Canva is a powerful program for designing cards, banners, infographics, social media posts, and more. One feature that people often forget though is Canva’s ability to make beautiful presentations. With tons of pre-made templates, Canva makes it easy to spice up even the most boring of topics.
Once you’re done, Canva has its own presentation feature that works really well. No need to even leave the platform! But, what do you do if you’re collaborating with other presenters and need to have shared access to your presentation on Google Slides? Can you move a Canva presentation over to the Google platform?
To import Canva presentations in Google Slides, design your slides in Canva and download them as as a PowerPoint presentation or as png files. Convert your PowerPoint into Google Slides, or drag and drop your png images into Google Slides and stretch each one across each of your slides.
As with any workaround, this presentation hack isn’t perfect. There are some great upsides for using Canva to design your Google Slide presentation, but there are some definite downsides as well. If you need to use Google Slides, there are specific instances when using Canva is going to be a great idea, and others when it won’t. Let’s dive in.
What Presentation Platforms is Canva Compatible With?
When you build a presentation in Canva, there’s a LOT you can do with it.
- Present it within Canva
- Download it in many different formats, including Microsoft PowerPoint
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Slack
- Mailchimp
- An embed code, and more
Most importantly, you can share the link to your Canva presentation with others, which we’ll talk about at the end.
A Workaround for Exporting Canva to Google Slides
If your team is embedded in the Google world, you may have no choice but to use Google Slides. Believe me, I know how attached everyone can get to the technology programs they know and love.
Unfortunately, as we’ve talked about, there isn’t a direct way to export your Canva presentation to Google Slides.
That said, there are some great workarounds that will work.
Option 1: Convert a PowerPoint Presentation to Google Slides
By far, this is the best to use to convert your Canva presentations into Google Slides. This is because it allows you to fully edit your Canva presentation after it has been imported into Google Slides. All of you the text, images, and elements you imported can still be moved around and changed.
With this method, we’ll be downloading your Canva presentation as a PowerPoint presentation and then converting that PowerPoint presentation into a Google Slides presentation. Let’s walk through it step-by-step.
1. Create your presentation in Canva.
Even though your slides will be editable once they’re imported into Google Slides, I still suggest designing them fully in Canva. Especially if you have Canva Pro, this will give you access to all of Canva’s amazing templates, images, design elements to make your presentation awesome.
You can get a free trial to Canva Pro here!
2. Once you’re done, click the “Share” button and the “More” button
After you’ve finished designing your presentation in Canva, click on the “Share” button in the top right corner. Scroll down until you see the “More” button. Click on it.
3. Download your presentation as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation file
There are a LOT of options to share, save, and download your presentation. Scroll down to the “Save” section and click on “Microsoft PowerPoint” and then click on the “Download” button.
4. Open a new Google Slides presentation
Navigate to Google Slides and open a brand new presentation.
5. Choose the “Import Slides” option in Google Slides
Within Google Slides, click on “File” and then choose “Import Slides.”
6. Drag and drop your Canva presentation into Google Slides
A box will appear that will allow you to either drag and drop your files into Google Slides, or find the file on your computer. Find your Canva presentation your just downloaded as a Microsoft PowerPoint file and drag and drop it into this box in Google Slides.
7. Choose the slides you want to import
Google Slides will ask you to choose the slides you want to import. Click on the “All” button, or individually click on all of your slides to import all of them into Google Slides.
8. Enjoy your presentation!
Google will import your slides after your first blank slide, so simply delete that first blank slide. Then, you’re done! You can edit, rearrange, and use your slides seamlessly within Google Slides!
The method above is the best way to import a Canva presentation into Google Slides, by far. It’s quick, easy, and leaves with a fully-editable Google Slides presentation.
That said, there are other options you may be interested in, depending on your needs. Let’s quickly review them.
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Option 2: Import Fully Designed Canva Images into Google Slides
With this method, you’re going to design your slides in Canva and then move them over to Google Slides in their fully finished forms. These will be static images, so you WON’T be able to edit them down the road.
- Open a Canva Presentation document. You want it to be “presentation” because the sizing will be similar to what you’ll need for Google Slides, which means you won’t have to mess with it too much when you’re done.
- Design everything as you need it to be when it’s fully finished. All photos, texts, backgrounds; make sure all of it is there and finalized.
- Download your Canva slides as png images.
- Set up your Google Slides presentation with the number of blank slides that you need.
- Drag and drop each png image onto a blank slide and position it so that it covers the entire slide.
- Make sure your slides are in the right order and then you’re done!
If you have zero need to edit your presentation in the future, this could be an appealing option for you. Our final options involves static images as well.
Option 3: Import Partially Designed Canva Images into Google Slides
If you don’t want to design your presentation fully in Canva, this could be a good option for you. Maybe you just want to create a unique background image, or import a few unique design elements. You aren’t worried about needing to edit them down the road and want to work on the majority of your presentation in Google Slides.
Here’s what you can do. Again, these will be static images that will NOT be editable in Google Slides.
- Open a Canva Presentation document.
- Design any static images and elements that you’re ok with finalizing and not being able to change later.
- Download your Canva slides as png images.
- Set up your Google Slides presentation with the number of blank slides that you need.
- Drag and drop each png image onto a blank slide and position it so that it covers the entire slide.
- Add any text and elements that you still need in Google Slides.
If you have some static backgrounds, images, or elements you want to incorporate into your Google Slides presentation, this can be a great option.
A Better Workaround
We all know how much I love Canva. To say that it has a ton of amazing features is an understatement. One of these amazing features is the ability to collaborate within Canva. Yes, you can collaborate on Canva projects WITHIN Canva!
In the toolbar, click on the share button. From there, you can type in the email addresses of your collaborators and choose whether you want them to simply view, or full on edit the presentation. You can also share your presentation via a link, post it to a Google Classroom, or turn it into an assignment that can be linked with a number of platforms.
Important note: if you use any Pro elements within your presentation, those on your team with a Pro subscription should be the ones to export or download your project if needed.
If you have the Pro version, you can also share the presentation for use as a template for future projects.
These capabilities are only available within Canva. Once you import your Canva presentation into Google Slides, you’re leaving the Canva ecosystem.
The biggest hurdle with this option is getting all of your team members on board with using Canva. As Canva users, we all know that once people start using Canva, they fall in love with it.
It’s hard to adjust to new platforms though. Even though Canva is easy to learn and use, it’s still an adjustment. If you can woo your team onto the Canva train though, my best suggestion is to simply make your presentations in Canva and keep them there. As a presentation platform, Canva has everything you would need.
To get everything that Canva has to offer, check out their Pro version. You’ll have access to more images, elements, and fonts that will make your presentations stand out from the rest. Click on the banner and you’ll get 30 free days of Pro, which gives you the chance to give it a test drive and see how great it really is.
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Diana has been an artist for over 25 years and has training in drawing, painting, digital drawing and graphic design. Diana’s latest obsession is digitally drawing with Procreate and creating t-shirt designs with Canva. Diana has experience selling her art across a number of platforms and loves helping other artists learn how to make money from their art as well.