Design imports

Overview Create design import job Get design import job

Create design import job

Create an asynchronous job to import a design created in another application.

Starts a new job to import an external file as a new design in Canva.

You can check the status and get the results of import jobs created with this API using the Get design import job API.

The request format for this endpoint has an application/octet-stream body of bytes, and the information about the import is attached using an Import-Metadata header.

Supported file types for imports are listed in Design imports overview.

HTTP method and URL path

POST https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports

This operation is rate limited to 20 requests per minute for each user of your integration.

Authentication

This endpoint requires a valid access token that acts on behalf of a user. The token must have the following scopes (permissions):

design:content:write

For more information, see Scopes.

Header parameters

#Authorizationstring

Required

Provides credentials to authenticate the request, in the form of a Bearer token.

For example: Authorization: Bearer {token}

#Content-Typestring

Required

Indicates the media type of the information sent in the request. This must be set to application/octet-stream.

For example: Content-Type: application/octet-stream

#Import-MetadataDesignImportMetadata

Required

Metadata about the design that you include as a header parameter when importing a design.

Properties of Import-Metadata

#title_base64string

Required

The design's title, encoded in Base64.

The maximum length of a design title in Canva (unencoded) is 50 characters.

Base64 encoding allows titles containing emojis and other special characters to be sent using HTTP headers. For example, "My Awesome Design 😍" Base64 encoded is TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==.

#mime_typestring

Optional

The MIME type of the file being imported. If not provided, Canva attempts to automatically detect the type of the file.

Body parameters

Binary of the file to import.

Example request

Examples for using the /v1/imports endpoint:

curl --request POST 'https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer {token}' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/octet-stream' \
--header 'Import-Metadata: { "title_base64": "TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==", "mime_type": "application/pdf" }' \
--data-binary '@/path/to/file'

const fetch = require("node-fetch");
const fs = require("fs");

fetch("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer {token}",
    "Content-Length": fs.statSync("/path/to/file").size,
    "Content-Type": "application/octet-stream",
    "Import-Metadata": JSON.stringify({ "title_base64": "TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==", "mime_type": "application/pdf" }),
  },
  body: fs.createReadStream("/path/to/file"),
})
  .then(async (response) => {
    const data = await response.json();
    console.log(data);
  })
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.*;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class ApiExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
            .uri(URI.create("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports"))
            .header("Authorization", "Bearer {token}")
            .header("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
            .header("Import-Metadata", "{ \"title_base64\": \"TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==\", \"mime_type\": \"application/pdf\" }")
            .method("POST", HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofFile(Paths.get("/path/to/file")))
            .build();

        HttpResponse<String> response = HttpClient.newHttpClient().send(
            request,
            HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()
        );
        System.out.println(response.body());
    }
}

java

import requests
import json

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer {token}",
    "Content-Type": "application/octet-stream",
    "Import-Metadata": json.dumps({ "title_base64": "TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==", "mime_type": "application/pdf" })
}

with open("/path/to/file", "rb") as file:
    response = requests.post("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports",
        headers=headers,
        data=file
    )
    print(response.json())

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;

var client = new HttpClient();
var request = new HttpRequestMessage
{
  Method = HttpMethod.Post,
  RequestUri = new Uri("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports"),
  Headers =
  {
    { "Authorization", "Bearer {token}" },
    { "Import-Metadata", "{ \"title_base64\": \"TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==\", \"mime_type\": \"application/pdf\" }" },
  },
  Content = new StreamContent(File.OpenRead("/path/to/file"))
  {
    Headers =
    {
      ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/octet-stream"),
    }
  },
};

using (var response = await client.SendAsync(request))
{
  response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
  var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
  Console.WriteLine(body);
};

csharp

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	payload, _ := os.Open("/path/to/file")
	defer payload.Close()

