Photopea vs Canva: What Program to Choose

By Eva Williams 23 days ago, Software Reviews

If you are looking for an advanced software for creating and enhancing your designs, make sure to compare Photopea vs Canva to select a program that suits your needs best.

Photopea is a pro-level web-based editing software that is similar to Photoshop in terms of design, interface and available features. It can be used by beginners who need to resize their images and perform other basic operations and professionals who want to design web pages, create illustrations, etc.

Canva is an easy-to-use graphic design software with a streamlined interface. It has a variety of templates that will come in handy for those who need to create cards, invitations, logos, brochures, flyers, etc. This graphics editor is popular among designers thanks to its extensive set of shared-access options that make it a great tool for teamwork.

What Is Photopea?

photopea logo

Photopea is perfectly suitable for improving designs of any complexity since it has a set of well-organized tools and features. Besides, its layout is similar to that one of Photoshop. If you compare Photopea vs Photoshop, you will see that the former is a more basic software, which makes it a smart option for beginners.

While Photopea lacks some features available in Adobe software, it still has extensive functionality and can meet all users’ needs. Besides, it’s suitable for people who are on a budget and don’t want to spend money on a costly subscription.

You can start using it without signing up. It allows you to process JPG, PNG, TIFF, SVG, PSD and RAW files. In this Photopea vs Canva comparison, I will tell you about the key advantages of both programs in detail.

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  • photopea interface
  • photopea interface

    Photopea: Strengths and Weaknesses

    Easy to use. This online editor was created for editing and exporting PSD files to Adobe Photoshop, working with XCF files compatible with GIMP and editing files supported by Sketch. It has a streamlined interface. You can use it on any device connected to the Internet. Besides, you can employ this photo editing software for PC even when you are offline.

    Convenient interface. Photopea is a free open-source solution. You can use this professional software without installing extra plugins. It has a well-thought-out interface with a set of tools for style adjustment, and smart object editing. This program supports layer editing and comes with advanced controls.

    Vector graphics tools. You can enhance a whole image by adjusting HSL and brightness or make local adjustments. Photopea supports raster and vector graphics.

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    Advanced toolset. Photopea comes with professional tools, such as clone stamp healing. It supports some advanced options as well, such as masking, background removal, curve fitting, cropping, resizing, sharpening, photo restoration, etc.

    Cool effects. Photopea makes it easier for you to customize your projects by selecting the size of the colored text, paragraph style, text margins, alignment, etc. To change the style of a layer, you need to select it in the Layers panel and indicate which part of the text you want to edit.

    Supports PSD files. This software allows you to work with PSD files, supports layer editing, and enables you to export your images in PSD format. It means that you can use a file stored in the cloud, on a USB drive or any other device. Besides, it supports some of the most popular import and export formats, which makes it even more powerful.

    Convenient templates. When creating a new document in Photopea, you can select one of the standard sizes and customize the template by changing colors, shapes and text. This Photoshop Express alternative allows you to use a range of photo templates and add custom tags to your images.

    No autosave. This software doesn’t have the autosave feature. When using an online version, you need to store your files locally to prevent data loss.

    Distracting ads. This open source photo editor displays ads on the side panel. However, you won’t see any ads in the paid version.

    What Is Canva?

    canva logo

    Canva is an online platform that makes it easier for teams and creative professionals to create unique designs. With the help of this photo editing software for beginners, you can produce stunning projects and share them with other people. This software allows you to create a variety of graphic designs, from stickers to professional brochures.

    Thanks to thousands of professional templates that will help you get started, you can create, customize, and share your projects in a few clicks. With this software, you can enhance your images as well. If you don’t know which software to choose, Photopea or Canva, keep in mind that you can use the latter as a professional infographic maker.

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    • canva interface
    • canva interface

      Canva: Strengths and Weaknesses

      Easy-to-customize workspace. To make it more convenient to work with photos, videos, fonts, elements, and templates, you can add, delete or customize various elements of the UI. The program has a convenient layout. If it’s necessary, you can hide some tools or make them visible by clicking on the sidebar. Select a type of project you are working on, and Canva will display all the necessary elements.

