HP and Canva Announce Partnership

[jwheeler]

Recently, Canva acquired Affinity. Now they're partnering with HP. Amazing how much Canva is growing so fast! See the full article here. A brief summary:

• HP Inc. partners with Canva to integrate design and print services, aiming to benefit both HP Print Service Providers (PSPs) and the Canva community worldwide.
• Canva users gain access to professionally printed products from HP PSPs globally, expanding Canva's print service to 150 countries by 2026.
• HP's automation software, HP PrintOS Site Flow, streamlines print jobs for Canva, ensuring color consistency, security, and optimal productivity.
• The collaboration promotes sustainable printing through localized production, reducing environmental impact while delivering high-quality design materials.

(Summary made with Chat GPT)

 

[tngcas]

I wonder how long before Canva decides to stop allowing customers to download high resolution PDF files, basically, locking them into only being able to "order printing" through their partners.

 

[jwheeler]

I wonder how long before Canva decides to stop allowing customers to download high resolution PDF files, basically, locking them into only being able to "order printing" through their partners.

I've thought about the same thing. It has always suprised be that they allow hi-rez PDF downloads on a free account. Seems like something they would charge for and only allow watermarked/low-rez PDF's. I'd imagine there would be quite a few people who would stop using the service and maybe switch over to Adobe Express if they did so. Express is Adobe's version of Canva.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I've thought about the same thing. It has always suprised be that they allow hi-rez PDF downloads on a free account. Seems like something they would charge for and only allow watermarked/low-rez PDF's. I'd imagine there would be quite a few people who would stop using the service and maybe switch over to Adobe Express if they did so. Express is Adobe's version of Canva.

Apparently Adobe Express is even worse for exporting files.

 

[tngcas]

I've actually never even heard of Adobe Express so I must not have any customers using it yet. Interesting.
At least Adobe is smart enough to realize they're going to need to step up their competition. Not surprised to hear that their exporting skills are not up to Canva's level yet. It took Canva several years to get exporting files right and I suspect Adobe is just behind the curve on it. Hopefully they'll catch up soon. I like competition in the marketplace, makes everyone have to keep prices reasonable and services comparable.

 

[SoggyWinter]

I wonder how long before Canva decides to stop allowing customers to download high resolution PDF files, basically, locking them into only being able to "order printing" through their partners.

My guess is that Canva won't lock out hi-res exports
-Might be illegal in some countries for being monopolistic
-customers may want to print things not available through Canva/HP partners- ie, foil stamping, tshirts, mugs, spiral bound books with tabs, etc
-Printshops may come and go from the working with Canva over payment terms, contractual disputes, SLAs, switching to non-HP presses, etc.

 

[chriscozi]

I've actually never even heard of Adobe Express so I must not have any customers using it yet. Interesting.
At least Adobe is smart enough to realize they're going to need to step up their competition. Not surprised to hear that their exporting skills are not up to Canva's level yet. It took Canva several years to get exporting files right and I suspect Adobe is just behind the curve on it. Hopefully they'll catch up soon. I like competition in the marketplace, makes everyone have to keep prices reasonable and services comparable.

Hahahahaha
Since when?? 2010?
Canva is just barely competing in 1 arena.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Hahahahaha
Since when?? 2010?
Canva is just barely competing in 1 arena.

Is this a serious comment?

 

[chriscozi]

Is this a serious comment?

Yes. The discussion was Canva competing in the online design space.
Maybe I'm not familiar enough with everything CANVA.
Name all the Adobe products.
Name their competitors?

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Yes. The discussion was Canva competing in the online design space.
Maybe I'm not familiar enough with everything CANVA.
Name all the Adobe products.
Name their competitors?

The amount of my customers that use Canva, without me recommending it to them, is baffling.

The amount of Adobe products is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the sum of total addressable market of each of their products. We are not comparing [ALL] of Adobe to [ALL] of Canva, only simply comparing where they overlap now and in their planned futures.

Canva is reducing the overall friction for the average person to create designed products. Adobe could have done this but they chose not to.

There is no Adobe product that competes with Canva.

 

[MacTwidget]

The amount of my customers that use Canva, without me recommending it to them, is baffling.

The amount of Adobe products is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the sum of total addressable market of each of their products. We are not comparing [ALL] of Adobe to [ALL] of Canva, only simply comparing where they overlap now and in their planned futures.

