Canva is the tool that keeps on giving. With this online platform, you can pretend you’re a graphic designer of the highest degree, and create anything from sleek presentations to attractive lead-magnets.
But did you know Canva can also help you take on the role of a video editor? Not only does it provide the basic features of trimming, cropping, and adding music, but it also allows you to play with animations and transitions.
We’ll take you through the steps of creating a killer video for Instagram using the free version of Canva, and with no prior knowledge in editing needed.
Defining Your End Result
As Canva has so many features and options to offer, it’s best to go into the editing process with a goal in mind.
Do you have a video on your phone that you want to turn into a square and add some captions to? Do you want to create a marketing presentation? Do you wish to add some animation to your posts to make them more appealing?
All of the above can be done with Canva, and we’ll explain exactly how. It all starts by opening Canva, pressing Create a Design, and choosing Instagram Post.
Editing an Existing Video in Canva
Nowadays, Instagram allows you to post videos that are shot either horizontally or vertically. But sometimes, it’s so much nicer to have them as a perfect square.
And if you schedule your posts in advance, you can’t crop the videos through the scheduler. Fortunately, you can accomplish this (and much more) in Canva.
To start editing your video in Canva, upload the video using the Upload tab on the right, and then drag it to your work area. Note that with the free version of Canva, your videos will be compressed.
Resize the video, and move it around to ensure that nothing important gets cut off. Click the Play button on the top right corner to preview your clip every time you make a change.
Next, you can trim the video using the Scissors icon that appears on the top left when you click the video. When the video timeline shows up, move each edge to your desired beginning and end.
These are the basics that the software offers. Now comes the creative part, which is everything you can throw on top of the video.
For instance, you can add text to encourage people to view your video. You can even add borders, or put the video inside a decorative frame—these effects can be found under Elements. There are also plenty of stickers, including animated ones.
If you wish to have opening and closing frames, this can be done as well. Click Add Page at the bottom of the screen, and then select the arrows above the new blank page to move it to the beginning of your video. Repeat these steps for a closing frame, but instead place the new page at the end of your video.
Fill these frames with text and pictures, and choose transitions using the Animate button on the top left.
If you choose the Fade effect, keep in mind that the sound of the video will not fade out—only the footage will. However, you can choose to mute your audio with the Speaker icon on the top right.
You can even replace your audio with a free sample from the Canva library (located in the Music tab on the left). This sample will run along all of the slides.
Create a Presentation Video for Instagram
Using the same system of several frames blending into one another, you can create a beautiful presentation to convey a message. We’ll start again with an empty workspace, and browse through Canva’s many templates.
Here’s our pro tip: when you type Set into the Templates search bar, you’ll mostly find template sets, each of which are designed in one main theme. When you hover over the template sets with your cursor, you’ll see all of the pages available in the set. These are perfect for creating a short presentation.
After choosing one, click Apply all X pages. Now that all of the pages in the set appear on your screen, you can start editing the text to fit your needs. You can also change the pictures to whatever aligns with your message, change the colors, and swap fonts.
You can even replace some of the pictures with videos—either your uploaded videos or from Canva's library of free videos (which you’ll find in the Videos tab on the left).
At this point, if you didn’t choose any transitions and used only photos, you won’t be able to preview the presentation. But you will be able to download the whole thing as a video.
We suggest that you do use the Animate button, and also tick Apply to all pages, as it just looks nicer. You can also add a piece of music using Canva's free samples (as it’s a bit weird to have a silent video), or even upload your own sample.
By using a smartphone dictation app, you can record a voiceover to go along with your video. Then, upload it to your Canva library and drag it to your workspace. You will be able to choose which part of the audio you want to be played by dragging it to the right or the left.
If you want your video to be longer, you can make the animations longer with the timer button on the top left. The default length is five seconds.
As Canva is a fairly simple tool, you can’t overlay music and voiceovers. You can, however, determine the volume with the Speaker icon.
Additional Animation Options With Canva
Once you’ve gone over these ways to create a video, you’ve mastered all of the basics of making Instagram videos with Canva. The rest of the options are more simple, but not by any means less fun.
For example, you can search for "animated" in the Templates search bar, which will provide you with ample ideas for traditional Instagram posts. You can also search for "animated" in the Elements search bar, and add some fun stickers to your regular posts.
Learn A Few More Canva Tricks
In Canva, you can always start a design from scratch by simply dragging elements on top of each other. When doing so, it’s best to start from the ground up. This means starting from the grid or background, moving onto pictures, adding text, and so on.
But the best thing about Canva is its templates, so why not take advantage of them? If you’re looking to build a video, you can find great designs when searching for "YouTube video" in Templates.
If you’re lucky to have a Pro account, you'll be able to resize those for Instagram. But if not, use them as inspiration.
