Using Digital Stamps in Canva

For some time now I've been subscribing to monthly Story Kits & Story Stamps from Ali Edwards and I really do love her kits!  But did you know when you purchase both the physical kit & the matching stamp set, you also receive the digital Story Class files for that theme for free?  Now that I'm using Canva more and more to create hybrid layouts for my memory keeping,  I'm so happy I have these digital files!   

Paper & Digital Elements |  Ali Edwards // HOME Digital Story Stamp

In this post I'm going to show you how to use the digital .png files from Ali's kits in Canva.  This tutorial took me a few tries to figure out, so I'm going to save you all the time and frustration that I went through to get these files to working like a charm in Canva.com.   (I use Canva Pro for my designs, not all features shown may be available in the free version) 

The first thing you need to know is that you can upload a .png file into Canva and use it on your design as is.  But what you won't be able to do is immediately change the colors of that .png file once it's in Canva.    
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My first try at this came when I wanted to use one of Ali's .png files on a project, but I wanted it to be white, not black.  

In Canva upload .png files to use the color they already are.

OPTION #1. Convert color of .png file
​I searched online and found this free site that I used to convert the .png file from black to white.  Saved the file, then uploaded (via drag & drop) to Canva.  This worked perfectly for what I needed at the time, but it's not really a full solution.   ​

OPTION #2. Convert .png file to .svg file
I discovered through the help of an online Canva community that the trick is you need to upload the digital file in .svg format to change the colors using Canva.  Since the digital files I have are .png I needed to search online again to find a tool that would allow me to change a .png to .svg file.   I tried a few different ones, but found this one or this one easy to use.

OPTION #3 (3/19/21) Updated post  to share Canva Pro has a new feature that magically erases the background color, so you can use this text as an overlay on any photo or design.  This is an amazing feature with just one click! 

Here's the simple steps to convert your file:

1. Choose your .png file you want to covert to .svg
2. Upload it to a file conversion site.   I store my files on a back up drive. But it also has options to upload from dropbox, google drive or a url which is great.
3. Wait for the file to convert.  The time will vary based on file size. 
4. Download the converted .svg file.  
5. Upload the .svg file into Canva.  (I love the drag and drop method)
6. Select that digital file/image you just uploaded and add to your design. 
7. Click on the image.  A color box should appear on the top left matching the color of your design.  In my example, the color is black because the original .png file was black.  
8. Select the color box and choose a new color for your image.  In my example I changed the color to teal.  

DESIGN TIP:  In Canva Pro you can store all of your files & designs in folders to keep your projects organized. 

In Canva upload .svg files to change colors.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful.  Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.   

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