If your download looks blurry or pixelated but looks clear in the editor, it’s usually because of the file type or image quality.
Here are some ways to fix it.
Check the design dimensions
Make sure to check the dimensions of your design before downloading. If your design size is below 500x500 px, it will likely look blurry when downloaded.
Check the quality of any uploaded images
If you’ve uploaded images into Canva and used them in your design, check if they’re high resolution. Using low-quality images can result in blurry or pixelated designs. We recommend uploading high-quality photos in 300 DPI when possible.
Choose a different file type
Your selected file type can affect the quality of your downloaded design. Here’s a simple guide on how to choose the best file type for your design.
- JPG - For saving images at small file sizes. It’s usually chosen for Web use but produces the lowest resolution designs.
- PNG - For saving line drawings, text, and icons at small file sizes. It’s also a common choice for Web uploads.
- PDF Standard - For multi-page and text-heavy documents.
- PDF Print - For prints or a high-quality version of your design. It’s the only file type that saves professional print quality at 300 DPI. But note that if you use low-quality images, these will still look blurry even when downloading a PDF Print.
Canva Pro, Canva for Teams, Canva for Education, and Canva for Nonprofits users can increase the size and quality of JPGs and PNGs to the highest settings to reduce blurriness.
Use PNG for social media and text
Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram compress images uploaded to their sites, which can make a design appear blurry.
To get the best results when uploading to social media, download your design in PNG format.
Designs with texts that use thin fonts are also best downloaded as PNGs.
For Canva Pro, Canva for Teams, Canva for Education, and Canva for Nonprofits users, you can also try to:
- Double the dimensions of your design by resizing them.
- Download your design as JPG or PNG with the highest settings for size and quality. To do this, choose PNG or JPG from the file type dropdown, then drag the Size or Quality slider to the left or right.
Remove filters
If you've applied a filter to your image, try to remove the filter to see if the quality improves. Some filters have a ‘softening’ effect, which may cause a design to look blurry.
Use video format for GIF
If you've designed a GIF, we recommend downloading it in video format to retain the colors of your design.
The GIF file format has a hard-coded limitation of 256 colors. If you download a design as a GIF, it has an unavoidable loss of quality.