Animated Text Words in Canva: an Introduction

I won’t go as far as calling animated words in Canva the design tool’s best kept secret, because lets face it, I might just be late to the party, while everyone else has been reaping their benefit since release.

But either way, you’re here, I’m here, and we are all interested in this “new” (to us, at least) capability.

What Are Animated Words?

Animated words are Canva text effects that give life to letters and allow you to create videos and GIFs. Just like you probably used to play with in PowerPoint or other programs, animations allow words to enter the screen in a certain manner, as explained below.

(And, so you know, these animation effects aren’t only reserved for words. They can be applied to any object you have on your canvas.)

Read below for the different types of animations currently available, and be warned, but a few of the cooler options are only available to Canva Pro members (which you can actually try for free for 30 days if you wanted). It’s also about here where I like to mention Fiverr as a great option in terms of having a freelancer just complete your project for you (if time or skills are lacking).

Animation Types

Block

You can thing of this as a “reveal” of sorts, where a rectangular “block” darts onto screen, and then darts away, revealing your word. When the word exits, the block returns, and takes the word away with it.

Fade

The old classic, and pretty self-explanatory—fade will do just that; your words will “fade” onto the off of the screen as if they were appearing from nowhere or evaporating right before your eyes.

Pan

Pan is more of a “slide-in” although it also uses a bit of a fade while sliding in from the left rather than displaying the word in its entirety from the starting point. On exit, the word will slide and disappear to the right.

Rise

And then of course, “rise” is much like the above “pan,” but rather than appearing from the left-side of the screen, the words rise up from the bottom. When the word exits, it will continue to rise upward as if it was being beamed up by an alien.

Tumble

Think of the “tumble” animation as a tumbleweed rolling across the screen. Your words starts on its “head” and then tumbles or falls into place right-side up.

Simple

Blink and you’ll miss it, because that’s how simple this word animation is. Really, the word just appears and then disappears. No effect other than just showing up and leaving.

The following require Canva Pro

Stomp

With “stomp” it’s like the words are falling from the sky (or from your point of view) and smashing on the screen. Really more of a “stamp” than a “stomp” but pretty cool.

Baseline

You can think of “baseline” like rise, except it’s much quicker, and the words appear and disappear where they are placed rather than from the bottom of the canvas.

Pop

So with “pop” it’s like your words are springing up from a jack-in-the-box when appearing, shooting up and then giving a little jiggle.

Read More: How to Delay Animation in Canva

When disappearing, the words actually look like they are getting sucked back down through a tiny hole.

Neon

Probably my favorite? And maybe just because it reminds me of something you’d see in a movie, but the “neon” effect is really more of a “flicker” that appear like a light struggling to turn on and off.

Scrapbook

Last, with “scrapbook,” it reminds me of something you’d see in a stop-and-go movie, where the words appear suddenly oriented in one direction, and then quickly are displayed in another. See for yourself.

How to Use Word Animation

So simple, but worth walking through. To use the animation feature, you simply need some text (or an object, as mentioned above). Once you know what you want to animate, go up to the “Animate” link, click it, and view your options:

You’ll see those animations with the crown icon are reserved for Canva Pro users.

To apply the animation effect, just click the option you’d like. And to see the animation play out, watch the screen closely.

If you miss it, because it’s easy to do, one thing I found helpful was adding another page, but then deleting the words and going to the play button next to “Download.” click that, and you should be able to see the animations in action, both as they appear and disappear.

And that’s it? Questions or comments?