How To Create An Email Newsletter in Canva (and Why It’s Not Enough)

If you’re wondering how to create an email newsletter in Canva, chances are you’re looking for an easy way to design something that looks professional in your subscribers’ inboxes. 

And on the surface, Canva seems like a great tool for this.

Canva offers sleek templates, easy drag-and-drop customization, and branding options that make your newsletter look polished. 

But here’s the catch: Canva isn’t an email platform.

Sure, you can create a nice-looking newsletter. But when it comes to actually sending, tracking, or optimizing your emails, Canva leaves you with a dead end. 

It’s like designing a beautiful invitation but having no way to mail it out.

That’s where beehiiv comes in. 

While Canva focuses on visuals, beehiiv is built for email marketing that actually works—from sending and automation to analytics and growth.

Let’s break it all down.

How I Tried Creating an Email Newsletter in Canva

Step 1: Choosing a Template

Canva offers a variety of pre-made newsletter templates, most of which are visually appealing and customizable.

Step 2: Customizing the Design

Once you pick a template, you can edit text, swap images, and tweak colors to fit your brand.

Step 3: Exporting the Newsletter

This is where the problems start. Canva doesn’t support email sending, so here are your only options:

• Download as a PDF (which your audience has to open separately)

• Save as an image (which may not display properly in all email clients)

Step 4: Manually Sending Your Newsletter Through Another Platform

Since Canva isn’t an email marketing tool, you’ll need to upload your exported file to another platform, like Gmail, beehiiv, Mailchimp, or ConvertKit.

This means:

• Extra steps just to send one email

• Formatting issues on different devices

• No ability to personalize content or automate campaigns

For a one-off newsletter, manually sending your newsletter through another platform might not seem like a big deal. But if you’re trying to build a real audience and grow your newsletter, this is a tedious and inefficient process.

The Problems I Ran Into With Canva Newsletters

No Built-In Email Sending or Automation

Canva lets you create a static newsletter design, but that’s where it stops. If you want to actually send it, schedule it, or automate follow-ups, you’re on your own.

With Canva, here’s what you should expect:

• No automated email sequences

• No subscriber segmentation

• No way to schedule emails in advance

If your goal is efficient email marketing, Canva forces you to do everything manually, making it more of a hassle than a help.

PDFs and Images Are Not Email-Friendly

Email platforms are built for HTML-based emails—not PDFs or images. If you export your Canva design as a static file, you run into problems:

Most successful newsletters are designed as engaging, text-based emails, not static image files. Canva wasn’t made for this.

No Performance Tracking or Analytics

One of the biggest problems with Canva newsletters? You have no idea if they’re working.

Since Canva doesn’t actually send emails, here are the problems:

• No open rate tracking

• No click-through rate analysis

• No insights into how your audience is engaging

Without performance data, you’re left guessing what works and what doesn’t. And in email marketing, guessing doesn’t drive results.

Why Creating a Newsletter in beehiiv Is 10x Easier and Better

Built-In Newsletter Templates Designed for Email

Unlike Canva, which focuses on visual layout, beehiiv’s templates are built for deliverability and engagement.

• Fully responsive across desktop and mobile

• Optimized for readability and conversions

• Easy-to-use formatting without the need for extra tools

Seamless Email Sending Without Extra Steps

With beehiiv, everything happens in one place – no exporting, no manual uploads, no extra formatting.

Instead, here are the steps you take:

• Write and design your email directly inside beehiiv.

• Send it to your subscribers instantly or schedule it for later.

• Automate follow-ups and sequences to keep engagement high.

Performance Tracking and Analytics That Matter

beehiiv gives you real-time insights into how your emails perform.

• Open rates and click-through rates

• Best-performing links and subject lines

• Advanced subscriber segmentation

With this data, you can refine your strategy and improve engagement instead of just hoping for the best.

Monetization and Growth Tools Canva Lacks

Beyond sending newsletters, beehiiv helps creators turn their email lists into a real business.

• Built-in referral programs to grow your audience faster

• An ad network that helps you monetize without extra work

• Custom subscriber segmentation to deliver the right message to the right people

None of this is possible with Canva.

The Bottom Line: Canva vs. beehiiv for Newsletters

If your goal is to design a newsletter that looks nice but isn’t interactive, Canva works. But if you want to actually grow and engage your audience, Canva isn’t enough.

Choose Canva If...

• You don’t mind manually uploading your newsletter to another email platform.

• You don’t need automation, segmentation, or analytics.

Choose beehiiv If...

• You want a complete email marketing platform—not just a design tool.

• You need automation, analytics, and built-in email sending.

• You’re serious about growing and monetizing your newsletter.

The takeaway? Canva is a design tool. beehiiv is an email marketing platform. 

If you want to build an audience, engage your subscribers, and scale your newsletter, beehiiv is the better choice, every single time.