When we think of AI in Canva, we imagine a place where artistry meets innovation. In this blog post, we're diving headfirst into the magical realm of Canva's AI features, tailored to empower both educators and students alike. From spicing up lesson plans to adding flair to presentations, Canva's AI tools are here to sprinkle a touch of magic on your design endeavors.
(click on any subheading or button to jump to that section)
What are the Different Types of AI That Can Be Found in Canva?
There are lots of different types of AI that can be found in Canva. These Apps can be found on the left side of the main screen in your dashboard by clicking Apps. To enable them, all you have to do is grant permission by opening the desired app and choosing to use it in an existing design or new design. Below are some of our favorite apps, along with descriptions for each. Check out our video to see how some of these work. To find a complete list of AI powered apps within Canva, click here or the image.
Magic Media: Generate
images & video
Canva’s Magic Media app turns creative ideas into images or video. Enter a few words or a sentence about what you would like to generate and then sit back and let the AI do the work! (This app is for ages 13+, unless supervised.)
Dall*E: Generate Realistic Images
Dall*E allows users to quickly generate realistic images or art using AI. Users enter in a few words to describe what they want to generate and then the AI creates it! (This app is for ages 13+, unless supervised.)
Image Upscaler: Elevate Picture Resolution
a1d.ai’s Image Upscaler takes blurry or old photos and applies AI to sharpen them. This allows users to refine their images, ensuring that they stand out in your Canva designs.
Magic Morph: Turn Elements Into Something Extraordinary
Canva’s Magic Morph allows users to transform words and shapes with a simple prompt. It can be used to enhance text or shapes, quickly create graphics or textures, and much more.
Murf AI: Add Audio
Voices to Designs
Murf.AI allows users to add natural sounding voices to designs. Just type out the script and Murf.AI will create the audio to embed into your design.
Soundraw: AI Music Generator
Soundraw takes the time out of searching for the perfect song. Now, with Soundraw, simply choose the mood, theme and length of song you want. The AI will generate the track for you to embed into your design! Note: This app requires a Soundraw account to use. There is a fee to use this app, but the first 14 days are a trial.
Translate Text: Translate Any Text to Another Language
Canva’s built in translator tool can translate text in your designs to 1,000’s of different languages. To access it, right click a text box and then scroll down to Translate Text. Complete the prompts to translate the text!
Colorify: Add Color to
Black & White Photos
Colorify is an app that restores color to black & white photos, making them look vibrant and lively again. This is great for researching historical figures from the past!
Transcribe Audio: Add
Captions to your Designs
SRB’s Transcribe Audio app allows users to generate a transcription text from an uploaded audio file. This is perfect for subtitles or captions! You can transcribe from these file types: mp3, wav, m4a, and ogg files.
SecretInk: Artistic Text
Hidden in Plain Sight
SecretInk allows users to blend text into any image background, creating an artistic illusion. If it’s unclear, try zooming in or out to see the magic! But be on the lookout! You might see things in unexpected places!
How Can Students Use the AI in Canva?
As creatives, we believe that there is a fine line between using AI to generate ideas and generate inspiration. Teachers and students can use AI to generate content - and there is definitely a place for that. However, as innovative educators we believe that the AI should be used to inspire ideas. For example, students can get creative with the prompt they use to generate the content. So, let’s look over some ways that students from our own classrooms have used the AI in Canva.
Templates: Find Inspiration Quickly
Canva has tons of ready-to-use templates in it’s library. These are a great starting point for students to ignite their creativity. In the example below, students were breaking down the chapters of a book by creating a magazine cover for each chapter. What started off as a template was quickly edited and altered to include the specific details from the book. To view the magazine cover templates on Canva, click here.
Magic Media: Book Covers and Writing with a Video Game Twist!
Canva’s Magic Media is one of our favorite apps simply because it can deliver images based on creative prompts. We encourage our students to stop and think about what they want the image to look like before generating any images. The more creative the prompt, the more creative the image generated will be.
This idea can be used with either Canva’s templates and Magic Media. We asked our students to recreate the cover of a book by changing the setting or characters. The students found a book cover template or generated their own using Magic Media. They added additional elements, text, and details to their covers before finishing up. See it in action below!
Who says writing has to be dreadful for kids? This project gave students an opportunity to take a narrative writing piece and turn it into a video game! Students still completed all of the traditional writing on paper and pencil, but when it came time for a final project, we had the kids design the video game covers on Canva using Magic Media to generate the backgrounds. We also gave the kids a change to create a video game video trailer, where they used Magic Media files to compile into a video. Check them out below!
BG Remover: Automatic Background Remover
Canva’s BG Remover, or background remover, makes automatic background removal effortless. Simply drag and drop your photo to instantly upload and open a new design project in the online editor. Select your photo, then click BG Remover to work the magic of removing whatever is behind the image. Students love this feature, and we are obsessed with these examples. Below, the students used the BG Remover to place characters from the story in a different setting, and then explain how that would change the entire story. Can you guess the story below?
