I'm a dirty scalper: Illegal vs. legal uses of Canva

So, you've discovered the world of Canva.

Let me try that again.

You've discovered the world of

Oooh. Pretty.

It's a free-to-use program that blew hard-to-use GIMP out of the water. It comes stocked with a library of free-to-use images and graphic elements.

You want a graphic of a bird shitting?

You got it.

You want it in a form of a fancy logo?

For sure.

You need 100 photos of palm trees to choose from, stat?

At your service.

And, like anything out there, there is a community of YouTubers showing you how to make "easy money" by using what you made in Canva and selling it on Etsy.

It's so easy. Just take some flower graphics and border them around a canvas sized as a piece of paper. Slap on a cursive font, and bam! You have customizable wedding printables to sell to The Schmucks for $10+.

The difference is that you can sell templates with your own, paid-for graphics from a place like Creative Fabrica, (affiliate link) as long as that license says you can.

The Canva Pro membership for $14.99 per month is totally worth it—you get access to so many more graphic elements and stock photos to the point where you know Adobe Stock, Getty Images, and all of the other stock photo companies are CRYING.

No, they're QUAKING. Shaking in their boots. Throwing a temper tantrum and stomping in said boots.

Canva is the Netflix of graphic design, if monopolies were allowed and this so-called Netflix joined hands with Adobe Photoshop.

Canva is no joke.

But, unfortunately, neither are its Terms of Use. Did you know that those super sweet graphic elements EACH have their own rules on commercial usage? Every little squiggly arrow and border?

Do you even know what that means?

Yes, I definitely do, you idiot. -You

Okay, actually, just give me a refresher. -Also You

O...kay. Well, commercial usage means that you're selling the graphics that you used to someone else. And that someone is going to use them for marketing purposes or a way to make money. But there are rules against selling your graphics in the first place, and that's what we must address.

Why do I care about this? First, you should know my story.

Super Quick Backstory as to Why I'm That Bird From Before's Shit

Once I discovered Canva, it filled the void in my soul that confirmed that I, a journalism major and creative writing minor, could never be a graphic designer. All of the amazing graphics made for my magazine articles? I could never measure up. Even if I bought an iPad just for Procreate, I would never, ever learn how to use it like the pros did.

That is, until Canva came along. It was the answer to all of my wishes.

It was a slippery slope as I started consuming YouTube videos on how to make passive income by designing templates for Canva. I watched them for breakfast. I watched them during work. I watched them in the evening. I was a money-obsessed machine, and I was willing to try anything that worked.

"She's one money-hungry little girl." -Actual quote from my grandma

I designed graphics for websites, for my cousins, for a woman who wanted Instagram posts, for a restaurant, for an animal shelter (that one was a volunteer position) but then, I entered the VERY dangerous territory of Upwork.

I definitely 100% totally know what Upwork is without Googling it, duh. -You

So I don't have to explain that Upwork is a freelancing platform where anyone can go and request writing services, graphic design services, and other creative services. Great.

Well, on there, you can bid for gigs and write a cover letter saying why you're the most qualified for their gig. The gigs could be a simple logo or an in-depth infographic. It could be a wine label or a Twitch banner.

In any case, Canva has preset designs (templates) for all of these, and all it takes is one quick search to reveal all of the beautiful, pre-designed banners and labels and logos and infographics.

Thinking that I was a genius, I first made some logos for nonprofits and those that needed them for free. Then, after building up a small portfolio of "work" samples, I would pitch myself as a graphic designer and bid on gigs on Upwork.

Real graphic designers are now QUAKING. Oops. Sorry about that.

I would use the presets on Canva to create a beautiful logo. For example, here is what I made for a kennel for free. I even thought it was so good that I put my watermark over it.

LOL.

What is and isn't illegal on Canva

The husky is an element that came directly from Canva's library. The barbed wire is actually okay to use commercially because it came from Pixabay. The font is through Canva, and all fonts have their own to-dos and don'ts. The paw print is through Canva, and my watermark is the only original design that I made in Photoshop using a font I purchased the rights to on Creative Fabrica.

*gasps for air*

With all of that said, this logo is highly illegal. Not that there are different variations of illegal when it comes to copyright. But because a logo is considered a brand's trademark, it's illegal to use anything other than lines when making a logo in Canva, according to the program itself.

Logos cannot contain elements from Canva’s image library, either free or paid, as per section 4i of our license agreements. However, basic shapes, lines, free fonts and our pre-made logo layouts and the elements contained in those layouts may be used in logos. You’re also welcome to use your own elements that you upload to Canva to create your logo. -Canva Support

So, instead, this graphic would be okay:

Instead, I might incorporate this dog from Pixabay because it has a "free for commercial use" license.

Pixabay, Pexels, and Stencil are great resources for free stock content. Just be sure to alter the images in some way for Pexels.

You can, however, sell templates that you create on Canva that other people can then use for their own purposes. More on how to do that here.

You cannot use one of their infographic templates, change everything on it, and then sell that.

Make sure your templates are your own original content and they do not feature third-party intellectual property, or resemble Canva’s own templates. -Canva Support

As I stated before, you're not doomed or limited to using lines in logos. You can get your own graphics that you create or that you purchase with a commercial license from a stock graphic marketplace such as Creative Fabrica, Creative Market, and Shutterstock (affiliate link).

Whew!

I could write an article about Canva's copyright rules, but, to save us both some time, here they are.

The most embarrassing part? I posted my how-to on making money on Upwork as a "lifehack" on TikTok, and then someone called me out.

"You can't just sell Canva designs, girl" -some hoe

But, that hoe was right. In fact, she's the reason why I'm writing this article today. Even though it hurt at first, like stomach-sinking-in-my-body hurt, that girl's comment probably saved me thousands of dollars.

The key is to use graphics to which you have the commercial license.

Period.

Any questions? Don't contact me. I'm not a lawyer. But you can investigate on Canva Support. I'm sure they get a bunch of those questions.

And some people just don't care. But I would rather not pose as a graphic designer on Upwork and then get charged a hefty copyright fee in a lawsuit.

If you found this article helpful, please leave a like, or, if you're feeling inspired, feel free to leave a tip. All funds go to my making-legal-graphics fund. Thank you!