How to Make Infographics With Canva in 5 Simple Steps
Megan Jones Using infographics can be a successful way to display data and statistics in readable formats, engage with your audience, and get your content shared on social media. And don’t worry, you don’t need to be a graphic designer to create a stunning infographic. Keep reading to find out how to make infographics with Canva.
In this article we will cover:
- Why you should create infographics
- The benefits of using Canva’s infographic maker
- Step-by-step instructions on how to make infographics with Canva
- How to share your infographics with the world
- Top tips for creating successful infographics
Why create infographics?
Before we discuss how to make infographics with Canva, firstly let’s consider the benefits of using infographics.
Engage with your audience
In fact, infographics on social media can help increase engagement with your brand by up to 65%.
Help your readers understand the data
By displaying complex information in a visual, easy to read infographic, your audience will find it easier to digest the material. It has been found that 40% of people respond better to visual information than to plain text. So, if you want your data to make an impact on its audience, and really be understood and remembered, creating an infographic will help you achieve this goal.
Drive traffic to your website
An infographic can display data and statistics in a fun and interesting way, appealing visually to your readers. Consequently, this can increase your social shares and help your brand reach a wider audience. The knock-on effect of this engagement is the expansion of your social following, and an increase in traffic visiting your site. Reseach shared by Visually shows that marketers who use infographics grow traffic 12% faster than those who don’t.
So now we know the pros of creating infographics. Let’s next discuss why you should make infographics with Canva.
Canva – an overview
Canva is an online graphic design tool used by everyone from beginners all the way up to professional designers to create stunning content. This design platform provides a range of powerful features, as well as a vast library of photos, graphics, and fonts. So whatever your design project, the outcome will look professional and sleek.
Infographic maker from Canva
One of Canva’s key assets is the easy to use drag and drop infographic maker. Here’s a roundup of its best features:
- Free to use – Although you can purchase premium design elements, Canva offers plenty of free options to choose from.
- Drag and drop page builder – Simply move elements around the page by dragging and dropping them into place.
- Pre-made infographic templates – Choose from a variety of free and premium pre-made layouts built for a wide range of different projects.
- Photos and Design Elements – Access thousands of photos, and graphic design elements to help you create beautiful infographics.
- Share your infographics – Post your infographics on Facebook and Twitter directly from Canva.
So now we know a little about Canva. Next, let’s find out how to make infographics with Canva.
How to make infographics with Canva
To get started, you will need to create an account with Canva. You can log in through Facebook, Gmail, or another email address.
Once in, follow the setup instructions and then under Create a Design select Infographic.
The Canva dashboard will now open, and you can begin to design your infographic.
So let’s now have a look at the different design tools available here, and how to use them to create your first infographic:
Step One: Browse the layouts
Canva provides a variety of pre-designed free and premium infographic templates. These differ in layout, design, and subject. So, it is more than likely that you will find a template to fit with your project. (To create your infographic from scratch, skip to step two and select your background).
If you want to use a pre-built layout, firstly, select Layout from the left-hand side menu bar. Then, scroll down to find a layout that suits your needs. After that, simply click on your chosen layout to move it into the center of the page.
To customize a pre-built layout, you can simply click on each individual element. Then alter or replace the background, text, images, or any other element, as you need (covered in more detail in steps 2 – 4).
Step Two: Choose a background
Canva provides a variety of free and premium backgrounds for your infographic that you can select from. Whether you are looking for a block color, pattern, or image, there will be a something here for you.
Changing your infographic background is extremely easy with Canva. Firstly, select Background from the menu, and then browse the numerous backgrounds. If you are finding it hard to make a choice, click on a background to view it on the infographic.
Once you have chosen your background, you can customize its appearance from the editor menu bar above. Change the color, add filters, alter the transparency and more.
Step Three: Add the text
After the background of your infographic has been chosen, you can start fleshing out the content by adding the text.
Click on Text and then drag and drop heading types, or any of the example font types. Write directly into the text boxes, then resize and adjust the position of the text on your infographic as you see fit. Extra customization options are also available in the editor menu at the top of the page.
Step Four: Select the appropriate graphic elements
Elements is one of the most important sections to get to know. The graphics provided here will help you add fun and interesting visual aspects to your infographic, whilst supporting the key points you have made in the text.
Elements is broken down into a number of categories:
- Free Photos
- Grids and Frames
- Shapes and Lines
- Illustrations and Icons
- Charts
To select a graphic element to use on your infographic, select your chosen category and then double-click or drag and drop the element you want to use onto the screen. Below, I have added white squares from Shapes, graphics from Illustrations, and a table from Charts. I have also uploaded a couple of my own images (uploading images covered next).
Again, you can drag your graphic elements to resize them and move them around the infographic. Further settings can also be found at the top of the page in the editor menu, including the option of adding a URL link to individual elements.
Extra graphic elements
There are a couple of other features you may like to make use of, depending on the type of images and graphics you want to add to your infographic.
- Search – Use the Search function to browse the Canva library for free and premium photos and illustrations.
- Uploads – If you would like to use specific images or graphics that are not from Canva then you can Upload them from your desktop or Facebook account.
Once you have added and arranged all the necessary visual elements, and any extra text you may need, your infographic should be finished and ready to publish.
Step five – share your infographic with the world
The last step in the process of designing an infographic in Canva is to share it with the world. Click on the Share button displayed in the menu at the top of the page. Then choose from one of four sharing options:
- Social– Share your infographic on Facebook or Twitter.
- People – Invite people to share or view your infographic.
- Link – Send a link to individuals to view or edit your design.
- Embed – Embed your infographic anywhere on the web using a simple link or line of code.
You can also select Download, to download your infographic and use it as you wish.
Top tips for creating a successful infographic
As you can see, Canva is a very easy tool to use. However, throwing elements onto a page doesn’t always end in a successful infographic. Here are some top tips to help with your design process:
Create an infographic that flows
A successful infographic will use a layout that flows. This means that when your reader’s browse your infographic, it is immediately obvious where to start, and where to look next.
To create flow, consider using:
- Subheadings or bold text to divide stats.
- Lines or dots to help your audience follow the path of the infographic.
- Numbers to order your data.
If there is no organization to your infographic, and the flow isn’t obvious, you may quickly lose the attention of your audience.
Use the right ‘type’ of infographic for your project
How you present your information in an infographic is important. There are numerous styles of infographics, so try and choose one that best represents your topic. Here are a few of the most widely used types of infographics…
- Compare and Contrast – highlight similarities and differences between two products or ideas.
- Timelines – display info in a timeline to help explain a process, or show how a particular subject has evolved.
- Alphabetic Order – present data alphabetically to help add structure to a general topic and provide a clear reading order.
Use relevant and eye-catching visual elements
Final thoughts on how to make infographics with Canva
Canva is an extremely easy tool to use and will enable you to create stylish, professional and beautiful infographics. Once you have taken the time to design an infographic, make sure you share, share, share! By getting your infographics out there on social media, you can:
- Engage with your audience
- Increase brand awareness
- Grow social followers
- Drive traffic to your website
Have you got any question on how to make infographics with Canva? Please ask away in the comments below!
