Customize the export settings

Partners can define export settings for an integration. These settings control the way Canva:

• Generates a preview of the user's proofed design.
• Generates a print-ready version of the user's design.

Some of the available settings include the image format, bleed microns, color space, and transparency level. For a complete list of the available settings, refer to Export settings.

This page explains how export settings work and how to customize them.

Canva maintains an integration's export settings in a JSON file.

{
  "exports": {
    "publishExportSettings": {
      "outputSpecSettings": "PDF",
      "renderSpecSettings": {
        "bleed": true,
        "bleedMicrons": null,
        "cropMarks": true
      },
      "cmyk": false,
      "canvasIsTransparent": false,
      "outlineText": true,
      "pdfX": false
    },
    "previewExportSettings": {
      "outputSpecSettings": "JPG",
      "renderSpecSettings": {
        "bleed": true,
        "bleedMicrons": null,
        "cropMarks": false
      }
    }
  }
}

The JSON file contains an exports object that has the following properties:

• previewExportSettings
• publishExportSettings

These properties contain separate export settings that Canva uses in different contexts.

When a user is ready to see a proof of a design, Canva uses the settings from the previewExportSettings object to generate the preview of the user's design.

When a user has purchased a print of their design, Canva uses the settings from the publishExportSettings object to generate the print-ready version of the user's design.

If an integration doesn't provide settings for the previewExportSettings object, Canva uses the settings defined in the publishExportSettings object.

The settings for previewExportType and publishExportType objects differ based on the export format. The supported export formats are PDF, JPG, and PNG. To learn about the settings for each export format, see Export settings.

You can define export settings at a product level or a partner level.

The export settings defined at a product level affect an integration's individual products. This enables you to define different export settings for different products.

The export settings defined at a partner level affect all of an integration's products.

When Canva retrieves the export settings for a design, Canva first looks for the export settings defined at a product level. If none are defined, Canva looks for the export settings defined at a partner level. If none are defined, Canva falls back to the default settings as described in Export settings.

Canva maintains the export settings for each integration. This means partners can't directly modify the settings themselves. Partners need to request Canva to make the changes.

To request changes to your integration's export settings:

1. Navigate to the Canva Helpdesk⁠(opens in a new tab or window).
2. Select Integration support.
3. Fill out the required fields.