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How to print your Canva design properly

Canva is brilliant, and we print Canva files every single day. Here is how to get yours from screen to paper without losing colour, sharpness or edges.

We print Canva designs every single day: invitations, flyers, menus, posters, the lot. Canva is a brilliant tool. It is also a screen-first tool, and paper has rules screens do not. Follow these five steps and your print will look the way your design does.

1. Download as PDF Print, not as an image

In Canva choose Share → Download → PDF Print. This exports at print resolution with proper colour handling. A JPG or PNG can work for simple jobs, but PDF Print keeps text razor sharp, which is where image exports quietly fail.

2. Tick "Crop marks and bleed"

If your design has colour or photos running to the edge of the page, tick Crop marks and bleed in the download options. Printers trim a hair inside the edge, and bleed gives that trim somewhere to land. Without it you risk thin white slivers along the edges.

Rule of thumb: background touches the edge = you need bleed. White background with content in the middle = you are fine without it.

3. Keep text away from the edges

Anything important (names, dates, phone numbers) should sit at least 5mm inside the edge. Canva shows margins if you turn on File → Settings → Show margins. If text is kissing the edge, it may be kissing the bin after trimming.

4. Expect colours to shift slightly

Screens glow (RGB); ink does not (CMYK). Vivid electric blues, neon greens and hot pinks calm down a little on paper. It is physics, not a printing error. If a colour is critical, like a brand colour, tell us and we will check it before the run and print a proof.

5. Check your photo resolution

Photos pulled from the web are usually 72dpi, which looks fine on screen and fuzzy at print size. Use Canva's own photo library or your camera originals where you can. Unsure? Send us the file, we check resolution at print size for free and tell you honestly.

Then just send it over

Email the PDF to info@walthamprint.co.uk or attach it on any product page, with the size and quantity you need. We check every file before it prints, and most jobs booked before 12pm are ready the same day.

Canva file ready?

Send it now and we will check it for free before anything prints.