Canva has changed the way a lot of businesses approach design.

Marketing managers can now create brochures, flyers, business cards and pull up banners and social graphics quickly without needing a full design team behind them. Overall, for many day to day projects, it does a very good job.

But there is one problem we see regularly. Something looks great on screen, then arrives back from print looking different to what was expected. Usually, the issue is not the printer. It is the file setup.

We’ve put together seven practical tips we would recommend to any marketer using Canva for print design:

1. Always export as ‘PDF Print’

This is probably the biggest one. When downloading artwork from Canva, always choose PDF Print rather than standard PDF or PNG.

PDF Print keeps the quality much higher and is designed specifically for professional printing. It helps preserve sharper text, better image detail and cleaner colour output.

This is especially important for:

• Brochures

• Flyers

• Business cards

• Exhibition graphics

• Posters

A low quality export might look fine on a laptop screen but once enlarged or professionally printed, the drop in quality becomes obvious very quickly.

2. Tick ‘Crop Marks and Bleed’

This small checkbox saves a huge amount of problems. Bleed is the extra artwork area that extends beyond the final trim size. It prevents unwanted white edges appearing when the job is cut down after printing.

Without bleed, even tiny movement during finishing can leave thin white lines around the edge of the design. Crop marks show where the final trim should happen.

When exporting your file in Canva:

• Tick “Crop marks and bleed”

• Make sure background colours and images extend fully to the bleed edge

It sounds technical but it makes a real difference to the finished result.

3. Use high resolution images

This catches people out constantly. An image pulled from:

• Facebook

• Google Images

• WhatsApp

• A screenshot

…might look perfectly fine on screen but print terribly.

Why? Because print exposes image quality issues far more aggressively than screens do. Blurry logos, pixelated photos and fuzzy graphics immediately make printed materials feel less professional.

If you are creating brochures, flyers or large format graphics, always use the highest quality images available.

And remember, the larger the item being printed, the more important image quality becomes.

4. Design in CMYK colours where possible

Screens use RGB colours, printers use CMYK and this difference matters.

Bright neon colours and highly saturated tones you see on screen often can’t be reproduced exactly in print. This is why some people are surprised when colours appear slightly duller once printed.

If colour consistency is important to your brand:

• Use CMYK friendly colours where possible

• Avoid extremely bright neon tones

• Ask for printed proofs on larger or premium jobs

This becomes particularly important for:

• Brand guidelines

• Corporate brochures

• Exhibition displays

• Retail graphics

Consistency across materials helps businesses look more established and professional.

5. Use Canva templates properly

Canva templates can be very useful, but one of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to force content into a template that does not suit the amount of information they actually need to include.

The result is often:

• Overcrowded layouts

• Tiny text

• Poor spacing

• Designs that become difficult to read

Good print design is not just about making something look nice, it is about communication. White space matters, clear hierarchy matters and readability matters. Sometimes the best thing you can do is simplify the design rather than add more to it.

6. Think about the finished product early

A brochure behaves differently to a business card and a folded leaflet behaves differently to a pull up banner.

That sounds obvious but many people design first and think about production second.

We would always recommend considering:

• How the item will be held

• How far away people will read it from

• Whether it folds

• Whether it will be posted

• Whether it needs to last outdoors

• What finish will suit the brand best

For example:

Small text might work perfectly in a brochure but become unreadable on exhibition graphics viewed from distance.

Thinking about the final use early normally leads to better results overall.

7. Ask your printer questions early

This is probably the most underrated tip of all. Good printers would much rather help before artwork is finalised than try to fix problems afterwards.

Sometimes a five minute conversation can avoid:

• Incorrect sizing

• Resolution issues

• Colour problems

• Finishing complications

• Delays close to deadline

Often printers can suggest better approaches you may not have considered. Think different stocks or finishes and possibly a more cost effective formats or ways to improve impact.

The best results usually happen when designers and printers work together rather than separately.

Here are our final thoughts

Canva is a brilliant tool for busy marketing teams and small businesses. Used properly, it can produce excellent print ready artwork quickly and efficiently.

Remember the setup behind the design matters just as much as the design itself. Getting those small technical details right helps avoid delays, wasted costs and disappointing finished products.

And when you are ready to think about the finishing touches, why not also read our blog:

“What’s the Difference Between Coated and Uncoated Paper Stock?”

Because sometimes the paper choice itself completely changes how people experience your brand.

Ready to Print?

Need help getting your design printed? We’d love to help. Let’s take your idea and turn it into high-quality print that really works.