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Canva Integration

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What is the Canto Canva Integration?

The Canto Canva Integration is one of Canto's unique add-on features.

Once added to your account, each user on your tenant is able to set up the Canto Canva Integration, enabling them to access assets from your Main Library or portals, add them to designs and templates, and save designs directly to Canto – all without having to leave Canva. Of course, the Canto Canva Integration maintains the privileges and access permissions provided by user roles and groups, leaving you in full control over the content that can be accessed.


How do I access the Canto Canva Integration?

If you are interested in enabling the Canto Canva Integration for your account, do not hesitate to reach out to your Account Manager. Alternatively, you can submit a support request, and our customer service team will answer any questions you might have.

If the Canto Canva Integration has already been added to your account, please follow the guides in this article to learn more about how to set up and use the Canto Canva Integration.


How to: Add the Canto Canva Integration to your Canva

The Canto Canva Integration is available directly through Canva, allowing for it to be set up on individual accounts based on your team's needs, and can be set up from either the Canva account page, or the editor.

Please note: The security settings on your Canva account may require special permissions for the use of third-party apps. To ensure that you are able to access the Canto Canva Integration to its full potential, please review the Canva Help Center article "Setting up admin controls on third-party app integrations".

From the account page

Once you are logged into your Canva account, select "Apps" from the menu on the left. In the Apps Marketplace, use the search bar at the top of the page to search for "Canto".

The Canva apps page - the "Apps" button on the left hand side is highlighted. The main portion of the screen shows the search results for "Canto"

Click the Canto Canva Integration to open the permissions overlay. You can now choose to either start using the Canto Canva Integration in an existing, or in a new design. For the purposes of this guide, choose "Use in new design".

The Canva app permissions overlay - the button "Use in new design" is highlighted.

Next, select the design you want to use. For the purposes of this guide, choose "Flyer (A4 21 x 29.7 cm)".

The Canva app permissions overlay - the option "Flyer (A4 21 x 29.7 cm)" is highlighted.

Your chosen design will now open in the Canva editor. After a few moments, the menu on the left will prompt you to connect to a Canto account. From here, follow the steps in the section "Link your Canto account".


From the editor

If you are already working on a design, you can add the Canto Canva Integration directly from the editor. In the menu on the left side, select "Apps", and then use the search bar at the top to search for "Canto".

The Canva editor - the menu option "Apps" is highlighted, and a search for "Canto" has been performed.

Click the Canto Canva Integration to open the permissions dialog. Next, click on "Open".

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After a few moments, the menu on the left will prompt you to connect to a Canto account. From here, follow the steps in the section "Link your Canto account".


Link your Canto account

If you have followed either of the above methods, you should now be in the Canva editor, with the left side showing a prompt to connect to a Canto account. Next, click "Connect".

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible, the button "Connect" is highlighted.

A pop-up will appear. Select the domain of your Canto tenant, and click "Next"

The Canto Canva Integration pop-up - the option to choose a domain is visible.

You can now sign in to your Canto account using either your username and password, or SSO.

The Canto Canva Integration pop-up - the login options are visisble.

Finally, select if you want to access the Main Library, a portal, or a workspace, and click "Allow".

The Canto Canva Integration pop-up - the environment options are visible.

How to: Sign out of the Canto Canva Integration

If a single Canva account is shared by a team, it may be necessary to change the Canto account connected to the Canto Canva Integration. While there is currently no direct sign-out option, briefly removing the Canto Canva Integration from your Canva apps will remove the current Canto user, without impacting any of the already imported assets. You can then re-connect the Canto Canva Integration and complete the sign-in process using the desired account.

The Canto Canva Integration app can be removed directly from the editor. With the app active, click on the three dots at the top of the Canto Canva Integration to open the app options, then select "Remove from your apps". Once the app has been removed, you may immediately follow the steps in the section "How to: Add the Canto Canva Integration to your Canva account" to reconnect to a different Canto account.

The Canto Canva Integration - the app options are open, and the option "Remove from your apps" is highlighted.

How to: Navigate your content

The Canto Canva Integration offers you three tools to help you find the perfect asset directly from the Canva editor: a search bar , sorting options , and the content section .

The Canto Canva Integration - multiple areas are marked.

Search

The search functions like the standard search in Canto, enabling you to quickly find assets by name, tags, keywords, and other metadata. The reach of the search changes based on your current location in the content section.


Sorting Options

Clicking this field will allow you to choose from six sorting options. Depending on your choice, content will be displayed in ascending or descending order, based on the content's name, date of upload, or date the content was last changed.


Content Section

The content section contains a representation of your Main Library, the portal, or the workspace you connected to during the setup process. Folders, albums, and asset are structured just like in Canto itself, and you can use the filter tabs at the top of the section to focus on specific item types.

