FACT: if you had 1000s of pages on your Canva desktop, it would take you hours to find the right one (unless you had saved it correctly - see next week's blog post #staytuned)
This week we are going to look at the benefits of saving your Canva designs and templates into folders and how easy and simple it is to get set up.
We will look at:
What are the folders in Canva used for?
Why should you start using folders on your Canva journey?
Getting started is as easy as A, B, C…
It is definitely not impossible to get your Canva designs organised into folders but I do love this quote - it’s Walt Disney being both cheeky and a genius!
What are the folders in Canva used for?
The folders in Canva are used to keep your templates, designs, brand images, photos, icons and more organised.
If you’ve got designs that you use regularly: social media template;, your logo;, other brand templates and brand photos, you should definitely be using your Canva folders to their full capacity.
Are you a Canva Pro user? Then you have unlimited folders that you can create, organise and use.
For the free version of Canva, you get two folders. This doesn’t mean you can’t get organised - you absolutely can. You can keep the designs, documents, photos etc that you use on a regular basis for your business.
To create a new folder, simply click the Folders tab on your sidebar and in the top corner you will see a Create New button. Once you’ve created a new folder, you then label it. To save your previous designs in folders, head to the homepage and click the top of the design.
A drop-down menu will appear and allow you to move your design to a folder. Your designs will also be saved and available on the homepage. If you’re in a team, you can also share folders with your team members and choose how much access they have.
Why should you start using folders on your Canva journey?
“Cleaning is not a spectator sport.”
-Mary Poppins
What happens when you want to find something that you have put away ‘in a safe place’?
If you’re anything like me, you can’t find the bloomin’ thing because it’s so safe!
We’re not doing that with our Canva folders - they are going to be organised in a way that we can find them easily and quickly.
Getting started is the hardest part - you’ve got ‘all your designs’ and it looks like a dog’s breakfast (or was that just mine!?!?).
Nothing is named;
Nothing is filed;
You can’t find that one design that you created, whenever it was, for that client. You know the client - the one who wants lots of revisions (you’ve all had one!!).
Getting started is as easy as A, B, C…
Why you should start using Canva folders is easy - to enable you to find your designs and start being more efficient in your design workflow.
6P Rule aka Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance) is one of the rules that will help you improve time management skills.
The 6P rule implies that a prior proper planning before taking action prevents poor performance. This means before you take action, spare the time to make a plan on how to manage your task.
Before you get started, write down a few bullet points on the folders you need.
For example, do you need:
Business templates - Instagram posts, Facebook posts, Twitter memes, blog post images, testimonial posts, quote posts, slide decks, workbooks, checklists, planners
Client folders - do you want to have one folder with subfolders inside or do you want each client to have their own folder in the main dashboard (this can get messy… At LV we work with a lot of clients and have lots of folders and sub-folders.
REMEMBER: you’ll need Canva Pro if you want to create multiple folders
Photographs - do you have a stock photography subscription and you want to save some images? Do you use other photography sites to download free or paid images?
Templates - have you paid for or downloaded free templates that you want to keep?
Branding - do you have patterns, icons, images, photographs and other branding assets that you need in Canva?
Decide which approach will make the most sense for your business and team (if you have one).
You can also create design folders to share with your team. For example, you can have a design folder and photography folder assigned to your VA if you don’t want them to have access to all your designs.
You can invite friends, family, and team members to Canva and collaborate together on any design. With Canva Pro, you can invite up to four (4) more members to work in your team for the same cost (you will need to share the individual files that you want them to see).
Your team will use your Canva Pro (they will still need their own account, even if it is a free account) while they are working as your ‘team member’.
Here’s how to to do it:
In your main Canva Dashboard, click on “Add new folder”. Then, name your folder. To add a design to a folder, just drag it into that folder. You can also change the name of the folder and “star” folders - you will then see them at the side of your main dashboard, like this:
HOT TIP: spend some time organising your “uploads folder” (you have them all by type and resource and you can access them in seconds without needing to upload duplicates).
To do this, hover over your image until you see the “i”, then select where you would like to move your photo.
Do you have the FREE version of Canva?
You can set up two design folders and up to three brand colours (it doesn’t allow you to save any fonts). Use what you have. Even using these free features will help you feel more organised when creating designs for your business in Canva.
If you have any more questions about setting up your Canva account, ask away in the comments below.
If you want to try out Canva Pro for 30 days (for free), please feel free to use my affiliate link - I will get a small amount from Canva but it doesn’t cost you anything more.
Here’s what Phoebe says about our Canva training and working with us.
“Being taught from someone who is a pro and uses it all the time and has the experience.
I love the creativity behind her designs and how beautiful they are.
I really wanted to learn from someone who I believe is doing it in an amazing way and since attending Jo’s workshop I have been taking action, creating beautiful posts and getting a lot more followers. Thanks Jo. Highly recommend your course.”
-Phoebe Dray
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