Design it in Canva. Generate thousands here.
Yes — you can import a Canva design into SnapShark. Download it as .pptx and upload it: every text box arrives as an editable layer, the artwork arrives as images, and the whole thing becomes a template you can fill from a form or the API. Photoshop, PowerPoint, Google Slides and Keynote work the same way.
From Canva to a working template in four clicks
Canva is where most of our users already have their certificates, badges and social graphics. You do not have to rebuild any of it — Canva exports the layered PowerPoint file SnapShark reads.
- 1Open your design in Canva and click Share at the top right.
- 2Choose Download, then open the File type dropdown.
- 3Select PPTX. It sits below PNG, JPG and PDF in the list — this is the one that keeps your text as text.
- 4Under Select pages, tick the single page you want, download it, and upload the file in SnapShark under New Template → Import design.
Do not download as PNG, JPG or PDF. Those flatten the design into a single picture — the text stops being text and nothing can be personalised afterwards.
Works with Canva templates too
It does not have to be a design you drew yourself. Any Canva template you can open and edit can be exported as .pptx and imported here — including the thousands of free certificate and badge layouts in Canva's own library.
What you gain over Canva alone
Canva is built for making one design at a time. Once it is a SnapShark template, the same artwork becomes an HTTP endpoint: pass a name, a date and a photo, get a finished image back. Or upload a spreadsheet and get every row rendered at once.
Layer by layer, not a flat picture
These files carry every element with its exact geometry, so the import reads the real positions instead of guessing at them.
Text stays text
Position, font, size, colour, alignment and letter spacing are preserved. Edit the wording any time — or turn it into a variable and fill it per render.
Artwork becomes layers
Frames, seals, signatures and logos are extracted as images. Small elements like a signature stay their own layer, so you can swap them per certificate.
Decoration gets tidied
A border can arrive as sixteen pieces. By default they merge into one background layer, so the layer list only shows what you actually edit.
Getting the file out of any other tool
PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote
.pptx- 1PowerPoint: File → Save as and keep the .pptx format.
- 2Google Slides: File → Download → Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx).
- 3Keynote: File → Export To → PowerPoint.
- 4Upload the file in SnapShark.
Free .pptx certificate and poster templates are everywhere online — any of them can become a SnapShark template this way.
Photoshop
.psd- 1Keep your text as live text layers — don't rasterise or flatten them.
- 2Give the layers meaningful names (“recipient”, “signature”): they become the variable names.
- 3File → Save as and keep the .psd format, up to 500 MB.
- 4Upload the file in SnapShark.
Layer effects (drop shadows, gradient overlays, strokes) live outside the pixels, so they don't come across. If an effect matters, flatten that one layer in Photoshop before saving.
Figma and Illustrator
workaround- 1Neither exports .pptx or .psd directly.
- 2Export the artwork as a PNG, then build the template in the SnapShark editor and place the PNG as the background.
- 3Or paste the design into a slide (Keynote, PowerPoint, Google Slides), add the text there and export that as .pptx.
Native Figma support is on our list — tell us if you need it.
Uploading and finishing the template
- 1Open New Template in the sidebar (or on My Templates) and choose Import design.
- 2Drop the .pptx or .psd file into the dialog. Leave Merge decoration into one background on unless you want every decorative piece as its own layer.
- 3The template opens in the editor. Text layers are listed by name; click one to change its wording, font or colour.
- 4Decide which layers are variables. A layer marked dynamic shows up in the generate form and the API as layername.text — that is what you fill per certificate.
- 5Save. From there you can generate one at a time, in bulk from a spreadsheet, or through the API.
About fonts
If the design uses a Google font, the import keeps it exactly. Commercial fonts (the kind bundled with a design tool) can't be redistributed, so a close match is used instead and the import tells you which ones were swapped. You can upload the real font file under Settings → Custom Fonts and switch the layer back to it.
Too many layers?
Select the pieces you never edit — shift-click to take several at once — and hit Merge to background in the toolbar above the canvas. They are painted into the background image and leave the list: the design looks identical, the list gets shorter.
Only the first page
A template is a single canvas, so multi-page files import their first page. Export the pages you need separately and import them one by one.
About importing from Canva
- Can I import a Canva design into SnapShark?
- Yes. Download the design from Canva as a PowerPoint file (.pptx) and upload it under New Template → Import design. Every text box comes across as an editable layer and the artwork comes across as images, so nothing has to be redrawn.
- Why PPTX and not PNG or PDF?
- PNG and PDF flatten the design into a single picture. PPTX keeps each element separate with its exact position, font and colour, which is what lets SnapShark turn a text box into a variable you can fill per render.
- Does it work with Canva templates I did not design myself?
- Yes. Any Canva design you can open and edit can be exported as .pptx, including the free certificate, badge and social templates in Canva's own library.
- Does the import use AI or cost credits?
- Neither. The geometry is read straight out of the file, so the import is deterministic and free. Credits are only spent when you generate images from the finished template.
- What happens to my fonts?
- Google fonts are kept exactly as they are. Licensed fonts bundled with a design tool cannot be redistributed, so the closest match is used instead and the import tells you which layers were swapped. You can upload the real font file under Settings → Custom Fonts and switch the layer back to it.
- My Canva design has several pages. What gets imported?
- A template is a single canvas, so a multi-page file imports its first page. In Canva, tick the one page you want under Select pages before downloading — or export the pages separately and import them one by one.
- What can I do with the template afterwards?
- Fill it from a form, send a spreadsheet through bulk generation, or call the API with variables and get a finished PNG, WebP or PDF back from the CDN. The same design can produce thousands of personalised versions.
Already have the design? You're one upload away.
Import it once, then generate as many personalized versions as you need.