Canva or InDesign? The Follow-Up Report
Is Adobe InDesign even necessary anymore, or is Canva sufficient for professional design projects? Our workshop “Adobe Meets Canva—Which License Do I Still Need?.” The answer—unsurprisingly—turned out to be more nuanced than many had expected.
What was planned as a traditional technical presentation quickly evolved into an open exchange of experiences among professional designers, marketing managers, Canva users, and accessibility experts. It was precisely this mix that made the afternoon particularly exciting: different perspectives came together, experiences were shared, and many existing assumptions were challenged.
Affinity delivers the biggest surprise
One of the highlights of the workshop was the integration of Affinity into Canva. Many participants were unaware that Canva had acquired the entire Affinity suite and that it can now be used at no additional cost as part of a Canva subscription.
This suddenly gives users access to a professional tool for vector graphics, image editing, and layout that significantly expands the previous limits of Canva. For many participants, this was the most surprising insight of the entire workshop.
Canva Excels in Collaboration and Speed
There was a particularly intense discussion about the possibilities for cooperation.
Using real-world client projects as examples, we demonstrated how multiple people—designers, copywriters, photographers, marketing professionals, and even clients—can work on a document at the same time. This approach offers enormous time savings, particularly when working on parish newsletters, annual reports, or newsletters.
The case studies clearly showed:
- Several people are working on the same document at the same time
- significantly shorter decision-making processes
- fewer rounds of revisions
- greater sense of ownership among all project participants
- On-time print submissions
At the same time, it became clear that collaboration only works with clearly defined roles and a final quality control check.
Want to dive even deeper? Then mark September 8, 2026, on your calendar now.
In “Adobe Meets Canva – Part 2,” we’ll show you how both programs work together seamlessly in everyday business—from professional workflows and AI support to corporate design and efficient teamwork. Click here to register: Adobe Meets Canva – Part 2
Typography remains Adobe InDesign’s forte
While Canva excels in terms of speed, Adobe InDesign remains the gold standard for sophisticated typography. Professional typesetting projects requiring precise spacing, clean justified text, automatic hyphenation, or complex typographic rules can still only be reliably executed using InDesign.
The participants therefore quickly agreed: Anyone who regularly designs magazines, books, or high-quality printed materials will continue to find InDesign indispensable. Another focus of the workshop was comparing traditional layout functions.
Among other things, the following topics were discussed:
- Sample Pages
- automatic page numbers
- Text concatenations
- Double-page spreads
- Tables of Contents
- Automated layout processes
Although there are now numerous workarounds available within Canva—such as templates, brand kits, or AI-powered PDF imports—Canva still does not match the full range of features offered by Adobe InDesign.
Print quality is impressive in Canva, too
Another commonly discussed misconception has also been debunked: Canva now generates print-ready PDFs that include bleed margins and CMYK output. While not all color profiles are available, practical experience over the past few years has shown that Canva can produce very good print results—especially in digital printing.
Nevertheless, the panel’s recommendation was clear: Before undertaking complex print projects, color management should always be coordinated with the respective printing company.
During the discussion, one topic almost naturally emerged as the focus of a potential follow-up event: accessibility. Several experts in this field discussed the possibilities and limitations of both programs.
While Canva already offers basic features such as alternative text and decorative labels, both Canva and Adobe still have significant room for improvement when it comes to creating fully accessible PDF or HTML documents. This is precisely where many participants would like to see an in-depth workshop with concrete, practical examples.
Canva or Adobe? The answer is: It depends.
The most important insight gained that afternoon was that there is no clear winner.
Canva excels in any situation where speed, collaboration, ease of use, and cost-effective workflows are required. Adobe InDesign, on the other hand, remains the top choice when the highest standards are required for typography, complex layouts, or automated print production. Today, these two tools complement each other far more than many people might initially assume.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all participants for the engaging discussions, the numerous real-world examples, and the open exchange of experiences.
The strong response shows us that this topic is currently on the minds of many companies. That is why we are continuing the series. There was particularly high demand for in-depth workshops on accessibility, Affinity, and AI-powered design workflows.
We’re already looking forward to the next event and continuing our dialogue with you.
Curious now?
Our contact persons will be happy to help:
Matthias Brinkmann
+49 911 47494949
brinkmann@twobe.de
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