Imagine designing custom product packaging, then
sending fully branded customer emails, and collecting
live customer data from a survey. Right. All
without ever once. needing to leave your design
app. I mean, that's really the scope of the update
we're diving into today. Canva is moving so far
beyond just graphics. Welcome to the deep dive.
And yeah, this isn't just a typical platform
refresh. It feels much more like a fundamental
structural shift. Totally. These 10 may be features
they rolled out in October 2025. They really
show Canva is aiming to be, well, a true all
in one business system for creators and entrepreneurs.
Exactly. They didn't just tweak things. It feels
like they completely rewired the whole business
engine behind it. Yeah. So our mission today
is basically to give you the short cut synthesizing
what these updates mean for your productivity
and maybe your business growth. OK. So we've
broken this down into three core areas of transformation.
First up, we're going to explore what they call
the all in one toolkit that covers data collection,
email, and even physical output. Then we shift
into enhanced creative control. And that's really
anchored by a massive upgrade to video 2 .0.
Huge deal there. And finally, we'll dive deep
into the AI -powered stuff, automation and systemization.
That includes the new ad system, Canva Grow,
and the completely redesigned brand kit. It's
like an efficiency goldmine, honestly. All right,
let's unpack this, maybe starting with that data
layer. Feature one, forms. Now, this feels like
a quiet giant of an update to me. We saw Canvas
sheets launched before. They're sort of take
on Excel. And now we finally have the essential
input mechanism. These forms now actually work.
Exactly. No more static pictures of a survey
you have to, like, rebuild somewhere else. You
can just drop these working forms onto your Canvas
website, or embed them in presentations. Or just
use them to collect emails or event signups.
And when someone fills it out, boom, you actually
get the answers. Like, instantly. And this is
where the strategic value really starts to emerge,
I think. Managing those responses seems seamless.
You just click the form in your design and you
can instantly see the answers, put them into
a Canva sheet, or download them as a CSV file.
Right, which is just your standard Excel -type
document. Exactly. So you can start analyzing
right away. So, host, what would you say is the
main advantage of handling form data right inside
Canva? Hmm. Well, I think the core benefit is
everything stays in one secure place, really
avoiding that tool switching overhead. Yeah,
keeps it simple. That said, there's a quick tip
from the sources worth mentioning. Always provide
an offer. Oh, good point. Don't just ask for
a sign up. Try something specific. You know,
like, get my five top tips. Give people a clear
reason to share their info. Okay, so if forums
handle the input, the next logical step, like
in business operations, is outreach, right? So
feature two, emails. Get ready for this, because
you can now build and send real working emails,
not just graphics of emails. No, not just pictures.
This is a dedicated drag -and -drop email editor.
You build with actual buttons, footers, text
blocks, the whole thing. And when your email's
ready... that sort of all -in -one vision kicks
in again. You can send it directly using Gmail,
or connect to a service like MailChimp, or download
the HTML file. And that HTML file, that's basically
the code of the email, right? Which means you
can take it to pretty much any platform, convert
kit, active campaign, whatever you or your client
might be using externally. That flexibility is
huge. It is. But we do need to flag a crucial
practical tip here, something about deliverability.
OK, what's that? When your email is too heavy
on graphics, it very often lands in that dreaded
Gmail Promotions tab. Ah, the void. Exactly.
So the advice is really to prioritize simple,
clean text. Focus on using your brand colors
and fonts effectively, but don't try to make
the entire email one giant image. That's really
solid advice. So what's the essential step, then,
before launching any finished email campaign?
Ah, yes. Always. Always send a test email to
your own mobile inbox first to ensure it displays
properly. It almost always looks different than
on your desktop. Good call. Always check mobile.
Okay, so from digital marketing, we're actually
moving to the physical world. Feature three,
mailer boxes. This one was definitely the most
surprising physical update for me. Right. Canva
now lets you design custom mailer boxes. Yeah.
If you sell physical products, I mean, this is
an absolute game changer for integrated branding.
You find it kind of hidden under the print tab
if you search for Miller Box. OK. And you see
the entire box laid out flat, you know, the template
ready for you to design all the different sides.
But here's where it gets really cool. The 3D
preview feature. Yeah, tell us about that. So
after you've designed the flat layout, you hit
the preview button and it instantly creates this
3D model you can spin around and zoom in on.
