When design is your job, your tool selection comes down to workflow and productivity, and occasionally, collaboration. If you know design principles, you can design wherever and however you like, as long as the process works, is repeatable, and gives you what you need.
Graphic Design
Graphic design isn’t just about making things look good—it’s about making them work. Design is communication. This section covers the real-world design skills creatives actually use, from layouts and branding basics to file prep, templates, and client-ready assets. Practical tips, smart shortcuts, and tools that help you design faster and more confidently without overthinking every pixel.
Start Your Designs at High Resolutions
Even if you think the design will only be used digitally, it doesn’t hurt to start with the highest resolution in mind. Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready!
Locked Elements in Canva
Finding your Canva elements locked, or worse, the whole page locked, is very frustrating. While it is unclear why it happens, there are a few things you can try.
Using Canva’s Background Remover
The background removal tool is a good choice for quick jobs, but it is not the best choice for files you need to print with a transparent background.
Losing the Last Page of Your Canva Doc
If you lose the ability to see or edit the last page in your Canva project, switch views and/or duplicate the page to get it back.
Whiteboards for Your Brand
If you have Canva Pro, whiteboards are a good way to keep frequently used assets close at hand.
Convert Icon Fonts to SVG on Windows with Character Map UWP
Icon fonts are great but sometimes awkward to use. View your favorite icon font glyphs in Character Map UWP (Windows) and easily export as PNG/SVG.
Start Your Designs at the Highest Resolution
Start your design projects at the highest resolution. It’s easy to scale down the size or resolution of a design, but scaling up could cause some quality issues, even with AI.
Create Alternate Versions of Design Elements
Take a few extra minutes to create different versions of logos, icons and other elements you may need in different colors.
Use Artboard Templates for Productivity
Setting up templates with artboards for social media aspect ratios for posts, videos, and cover images can be a game-changer.