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Canva Integration

What it is​

Design the front of a creative in Canva and bring it straight back to thanks.io. Canva opens at the right size for the mail piece, and when you finish, the design lands on the creative you were building. No downloading or re-uploading.

How to access​

Canva is built into the creative wizard's Front step - there is no separate connection step.

  1. In your thanks.io dashboard, go to Creatives → New creative (or click an existing creative to edit it).
  2. Choose Build it yourself, then pick the mail piece and size on the Mail piece step (for example, a 4x6 or 6x9 postcard).
  3. On the Front step, click Design in Canva.

Design in Canva is offered for postcards, notecards, MagnaCards, and gift cards. Letters don't have it: a letter's front is only an optional background. See Creating a creative for the other front options.

How to use a Canva template​

  1. Click Design in Canva. Canva opens with a thanks.io canvas sized for the mail piece you chose.
  2. If this is your first time using the Canva integration, you will be prompted to authorize the connection. Follow the on-screen steps to allow Canva to connect with your thanks.io account.
  3. Design or customize your mailer.
  4. When your design is finished, click Return to thanks.io. You land back on the wizard's Front step with the design in place as the creative's front, marked with a Canva badge.
  5. Continue to the message step (Back for postcards and MagnaCards, Inside for notecards and gift cards), then Review and save the creative.

A creative you were still building when you left for Canva is kept, so you pick up where you left off.

Edit an existing Canva design​

You can update any front that was designed in Canva without leaving thanks.io.

  1. Go to Creatives in the sidebar. Creatives with a Canva-designed front show a Canva badge on their card.
  2. Click the creative to open it in the wizard.
  3. On the Front step, click Edit in Canva.
  4. Make your changes in Canva.
  5. When finished, click Return to thanks.io. The updated design replaces the creative's front.

Tips​

  • Always start from Design in Canva on the Front step - it opens Canva with the correct dimensions, bleed, and safe zones for the mail piece. 4x6 and 6x9 postcards use different canvases, so pick the size on the Mail piece step before you open Canva.
  • A 6x9 postcard front that is a resized copy of a 4x6 Canva design is not linked to Canva, so it has no Edit in Canva option. To keep editing in Canva, start a 6x9 creative and design its front with Design in Canva.
  • Canva runs from the creative wizard in Creatives. When you build a creative inside Send Mail (the Make creative now tab on the Design step), Canva isn't offered; build the creative in Creatives first, then pick it on the Design step's Completed Creatives tab.
  • Keep important content inside the safe zone; edges may be trimmed in printing.
  • The Canva design creates a static image. Personalization (replacement variables, Street View) is handled in the creative's message in thanks.io, not in Canva.