7 Canva Photo Editing Tools to try out

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Did you know you can edit photos in Canva?!

The more I use Canva the more I discover the amazing features available in the program. There’s so much you can do in Canva!

Beyond finding thousands of templates to create social media posts or product mockups you can also edit your photos in Canva.

Discovering the Edit Image feature right inside of Canva was a game changer.

7 Canva Photo Editing Tools to try out

The design potential is literally limitless. There are several Canva photo editing tools that I love utilizing in my designs.

In this post, I’m covering some pretty cool image editing features. Let’s dive into Canva photo editing!

Trust me when I say you’ll wish you’d known about these sooner.

1. The Background Remover Tool

How to remove a background in Canva using the BG Remover tool

Canva has one of the best photo background removing tools. Canva does all the work for you and magically removes the background.

Select any image in your document and select Edit image. Then choose the Background Remover.

It will automatically detect and remove the background of an image for you. Its so spot on, but if you need to make adjustments you can erase or restore before hitting the Apply button.

The Background Remover tool comes in pretty handy when you what to isolate a person in a photo and remove the background around them.

2. Adjust images

For quick photo editing like brightness, contrast, saturation, and temperature, it’s super convenient to edit right inside of Canva.

I really appreciate not having to make minor adjustments to an image outside of the program.

Sometimes midway through a design, I realize I need to brighten a photo or adjust the temperature.

Being able to quickly make basic adjustments or even enhance your image means you can keep on creating without having to use another program.

Plus you can grab the filter code to apply the same adjustments to additional photos.

3. Add Filters to photos

Use Canva’s filters to instantly edit photos. I find the black and white handy for quick edits. Filters are great for editing a photo to fit a vibe or design aesthetic.

Again no need to leave Canva with these filters.

4. Photo Frames

Add a frame to images. You can add tech frames, polaroids, and fancy borders. I love the phone, tablet and computer frames.

Tons of frames to add photos to in Canva elements

If you’re looking for even more frames, go to Elements and check out tons of cool frames you can drop images into.

5. Smart Mockups

No more trying to adjust an image just right to sit on top of a picture of a phone or laptop when I can just use a smart mockup!

Canva’s Smartmockups grab your image and apply it the mockup for you. This tool is amazing for featuring a website or products!

6. adjustable Shadows

Shadows are one of my favorite Canva photo editing tools!

I love adding shadows to images to give them extra definition and depth in a document.

There’s several shadow options and you can adit the size, transparency, blur and even color of the shadows.

How to add a glow outline to an image in Canva

Take the shadow feature one step further by first removing the background then applying the glow shadow.

Edit the shadow with a fun color to create a really cool glow behind your image. If you want a more solid outline simply lower the blur.

7. Duo Tone to create two tone images

Use Duo Tone to create artistic images like pop art!

There are vibrant and pastel options to choose from. Plus you can edit the colors in the settings.

More Fun Edits to Try

Play around with all sorts of fun image edits in Canva. From pixelating a photo, to liquify, slice, paint effects and more you’ll have so much fun experimenting.

Once you get the basics down on these Canva image editing tools you can start to really play around and fun with them!

Here are some creative examples of how to take these editing tools to the next step:

1. For this image I used the background Remover tool to remove the background.

Then I added a shadow glow, in a soft pink, around it.

I added a cool rounded shape behind the image and curved text at the top.

2. Use Smart Mockups to show off your site or products.

Add the image of your choosing to your document and select the frame you want in the Edit Image section.

The tool will automatically place your image in the frame. Making mockups was never so easy!

Use smartmockups to show off your site or products

3. Go old school with polaroid frames.

So many places you could have fun using this polaroid frame.

Use in graphics for blog posts, social media, stories, reels, and even print them out!

4. Add shadows under cut out images to create realistic looking flatlays of digital products.

I used a marble background image and layered cut out flower and coffee images from Canva to create a faux flatlay.

Then I added an image of my media kit and added shadows to make it look like a real photo.

5. Create fun images that pop!

For this graphic I started with a colorful background.

Removed the background from the image using background remover and then added a glow shadow with a bright color.

6. Use Duo Tone to create silhouettes!

First remove the background of the image with the Background Remover tool.

Then apply a Duo Tone to it. In the Duo Tone settings select the same color for the highlights and shadows to create the silhouette.

How to create silhouettes using Duo Tone in Canva

These are just a few ways to get creative with Canva photo editing tools. Once you get the basics down you can really start to have fun.

And these are just the image editing tools!

Want more helpful Canva tips? Check out these awesome posts:

With Canva image editing tools you can make your graphics stand out. A few simple steps will take your designs to the next level and catch the eye.

What’s your favorite way to edit photos in Canva?

xoxo Naomi

p.s. Try Canva Pro for free for 30 days and check out all the fantastic features Canva has to offer!

7 Canva Photo Editing Tools to try out