If you don’t already know Canva is an amazing online design and publishing tool which was created so that anyone could create online designs for any task that they needed it for.

There are other platforms out there, like photoshop for example, but they tend to be super technical and expensive. Canva is designed to be user friendly, easy, and cheap.

Canva is a free website with free templates. They do charge $1 per premium design, but if you want to use their content without paying a dime you can do so.

Their $1 charge removes any watermarks left on by Canva and also ensures that the creator who made it gets given their rightful royalties. 

They have other payment options which allow you to use more of their premium designs but none of them break the bank. But you’re not here to look at their prices, you’re here to see if you can use these designs for commercial use.

Like any of us entrepreneurs, it can be worrisome to use someone else’s content to promote your own, because if you don’t know what you’re doing you can get yourself into some sticky legal situations.

So when it comes to Canva’s templates, you need to know their rules.

Can I Use Canva Images For Commercial Use?

The simple answer to this is yes! All of the free photos, music, and videos on Canva can be used for non commercial and commercial usage.

When it comes to giving credit, you don’t even have to tell your audience that the images you’re using are from Canva, although I personally think that’s always the moral and friendly route. 

The only thing you cannot do is use the copies without any alterations. You have to add, change or remove something to make it substantially different from the original template. Otherwise, you’re just reprinting their template.

If everyone did that then no one would have an original image to use and you would start to blend into the crowd. Use the templates as a guide, and add in the images that tell the story you want your audience to hear.

Be confident that Canva is happy for you to use this software to promote your work and earn some money!

Can I Use Canva Graphics For Commercial Use?

Again the answer is yes! Canva was designed to help everyone gain a good looking, digital design whether you’re using their images or their graphics. In their free-media policies, they explain you can use Canva for commercial use. 

If you wanted to use the graphics or images to suggest that a famous person had endorsed your product or your brand, this would not be allowed.

Many actors and models start off as stock photo models or background characters, so if one of Canva’s templates ends up with an actor or model who has managed to reach fame, then it would be against their rules to make that person seem like they approve of your brand. 

That might seem obvious in hindsight, but imagine strolling through Canva’s stock images and seeing Chris Hemsworth, Dua Lipa, or Margot Robbie before they became successful.

You might think that because Canva has supplied an image then you can use the image however you want, but in reality, you’ll be setting yourself up for a legal battle.

That’s why Canva suggests contacting them if you find an “identifiable person” in their videos or images, to help you avoid this kind of mistake. 

The same goes for uploading an image of an identifiable person to your content without first getting that person’s permission. Consent is key, otherwise, you’ll get yourself in some avoidable trouble. 

Can I Use Canva Templates For Commercial Use?

Unfortunately, you cannot sell Canva’s templates unedited. You can use and sell the templates after you have made some kind of alternation, and you can use them for commercial use, but lifting the template and selling it without any change whatsoever is not allowed.

I’ve talked about this earlier, but it’s a simple reminder that templates are templates, they are not to be used as a copy and paste. Make the design your own, add your own personality to the images and videos!

Can You Use Canva Fonts For Commercial Use?

Yes, you can! Canva has 50 free commercial fonts that you can use without having to give credit to the company.

Like I said before, the company doesn’t demand recognition, although they are always happy to receive it. This means if you’re creating a poster, you don’t need to ruin the design by putting a small print at the bottom.

The line does get a little tricky when it comes to logos though. As entrepreneurs, we often use the term logo incorrectly. A proper logo is a licensed design that no one can use because you have trademarked it.

For example, the Nike Swoosh or the McDonald’s Golden “M”. Small businesses often don’t trademark their “logos” and even adjust them as their business grows so the image isn’t static.

If you create your “logo” in Canva you can’t legally trademark it. This is because multiple people (you, Canva, and Canva’s contributors) own different parts of the image that you’ve created. 

Does Canva Own My Designs?

The answer to this question is complicated, but I’ll help you navigate it. First, let us look at the legal jargon.

Canva’s Terms of Use says:

Except for your User Content, the Service and all materials therein or transferred thereby, including, without limitation, software, images, text, graphics, illustrations, logos, patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, photographs, audio, videos, music, User Content belonging to other Users, and Stock Media belonging to other Users (the “Canva Content”), and all Intellectual Property Rights related thereto, are the exclusive property of Canva and its licensors (including other Users who post User Content or contribute Stock Media (as defined below) to the Service).

This means that the stuff you upload on to Canva, your “User Content”, is owned by you and you alone. However, when you start using any of Canva’s design software or images you no longer become the sole owner of this new creation. 

The people who made the colors you’re using own those colors. The people who made the font you’re using own that font.

The people who capture the photographs you’re using own those photographs, and so on and so forth. These people could be other users, collaborators with Canva, or Canva as an entity itself. 

The final design that you make is yours because you’re the one who made it, you are the owner. But all those little additions you’ve used are still owned by Canva’s. 

However, this doesn’t mean that Canva’s or the other creators are going to try and claim money from you for using the designs. The designs are given to you royalty free.

It just means that if you go against Canva’s rules they can take down your work because they own the little pieces that helped make your design whole.

Are Canva Videos Royalty Free?

Yes! Almost all Canva content is royalty free meaning it is free to use without worry that Canva will start asking for payments. However, some of Canva’s content does include watermarked content.

To remove it you can pay $1 for a “One Design Use” license and this pays for the royalties payable to the contributor of that design. Essentially creating an upfront paying system. 

If you use the “Pro User” package the royalty payments are already included in the monthly bill.