the heart of the user experience – it shows all of your recent designs and it’s where you’ll begin new projects from, too. AI tools get their own section too, so you won’t forget to try them out!
Canva Pro offers lots of design tools powered by AI. The newest of these is Dream Lab, which uses AI to create an image for you based on any description you write. This is a fun feature to make bespoke images with, although these do tend to be a little on the cutesy side, which will obviously appeal to some people more than others.
The ‘Magic Eraser’ and ‘Magic Grab’ (where you can move different image elements about without ruining backgrounds) tools both work brilliantly and give professional-looking yet speedy photo edits. ‘Magic Edit’ is also very impressive – just type in the changes you’d like made to a photo and Canva Pro will do its best – results vary from project to project in testing, but impressive stuff nonetheless.
Scorecard
| Set up & getting started | Couldn’t be easier to start creating and we love the handy guides | 5/5 |
| User experience: | Intuitive with everything where you’d expect and prompts to try new tools. | 5/5 |
| AI tools | An excellent selection and useful for a whole host of different creative projects. | 4/5 |
Buy it if:
- You love the free version of Canva but feel frustrated by its limitations and often want to use the pro features.
- You have an idea for a side hustle and need to hustle up a brand kit and get yourself a website and social media presence that matches.
- You’re a small business owner or solopreneur who has several different projects on the go and once and needs to create design work specific to each new project – Canva templates and brand kits make this easy.
Don’t buy it if:
- You’re already a design professional – you’ll be able to do everything Canva Pro does in your more sophisticated software.
- You’re just starting out in design – use Canva free at first, get the free trial of Canva Pro, then upgrade later.
Q: What is Canva Pro?
A: Canva Pro is a paid version of the free design software Canva, offering additional features and templates.
Q: What are the key features of Canva Pro?
A: The key features of Canva Pro include unlimited premium templates, drag-and-drop editor, magic eraser, magic grab, and AI-powered design tools.
Q: How much does Canva Pro cost?
A: Canva Pro costs $120 or £100 per year for one person, with a 30-day free trial available.
Q: Is Canva Pro suitable for beginners?
A: Yes, Canva Pro is suitable for beginners, with a user-friendly interface and helpful guides to get started.
Q: Is Canva Pro worth the upgrade?
A: Canva Pro is worth the upgrade if you need more advanced features and templates, or if you’re a small business owner or solopreneur.