Magic Eraser: Remove
Unwanted Objects
Canva’s Magic Eraser instantly cleans up pictures online. It's easy to remove unwanted objects or erase people from photos. This allows students to brush over distractions to instantly remove them with Canva Pro's Magic Eraser. In the example below, students
Magic Edit: Swap out Objects in a Photo
Similar to the Magic Eraser, Canva’s Magic Edit allows users to easily remove distractions or add new things to your photos with a few clicks. Simply brush over the areas you'd like to modify and then describing what you want to add. The students have used this tool to replace a face on Mount Rushmore. Who would you add to the mountain if there was an available spot? The kids have also used this to add historical figures from the past onto Martin Luther King Jr’s "I Have a Dream” speech. For example, how do you think Abraham Lincoln would have responded if he was there at the speech? Check out the examples below!
SecretInk: Artistic Text
Hidden in Plain Sight
SecretInk blends text into any image background to create an optical illusion. Sometimes you have to zoom in or out to see it, but we love how this app puts the text in unexpected places. Our students used this app to provide a one word summary of the theme of the books they were reading. Can you guess which book this was for?
How Can Teachers Use the AI in Canva?
Students can’t have all the fun! There’s plenty of ways that educators can use the AI tools located in Canva. These timesavers and tools will help even the most organized classroom teachers. Here are a few of our favorites!
Upload a PDF: PDF’s Transformed Into A Different File Type
Have you ever found a great PDF resource that you wish was just slightly different? Maybe you wish you could have edited the PDF to better fit your learners? Well, with Canva’s PDF uploader, now you can! Just upload the PDF from the main dashboard, and then you can edit and save the file as whatever you would like. Here’s how it all works:
Log onto Canva
Locate and click the Upload button on the top right side
Select your file(s) to upload. Canva automatically uploads the file to your projects.
Open the project from your Recent Designs section on the main dashboard.
Magic Design: Education
Resources for Your Classroom
Fumbling through templates is SO 2022! Now, with Canva’s Magic Design, educators can use AI to produce a project design that directly aligns with their topics. There’s a couple of ways that you can find and produce these resources. Here’s how:
Templates
Log onto Canva
Search for your topic in the search bar and hit enter (tip: be sure your search is set to Templates and not Projects)
Select a template then click Customize this template to add it to your own projects.
Automatically Add Your Media to Templates
Canva now allows users to add uploaded media into template searches so that users can preview what the designs would look like with the uploaded media inserted. Here’s how it works:
Log onto Canva
Search for your topic in the search bar and hit enter (tip: be sure your search is set to Templates and not Projects)
Next to All Filters and Category, click on Media.
Select the files that you would like to include, and then click See results.
Canva will embed your imported media / images into the designs and you may select from the generated selections.
Magic Design: AI generated content
Canva’s Magic Design is an AI-powered design generation tool that lets you input any media or prompt, and transforms it into customizable designs that match the content and context you need. We appreciate how the platform automatically generates examples to view, giving you a choice to select from. To access Magic Media, follow these steps:
Log onto Canva
Click the Create a design button located on the top right side
Choose your desired file size. The project will open in a new tab.
Make sure that you are on the Design tab located on the left side panel.
Directly to the right Design tab (at the top), type what you would like the AI to generate in five or more words.
Magic Design will suggest different files for you. Select the one you like!
Magic Switch: Automatically Resize Your Content
Canva’s Magic Switch uses AI change the format of your file or transform it into something entirely new. With Magic Switch you can: Transform your design into any type of Doc like a blog post, summary, email or even a poem. Resize one design into many for all channels, all with just a few clicks. Here’s how it all works:
Log onto Canva
Open a design that you wish to resize or transform.
Locate and click Resize & Magic Switch on the top left side of the screen.
Search for a resize option (for example: type worksheet). Tip: You can select more than one size.
Click Continue, then click either Copy & resize or resize this design.
Your new size(s) will be automatically generated. You may need to move elements around a bit, but it saves a lot of time!
Translate: Instantly Translate Your Content
Canva’s built in translator tool can translate text in your designs to 1,000’s of different languages. In just a few clicks, you can translate your content instantly. Finding it is a bit tricky, though. To access it, follow these steps:
Launch a Canva project
Right click a text box and then scroll down to Translate Text.
Complete the prompts to translate the text!
Canva also has a free document translator standalone website where anyone can upload a document and it will translate the content for you automatically. To check it out, click here or the image below!
Magic Write: Generate Text and Content Easily
Canva’s Magic Write is an AI-powered tool that helps users generate text and content ideas quickly and easily. It allows users to create a wide range of graphic design projects such as social media posts, presentations, flyers, and more. We appreciate the ability to quickly add clear directions to a resource, or narrow down a learning goal into a language that students can understand. Here’s how to access Magic Write:
Launch a Canva project
Click on any text box
Click Magic Write
Select your preference!
-- Please follow us on social media and tag us with how you’re using the AI in Canva in your classroom! 👓👗
For more tips, tricks and lesson ideas for making learning more interACTIVE, check out our books The InterACTIVE Class and Flipgrid in the InterACTIVE Class on Amazon!
