How to Erase in Canva — in 6 Easy Steps

Uh-oh! I’ve made a mistake in my Canva design. Does this world-renowned graphic design tool feature an eraser tool in it?

Now, if you’re well-acquainted with what Canva’s got to offer, there’s no need for you to worry. 

In as little as a few clicks, you can delete the said “mistake” in a jiffy — regardless of whether it’s a text, an element, or even a background image!

So, if you’re on all-hands-on-deck mode, let’s get to learning this feature real quick!

 

How to Erase in Canva

To erase a complete background in Canva, use the Canva Background Remover tool under “Effects.” To erase or restore certain parts of the background, use the “Erase” or “Restore” function (only applicable after using the Background Remover tool first).

 

Erasing in Canva: What you Need to Know

If you’re reading up to this part, it means that you’re raring to learn this nifty trick in Canva. 

As inconsequential as this step is, learning this basic step is an important tool you can have in your arsenal.

 

Erasing Background Image in Canva

Step 1: Log into your account and create a new design by tapping the “Create a New Design” button. You can also open an existing design by double-tapping on a folder.

Step 2: If you’re in a new design, head over to the “Photos” tab on the left-side menu to choose an image.

If you’re in an existing design file, simply click on the picture you’d like to edit.

Step 3: In the “Photos” menu, drag and drop the photo you’d like to use. 

Step 4: Click on the image you want to remove its background and head over the “Effects” tab in the toolbar.

Step 5: In the menu that appears, select the “Background Remover” effect. Wait for Canva to process the removal of the background.

Step 6: After a few seconds, the background of the photo’s officially removed. For fine-tuning, zoom in on the image and use the “Erase” brush. You can even increase or decrease the brush size by dragging the brush size slider after clicking it.

Very simple and nifty, right? You don’t need to be Albert Einstein to be able to erase the background image of the picture. 

A few clicks and some creativity will do the trick for you. But, as I’ve mentioned earlier, you’ll have to be a Pro account user to fully enjoy this eraser feature. 

If not, or if Canva’s background remover isn’t working, don’t feel disheartened. There’s still remove.bg to do the trick for you. 

Assuming that you’re using a free photo or you have an existing picture from your design, you can simply head over to the site and upload the image there.

As soon as you upload the said image, the website will remove the picture’s background much like how Canva’s background remover does the feat. 

Once the process’s done, download the background-less image and re-upload it in Canva through the “Uploads” tab.

 

How to erase part of an image in Canva

Unfortunately, the eraser tool in Canva offers very limited functionality.

Also, the eraser tool can only be used in combination with the background remover tool and to be more precise, it can only be used AFTER using the BG Remover tool.

What is more is that the eraser tool can only be used to remove more of the background in case the background remover tool did not successfully remove the whole background.

With that said, properly erasing part of an image in Canva can’t be done. 

Instead of using Canva’s eraser tool, in some cases, using Canva’s crop tool can help you to erase part of an image in Canva. 

But there again, the crop tool is very limited in its functionality, as it only crops images and pictures in Canva either horizontally or vertically.

There is no “free crop” option that would let you crop out certain elements of a picture or photo by setting anchor points or so as would be the case in professional photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. 

One little workaround that can be useful at times is to place your image or picture in a frame/placeholder in Canva. For instance, have a look at the video preview above. 

As you can see there, I have successfully erased part of the guy’s face. The way I achieved that is by placing the guy’s face into a circular frame. And then I just repositioned the image so that only part of it is visible in the frame.

This is by no means a perfect solution for all scenarios but it can be helpful at times.

If you are interested in knowing how to do that, make sure to check out the following article: “How to fill a shape with an image in Canva.”

Also, if you would like to place your images into basically ANY shape, make sure to watch our video: How to fill any shape in Canva with an image.

In case you need to get some more sophisticated photo editing done, you would need to import your picture into some software such as Photoshop to get the job done.

If you are looking for a free software to get this kind of job done, you might want to give GIMP a go. 

The image manipulating software GIMP is available both on Mac and on PC and it is completely free. 

If you do have Adobe Illustrator, then you have another great tool at your disposal to solve this kind of issue. 

Here’s how you would do just that in Illustrator: How to Erase Part of an Image in Illustrator

 

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions about How to Erase in Canva

 

Can you remove background images if you’re not a Canva Pro user?

Unfortunately, you cannot erase or remove background images if you’re only on a free account in Canva. You’ll need to upgrade your subscription to Pro, Enterprise, Education, or Nonprofits to enjoy such a feature.

 

Is it possible for you to undo erasing or removing an element in Canva?

Though erasing elements in Canva can seem permanent, you can undo the said action. Simply tap on the “Undo” button in Canva’s toolbar for you to bring back whatever element you’ve accidentally removed from your design.

 

Can you use Canva’s background remover unlimitedly?

If you’re a heavy Canva user, you’ll find that the graphic design tool has a daily limit of 500 background image removals. But, if you’re a casual Canva user, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll reach this daily limit. Hence, it may seem unlimited use still. The Canva Background Remover is a Canva Pro only feature, though, please keep that in mind. 

 

What’s the difference between the “Erase” and Restore” brushes in Canva’s background remover?

The erase brush allows you to further remove some elements in the image if you don’t need them in your design. The restore brush, on the other hand, allows you to bring back the areas of the image you’d like to keep. 

 

Can you erase elements in Canva without using the background remover tool first?

In Canva, you can only erase (or restore) elements after using the background remover first. That said, you can’t just simply erase any part of an element, picture or image in Canva. 

 

Conclusion

No matter how minute a mistake you make in Canva, you can easily solve it by erasing elements, text, or backgrounds in your design.

Just follow the steps mentioned earlier, and you’ll never go astray with removing unwanted Canva elements on your design.

And, as always, you can just tap on the “Undo” button whenever you change your mind about removing such an element.