There’s nothing worse than spending time on a design only to realize that you need your design in a different orientation. The good news is it’s not hard to rotate a page in Canva, and it only takes a couple of clicks.
In this guide, you’ll learn not only how to rotate your designs in Canva but also how to reorient the elements to fit the new orientation. Unfortunately the feature mentioned in the first section is only accessible to Canva Pro users, but I’ll show you a workaround to rotate pages as a Canva Free user at the end of this post.
How To Rotate A Page In Canva (Step By Step)
In order to rotate the page and make it look good, you need to resize the canvas, then reorder the elements of the original design on the new resized canvas.
It may seem like a lot at first, but after doing this process a few times, you can turn a page in Canva within minutes. I will show you the process using two designs, one portrait, and one landscape.
Step 1: Click The Resize Button
To start this process, click the Resize button in the top left corner of your screen. You need to have a Canva Pro account to access this feature.
Step 2: Switch The Width And The Height Of The Design
To orientate your canvas correctly, you need to swap the Width and Height of your design. Doing this will “flip” the canvas to how you need it and change the orientation.
Inside the Resize Panel, you will see the current dimensions of your project.
Click on the checkbox next to the Width box. This will add a new line below your first one.
From here, copy the Width number on the first line and paste it into the Height box on the second line. Then, copy the Height number on the first line, then paste it into the Width box on the second line.
With your numbers in the right place on the second line, it’s time to deactivate the first line. Click the checkbox to deactivate it.
Step 3: Select Copy & Resize Or Resize
Now that the first line is deactivated and the second line has the correct numbers in the right boxes, you are ready to resize your design officially.
You have two options to do so:
- Copy & Resize – This option will duplicate your document in a separate tab, then resize it. This option is great for retaining your original document to use as a reference.
- Resize – This option will resize your original document. Doing this will replace your original document, leaving you with only the newly resized version. I don’t recommend this option for rotating your canvas, as you will no longer have the original design if you want to go back.
Once you choose, you will be left with a canvas with a ton of space on the left and right or top and bottom of the image. Below are examples of a vertical and a horizontal design changed to a new orientation.
Step 4: Add A Blank Page
The next few steps involve moving around all of your elements. To make this easier, add a new page below your design by clicking the Add New Page button above the canvas.
You now have a second page on which you can adjust all your elements.
Step 5: Use The Elements Of Your Original Design To Construct Your Background
This step will differ depending on the project. Some designs will have an elaborate background with many different pieces that need to be moved around, and other designs will have no background elements at all.
If your design has background elements, drag those pieces down from the first page to the second.
From there, you can use the corner handles on each element to stretch out the element to the size you need. Use your original design as a reference.
If the element you’re trying to resize doesn’t look correct stretched out across your canvas, you must duplicate the element a few times and then line them up.
To do this, first, select the element, then click the Duplicate button in the mini options bar above the element.
Once you have the appropriate amount of duplicated elements, you can line them up across your canvas. Use the Rotate button to tilt the element as you need it.
Some elements will get completely cut off when you attempt to resize them.
To get around this, duplicate these elements and place the duplicates across the canvas.
While placing your duplicates across the canvas, you may notice some elements are not on the correct layer.
To reorder your elements, first Shift + click all the elements you need to reorder, then right-click the selected elements. In the mini options bar, click the Three Dots button, then in the menu that pops up, choose Layer, then select Send Backward.
You can also select the elements, then press Control + [ (Win) or Command + [ (Mac) to move your selection backward.
Step 6: Place The Rest Of Your Elements Around The Canvas
Now that your background is constructed, you can add the rest of your elements to the design and place them where you need them. Again, just drag and drop from your first page to the second page of the design. Use your original design as a reference. You can crop or resize images if needed or add new photos to Canva to fill up space.
Once you have the basic layout of your elements in place, you might notice areas of blank space.
To keep your design aesthetically pleasing, duplicate one of the nearby elements and fill the space with it. You can also add a text box to add more elements to the page.
A quick warning when it comes to moving around images: If you used a frame in your design or chose a template that features a photo frame, you have an extra step to do before moving around your images.
First, to check and see if the images in your design are part of a photo frame, click on one of the images and press Delete. If you see the default photo frame background, then you know you’re dealing with a photo frame.
Press Control + Z (Win) or Command + Z (Mac) to bring back the image you deleted.
If you want to move the layout of the images, you must detach each image from the frame to place the pictures in a new composition on your canvas.
To do this, right-click on one of the images, then choose Detach Image from the sub-menu.
Repeat this process for all of the images in the photo frame.
You can now move the images around your new design. Use the rest of the elements in your original design to fill out the design.
It can be work to rotate a design in Canva if you have a lot of elements, but, at the same time, it can be fun to move your elements around and see what your new design looks like.
Can You Rotate A Page In Canva For Free?
If you’re a free user of Canva, unfortunately, you won’t be able to rotate your page. The Resize feature is only available for pro users, so you can only rotate your page if you have a pro account. I compare all the differences between the pro and free versions of Canva here if you’d like to learn more.
If you have a free account, you can still technically follow along with the steps above. You just need to create a new design, then copy and paste all the elements from the original design to the new canvas.
To do this, click Create A Design on the Canva Homepage. Then, select Custom Size at the bottom of the menu.
You will then be prompted to add the Width & Height of your new design.
First, ensure the correct unit is represented in the drop-down menu to the right of the measurement boxes. If your original design is in inches and pixels is selected in this drop-down menu, your new canvas will be completely wrong.
Next, write down the dimensions of your original design, then swap the measurements in the Width and Height box.
For example, if your original design is 9 x 11, 9 being the Width and 11 being the Height, then input 11 in the Width box and 9 in the Height box for the new canvas.
Once you have the right numbers in place and the correct units selected, click Create New Design to open the canvas in a new tab.
From here, you can copy all the elements from the original design by selecting them all and pressing Control + C (Win) or Command + C (Mac). Then, paste them onto the new canvas using Control + V (Win) or Command + V (Mac) and reorder them into the new design. It’s a bit more work but is definitely still possible.
So although it’s always best to get your page orientation right when you first create a design, it is possible to rotate any page in Canva. Just remember to choose the Copy & Resize option if you are a Canva Pro user so you don’t lose your work from the original project!
