How to Upload Fonts to Canva (with VIDEO)
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If you’ve ever used the Canva app, you already know what a great resource it is. It includes a ton of free content and it’s perfect for creating social media graphics, presentations, printable projects, and more. But even with access to the variety of default fonts in Canva, there may be times when you just can’t find the perfect font for your Canva project. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to upload fonts to Canva’s font library in just a few easy steps.
Blog post image created with Canva
What you’ll need:
- Canva Pro account (or Canva for Teams, Canva for Education, or Canva for Nonprofits)
- Font file in OTF, TTF, or WOFF format
Can you upload fonts to free Canva?
Free Canva users cannot upload their own fonts to the Canva app at this time. This font option is only available to Canva Pro users or in Canva for Teams, Canva for Education, and Canva for Nonprofits.
The good news is that you can easily upgrade your free Canva account to a 30-day free trial of Canva Pro in order try out this feature!
During your free trial, you’ll also have access to other Canva Pro features, including:
- unlimited premium content
- Magic Resize tool
- more format options for saving projects, including SVGs and transparent PNGs
- access to more Canva templates
- Brand Kits with logos, brand colors, and fonts
- folder creation for specific projects
- Background Remover tool
- scheduling tool for social media content
- 1TB cloud storage (compared to 5GB on the free plan)
- 24/7 customer support
Canva will send you a reminder 3 days before the trial ends and you can cancel at any time.
Note: If you are a K-12 teacher, check with your school district to see if they are enrolled in Canva for Education. If not, you can still use Canva for Education at no charge once your educator status is verified. Keep in mind that Canva for Education users may only use Pro content for educational, non-commercial purposes.
Where to find fonts to use in Canva
You can find a variety of fonts online, from hundreds of sources, in both free and paid versions. Not all fonts are created equal however, especially when it comes to free font resources.
Always exercise caution and only download fonts from reputable sources.
Here are a few of the sites I trust:
- Creative Fabrica
- Creative Market
- Font Bundles (use discount code CAUGHT10 to save 10%)
- FontsGeek
- Font Squirrel
- Hungry JPEG
If you are downloading a font for commercial use, always check the terms of use for the font and be sure you obtain the proper license.
Saving a font file to your computer
Downloading a font file is fairly simple process, although each site will look a little different. Free fonts should have a button on the page that says “Download”, “Download OTF”, or something similar. The Canva app only supports OTF (OpenType), TTF (TrueType), and WOFF (web) font formats.
When you purchase a font, you’ll usually be taken to a download page with a download button or an order confirmation page that gives instructions on how to download the purchased font.
Be sure to note the location on your hard drive where you saved the file.
Font file downloads are often compressed to save space. If the font file you downloaded looks like a folder with a zipper on it, that means it is a “zipped” (compressed) file and it will need to be unzipped before you can upload it to the Canva app.
Note: if you are downloading a font family, each individual font variation must be uploaded to Canva separately.
How to unzip a font (Windows)
- Go to the location on your computer where you saved the zip file.
- Right-click on the name of the zipped folder and choose Extract All. Select a destination folder (or make note of the default destination) and click on Extract.
How to unzip a font (Mac)
- Go to the location on your computer where you saved the zip file.
- Double-click the font file to unzip.
How to upload a new font to Canva (web version or desktop app)
(The font used in this demo is Timberly Script from Font Bundles.)
- Sign into your Canva account from your web browser.
- Click on Create a design in the top right corner. Select one of the default sizes or enter custom dimensions for your design. A blank canvas will open in a new window.
- From the column on the left side of the screen, click on the Text tab to open up the text menu.
- Click on the purple box at the top of the text menu that says Add a text box.
- Click on the drop down arrow on the right of the font menu to see the font list.
- At the bottom of the list of fonts, click on Upload a font.
- Go to where you have saved the desired font file on your computer and double-click on the file name to open it (or select the file and click Open).
- Confirm that you have permission to upload the font to Canva.
- Wait for file to upload.
- The font will appear in the Uploaded fonts area of the font list and can be used in your Canva designs just like any of the other Canva fonts.
How to upload fonts to Canva (VIDEO)
How to add a new font to a Canva Brand Kit (web version or desktop app)
Brand Kits are another great feature of Canva. Here you can add your company logos, fonts, and color palette for easy access when designing.
Adding a new font to a Canva Brand Kit is very similar to the process outlined above.
- Sign into your Canva account
- From the column on the left side of the home page, look under the Tools section and click on Brand to open the brand tools.
- If the brand kit page is not already selected, click on the Brand Kit tab. (If you have multiple Brand Kits, select the specific one you want to customize.)
- In the brand fonts section, click on + Add new.
- Go to where you have saved the desired font file on your computer and double-click on the file name to open it.
- Confirm that you have permission to upload the font to Canva.
- Wait for file to upload.
- The font will appear in the Uploaded fonts list. It can also be added to your brand fonts by clicking on the pencil icon in the Text styles area. Here you will find options to customize the specific font, font size, and font style for your default heading, subheading, or body text font.
You can upload a maximum of 500 fonts per Brand Kit.
How to add a new font to Canva mobile app
(The font used in this demo is South Australia from Font Bundles.)
When you add a new font to Canva via the desktop app, it will appear in the Uploaded fonts section on the mobile app as well. But mobile users can also upload fonts to Canva directly to the Brand Kit in the mobile app.
Before you begin uploading, the first step is to make sure the desired font file has been downloaded and unzipped on your mobile device. (In the video, you’ll see exactly how I did this on my iPhone. The process is virtually the same for the iPad, but may differ on other devices.)
- Open Canva on your mobile device.
- From the home screen, tap Menu.
- Under the Tools section, tap on Brand.
- If it’s not already selected, click on the Brand Kit tab. (If you have multiple Brand Kits, select the specific one you want to customize.)
- Scroll down to the brand fonts section. Tap the + sign. If your device doesn’t automatically open to the recent downloads, browse your files until you locate the unzipped font file.
- Tap on the file to upload and then tap on Open.
- Confirm that you have permission to upload the font to Canva.
- Wait for file to upload.
- The font will appear in the Uploaded fonts list and can be used like any other Canva font. It can also be added to your brand fonts by clicking on the pencil icon in the Text styles area, where you can customize the specific font, font size, and font style for your default heading, subheading, or body text font.
Small business owners and home crafters alike will find that Canva is a great way to create a variety of different graphics. The free version of this online design tool provides a lot of options, but the ability to upload additional fonts is just one of the added features that make a Canva Pro account worth the extra cost.
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Don’t already have a Canva Pro subscription??? Give it a try for 30 days and see what you think! At the end of your trial, you can easily downgrade back to the free version of Canva if you decide the Pro version is not for you.
If you have questions, leave a comment below or come visit me over in my Facebook group. I’m always happy to help!
Until next time,
Lycia is a lifelong crafter whose goal is to help others find value, confidence, and joy in whatever they create. She geeks out on using technology to supercharge craft projects with Silhouette Studio, Design Space, Glowforge, sublimation, etc.! Lycia teaches these skills and more through online tutorials and videos as well as in-person classes at both the local and national levels.