Canva Magic Studio

@LisaBerghoff

On March 8th, 2022, I wrote a post about Canva and I called it the ultimate creation multi-tool. As we have seen in the time since then, Canva continues to add features that make it possible for us and our students to be our most creative selves. Canva began as a yearbook design business in Australia in 2013. Co-founder Melanie Perkins talks about the very first idea that she had was to make design simple. It is often the go-to place for creating slide presentations, social media posts, posters, pamphlets, infographics, videos, and more. 

There has been an ear-deafening buzz lately about artificial intelligence and while much of it is concerning, there is a lot to be excited about. Canva continues to do what it does best, making design simple, with their new Magic Studio, powered by AI. 

Canva's Magic Studio puts all of their AI tools in one place. 

You can start with Canva's Magic Design. Type in what you want to see and Canva's AI powered text to image tool will create it for you. If you don't like your results, you can click to generate again or adjust your prompt. Remember, with all AI tools the quality of your result depends greatly on the quality of your inputs.  

Here is what is included in the Magic Studio suite:

• Magic Write: Enter a prompt and let Canva's Magic Write help you get started with your writing. It's a great way to get something on the page when you are stuck. 
• Magic Design For Presentations: Just type 5 or more words into the search bar to describe what you need. Magic Design will generate a slide deck for you that is already formatted with some text and images. It's a great way to get started. From my experience, the content is not amazing but it gives a wonderful first pass that you can then go ahead and edit and adjust to meet your needs.
• Magic Design For Video: Add your own image or video files, enter a short description about your video, and then watch as Canva's Magic Design For Video generates the rest and even adds a perfectly synched track.

The following AI tools are also included in the Magic Studio suite. These tools can be used with just about anything you create in Canva.

• Magic Switch: Transform your presentation into a doc, or resize your design into another format. This can be an enormous time saver! You can also use Magic Switch to translate your design into another language.
• Magic Animate: The AI will make style suggestions based on your content. You are also welcome to choose an alternative one. You can pair this with Magic Design For Video to create short, shareable videos with built-in music. This also works great with presentations. 
• Magic Morph helps you add style to any element, text, or shape with a single writing prompt. Just type in how you want your text to look and watch as it changes automatically. This can be a great tool for adding just a little extra pizazz to your graphics.
• Text To Image: Just describe what you are thinking of and watch it appear. You can then edit to make it even better.

Magic Studio Editing Tools: These allow you to add your own style to elements you have added to your design. You can also extend images beyond the frame and edit objects in your photos.

• Magic Edit: After you select the part of the image you want to change, write what you want to add or replace and then watch it happen. 
• Magic Grab: Make any image editable, just like a template in Canva. Just upload a photo or a screenshot. Grab part of you photo to edit, reposition, or resize it. This can be really helpful with worksheets or activities that can be complicated to format.
• Magic Expand: Upload an image and then select an aspect ratio. You can also enter your own. Apply a recommendation from Magic Expand to recover or extend your photo.

 I know this list may seem overwhelming but when you go into Canva, each tool shows you step-by-step instructions and even gives you a demo design so you can try it out. Remember, you can always click the undo button in Canva so if you don't like your result you can always go back. This is an extremely low-risk tool and I would encourage you to give it a try!

What is your favorite use for Canva in the classroom?