Guide: Customizing Background in Canva

The background feature in Canva is an essential tool that allows you to customize the backdrop of your design, providing a foundation for all other elements.

With the ability to select from a vast options of images, gradients, textures, & patterns or even creating your own background from scratch, the background feature offers flexibility and creativity to your designs.

By choosing the right background, you can help to set the tone and style of your design, whether it’s a poster, social media graphic, or even a website banner.

For instance, if you are creating a flyer for a formal event, a solid color or gradient background can give a more professional look. Conversely, a more vibrant and colorful background may be suitable for a children’s party invitation.

Furthermore, the Canva background feature provides options to adjust the color, transparency, and even add texture to your background. This feature enables you to create a unique and personalized look, providing an excellent opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

In this guide, we have explained the step-by-step process for commonly asked questions related to the Canva’s background feature.

How to add a background in Canva?

You can add a color background to a design in Canva by following below steps

1. Select a design page to which you want to add a background

2. Now select the “Background Color” icon available at the top side toolbar. From here you can choose a predefined color or manually enter the color code to pick a custom color

how to add a background in canva

3. If you want an image to be the background of your design, you can select the “Background” option that is available at the left side editor panel. From here choose a background image based on pre classified background categories.

How to add a picture as a background in Canva?

Follow below steps to add a picture or an image as a background to a design in Canva.

Step 1: Click on “Photos” option available at the left side editor panel. If you don’t see the “Photos” option, you need to click on “Apps” on the left side editor panel and search for ‘Photos’ app to add it to the editor panel.

how to add a picture as a background in canva

Once you select ‘Photos’ option, you will see “Background” as one of the quick search buttons as shown in the below screenshot. Select the Background option.

Step 2: Once you search “Background” in the search bar, you will get a list of images that are suitable to use as design background. Now choose any of the image that matches to your requirement, drag and drop it on the design to set the image as the design background.

how to add a picture as a background in canva

How to add a background to a photo in Canva?

Follow these simple steps to add a background to a photo in Canva:

Step 1: Select a Canva design with a photo to which you want to add a background. For this tutorial, we have created a new design and added a photo to it.

how to add a background to a photo in canva

Step 2: Now select the design (#1), and click on “Background Colour” option (#2) that is available in the top toolbar. Once you select the background colour option, you see a lot of colour options on the left side as shown in the below screenshot.

how to add a background to a photo in canva

Choose any solid colours (#3) as a background to your photo, or you can either choose any colour that is part of the photo (#4) as a background color. If you have brand colour palette, then you also have an option to choose a brand color (#5). And lastly you also have an option to enter a custom colour code (#6) to use it as a background color.

Step 3: If you wish to add images, patterns, etc. as a background, then select the “Background” option available in the left side editor panel.

how to add a background to a photo in canva

Step 4: Choose any gradient or pattern as the background to your photo. You just need to drag and drop your choice of gradient to use it as the background.

how to add a background to a photo in canva

How to add gradient or texture background in Canva?

You find gradients & textures option within the “Background” feature. To use any of them, first select the page to which you want to use the background, click on “Background” option available at the left side editor panel. Here you see images & elements that you can use as background that includes Gradients, Textures, etc. as shown in the below screenshot.

how to add gradient or texture background in canva

How to add white background in Canva?

By default, the background of a Canva design is white in colour. However, if your design colour is not white, and you want to change it to white colour, just select the “Background Colour” option that is available in the top toolbar. From here you can select white colour as the background of the design.

How do I add custom background photo in Canva?

If you want to use a custom background photo in your Canva design, first you need to upload the photo/image and move it a suitable folder (if required) as shown in the below screenshot.

how to add your own background in canva

Now drag & drop the photo/image that you have uploaded into the Canva page in which you want to change the background as shown below.

how to add your own background in canva

How do I separate an image from the background?

First, select the background image that you want to separate. Then click on the three dots option that appear on the design. You will be displayed a list of options, from which you need to select “Detach image from background” option to separate the image from the background.

How do I separate an image from the background

How do I soften a background in Canva?

First, select the background which you want to soften. Now click on “Edit image” option available at the top toolbar. You get a editor panel at the left side in which you will be able to see an option titled “Adjust”.

How do I soften a background in Canva

From here you can adjust brightness, contrast and saturation to soften the background to a required extent. You can also select the “See all” option to explore 10+ adjustable parameters available under the “Adjust” feature.

How do I make a semi transparent background in Canva?

Making semi transparent background is a simple process in Canva. Just select the background that you want to make semi transparent, and then select the “Transparency” option available at the top right side of the toolbar. From here you can adjust the transparency percentage as shown in the below screenshot.

How do I make a semi transparent background in Canva

How do you get a grainy background on Canva?

To use a grainy background for your Canva design, select the “Background” option available at the left side editor panel. Now search as “grainy gradient background” in the search bar to find the grainy background options as shown in the below screenshot.

How do you get a grainy background on Canva

Conclusion

Overall, the background feature in Canva is a powerful tool for designers, providing the freedom to create designs that are visually stunning and impactful. It is essential to choose the right background to complement your design, setting the tone and style that you desire to achieve.

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