Have you ever spent hours designing an ebook or workbook in Canva, only to end up with something that looks… well, a little homemade? You’re not alone! The good news is you don’t need to be a professional designer to create beautiful, professional digital products.
I’ve designed countless ebooks and workbooks for coaches and course creators, and I’ve helped even more people DIY their digital products using my Canva templates. In this post, I’m sharing 10 simple Canva tips that will help your ebooks and workbooks look 10x better.
Ready to make your workbooks look like a professional designed them?
1. Plan your content before designing
Before you start making your workbook in Canva, get all your text ready in advance. Use Google Docs or Word to write your lessons, prompts, and exercises. Break long sections into short paragraphs, so it’s easy to copy and paste later. Having your text ready makes the design process so much faster and less overwhelming.
2. Make it easy to read
It can be tempting to use fancy fonts everywhere, but for readability (and a more professional vibe), stick to these rules:
- Use simple, easy-to-read fonts for your main text.
- Save scripts or decorative fonts for headings or special callouts only.
- Keep fonts and font sizes consistent throughout.
- Don’t use underline for text that’s not linking anywhere. People expect underlined text to be links, so they expect to be able to click them.
When you’re happy with how your text looks, you can use Canva’s Copy Style tool (the little paint roller icon) to quickly apply the same styling elsewhere.
Want more font tips for your business? Check out my guide to choosing fonts for your brand and website.
3. Space 👩🚀 🪐 (and alignment)
- Align your text to the left. It’s easier to read, especially for longer text.
- Use consistent spacing between paragraphs, headings, and sections.
- Adjust line spacing for readability. In general, spacing between 1.2 and 1.5 works best for digital workbooks.
- Add extra spacing around the page edges (your “margins”). This keeps everything neatly contained and helps with printing.
To set up margins in Canva:
- Go to File > Show rulers and guides
- Add custom guides to create at least 1 cm (or ½ inch) margins on all sides
Or use Canva’s built-in “safe space” by resizing your content to the pink border that automatically shows up.
4. Colors & Contrast
Less is always more when it comes to color in workbooks!
- Choose just a few colors that fit your brand and repeat them throughout.
- Make sure your text stands out against your background (for example, avoid yellow text on white or dark text on a dark background).
- Adding color blocks or borders is great for highlighting key sections—just be sure there’s enough contrast for legibility.
Need help choosing colors? Check out my post on choosing brand colors, or my post on setting up your brand kit in Canva.
5. Break up long text with bullets, checklists, and callout boxes
Big blocks of text are hard to read and make people want to skip.
Break your content into smaller sections. Here’s how:
- Use paragraphs and plenty of white space
- Add bullet points or checklists to highlight important actions or reminders
- Add colored boxes for tips, reminders, action items or quotes
(Style: Ashley)
6. Make your worksheets easy-to-use
Tell your readers exactly what you want them to write, reflect on, or track in each section.
If you want them to write a paragraph or a longer answer, use one big box instead of lines. This way, it’s easier for people to type in if you make the workbook interactive.
7. How to add a clickable hyperlink in Canva
Adding links to your ebooks and workbooks is easy with Canva:
- Highlight your text, click the link icon, and paste the URL.
- To make a button fully clickable, link both the shape AND the text (if they’re separate elements).
- When downloading, choose PDF Standard (not Print!) so your links work.
Pro tip: You can also add a link to your footer. Canva does not currently have a way to quickly apply your footer to all pages, but once you’re happy with your footer, you can simply copy and paste it to all pages.
8. How to add a clickable table of contents in Canva
You can also make your table of contents clickable, so anyone using your PDF can jump right to the section they need.
Here’s how:
- Select the contents text or page number in your Table of Contents
- Click the link icon, then select the page you want it to jump to (scroll down for the page list)
- Make the process even easier with a well-structured table of contents. More tips on building a conversion-optimized sales page.
9. How to add automatic page numbers in Canva
Don’t waste time adding page numbers by hand!
- In Canva, insert dynamic text for page numbers (Text > Dynamic Text > Page numbers)
- Choose how you want to show them and on which pages. For example, you might want to hide the page number on your cover page.
- Click Done, then position the page number where you want, style it, and apply it to all pages so it looks the same.
If you add, remove or re-arrange pages, Canva automatically updates the page numbers for you.
10. How to curve text in Canva
Want to make your headings pop or add some creative fun?
- Select your heading, click Effects > Curve to curve your text.
- You can adjust how much the text curves to create a fun heading or a special highlight
- For a wavy effect: duplicate your text, apply opposite curves, and position to make a wave.
Skip the DIY Struggle!
If you’re ready for your workbook to go from “okay” to “amazing” without hours of DIY, check out my Ebook & Workbook Templates. They’ll save you hours creating your own workbooks and e-books, and you’ll get a gorgeous final result that you’re proud to share or sell.
Now that you know how to make your ebooks and workbooks look more professional, learn how to turn them into fillable PDFs right here.
