How to add a drop shadow to a design in Canva

Drop shadows are subtle yet powerful design elements that create a sense of depth, dimension, and realism. They make your text, images, and shapes pop from the background, instantly capturing viewers’ attention. Thanks to Canva’s user-friendly interface, you can add drop shadows with ease, even if you’re brand new to graphic design. Whether you’re creating social media posts, invitations, or flyers, you can elevate and personalize your designs with Canva.

How to add drop shadows to text in Canva

Adding drop shadows to text in Canva instantly makes your titles stand out and improves readability for viewers. Apply this effect in just a few clicks — here’s how:

Step 1: Open your design in Canva

Start by opening an existing design or creating a new one using any of Canva’s templates.

Step 2: Select the text element

Click on the text box you want to edit. You can use headings, subheadings, or body text — any of these text elements support text effects.

Step 3: Access text effects from the toolbar

With your text selected,  select the Effects button in the top toolbar. This opens Canva’s text effects panel.

Step 4: Choose the  drop shadow option

Click on Shadow. You’ll immediately see a default drop shadow applied to your text.

Step 5: Customize the shadow settings

Canva gives you several customization options:

• Offset — Adjusts the distance between the text and the shadow.
• Direction — Changes the angle of the shadow.
• Blur — Softens or sharpens the shadow edges.
• Transparency — Controls how light or dark the shadow appears.
• Color — Changes the shadow’s color (great for matching your brand palette or getting creative with contrasting hues).

Examples in action:

• Invitations — Add a shadow behind your event title to give it a more polished, elegant feel.
• Instagram posts — Make quotes and headlines easier to read against busy backgrounds.
• Flyers — Highlight key messages so they don’t get lost in the layout.

How to add drop shadows to shapes and images

Canva doesn’t directly offer shadow effects for shapes and images like it does for text, but it’s easy to create the illusion manually:

1. Duplicate your object: Click on the shape or image you want to shadow. Press Ctrl/Cmd + D to duplicate.
2. Adjust color and position: Change the duplicate’s color to a dark shade like black or dark gray. Position it slightly offset from the original object, mimicking shadow placement.

3. Adjust transparency and blur: Reduce transparency to between 30 and 50 percent to keep it subtle. For an even softer effect, use Canva’s blur tool available under “Edit Image.”

Examples in action:

• Icons or logos — Add presence and emphasis on your brand elements.
• Product images — Give your e-commerce visuals a professional, photo-studio finish.
• Infographics — Make layered graphics easier to read and scan.

This manual approach to shadow editing in Canva can enhance almost any design element with just a few tweaks.

Boost your Canva designs with Jotform

Want to make your Canva designs interactive? Enter Jotform for Canva — a powerful tool that lets you integrate customizable forms into your designs seamlessly.

With Jotform’s Canva integration, you can:

• Embed contact forms, event registrations, or order forms directly into your designs.
• Access over 10,000 free form templates to save time on setup.
• Customize forms with conditional logic, e-signatures, and automated workflows.
• Collect payments securely through PayPal, Stripe, or Square  without switching platforms.

Let’s say you’re creating a digital flyer with a signup form, or you’re designing a lead-gen poster with a QR code. In these instances, Jotform for Canva helps you collect data, gather responses, and improve your website design’s functionality in just a few clicks. 

Also, for curious minds wondering about how to add a form to Canva, our guide walks you through the process.

Elevate your text and images with Canva and Jotform

Adding drop shadows in Canva is a fast and effective way to bring your designs to life. Be subtle and elegant, or be bold and emphatic. These shadows can be fine-tuned to suit any style or purpose. And with tools like Jotform for Canva, you’re not just designing visually — you’re building interactivity into your projects.

Looking to take your design skills even further? Check out our guide on how to become a web designer for tips on turning your creativity into a career.

Let your visuals stand out. Add some shadow. Add some flair.