Wow. So it's not just a design tool. It's almost
like supply chain thinking baked into the creative
flow. Totally. So what feature really elevates
that box design from just being a flat drawing
to feeling like a physical reality? Well, it's
definitely that 3D model preview. It lets you
check all the angles before you print anything.
Mm -hmm. Avoids costly mistakes. And remember
the tip here. Use the inside of the lid. What
a thank you message or your social media handles
there. It's a small touch, but it really elevates
the whole unboxing experience. Nice touch. Okay,
we're gonna take a quick break. MidRoll sponsor
re -provided separately. Placeholder for the
writer. Welcome back to the deep dive. We're
moving from data and physical products now into
core creative control. Kicking off with feature
four, video editor 2 .0. This might be the biggest
structural change they've made to the actual
creative interface. It really looks much more
like a professional editing suite now. doesn't
it? That new timeline at the bottom gives you
vastly better control. But I think the core feature,
the one that really enables professional level
output is layering. Ah, layering. Explain that.
What does that mean? It means elements like text,
graphics, even small video clips can now be dropped
onto the video timeline as separate layers. Think
of it like stacking Lego blocks. Maybe they aren't
sort of stuck inside one single video clip anymore.
Got it. So how does that layering feature change
things for, say, more professional video workflows.
Well, it enables precise timing and allows you
to integrate professional b -roll footage much
more easily. You know, that extra footage shown
while someone's talking. Right, the cutaway shot.
Exactly. You can have your main speaking footage
on one layer and then put the illustrative b
-roll footage on a layer above it. That precise
control is key. And for someone who needs speed,
maybe editing on the go. Yeah, there's magic
video. This is a mobile only AI feature apparently.
Okay. It automatically edits your photos and
videos into a polished clip based just on a short
written description you give it. Pure speed and
efficiency there. Wow. Okay. Let's pivot a bit
to consistency with features five and six. First
up, gradient text. Right. You can now apply gradients,
those smooth color fades directly onto text.
It's useful for making, you know, bold headlines
really pop. Yeah. I can see that looking great
on social media. It does, but we have to flag
the risk straight away. What's the primary visual
risk when using this new gradient text feature?
Well, the text can become really difficult to
read if the colors or the contrast are poor.
You need to be careful. Absolutely. Keep the
font very bold and big. If the colors don't contrast
well with the background or with each other,
the text just becomes instantly unreadable. Probably
best reserved for a main headline, not body text.
Good advice. Okay. The second style update is
style match. This is an upgrade to the style
brush tool, the little paint roller icon. Right,
and this solves that eternal graphic design headache
of element inconsistency. Yeah, tell me about
it. The classic example. You find this perfect
like cartoon cat graphic, but you need a dog
graphic to go with it and all you can find is
like a realistic pencil sketch dog. They just
clash completely. Yeah, and I have to admit,
I still wrestle with prompt drift myself sometimes
when trying to make separate AI -generated elements
match perfectly. It can be tricky. That vulnerability
is appreciated. Because yeah, it's AI. It might
take a couple of tries. But that feeling of relief
when it does work, it's huge. So how does it
work? You basically select the style you like
on one graphic. click copy art style, and the
AI tries to instantly convert the other graphic,
the dog, in our example, to match the colors,
the lines, the whole aesthetic of the first one.
It's a massive time saver for keeping things
consistent. Works best for graphics, maybe less
so for photographs. Interesting. So really leaning
into AI for consistency, definitely. And that
leads us perfectly into our final act, AI automation
and systemization. We're entering the deep waters
now, starting with feature seven, Canva Grow.
This is their dedicated ad system. Okay, Grow,
what does that entail? If you manage marketing
for your business or for clients, Grow is designed
as this all -in -one place to find ad ideas,
create the actual ad creative, post it directly
to Meta, so Facebook and Instagram, and then
track the performance all within Canva. And the
AI ad creation process sounds pretty impressive
here. It tackles that blank page problem, right?
Totally. You choose create ad with AI. You type
in your website URL. Just the URL. Yeah, just
the URL. The AI scans your site to understand
your business, your products, your brand style.
Wow. And then it generates ads that instantly
match your existing look and feel. It massively
speeds up the time to market for new campaigns.
That's clever. But the tip here is crucial, isn't
it? Absolutely. Use the AI for the first draft.
Get those ideas flowing. But always customize
the text. to speak directly to your specific
customer. You need that human touch. And definitely
test two or three versions of your ad copy or
creative to see what works best. Don't just run
the first thing it spits out. OK, that makes
sense. Now, feature eight, the new brand kit.
