12 Canva Design Mistakes That Make Posts Look Amateur

Most amateur-looking posts are not caused by a lack of talent. They are caused by the same handful of mistakes, repeated. Fix these 12 and your posts will instantly look more professional.

1. Too many fonts

Three or four fonts on one post looks chaotic. Fix: use one headline font and one body font, saved in your Brand Kit.

2. Everything the same size

When every line of text is similar in size, nothing stands out. Fix: make the headline at least twice the size of supporting text.

3. Text on busy photos

White text on a detailed photo disappears. Fix: add a solid shape, a dark gradient or move the text to a plain area.

4. No margins

Text touching the edges looks cramped and gets cropped. Fix: keep everything at least 60 to 80 pixels from the edge.

5. Too many colors

A rainbow of colors looks unplanned. Fix: stick to a palette of three to five colors. Pick one from our 30 color palettes.

6. Too much text

A post is not a flyer. Fix: keep the post to one message and move details into the caption or a carousel.

7. Random elements

Stickers, sparkles and icons added “to fill space” cheapen the design. Fix: empty space is good. Remove anything that does not support the message.

8. Misalignment

Elements that almost line up look like mistakes. Fix: use Canva’s alignment guides and the Position tool to align elements to each other.

9. Low-resolution images

Blurry photos and pixelated logos look careless. Fix: use high resolution photos and transparent PNG logos, and export as PNG for text-heavy posts.

10. Ignoring safe zones

Story text hidden behind the profile bar or reply box. Fix: keep the top and bottom 250 pixels of vertical designs clear.

11. Inconsistent style across posts

Each post looks good alone but the feed looks messy. Fix: work from master templates and a Brand Kit.

12. Over-customizing templates

Changing the layout, fonts and spacing of a good template breaks what made it work. Fix: change photos, words and colors, and leave the structure alone. See how to edit Canva templates.

A quick pre-post checklist

• Can I read the headline at thumbnail size?
• Is there one clear message?
• Am I using only my brand fonts and colors?
• Is everything aligned and inside the margins?
• Does it look like it belongs on my feed?

For the principles behind these fixes, read our complete Canva social media guide.