Canva Connect API

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Design Automation & Export - Create, Export & Manage Canva Assets

Automate your Canva design workflows with the official Canva Connect API. Create designs, export to multiple formats, manage assets, autofill brand templates, and organize your creative library - all programmatically.

What is Canva Connect API?

The Canva Connect API lets you integrate Canva's powerful design capabilities into your automation workflows. With 170+ million monthly active users, Canva is the world's most popular design platform.

Features

Design Management

• List Designs - Browse all your Canva designs with search
• Get Design - Retrieve design metadata and URLs
• Create Design - Create new designs from presets or custom dimensions

Export & Download

• Export Design - Export to PDF, PNG, JPG, GIF, PPTX, or MP4
• Batch Export - Export multiple designs in one run
• Get Export Status - Check async export job status

Asset Management

• Upload Assets - Upload images, fonts, and files from URLs
• Get Asset - Retrieve asset metadata
• Delete Asset - Remove assets from your library

Folder Organization

• List Folders - Browse your folder structure
• Create Folder - Create new folders for organization
• List Folder Items - See contents of any folder
• Move to Folder - Organize designs and assets

Brand Templates (Enterprise)

• List Brand Templates - Browse available templates
• Get Template Dataset - See autofill fields
• Autofill Template - Generate designs from templates with data

User Management

• Get User Profile - Retrieve user info and team ID

Use Cases

Marketing Automation

• Auto-generate social media graphics from templates
• Export campaign assets in multiple formats
• Batch process design exports for campaigns

E-commerce

• Create product graphics at scale using brand templates
• Auto-generate promotional banners with product data
• Export product images for multiple platforms

Content Creation

• Automate YouTube thumbnail generation
• Create blog post graphics from templates
• Batch export presentation slides

Agency Workflows

• Manage client assets across folders
• Autofill client brand templates
• Export client deliverables in bulk

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
task	string	Yes	Operation to perform (see tasks below)
accessToken	string	Yes*	Canva OAuth access token (*not needed for demoMode)
designId	string	No	Design ID for get/export operations
assetId	string	No	Asset ID for get/delete operations
folderId	string	No	Folder ID for folder operations
brandTemplateId	string	No	Brand template ID for autofill (Enterprise)
designTitle	string	No	Title for new design
designType	string	No	Preset type or 'custom'
exportFormat	string	No	Export format: pdf, png, jpg, gif, pptx, mp4
exportQuality	integer	No	Quality 1-100 (for jpg/png)
batchDesignIds	array	No	Design IDs for batch export
webhookUrl	string	No	URL for webhook delivery
demoMode	boolean	No	Run with sample data (default: true)

Available Tasks

Task	Description
list_designs	List user's designs with optional search
get_design	Get design metadata and URLs
create_design	Create new design from preset/custom dimensions
export_design	Export design to file format
get_export_status	Check export job status
list_assets	List uploaded assets
get_asset	Get asset metadata
upload_asset	Upload asset from URL
delete_asset	Delete an asset
list_folders	List folders
get_folder	Get folder details
create_folder	Create new folder
list_folder_items	List folder contents
move_to_folder	Move item to folder
list_brand_templates	List brand templates (Enterprise)
get_brand_template	Get template details (Enterprise)
autofill_template	Generate design from template (Enterprise)
get_user_profile	Get current user info
batch_export	Export multiple designs

Design Types

Preset design types available for create_design:

• instagram_post (1080x1080)
• instagram_story (1080x1920)
• facebook_post (1200x630)
• facebook_cover (820x312)
• youtube_thumbnail (1280x720)
• twitter_post (1200x675)
• linkedin_post (1200x1200)
• presentation (1920x1080)
• poster, flyer, business_card, logo
• doc, whiteboard
• custom (specify customWidth/customHeight)

Getting Your Access Token

1. Go to Canva Developers Portal
2. Create a new integration
3. Configure OAuth scopes based on your needs:
   • design:meta:read - Read design metadata
   • design:content:read - Export designs
   • design:content:write - Create designs
   • asset:read / asset:write - Manage assets
   • folder:read / folder:write - Manage folders
   • brandtemplate:meta:read / brandtemplate:content:read - Brand templates
4. Complete OAuth flow to get access token

Example Usage

List Designs

{
  "task": "list_designs",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "searchQuery": "marketing",
  "maxResults": 20
}

Create Instagram Post

{
  "task": "create_design",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "designTitle": "Summer Sale Post",
  "designType": "instagram_post"
}

Create Custom Size Design

{
  "task": "create_design",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "designTitle": "Custom Banner",
  "designType": "custom",
  "customWidth": 1920,
  "customHeight": 600
}

Export Design to PNG

{
  "task": "export_design",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "designId": "DAFxxxxx",
  "exportFormat": "png",
  "exportQuality": 95
}

Batch Export Multiple Designs

{
  "task": "batch_export",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "batchDesignIds": ["DAFxxxxx", "DAFyyyyy", "DAFzzzzz"],
  "exportFormat": "pdf"
}

Autofill Brand Template (Enterprise)

{
  "task": "autofill_template",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "brandTemplateId": "template-123",
  "autofillData": {
    "headline": "Summer Sale - 50% Off!",
    "subheadline": "Limited time only",
    "product_image": "https://example.com/product.jpg",
    "price": "$49.99"
  }
}

Upload Asset from URL

{
  "task": "upload_asset",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "assetUrl": "https://example.com/logo.png",
  "assetName": "company-logo.png"
}

Output

Results are saved to the default dataset:

Export Result

{
  "task": "export_design",
  "success": true,
  "export": {
    "id": "export_abc123",
    "status": "completed",
    "urls": ["https://export.canva.com/..."],
    "format": "png",
    "designId": "DAFxxxxx"
  }
}

Batch Export Result

{
  "task": "batch_export",
  "success": true,
  "exports": [
    {
      "designId": "DAFxxxxx",
      "exportId": "export_001",
      "status": "completed",
      "urls": ["https://export.canva.com/..."],
      "format": "pdf"
    }
  ],
  "total": 3,
  "requested": 3
}

Rate Limits

Canva API rate limits:

• 100 requests per minute per user
• Export jobs are async and may take a few seconds

The actor automatically polls export jobs until completion.

Webhook Integration

Send results to Zapier, Make, n8n, or any webhook:

{
  "task": "export_design",
  "accessToken": "your-access-token",
  "designId": "DAFxxxxx",
  "exportFormat": "png",
  "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/123456/abcdef/"
}

Demo Mode

Test the actor without API credentials:

{
  "task": "list_designs",
  "demoMode": true
}

Demo mode returns realistic sample data for testing integrations.

Pricing

Pay-per-result pricing:

Operation	Cost
List designs/assets/folders	$0.01
Get design/asset/folder	$0.01
Create design	$0.05
Export design	$0.05
Batch export (per design)	$0.05
Upload asset	$0.03
Delete asset	$0.01
Autofill template	$0.10

Related Actors

• Design Pickle API - Professional design request automation
• Design Huddle - Template-based design automation
• AI Image Studio - AI-generated images

Support

• Canva API Docs: canva.dev/docs/connect
• Issues: Report on Apify

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