I think I can add a new title to my already overflowing business card: The Pixel Fairy of Canva.
It’s becoming increasingly common for me to receive messages from people who’ve created something in Canva, only to be told by their printer that the file isn’t right. It’s a specialized field, design, formatting, and preparing files for print. Fortunately, I’ve studied this for years and can help all these enthusiastic Canva creators get on the right track.
This morning, I started my day with a rather unusual message. A printer in China — we’ve been following each other on Instagram for a while — had messaged me, asking if I could please contact a woman in the Bahamas. She had created a journal that needed to be printed, but the file was completely off. He sent me her phone number so I could message her on WhatsApp right away.
She replied immediately, gave me more information about the project, and then emailed me the file. When I opened the PDF, I couldn’t help but chuckle, this wasn’t even close to a printable file. It was in a whole other galaxy. While my day was just beginning, it was already 2 a.m. for her. I reassured her that I’d get to work on it.
322 pages later, and with a little magic dust, I had finally managed to create a reasonably printable file. I couldn’t change her design, text alignment, or the colored text on colored backgrounds that made some parts unreadable. But that wasn’t the task; I just had to make it print-ready.
Meanwhile, the day in China was already over, so I couldn’t send the file yet. But I’m sure that’ll work out. I decided to take a lunch break, and while waiting for my hot cup of tea, I realized I’m nowhere near having to worry about AI taking over my work.
Designing and preparing print files requires expertise, and Canva won’t teach you that. Color palettes, alignment, fonts, and illustrations aren’t things we do at random; we’ve studied and practiced them. Files need to be not only the correct resolution but also readable. And I could list a hundred more things to keep in mind when you’re “just making something fun” in Canva.
Want to learn more or have questions? Feel free to get in touch. I’d be happy to help.