Creating content for your business can feel never-ending. Even with templates and planning, designing multiple posts takes time. But there’s a feature in Canva that can help you: Bulk Create. With it, you can generate dozens of designs from a single template all in minutes.
In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how to use Bulk Create so you can produce professional, branded content faster and more efficiently.
What is Canva’s Bulk Create feature?
Bulk Create lets you automatically generate multiple designs from a spreadsheet. Each row in your spreadsheet becomes a unique design in Canva, while your template ensures consistency in branding and layout.
Canva’s Bulk Create feature is perfect for recurring content with minimal text or image changes.
Use it to generate multiple quotes, social media posts, product promotions, blog graphics, business card designs, invitations or certificates.
Instead of designing each post individually, Bulk Create handles the heavy lifting for you.
Step 1. Prepare your data file
First step is preparing the data we want to use in the designs. There are 3 main ways of uploading our data to Canva.
Option 1: Upload a CSV, TSV or XLSX file
You could use the Upload Data method, which is a good option if you have a larger number of designs you want generated.
For this, use any spreadsheet app (such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel or Apple Numbers) and download as a CSV, TSV or XLSX file.
This option also allows you to add both text and images to your designs. However, in order for images to work, you need to insert the image into a single cell and download your file in XLSX format.
Option 2: Enter data manually
If you prefer to type or paste data directly into Canva, you can use the Enter data manually option.
This option also allows you to add both text and images to your designs.
If you have a rather large dataset, then I suggest using another method to keep things organised.
Option 3: Import from a Connected App
You can also use the Select Data Source option to import from a Connected App such as Google Sheets, Google Analytics or the newly added Canva Sheet.
Using a Canva Sheet allows you to add both text and images to your designs.
How to set up your data spreadsheets
Once you know the method you want to use, you can then create your spreadsheet. Here’s how to set it up:
- Columns: Each column represents a design element in your template. For example, headline, subheading, caption or image.
- Rows: Each row will become a separate design. If you have 20 rows, Canva will generate 20 individual graphics.
Once created, review your spreadsheet for errors, typos or blank rows as these could mess up your designs!
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Step 2. Create your template in Canva
Before importing your data, you need to design a master template. Create your design using your brand colours, fonts and logos. Then add placeholders where your data will go.
For example, you may want to add a large text field as a Headline placeholder and another smaller text field as a Caption placeholder. If wanting to add images, you’ll need to use a grid or frame as a placeholder.
This template is what Bulk Create will replicate across all your content automatically.
Make layouts flexible so text of different lengths still looks great.
A good tip is to use the Anchor text box setting (found under Advanced Settings in the text menu) to stop your text boxes from shifting when your real text replaces the placeholder.
For example, the Headline text could use anchor end while Caption text uses anchor start. This controls the direction in which a text box expands when you add more text.
Step 3. Upload your spreadsheet to Canva
Open your template in Canva. Go to Apps > Bulk Create and choose how you want to upload your data as we discussed in Step 1: upload, manually or import.
Canva will read your spreadsheet and prepare your template for mapping.
4. Map spreadsheet columns to template elements
Canva will ask you to assign each column from your spreadsheet to a specific element in your template.
For example, the “Headline” column maps to the headline text box, the “Caption” column maps to the caption placeholder, the “Image” columns maps to the photo grid or frame.
Once mapped, Canva knows exactly where each piece of content should go in your designs.
5. Generate and review your designs
Canva will automatically create a design for each row in your spreadsheet, which you can open in a new window.
Review each design to make sure the text fits correctly and everything looks as you intended. You can make quick adjustments directly in Canva.
You can then download all your designs in one go in your preferred format. You can also schedule posts using Canva’s Content Planner or a social media scheduling tool.
Final thoughts
While Canva’s Bulk Create feature has its limitations, it can take away the most tedious, time-consuming parts of setting up designs and give you a head start on content creation.
