How to Prepare a Canva Design for Printing

Canva makes it easy to create flyers, leaflets, business cards, posters and other printed materials, even if you do not have professional graphic design software. However, a design that looks good on screen still needs to be set up correctly before it is sent to a commercial printer.

In this guide, we explain how to prepare a Canva design for printing, including choosing the correct document size, allowing for bleed and safe areas, checking image quality and downloading your finished artwork as a print-ready PDF.

Quick answer: Set your Canva document to the correct finished size, extend backgrounds and images into the bleed area, keep important text away from the edges and download your finished design using PDF Print.

Can You Use Canva for Professional Printing?

Yes. Canva can be used to create artwork for professional printing, provided the document is created at the correct size and exported using suitable settings.

For many everyday print jobs, such as promotional flyers, leaflets, invitations, posters and business cards, Canva provides everything most customers need to create their own artwork.

The important part is making sure the file has been prepared for print rather than simply downloading the design as you would an image for a website or social media post.

1. Start with the Correct Document Size

Before you begin designing, check the finished size of the product you are ordering and create your Canva document at that size.

For example, some common UK print sizes are:

• A6: 105 × 148 mm
• A5: 148 × 210 mm
• A4: 210 × 297 mm
• A3: 297 × 420 mm
• DL: 99 × 210 mm
• UK business card: 85 × 55 mm

If you are creating an A5 flyer, for example, the Canva document should be set to 148 × 210 mm. Do not create an A4 document and simply assume it can be reduced later.

Starting with the correct dimensions makes it much easier to position text and images correctly and reduces the chance of unexpected changes when the artwork is printed.

2. Allow for Print Bleed

If a colour, photograph or other design element is intended to reach the finished edge of the paper, it needs to extend beyond the trim line. This additional area is known as bleed.

Short Run Print requires 2 mm bleed around artwork that prints to the edge.

Canva uses its own fixed print bleed setting, which is approximately 3.175 mm. The bleed amount cannot currently be changed within Canva.

The important thing when designing is to make sure any background colours, photographs or graphics that should reach the edge continue fully into Canva's bleed area. Do not stop them at the finished page edge.

Although Short Run Print normally requires 2 mm bleed, Canva's standard 3.175 mm bleed is perfectly suitable. You don't need to adjust it before uploading your artwork. Once uploaded, you can also adjust the scale of your artwork using our online preview if required.

How to Show Print Bleed in Canva

On the desktop version of Canva:

1. Open your design.
2. Select File from the top menu.
3. Select Settings.
4. Select Show print bleed.

A dashed guide will appear close to the outside edge of the design. Extend any backgrounds or images that need to print to the edge beyond the finished page and into this area.

3. Keep Important Content Inside the Safe Area

Bleed protects items that run to the edge of the page, but you should also think about the opposite side of the trim line.

We recommend keeping important text, logos, telephone numbers and other essential information at least 3 mm inside the finished edge.

This is known as the safe area.

Commercial printing is trimmed after printing, and very small variations can occur during cutting. Keeping important information away from the edge prevents it from appearing uncomfortably close to the trim or being accidentally clipped.

Background colours and photographs can extend through the trim line into the bleed area, but important text and logos should remain safely inside it.

4. Check the Quality of Your Images

One of the most common problems with customer-supplied artwork is the use of images that are too small or too low in resolution.

A photograph can look perfectly acceptable on a computer screen but appear soft or pixelated when printed, particularly if it has been enlarged considerably within the design.

Where possible, use good-quality original photographs and graphics rather than images copied from websites, social media or screenshots.

For photographic images, approximately 300 dpi at the size they will be printed is a useful target. Canva also recommends high-resolution images and notes that low-quality source images can still appear blurry even when the finished design is downloaded using PDF Print.

5. Remember That Screen and Printed Colours Can Look Different

Your computer monitor, tablet and phone display colour using light, while commercial printing produces colour using ink or toner. Because of this, printed colours will not always look exactly the same as they do on screen.

Screens generally display colour using RGB, while most full-colour commercial printing uses CMYK.