	url := "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports"
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer {token}")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
	req.Header.Add("Import-Metadata", "{ \"title_base64\": \"TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==\", \"mime_type\": \"application/pdf\" }")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports",
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Authorization: Bearer {token}',
    'Content-Type: application/octet-stream',
    'Import-Metadata: { "title_base64": "TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==", "mime_type": "application/pdf" }',
  ),
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => file_get_contents("/path/to/file")
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);
curl_close($curl);

if (empty($err)) {
  echo $response;
} else {
  echo "Error: " . $err;
}

php

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

url = URI('https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/imports')
http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request['Authorization'] = 'Bearer {token}'
request['Content-Type'] = 'application/octet-stream'
request['Import-Metadata'] = '{ "title_base64": "TXkgQXdlc29tZSBEZXNpZ24g8J+YjQ==", "mime_type": "application/pdf" }'
request.body = File.read('/path/to/file')

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

ruby

Success response

If successful, the endpoint returns a 200 response with a JSON body with the following parameters:

#jobDesignImportJob

The status of the design import job.

Properties of job

#idstring

The ID of the design import job.

#statusstring

The status of the design import job. This can be one of the following:

failed
in_progress
success

#resultDesignImportJobResult

Optional

Properties of result

#designsDesignSummary[]

A list of designs imported from the external file. It usually contains one item. Imports with a large number of pages or assets are split into multiple designs.

Properties of designs

#idstring

The design ID.

#urlsDesignLinks

A temporary set of URLs for viewing or editing the design.

Properties of urls

#edit_urlstring

A temporary editing URL for the design.

#view_urlstring

A temporary viewing URL for the design.

#created_atinteger

When the design was created in Canva, as a Unix timestamp (in seconds since the Unix Epoch).

#updated_atinteger

When the design was last updated in Canva, as a Unix timestamp (in seconds since the Unix Epoch).

#titlestring

Optional

The design title.

#urlstring

Optional

URL of the design.

#thumbnailThumbnail

Optional

A thumbnail image representing the object.

Properties of thumbnail

#widthinteger

The width of the thumbnail image in pixels.

#heightinteger

The height of the thumbnail image in pixels.

#urlstring

A URL for retrieving the thumbnail image. This URL expires after 15 minutes. This URL includes a query string that's required for retrieving the thumbnail.

#page_countinteger

Optional

The total number of pages in the design. Some design types don't have pages (for example, Canva docs).

#errorDesignImportError

Optional

If the import job fails, this object provides details about the error.

Properties of error

#codestring

A short string about why the import failed. This field can be used to handle errors programmatically. This can be one of the following:

design_creation_throttled
design_import_throttled
duplicate_import
internal_error
invalid_file
fetch_failed

#messagestring

A human-readable description of what went wrong.

Example responses

In progress job

{
  "job": {
    "id": "e08861ae-3b29-45db-8dc1-1fe0bf7f1cc8",
    "status": "in_progress"
  }
}

json

Successfully completed job

{
  "job": {
    "id": "e08861ae-3b29-45db-8dc1-1fe0bf7f1cc8",
    "status": "success",
    "result": {
      "designs": [
        {
          "id": "DAGQm2AkzOk",
          "title": "My Awesome Design",
          "thumbnail": {
            "width": 376,
            "height": 531,
            "url": "https://document-export.canva.com/..."
          },
          "urls": {
            "edit_url": "https://www.canva.com/api/design/...",
            "view_url": "https://www.canva.com/api/design/..."
          },
          "created_at": 1726198998,
          "updated_at": 1726199000
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

json

Failed job

{
  "job": {
    "id": "e08861ae-3b29-45db-8dc1-1fe0bf7f1cc8",
    "status": "failed",
    "error": {
      "code": "invalid_file",
      "message": "Document couldn't be imported because the file is corrupt."
    }
  }
}

json

Create design import job

HTTP method and URL path

Authentication

Header parameters

Body parameters

Example request

Success response

Example responses

In progress job

Successfully completed job

Failed job

Try it out

Step 1: Enter your access token