Get started with Canva Email

Design eye-catching, customisable, and brand-consistent emails without writing a single line of code. Download your email design as an HTML file and upload it to email platforms like Gmail, Mailchimp, or other email platform that supports HTML.

• Canva Email is a visual email design tool that lets you:
  • Design from scratch or start with a pre-made layout
  • Add text, images, buttons, columns and icon blocks
  • Export your email as HTML
• Canva doesn’t send emails directly. After designing your email, you’ll send it using either:
  • An Email Service Provider (ESP) for newsletters or campaigns (like Mailchimp or HubSpot), or
  • Our direct integrations with Email Inbox Providers such as Gmail.

Creating and sharing a Canva-designed email involves a few simple steps.

Follow the steps below to complete your Canva Email workflow. If you need more detail, check out the linked articles for each step.

Create your email structure from scratch or start with one of our pre-designed layouts.

Design your content using Canva Email’s design building blocks, such as text, images, buttons, headers, footers, and more.

Preview how your email looks. Then copy HTML or download the HTML file with linked assets.

Canva is actively building integrations with major Email Inbox providers and ESPs to help you export and send your designs seamlessly. These integrations are designed to preserve your layout, formatting, and images, so your email looks the way you designed it. Once your email is ready, send it using platforms like Gmail, Mailchimp, or your preferred ESP.

Ready to jump in? Start by choosing a layout, either from scratch or a template. Then, learn how to structure your Canva Email.

Next step: Structure your email layout

When you design emails in Canva, some elements may look or behave differently in email clients than they do in the Canva editor. This is expected because email clients handle HTML and CSS differently.

Borders

• Canva supports only solid, dotted, and dashed borders in emails.
• The exact pattern and appearance of dotted or dashed borders may vary between the Canva editor and the final email, depending on the email client.

Text styles

• Most email clients do not support gradient text.
• Gradient text will usually fall back to a solid colour, so it may not match what you see in the editor.

Embedded content and complex elements

• Canva converts embeds, sheets, charts, and design elements to images when you export or send your email.
• This means:
  • These elements will not be interactive in the final email.
  • They will behave like regular images (for example, they will not update if the original chart or sheet changes).

Responsiveness and Gmail behaviour

• Canva email layouts support responsive behaviour in many email clients.
• However, Gmail strips out media queries and some Outlook-specific optimisations.
• Because of this, when you send your email via Gmail or view it in Gmail:
  • The layout may not stack correctly on smaller screens.
  • The email may appear different from what you see in Canva.

Videos and GIFs

• Most email clients cannot play videos directly in an email.
• When you include a video in your Canva email, Canva converts it to a GIF when you export or send the email.
• The GIF will play automatically in supported email clients, but:
  • It will not have sound.
  • It may have a larger file size than a static image.

Layout items and columns

• Layout items in Canva Emails support only a single row.
• To add multiple rows of content, use tables instead.
• To add more columns to a single-column layout:

1. Select the layout cell.
2. Press Escape on your keyboard to exit text editing.
3. Use the layout controls to add another column.