This feels essential for systemization, especially
if you're managing multiple creators or just
need really tight brand identity control. It
looks completely different now. It's got new
features like custom sections. So you could say.
separate assets for your blog brand versus your
podcast brand. OK, that's handy. And you can
add specific brand guidelines right in there
with do's and don'ts examples for your team.
And this is where the AI delivers another huge
time saver, right? The setup. Yeah, it's amazing.
You can either paste your website URL, and the
AI automatically scans it and pulls in your colors,
fonts, logos. Just from the URL again? Yep. Or,
and this is the really stunning part, you can
upload a PDF of your existing brand rule book.
Whoa. Imagine scaling that to handle like a billion
queries if you're a huge company. The AI just
reads the PDF and auto imports everything. Exactly.
Reads the PDF and auto fills your brand kit.
So what would you say is the biggest time saving
element of this new brand kit functionality?
Well, based on that, it has to be the AI automatically
importing all brand assets from a website or
a PDF document. That ensures instant consistency.
Definitely. OK, moving into the final two features,
9 and 10. Let's talk AI upgrades in Code 2 .0.
What's new with the general AI? The first huge
AI update is that when it generates images or
designs, it now actually respects your brand
kit colors and fonts. Finally. That's massive.
No more creating a beautiful image, only to find
the blue is just slightly off -brand. Right.
Plus, you can connect your cloud storage now
Google Drive Dropbox. Oh, interesting. Why? So
the AI can pull from your existing files when
it generates designs. It makes the results even
more tailored to your specific content and history.
And the search function got an upgrade, too.
Yeah. The AI -powered design search is much more
conversational. You don't just need simple keywords
anymore. You can use full sentences, like an
Instagram post template to announce a 25 % weekend
sale for my hand. handmade candle shop. Make
it look cozy and elegant. OK, that really leans
into that AI as a team member idea. Exactly.
Use it when you're stuck. Ask it for, say, five
different headline ideas for a poster you're
designing. All right. And finally, code 2 .0.
That's the big deal here. Were there code widgets
before? There were, but they were maybe more
like fun toys. This update transforms them into
actual tools. Why? Because they can now collect
data. Collect data? Like what? Quiz scores? Result
from calculators you build? Survey responses?
And here's the key. It can automatically log
that data into Canva Sheets. Ah, okay. So what
major change makes that code widget feature fundamentally
more useful for businesses, then? It's absolutely
the ability to collect data and automatically
log it right into Canva Sheets. That closes the
loop. Right, connects input to analysis. And
it fixes a long -standing frustration, too. You
can now easily change the look of the widget,
the colors, the fonts, the basic text, without
ever needing to touch the underlying code. That's
good news for non -coders. Definitely. The tip
here is to start simple. Maybe add a basic, was
this article helpful? Yes, no. Widget to your
website and have the results feed into a sheet.
Smart. OK, that's a lot of updates. It really
is. Let's try to zoom out and recap the biggest
game changers here. What stands out most? For
me, it's forms for actual real data collection
now. Then emails, meaning you might not need
an external platform just to get started. Video
2 .0, definitely, with that professional -level
layering. And the AI -powered brand kit for instant,
platform -wide consistency. Those feel like the
pillars. Yeah, I agree. This whole package really
feels like a comprehensive overhaul. It's designed
to turn what was a design tool into more of a
business operating system. It is. But the key
for listeners is probably probably not to feel
overwhelmed by all 10 features at once. Absolutely
not. Don't try to boil the ocean. Right. Our
advice would be, pick one feature that solves
a specific problem you have right now. If your
biggest friction point is collecting emails,
start experimenting with forms. If you're struggling
with video quality or timing B -roll, dive into
the new video editor immediately. Experimentation
is really the key to seeing the value here. Well
said. It certainly feels like Canva is building
this complete internal ecosystem, which kind
of raises an interesting question for the future,
doesn't it? Will it eventually replace the need
for specialized software, dedicated email marketing
services, separate form builders entirely? Or
will it just dramatically lower the barrier to
entry for small businesses, giving them powerful
tools they couldn't easily access before? It's
something to think about as you start testing
these out. That's a really profound question
to leave folks with. Where does this all -in
-one platform eventually lead? Yeah. Well, thank
you for diving deep into these Canva updates
with us today. My pleasure. Lots to explore there.
We'll catch you on the next deep dive.