Exporting PDFs from Canva

Unfortunately, Canva offers only limited options for creating a PDF that is optimally suited for professional printing.

In practice, Canva files can cause issues, such as:

• Transparency layers that may not render correctly in print
• White text that is formatted incorrectly
• Graphics consisting of many individual elements that can cause problems during printing

For this reason, we've prepared two simple guides for you:

1. A guide for easily exporting PDFs from Canva
2. A second guide showing how the exported PDF can be further edited in Affinity by Canva to prepare it for printing

We generally recommend that our customers use Canva primarily as a source of inspiration and create the PDF in an editor such as Affinity or Adobe.

Exporting from Canva without further processing in Affinity

1. Use images with a resolution of 300 DPI in your design; this is the recommended resolution for good print results.
2. Export the PDF using the "Compress PDF" option (unfortunately, this option is only available to Pro users).
3. Compressing a PDF file in Canva ensures that fonts display correctly and protects your design.

This process converts the file, along with all its layers, into a static image. This ensures that your design displays correctly everywhere and that all elements of your design are printed.

Customers can also export the content as a JPG if desired. Here, all transparencies and fonts are also preserved, though there may be limitations in resolution.

Export from Canva for further processing in Affinity

1. Use images with a resolution of 300 DPI in your design; this is the recommended resolution for good print results.
2. Export the PDF normally (without compression).
3. Open the PDF in Affinity:
   1. Load all pages
   2. 300 DPI
   3. Replace missing fonts (if you don't have the fonts selected in Canva installed on your PC, the system will display them using a different font anyway)
      
4. Check your illustrations for subgroups:
   1. Delete the unnecessary groups
   2. Merge curves
      
5. Go to the Export menu via File - Export - Export...:
   
6. Export to PDF:
   1. Left: PDF (Druckerei-fertig)
   2. Right:
      • Dpi: 300
      • PDF/X-4 compatibility
      • Color space: CMYK / Profile ISO Coated v2 (ECI)
      • Embed fonts: All fonts (enable font subsets)