Canva is reducing the overall friction for the average person to create designed products. Adobe could have done this but they chose not to.

There is no Adobe product that competes with Canva.

Then add to it that Canva acquired the Affinity suite of apps. Don't underestimate the possibility of real competition.
Ie: InDesign vs. QuarkXPress circa 2000.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Then add to it that Canva acquired the Affinity suite of apps. Don't underestimate the possibility of real competition.
Ie: InDesign vs. QuarkXPress circa 2000.

"Tesla will never be a real car co-"

 

[TJPrinter]

The difference between Adobe and Canva is, Adobe provides tools that allow users to create designs. Canva provides tools to create designs, and they want the print business revenue too. I would categorize Canva’s vision more like a Vista Print on steroids.

It would be interesting to know more about the details of how this venture between Canva and HP works for the shop owner. From the article, it sounds more like HP shop owners would be sent jobs created on the Canva platform, meaning accept the price for your work that Canva has decided. Or are they talking about the shop owner having access to all the Canva design assets for a fee and then the shop owner sets their prices.

 

[tngcas]

In my opinion the important difference between Canva and Adobe is the learning curve.

If Canva continues to make the barrier to entry easier by focusing on usability over complicated tools that require training to learn to use, then eventually they’ll be able to build off that foundation to provide a full suite of tools that will rival Adobe’s entire suite of software.

Adobe’s audience is restricted to graphic designers (cost and training) whereas Canva’s user base will continue to grow because even amateurs can use it.

 

[chriscozi]

In my opinion the important difference between Canva and Adobe is the learning curve.

If Canva continues to make the barrier to entry easier by focusing on usability over complicated tools that require training to learn to use, then eventually they’ll be able to build off that foundation to provide a full suite of tools that will rival Adobe’s entire suite of software.

Adobe’s audience is restricted to graphic designers (cost and training) whereas Canva’s user base will continue to grow because even amateurs can use it.

And let's not forget that Adobe has a mature product set.
Very difficult to provide 'new' features and users don't see the need for a new product all the time.
And what they HAVE done re:fonts can make life MORE difficult and costly for existing customers.
Just my 2¢ critique.

 

[scotts]

Someone brought up the point about Quark vs Indesign, when Quark was the 5,000lb bully. Adobe had just bought Aldus RagePageMaker and Freehand. Then took PageMaker made it more user-friendly and renamed it Indesign. And it took over Quark's clunky design and useability.

This is where Canva can win. Reduce all the crap and overlap of features that Indesign now has. Back when Indesign only did page layout and all the vector and raster design needed to be done in Illustrator and Photoshop, it was slim and fast and good. And at a time when you could only buy Indesign if you wanted. But now you have to subscribe and get all the apps and Indesign "can" do it all. Seems kind of backward to me.

In Indesigns beginning, I could see the use of one app to do it all, but not now. Now, I wish Indesign would do less.

 

[tngcas]

In Indesigns beginning, I could see the use of one app to do it all, but not now. Now, I wish Indesign would do less.

That's the problem with most software, you get feature bloat over time. Feature growth is great but at some point you have to decide when it's too much and too complex because the house of cards collapses. The program becomes too complicated to use successfully for new users. Figure out what the bare minimum is and then figure out how to keep that "feeling" for end users by always imagining what it looks like to the brand new customer instead of to your old customers. If you add new features make sure you don't throw out the "KISS" principle along the way.

 

[jwheeler]

In my opinion the important difference between Canva and Adobe is the learning curve.

If Canva continues to make the barrier to entry easier by focusing on usability over complicated tools that require training to learn to use, then eventually they’ll be able to build off that foundation to provide a full suite of tools that will rival Adobe’s entire suite of software.

Adobe’s audience is restricted to graphic designers (cost and training) whereas Canva’s user base will continue to grow because even amateurs can use it.

Since Canva now owns Affinity (which is the one of the most promising competitive suite of products on the market right now against Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign) they will now start to steal Adobe's customer base in the professional designer space too. They have already announced how they will do it without specifically saying that's why they're doing it: They plan to offer all schools and teachers their Affinity Suite for free. This will raise a whole new generation of graphic designers on the Affinity software since school IT and finance people will choose Affinity over Adobe's monthly subscription model. As those students get older, many will likely continue to use Affinity instead of learning a 'new' software (Adobe CS) and we'll probably even see colleges switching to it in the not-too-distant future.