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Writer's pictureJo Draper

Answered: your most burning questions about saving your Canva designs

Updated: Jan 4, 2023

50% of a business owner's time is spent on creating and preparing documents.


That's nuts! Everything from writing and replying to emails to presentations to PDFs and social media graphics, so much of our business life is spent with documents.


In this blog, you will learn how to:


  • Save time

  • Save money

  • Make more money


Saving your Canva designs in the right way can help you do all of these things.




I’ve been using Canva for over two years now and when I first started, I did not save with an awesome naming convention, let alone into a folder!


As you can imagine, my ‘all designs’ section looked as messy as a teenager’s bedroom!


Nothing was named. Nothing was filed. I had duplicates of everything!


I had to scroll through designs to find the one I wanted (I’ve got 1000s in there now - so happy I’ve got a great system!).


I didn’t have a clue what a ‘naming convention’ was and hadn’t even heard that term even though that’s what I had been using in my 35+ years in corporate roles! Go figure!


If you’ve not read the recent blog post about using Canva folders, you can check that out here.


Why should I be naming my designs?


Princeton University has a great article on file naming best practices, elements to consider and examples. If you want to check out the whole article, click here.


The main points are:


  • File your designs consistently

  • Use short but descriptive words (<25 characters)

  • Capitals and underline instead of full stops, spaces or slashes

  • When using a date format, use YYYYMMDD

  • Consider your client name, project name, work, social media etc


Here’s an example:

20220215_LV_blog_image_instagram


This tells you that it’s 15 February 2022, it’s for Live Virtually and it is an Instagram square for a blog post.


The reason we use the year first is so that they show up in a folder in date descending. This works in a Google Drive folder or Dropbox, for example, as well as in your Canva designs.


You don’t have to use a date but it helps if you want to find what you created on a particular day.


How to name your Canva designs and documents


You’re mad. Bonkers. Off your head…But I’ll tell you a secret…some of the best people are


- Alice in Wonderland


I’m definitely not saying you’re off your head but I’m definitely mad and bonkers at times (hahahahaha)!


When you are creating a new design (or editing a previous one), get into the habit of naming and adding to a folder (only two folders are available on the free version of Canva but I would suggest one is for templates that you use all the time and one is for client work, for example).


You can click into this section here (where the arrow is pointing) and change your name.


OR


Click File and click the Pencil icon to change the name.


While you are in the File menu, click onto Save to folder and either create a new one or add to an existing folder.


Getting into a great habit of doing this every time will save you time, save you money and make more money!


How will it do that, I hear you ask?


Spending less time looking for your designs means you will have more time to either spend on a client’s work or creating a digital product or course to promote to your DREAM clients #winwinwin.


Want to hear what Jacque said about working with us?


“Jo is so generous with her information and is an inspiration. How she turns up in her business is exactly how she is, and her wealth of knowledge around social media, canva, and looking good online is fabulous.”


-Jacque Opie, Cocobinge


Are you ready to learn more about Canva and how it can save time, save money and make more money?


Are you getting started with Canva, or yet to even set up your account? Are you having issues with where to start, what to design and how to use all the awesome tools in Canva?


You are not alone and it’s perfectly OK. Repeat after me… “and that’s OK.”


Canva Set Up and Socials has been designed and created especially for people like you.


We understand that not everyone has the design or tech skills to learn and doesn’t want to spend hours and hours searching for the right person on YouTube.


Here’s what you will learn:


Let's get SET UP


Create your account (or reacquaint yourself) - no more SEARCHING everywhere on YouTube or Google - START TODAY


Create + ORGANISE


Set up your brand kit, ORGANISE your designs and save correctly


Find your FILES without looking through every one of your Canva designs


Using TEMPLATES


Use templates (downloaded or in Canva) - copy, resize, move and create


No more looking like EVERY other Canva design on the internet


DOWNLOAD and share


Download your designs in a VARIETY of formats and share (even templates)


Share and create with your TEAM or VA


Highlight ICONS


Take your Instagram highlight ICONS to the next level


Show up fully branded every time!


STAY connected!


Get feedback, help with your designs or with Canva in general


Relax and enjoy the journey



Click here to join the waitlist and be the first to hear about the launch.



Meet your magical Canva Designer + Trainer

Jo Draper is a Gold Coast based Canva Designer and Trainer.


She is a creative business owner who brings her inner child to work every day and always has a hint of fun and magic in her day and work.

Jo loves serving business owners on a journey to hit six and seven figures with her 1:1 services as well as courses, workshops and digital products.

Jo shares her knowledge of Canva as well as other tools that she loves for CRM, email marketing and other business systems.

You will usually find a Disney quote in her blog posts as she is quite a fan and loves to create magic from some amazing quotes.

When she’s not working, she enjoys Marvel movies, loves chocolate and listens to audiobooks while walking.

Jo also hosts a podcast called Beautiful Conversations with Jo where she chats about her journey with breast cancer as well as other personal stuff. Check it out at www.livevirtually.com.au/podcast.

To work with Jo, fill out her contact form here.

Interested in learning how to get started with your Canva designs? Check out www.livevirtually.com.au/work-with-us and let Jo help you create your own fun and magic!

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