You can easily change the colors of your graphic elements in Canva using the color swatch palette. And using non-editable elements doesn’t mean you have no color editing options—you can use Canva’s Duotone app to recolor your elements when the palette isn’t available.
What Are the Differences Between Editable and Non-Editable Canva Elements?
Canva offers many types of elements. From the Elements tab, you can access shapes, graphics, stickers, images, and videos. Stickers—animated illustrations—cannot be edited at all. Images and videos can be edited with theEdit PhotoorEdit Videooptions, often relating to colors and effects.
Graphic elements such as shapes can easily be edited, but not all of Canva’s graphics are created equally.SVG file graphicsare editable when selected on the Canva artboard—a square swatch color palette will appear, allowing you to change the graphic’s colors.
Other elements in Canva may be in different formats, such asPNG filetypes, which means they’re not editable like Canva SVGs. You’ll know if an element is a non-editable filetype because, when selected, it won’t show a color palette above the artboard. There are still ways you’re able to change the colors of these non-editable elements, though.
How to Change the Colors of an Editable Canva Element
Changing the colors of an editable SVG Canva element is very simple. You can even create these elements in external software to upload to Canva for future color-changing edits. If you’re notcreating SVGs in Illustrator to edit in Canva, you can use the vast options found in the Canva Elements tab.
If your chosen graphic is editable, follow the steps below to change its colors.
Step 1: Choose an Element From the Elements Tab
Once you’ve selected an element, it will appear on your artboard. You can resize it, move it around the artboard, orchange the layers in your Canva designto add some dimension to your creation.
With your element set where you want it, you’re able to change its colors to better align with your design’s color scheme.
Step 2: Select Your Element to Reveal the Color Palette
Select the graphic element on your artboard. If the color palette appears above the toolbar, then it means the element is an SVG and can be edited with new colors.
The element’s original colors will appear as a color palette with square swatch options above the artboard—there will be a square swatch for each color in the graphic. Some squares may have the same colors, which means two or more areas of the image can be edited even if the creator kept them the same color.
Step 3: Change the Color Swatches
To change any of the element’s colors, select the square swatch of the color you wish to change. Once selected, a color tab will appear on the left of the artboard, giving you many choices to change the color.
you may use the color picker tool, type or paste in a HEX code, or use a predefined color palette. Recolor any of the swatches you wish to change and as many times as you want. The original color palette will remain on the color tab under Document Colors if you wish to return to them.
Unfortunately, you can’t save your newly colored graphic element. Even if youfavorite the Canva element, the colors will revert to the originals upon the next use.
How to Change the Colors of a Non-Editable Canva Element
The majority of Canva’s graphic elements are SVGs, but if you select an element where the color swatches don’t appear, you’ll have a few extra hurdles to jump over to edit the colors because the filetype isn’t supported for direct editing.
Step 1: Choose Your Element From the Elements Tab
Since you can’t tell from the Elements tab which format an element is, you’ll have to select one and open it on your artboard. If the color swatches do not appear, it’s a non-SVG element.
But you can still edit the colors of the elements using the method in the following steps—this technique works for non-editable graphic elements, images, and can also be applied to editable elements.
Step 2: Find and Select the Duotone Effect
Select the element on your artboard and then selectEdit PhotoorEdit Imagewhich will appear in place of the color swatch palette for editable elements.
If you selected Edit Photo, selectEffectsin the left panel. Then scroll down tofxEffectsand selectDuotone.
Duotone is a photo editing technique that uses two colors to tint an image. Traditionally, this is used in lighting or editing for traditional photography. You cancreate a similar duotone effect in Adobe Photoshop.
Step 3: Edit Your Colors With Duotone
In most cases, using Duotone won’t change your colors as precisely as the color palette option for editable elements, its success depends on the original element or image’s colors. But when you’re working with non-editable elements, Duotone can be the saving grace for color editing.
You can choose from over 20 duotone color options. Selecting a preset will apply it to your element as a color tint. When selected, it will tint your image with the two selected colors mixed together.
Step 4: Use the Duotone Controls for Color Precision
After selecting any Duotone preset, you’re able to alter the controls for more accuracy. While the controls may not allow precise recoloring of your element, they can give you more desirable results.
The Duotone controls include Highlights and Shadows color swatches and an Intensity slider. The Intensity slider allows more or less of the element’s original colors to show through, and the color swatches determine which color your element changes to.
While it might not be the perfect way to change the colors of a Canva element, it helps in a pinch when the color palette isn’t an option to use.
Change Your Element Colors in Canva
Some Canva elements are created to make color editing simple and easy with the color palette, but not all elements are created the same way. Thankfully, you’re able to still edit the colors of non-editable elements with Canva’s other tools, like Duotone.