      Collaboration tools. This software has a variety of collaboration features, which makes it perfect for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It allows you to create, manage and share branded content regardless of the level of your skills. You can work together with your team in real time by inviting your team members and assigning access rights to them.

      Convenient templates. Canva comes with a variety of graphic design templates, which makes it easier to create postcards, invites, logos, brochures, placards, leaflets, etc. You can also use these templates for creating print designs for T-shirts, cups, stickers, and photo albums since Canva can be also used as a photo book maker.

      A large choice of formats. You can export files in GIF, JPG, MP4 Video, PDF Standard, PDF Print, PNG and SVG formats. If you are a beginner designer, you can read short descriptions of the available export options. By saving your image in JPG format, you can get a small file, while PNG format allows you to save a high-quality image. If you aren’t an expert, these tips will help you figure out which format suits your needs best.

      Easy-to-use resizing options. When using this Adobe Spark alternative, you will find the Resize tool in the top part of the page. With it, you can quickly resize all the elements. You can either select a custom size or select any option from the list of the available sizes to create a Facebook or Instagram post, Instagram story, logo, etc. By hovering the cursor over one of these options, you can see the exact measurements in pixels.

      Quick animation. Canva can be used as a photo animation software since it allows adding animated effects. Thanks to it, you can enhance your images before posting them on social media for photographers. For instance, you can create animated posts for Instagram, Facebook ads, and other content.

      Available from anywhere. Canva has a desktop version for macOS and Windows, a web-based version and apps for Android and iOS devices. You can sign up using your email and password or log in using Google or Facebook account.

      Has fewer features than Photoshop. If you compare Canva vs Photoshop, you will see that the latter has more features and allows you to create a variety of elements. When working in Canva, you can use only the available lines, frames, icons, shapes and stickers. You can adjust colors and sizes, rotate and move elements, however, it’s impossible to create them from scratch.

      A free version has limited functionality. While you can use most features of this software without paying a dime, you will need to pay for a subscription to use the background removal tool, delete watermarks and use other options. Otherwise, you won’t be able to download your images and save them for further editing.

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      Photopea vs Canva: Price

      photopea vs canva battle price

      Photopea has 2 subscription plans:

      Photopea Free includes powerful tools for creating a variety of designs and allows you to use all the features available in this software.

      Photopea Pro - $9.00/month. This plan covers all the features, removes ads and enables you to view 2x more steps in the history of your edits. If you select an annual subscription, it will cost $40.00 for 365 days.

      You can also try using Photopea for teams. The price depends on the number of people and the duration of your subscription.

      Canva also offers 2 main subscription plans:

      Canva Free includes 250,000+ templates, 100+ types of design for publishing images on social networks, creating emails and presentations. Besides, you will have 5GB of cloud storage.

      Canva Pro - $9.99/month if you pay for an annual subscription. This plan includes 610,000+ templates, 100+ million stock photos, video, audio files and graphics, 100 GB of cloud storage.

      To test out the features available in this software, you can use a free trial version of Canva Pro for 30 days. If you have a big team, you can select the Enterprise subscription plan that includes all the features covered by the professional plan and provides you with more features for facilitating teamwork. Besides, you will have more cloud storage. To find out its price, you need to contact Canva directly.

      Photopea vs Canva – Who Wins?

      After comparing Photopea vs Canva, you will see that both programs are suitable for beginners. Besides, they have advanced features, powerful tools, and great templates for enhancement. However, Photopea has more features as it allows you to create designs from scratch.

      Photopea is a unique, web-based solution that can be accessed from almost any platform. It supports PSD and other formats. This software is a perfect option for professionals and beginners alike.

      Thanks to its streamlined interface, Canva is a powerful tool for editing images, creating unique content, and implementing a variety of creative ideas without advanced graphic design skills. While it has fewer features than Photoshop or Photopea and its free version is quite limited, this is an all-in-one solution for small businesses. It allows creating professional-looking designs using the available templates.

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