How to Make Printables in Canva

Have you always wanted to design your own planner? Or make printables to organise your home?

Or would you love to know how to make printables to teach or entertain the kids?

Or, maybe you want to know how to make printables to sell on Etsy?

I taught myself how to do all of these things and I’m so excited to share what I’ve learned over the years with you! So, if you’ve always wondered how can I make my own printables – this is for you.

Affiliate links below.

What are Printables?

Printables are digital designs or documents that can be printed on paper and they’re often designed to be used as templates, worksheets, or other types of materials that can be printed and used in a variety of settings, such as for families, businesses, classrooms, offices, and homes.

Some examples of printables include planner inserts, calendars, to-do lists, planner pages, stickers, coloring pages, greeting cards, invitations, and games.

My fave graphic design platform for creating printables is Canva as it has a great free version. The Pro version has some amazing features too.

The best part? You do not need to have ANY previous graphic design experience to make printables in Canva so if you’ve been wondering how do I make my own printables, I have you covered!

Make and sell printables in the E-Printables course from Gold City Ventures

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE E-PRINTABLES COURSE

What is Canva?

Canva is a graphic design website where you can create a wide range of visual content, including printbales, presentations, social media graphics, posters, banners, and templates.

It has a massive range of pre-designed templates and elements that you can use to customize and create your own designs. Plus, there’s a wide range of design tools and features, such as text, shapes, lines, and images, that you can utlize to create your own designs from scratch!

I LOVE Canva! You can use it either on desktop, tablet or even via a mobile app for iOS and Android devices.

Types of Printables

There are many endless types of printables, including these popular ones:

Planners and calendars: These are printables that feature a layout of the months, weeks, and days of the year. They can be used to help you or your customers keep track of important dates, appointments, and events.
Planner pages and inserts: These feature a layout for organizing daily, weekly, or monthly schedules. They can be used to help people to plan their time and stay on top of their tasks and appointments and they can be resized to fit any planner.
To-do lists: Are you a list-maker too? These are printables that feature a list of tasks or activities that need to be completed. They can be used to help users stay organized and keep track of responsibilities.
Coloring pages: These are printables that feature line drawings that can be colored in. They are often used as a form of relaxation or as a creative activity for children or can be made for teachers or homeschooling printables.
Greeting cards: These feature a design and message that can be used to send greetings or congratulations to others. They can be highly personalized!
Invitations or gift tags: These are printables that feature a design and message that can be used to invite others to events or parties.
Games: These are printables that feature a layout and rules for playing a game. Examples include printable board games, card games, and word games.

I’ve been making printables at home for about five years now so all sorts of reasons. I make lots of different kids of printable designs, including:

printable planners
Etsy printables to sell
charts
teacher printables (during homeschooling times)
trackers and habit tracking printables
wall art
lists
kids printables
family printables
work/business printables
blog printables
create worksheets
when I’m looking for free printable graphics
and more!

I use an amazing, free program called Canva. You can check out my own printable range here.

When I was looking for websites like Picmonkey (a program I used to use), I came across Canva and fell in love.

Over the years, I’ve taught myself how to make printables in Canva and now I’m constantly asked how I do it. I know so many of you want to know how to create your own printable planner – whether it’s for your own use or to sell. That’s another question I’m often asked – can you sell Canva designs on Etsy?

So, I’ve put together a mini-course that has everything you need to know if you’ve always wondered how to make your own printables.

Let me share an overview first:

How to Create Printables in Canva

To create printables in Canva, follow these steps:

Go to the Canva website and sign in or create a new account.
Click on the “Create a design” button in the top left corner of the page.
You’ll now be taken to a page where you can choose from a variety of templates – so many to choose from! Use the search bar at the top of the page to find a specific template, or you can browse through the available templates by clicking on the relevant categories on the left-hand side of the page.
To customize the template, add text, images, and other design elements. To add text, click on the “Text” tab in the left-hand sidebar and then click on the “Add a heading,” “Add a subheading,” or “Add a paragraph” buttons. To add an image, click on the “Elements” tab in the left-hand sidebar and then click on the “Uploads” tab. You can then click on the “Upload an image” button to select an image from your computer or device.
When you’re done and happy with your design, click on the “Download” button in the top right corner of the page. In the pop-up window, select the format you want to download your design in and click on the “Download” button. You can then open the design in your preferred image viewer or word processor, and print it from there. If you’re having trouble printing, make sure that your printer is connected and turned on, and that you have enough paper and ink.
In the pop-up window, select the format you want to download your design in. Canva supports a range of formats, including PDF, JPG, and PNG.
Click on the “Download” button to save your design to your computer. You can then print the design on your home printer or take it to a print shop to have it printed professionally.

Would you like my step-by-step instructions and video tutorials on how to make personalized printables in Canva?

Check out my mini-course, The Printables Plan!

My course, “The Printables Plan”, is an easy-to-follow, self-paced Canva tutorial mini-course for you to take online at home.

In your own time, you’ll learn:

the easy steps to create your Canva account
how to use Templates, Photos, Illustrations, Clip art, Colours, Patterns and Background
how to use colour codes
how to make planner printables and more
where to find free printable graphics
creating and adding Logos to printables
organisating printables and design assets
resizing and reformating
naming and renaming files and folders
adding links
how to download in multiple formats
how to Save or Print your printables

And so much more!

This is for you if you want to learn from me how to create a printable in Canva to stay organized, entertain the kids or even sell online.

If Selling Printables is your Goal…

Want to know how to make printables on Canva for Etsy? This is exactly what I do! Whether it’s how to create a free printable in Canva or how to create paid products, you can easily learn to do both.

Learning how to create free printables on Canva meant I could share them with you too and they’ve got such great feedback.