- Graphs
- Venn Diagrams
Venn diagrams
Venn diagram maker features
Canva’s Venn diagram maker is the easiest way to make a Venn diagram online. Start by choosing a template – we’ve got hundreds of Venn diagram examples to choose from. With a suite of easy to use design tools, you have complete control over the way it looks. Plus, being fully online, Canva makes it easy for you to collaborate and work on the design with your team.
More than 20 professional types of graphs to choose from
Professionally designed templates to fast-track your workflow
Data visualization made easy – no complicated software to learn
Publish, share or download your high-resolution graph
Embed your Venn diagram in presentations, reports and more with no fuss
Easy drag-and-drop tools, made with the non-designer in mind
How to make a Venn diagram
- Choose a Venn diagram template.
- Click to change the labels and drag to move the circles.
- Customize details like colors and fonts.
- Choose from our stunning range of graph elements, like frames, shapes and lines.
- Save and share.
What is a Venn diagram?
A Venn diagram consists of two or more overlapping circles. They are used to show relationships – mainly similarities and differences – and visually organize information. A Venn diagram isn’t just made up of the circles, but also the area around the circles, which encapsulates the data that doesn’t fall into those categories. Each of the circles represents a different category of data. The overlapping parts of the circles show where those categories of data have something in common. The overlapping area is called the “intersection”. When you have multiple sets of data to represent, you can create a three circle, four circle or even five circle Venn diagram.
In the example on the right, one circle represents what a person believes. The other circle represents what is true. The area where they intersect – where what someone believes is also true – represents knowledge.
The history of Venn diagrams
The use of circular diagrams has been traced back to as early as the 13th century. Venn diagrams were popularized by the English logician John Venn in 1880 and may also be referred to as a primary diagram, logic diagram or set diagram.
John Venn was inspired by the 18th-century Swiss mathematician and logician Leonhard Euler, who had used a similar approach to organizing data with circles – although his circles did not overlap. Euler’s invention is sometimes referred to as Euler diagrams, and Venn called his own invention as “Eulerian circles”. Around 30 years later, the name Venn diagram was coined.
Venn diagrams were invented for use in a branch of mathematics called set theory. Set theory deals with well-defined categories of objects, including but not limited to numbers.
Components of Venn diagrams
Intersection
The overlapping section.
Union
All of the circles combined.
Symmetric difference
The parts of the circles that do not intersect – that is, the parts that are more different than they are alike.
Relative complement
The overlapping section of an individual circle that doesn’t fall into the intersection.
Absolute complement
Any area that doesn’t include that set, including the area around the circles.
Universal set
The area around the circles. This is the larger category of information in which the sets exist.
Customize your Venn diagram’s fonts and colors
Color code your circles to correspond to your data sets. No matter how many circles you’re using, you can set them apart by varying their colors. With Canva’s color selection tool, you can choose any color you like. You can even explore designer-approved color combinations, right inside Canva’s editor.
Collaborate on your Venn diagram with your class or team
Canva is made for collaboration. It’s fully online, so you don’t need to download any software. Share a link to your Venn diagram with your team, and you can all contribute to its creation. Add comments and save yourself from the back and forth over email. You can even control who can view and who can edit.
Add images and icons to your diagrams
A picture is worth a thousand words. So why not add images to your Venn diagram? Search Canva’s media library containing more than 2 million stock graphics and images to find one that suits your needs. Then, just drag and drop it into the editor and resize or crop as needed.
Embed in reports, presentations and more
When you’re all done, you can download your Venn diagram as a JPEG, PNG or PDF file, share it on your social media, or email it directly to someone. Your Venn diagram can also be used in all kinds of graphics and documents. We’ve got tens of thousands of templates to choose from, so you can keep a consistent, stylish look. Simply choose what you’d like to make – whether it’s a presentation, an infographic or something else – then select a template.
Venn diagram templates
Frequently Asked Questions