This is particularly noticeable with very bright blues, greens and other vivid colours that a screen can display more strongly than they can be reproduced in CMYK print.

Some variation is therefore normal and does not necessarily indicate a printing problem.

6. Check Both Sides of Double-Sided Artwork

If you are ordering double-sided flyers, leaflets, business cards or invitations, make sure both sides have been created at exactly the same size and orientation.

It is also worth checking that the design makes sense when the printed item is turned over. This is particularly important where artwork contains directional elements or where one side has been designed in a different orientation from the other.

7. Check Your Text Before Exporting

Before downloading the finished artwork, spend a few minutes checking all of the text in the design.

In particular, check:

• Spelling and punctuation
• Telephone numbers
• Addresses
• Prices
• Dates and times
• Website addresses
• QR codes

It is surprisingly easy to overlook a mistake when you have been working on the same design for a long time, so asking somebody else to read through the artwork can also be worthwhile.

8. Download Your Canva Artwork as PDF Print

Once you are happy with your design, it is time to create the file that will be uploaded for printing.

In Canva:

1. Select Share.
2. Select Download.
3. Choose PDF Print as the file type.
4. Select the pages you want to include.
5. Include bleed when required by your design.
6. Download the finished PDF.

Use PDF Print rather than PDF Standard, JPG or PNG when supplying normal Canva artwork for professional printing. PDF Print is Canva's higher-quality PDF option intended for print output.

9. Open and Check the PDF Before Uploading It

Do not assume that because Canva has downloaded the file successfully it is ready to print.

Open the PDF and look through every page before uploading it.

Check that:

• All text is present.
• Nothing has moved unexpectedly.
• Photographs and graphics are displaying correctly.
• No important content is too close to the edge.
• Both sides are present if you are ordering double-sided printing.
• The pages are in the correct order.

This final check only takes a minute or two and can prevent an incorrect file being sent for printing.

10. Upload Your Artwork and Check the Proof

When ordering from Short Run Print, you can upload your artwork as part of the ordering process.

After uploading your file, you will be shown a low-resolution preview. This is intended to help you check the content and positioning of your artwork before completing the order.

Look carefully at the preview and make sure the correct artwork has been uploaded, the orientation is right and nothing important appears outside the expected printed area.

If something does not look right, amend the Canva design, download a new PDF and upload the corrected file before placing your order.

Before sending your Canva artwork to print: check the finished size, bleed, safe area, image quality, spelling, page order and orientation, then open the downloaded PDF and check it one final time.

Common Canva Printing Questions

Is a Canva PDF suitable for professional printing?

Yes. A Canva PDF can be suitable for professional printing when the document has been created at the correct size, the artwork includes the required bleed and it has been downloaded using the PDF Print option.

Should I use PDF Print or PDF Standard in Canva?

For commercial printing, choose PDF Print. It is Canva's higher-quality PDF output intended for printed documents. PDF Standard is primarily intended when a smaller file is more important than maximum print quality.

How much bleed does Canva add?

Canva currently uses a fixed bleed of approximately 3.175 mm (0.125 inches) around products that are trimmed. Canva does not currently allow this amount to be changed manually.

How much bleed does Short Run Print require?

Our standard artwork requirement is 2 mm bleed on each edge where a design prints to the edge of the finished product. You can find the exact artwork requirements for each product in the Artwork Guide on its product page.

What is the difference between bleed and a safe area?

Bleed extends outside the finished edge and contains backgrounds and images that are intended to print right to the edge. The safe area is inside the finished edge and is where important text, logos and other essential content should be kept.

Why does my printed Canva design look different from my screen?

Computer and phone screens display colours using RGB light, while commercial full-colour printing normally uses CMYK inks or toners. The two systems cannot reproduce every colour in exactly the same way, so some variation between the screen and printed result is normal.

Can I use images downloaded from the internet in my Canva design?

Images taken from websites are often optimised for screens and may not contain enough detail for high-quality printing. You must also make sure you have permission to use any photographs, illustrations, logos or other material included in your artwork.