  • "All" shows a selection of folders, albums, and assets at your current location, based on the sorting option you have selected.
  • "Folders" shows all folders at your current location.
  • "Albums" shows all albums at your current location.
  • "Assets" shows all assets at your current location.

Folders and albums have two additional pieces of information below their name. The number of "items" shows how many assets it contains, while the number of "containers" corresponds to folders and albums. You can view these items by opening the corresponding folder or album with a click.

Please note: The counts for "items" and "containers" refer to content directly within the respective folder or album. If a folder contains two albums with an asset each, the "item" count will remain at 0, as the folder itself contains no assets. Alternatively, if a folder contains a sub-folder, which itself contains another sub-folder, the parent folder will show a count of 1 for "containers", as it does not count the second sub-folder inside the first sub-folder.

You may have noticed the phrase "at your current location" during the previous summaries. As you navigate through nested folders and albums, the content section will update to replace the content of a parent folder with the content of a sub-folder. This also affects the search, which will search your entire content while within an album, but when a folder has been selected will only search the direct content of that folder. Please see the following example for more details.

Example:

You have connected the Canto Canva Integration to a tenant with the following structure.

An example folder tree

When the Canto Canva Integration has finished loading, your current location will be the top level – the Main Library in this example. The content section will show the "First Example Folder" – which contains 0 items and 1 container – and the "Second Example Folder" – which contains 0 items and 2 containers. However, the "First Example Album", "Second Example Album", and "Third Example Folder" will not be displayed, and will only appear at the next lower level.

At the top level the content section will also show all assets currently within your Main Library, and the search will look through your entire folder structure for matches to a prompt.

An example folder tree - the current location is the "Main Library". The area highlighted in green shows the folders, albums and assets that can be accessed from this location. At this location the content section only contains the elements marked in color.

If you select the "First Example Folder", the content section will update to display only the "First Example Album", which contains 1 item and 0 containers.

At this level, the search will exclusively cover the direct content of the "First Example Folder", which means that none of the content in the "Second Example Folder" or the "First Example Album" will be searched.

An example folder tree - the current location is the "First Example Folder". The area highlighted in green shows the album and asset that can be accessed from this location. At this location the content section only contains the element marked in color.

To navigate from the "First Example Folder" to the "Third Example Album", you will first have to return to the top level – the Main Library – and then open the "Second Example Folder", from where you can open the "Third Example Folder". Once you open the "Third Example Album", the content section will update to show only the "Third Example Asset".

Unlike folders, albums allow you to search the entirety of your folder structure, just like the search at the top level of your structure.

An example folder tree - the current location is the "Third Example Album". The area highlighted in green shows the asset that can be accessed from this location. At this location the content section only contains the element marked in color.

How to: Add assets to your design

There are three ways in which an asset can be added to a Canva design directly from your library.

Via click

The quickest way to add an asset is by simply clicking on it while it is visible in the content section of the Canto Canva Integration. This will always place the asset in the center of your current design.

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible, and an example asset has been clicked on. The asset has been added to the current design.

Via drag and Drop

Instead of a simple click you can keep your mousebutton pressed, and drag the asset from the content section onto the design. Once you release the mousebutton the asset will be inserted at the chosen position in your design.

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible. An example asset has been clicked, and is now being dragged onto the current design.

Via the Asset Details

Hover your cursor over the asset to reveal the Asset Details-symbol, and click it to open the asset details.

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible, and the "asset detail" symbol is highlighted.

The asset details show a preview for any image assets, followed by the asset's metadata. Click on "Add to design" above the preview to copy the asset over to your design.

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible, and the "asset detail"-symbol is highlighted.

How to: Save your design to Canto

Please note: The following steps are only available to users of tenants in the canto.de, canto.com, canto.global, and au.canto.com domains who have a user role that has been granted the privilege "Upload Content". To learn more about user roles and privileges, please visit the article "How to: Manage user roles".

The save a design to your Canto library directly from within Canva, first open the design in the editor. Open the Canto Canva Integration, and click on "Save to Canto" below the content section.

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible, and the "Save to Canto" button is highlighted.

Next, click on the "Select" field and use the drop-down menu to choose the album you would like to save your design to. Once you have made your choice, click "Continue".

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible. The current design is being saved, and the album selection is visible.

You will now be able to make additional choices, such as the file type, size, and quality of your design. Some of these choices will only be available if you have signed up to Canva Teams. Finally, click the "Export" button to confirm your choices and start the export of your design to Canto.

The Canva editor - the Canto Canva Integration is visible. The current design is being saved, and the file adjustments are visible.
Please note: Each time you save a design, the Canto Canva Integration will create a separate asset, even if you have previously saved the same design to Canto. While this ensures that no version of the asset is accidentally overwritten, it can lead to an unexpected reduction of the available space in your library.

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