UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff have access to a paid version of Canva visual creative tools at no cost.
Visit umass.edu/it/canva to get started.
Browse the Canva Help Center | For help with your UMass Amherst account, or accessing university services, contact the IT Service Desk.
Who can use Canva at UMass Amherst?
Canva is available at no cost to all UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff.
How do I access Canva at UMass Amherst?
Faculty & staff
- Submit a license request through the Software License Request form in the IT Service Portal.
- Once your request has been approved, log in with your UMass Amherst account at umass.edu/it/canva-login.
If you have a free/non-UMass Canva account or team, you may need to switch accounts with the dropdown menu in the upper right of the screen in the Canva web app.
Students
Log in with your UMass Amherst account at umass.edu/it/canva-login.
If you have a free/non-UMass Canva account or team, you may need to switch accounts with the dropdown menu in the upper right of the screen in the Canva web app.
How to log into Canva Desktop apps
You can access Canva in your web browser, or via the desktop app available at canva.com/download.
To log into your UMass Amherst account in the desktop app:
- Once the app has finished installing, click Log in through browser.
- If you are prompted with a Continue as... dialog:
- If the dialog displays your UMass Amherst account, click Yes, continue to Canva app.
- If the dialog displays a different account, click Log in with a different account and follow the steps below.
- On the Log in or sign up... dialog, click Continue in another way.
- Click Continue with work email.
- Enter your UMass Amherst netID@umass.edu and click Continue.
- If prompted to finish logging in with two-step login, follow the prompts to access your UMass Amherst account.
- On the Continue as... dialog, click Yes, continue to Canva app.
If you do not see the UMass Amherst team...
If you do not see the UMass Amherst team in the accounts dropdown in the upper right after logging in:
- Sign out of all Canva accounts:
- Click the dropdown menu with your name in the upper right.
- At the bottom of the menu, click Sign out.
- If you are presented with a dialog titled Jump back in!, click Remove an account at the bottom of the dialog box.
- Click remove next to each account to finish signing out.
- Log back into Canva at umass.edu/it/canva-login with your UMass Amherst account.
I previously used Canva with a personal account. How do I access content from that account?
To switch accounts or teams in Canva, click the dropdown with your name in the upper right.
To see content owned by or shared with your UMass Amherst Canva Enterprise account, click University of Massachusetts Amherst under Teams.
To see content owned by or shared with your personal account(s) or teams, click Personal or the name of a team under Teams.
What version of Canva is available at UMass Amherst?
UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff have access to pro features via Canva Enterprise. On top of everything offered in the free version of Canva, Enterprise offers additional resources and tools including design templates and stock photos.
Share Projects with Collaborators
Canva makes it easy to work together on design projects - and to share view-only access of drafts. There are several ways to share and work together.
How do I find projects that are shared with me?
When a design project is shared with you or a group you are a member of, you will receive a notification in the Canva web app. Check the notification bell icon in the upper right.
You may also receive email notifications about shared projects.
Projects shared with you or a group you are a member of will also show up under Projects, and under Recent Designs once you've viewed them.
In the Canva web app, click Projects in the vertical navigation bar on the left.
How do I share access to a project?
There are a couple ways to share a project.
Share with specific people or groups
- While editing a design, click the Share button in the upper right.
- Type to search for a person or group to share with in the box under People with access.
- Use the dropdown to the right of the name box to select what permissions the people you're sharing with will have (Can edit, Can comment, or Can view).
Share via link
You can share access to a project via a link. For example, this option can be useful for sharing view-only access to a draft when you don't know everyone who will need to see it.
- While editing a design, click the Share button in the upper right.
- Under Collaboration link, use the dropdown menu on the left to choose an option for who will be able to access your design:
- Only people added can access
Only people and groups who you have already added individually will be able to use the link - University of Massachusetts Amherst
Only logged-in UMass Amherst users will be able to use the link. - Anyone with the link
Anyone who gets the link can access your design.
- Under Collaboration link, use the dropdown menu on the right to choose what level of access you want people with the link to have (Can edit, Can comment, or Can view).
Share Projects With a Team of Collaborators: Groups
Groups in Canva allow you to easily share a project with a preset group of collaborators - ideal for teams of coworkers, classmates, and others.
How do I make a group?
Follow the steps below to make a new group.
How to make a group
First, make sure you're logged into your UMass Amherst Canva account - check the accounts dropdown in the upper right.
- In the Canva web app, click the settings gear icon in the upper right.
- In the vertical navigation bar on the left side of the screen, click Groups under University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- Click the Create a Group button in the upper right.
- Give your group a descriptive name, and add people by email or name.
- Click Create group.
You can invite or remove people later by editing your group under Settings.
Who can I invite to my group?
You can invite any UMass Amherst Canva user to join your group. Non-UMass Canva users cannot be added to groups owned by UMass Amherst Canva users.
How do I share projects with my group?
Projects you make are not automatically shared with groups.
How to give your group members access to a project
- While editing a design, click the Share button in the upper right.
- Search for your group name in the Add people box under People with access.
What can people in my group do with shared projects?
People in your group can edit, export, and share any projects that are shared with the group. Only the owner of individual designs can delete them (if you make a design and share it with your group, other group members and admins cannot delete it - only you can).
Who can make changes to my group?
Group Admins can rename a group, add or remove members, or delete the group.
Note: Avoid removing your own admin permissions, especially if you are the only administrator of your group.
How to add or remove Group Admins
- In the Canva web app, click the settings gear icon in the upper right.
- In the vertical navigation bar on the left side of the screen, click Groups under University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- Click on your group.
- Use the dropdown under Group Role to add or remove Admin permissions for members of your group.
Staying Organized
I have a lot of design projects in Canva. How can I tidy them up?
Canva's Projects page offers several options to help organize your designs.
To change the sorting of your projects, click Sort by dropdown menu in the upper right.
You can also make folders to sort and categorize projects yourself.
To make a folder
From the Projects page:
- Click Add new in the upper right
- Choose Folder.
- Type a descriptive name in the Folder name field.
- Optionally, enter names of people or select Groups the folder's contents should be automatically shared with.
- Click Continue.
How can I tidy up projects that are shared with me?
If there are design projects shared with you which you don’t need to see anymore, you can hide them.
From the Projects page:
- Click the 3 dot menu button in the upper right of the thumbnail for a design.
- Click Hide. Click Hide again on the confirmation dialog.
To see designs you've hidden again, either open them again via the link you received when they were shared with you, or navigate to a folder that contains the design.
Once you open a design that you had previously hidden, it will appear again in Projects and Recent designs. More information