When I started my business back in 2020, I also started my email list. Spent years building it. My automations, my segments, my checkout pages, my deliverability. Years of work. So the thought of ever switching to a new email provider was just too painful. Nobody wants to rebuild all of that from scratch.

But Flodesk kept showing up. It was kind of like when you’re young and you have a crush on someone so you keep eyeing them. Checking them out.

Every time I turned around, they were dropping a new feature or partnering with a brand I already used and loved. Canva (obviously). ManyChat. The list kept growing. So I spent months asking them hard questions. They answered every single one. They had resources to help me connect my domain, warm up my list, protect my open rates.

They checked every box.

So I went all in. Moved everything over. And this Canva integration? It's just one more reason I don't regret it. In a minute, I’ll show you how it works.

What Is the Canva + Flodesk Integration?

This integration lets you design a full email inside Canva using their email templates and then push it directly into Flodesk with just a few clicks. No exporting. No uploading files. No reformatting. You design it in Canva, share it to Flodesk, and you're ready to send.

Flodesk is actually one of only five exclusive email export partners Canva has selected for this direct integration. That's not nothing.

And if you want to make edits after the fact? You can go right back into Canva from inside the Flodesk editor and sync your changes back in one click.

It's smooth like butterrrrrr.

What You'll Need

A Canva account
A Flodesk account (free trial available)
Bonus: Your brand fonts, colors, and any images you want to use

Step 1: Find an Email Template in Canva

Open Canva and go to Templates. Then filter by the Email category.

You'll see a solid selection of professionally designed email templates. Scroll until something catches your eye, then click it and hit Customize this template.

One thing worth knowing: you have to use Canva's Email template type specifically. Not a newsletter template. Not a general graphic. It has to be categorized as an Email design for the Flodesk integration to work.

Canva Templates page filtered by Email category showing a grid of professional email design templates

Step 2: Customize Your Design

This is where you make it yours.

Some email templates have a header section that's inside a locked element. Double-click on it to open the secondary editor, and you'll be able to swap out the text, change fonts, and update colors from there.

A few things to handle while you're in here:

Swap in your brand fonts. Canva has a section in the font library labeled Email Safe Fonts. Use one of those. These fonts display consistently across all email clients, so your design won't show up broken in someone's inbox because Gmail decided your custom font didn't exist.

Update your colors. Match your brand palette. Use the eyedropper if you need to pull exact colors from an image.

Swap in your images. Head to the element library, find your image, and drop it in. If you want the image to overlap the text for a layered effect, use Canva's Magic Grab tool. Click on your image, go to Photo Editing, select Magic Grab, and hit Foreground. It separates the layers so you can drag the subject slightly over the text without losing your background. Save it and it updates right in your email design.

Add your links. Any hyperlinks you add in Canva will transfer over into Flodesk when you import the design. Add them now so they're ready to go.

Step 3: Share to Flodesk

Once your design is looking right, go to the top right corner and click Share.

Select See all, then find and click Flodesk.

Before you connect, Canva gives you a nice preview of your email on both desktop and mobile. Take a second to check it. If something looks off on mobile, better to fix it now.

Then connect your Flodesk account. If you already have one, sign in. If not, you can create one and try it free right from this screen.

Choose New email or select an existing campaign, then click Share to Flodesk. Hit Check it out, and Flodesk opens with your design already inside the editor.

Step 4: Review and Edit Inside Flodesk

Flodesk brings your design in as one block. You can click on it to see your options. If you need to make any tweaks, look for the Edit in Canva button on the right side. That takes you straight back into the Canva editor.

Make your changes, then go back through Share > Flodesk, select the right email, and click Share to Flodesk again. It updates instantly.

This back-and-forth is where the integration really earns its name. You're not re-uploading anything. You're just going in, fixing the thing, and syncing it back.

Step 5: Add Any Final Touches in Flodesk

Flodesk has its own elements you can add on top of your Canva design. Want to drop in a countdown timer? A poll? Go for it. Use the eyedropper tool to pull colors from your design so everything stays cohesive.

When everything looks good, click Next.

Add your subject line, your preview text, then click Continue. Choose your segment (who's getting this email), set your send time, and send yourself a test email first.

Pro Tips Before You Hit Send

Use email-safe fonts. I mentioned this above but it's worth repeating. Canva filters these for you in the font library. Stick to them.

Don't skip the mobile preview. More than half of emails get opened on a phone. Check the mobile view before you share to Flodesk.

Delete the pre-made unsubscribe footer in Canva. Flodesk will add your own automatically when the email is imported. If you leave the Canva one in, you'll have two footers. Nobody wants that.

Text still matters. A beautiful email design gets the open. The words get the click. Design and copy are a team!

Why Flodesk and Canva Together Make Sense

Flodesk’s native designs are genuinely beautiful. But now that Canva is in the mix, the ceiling on what your emails can look like just went way up.

And because the integration is two-way, you don't have to start over every time you want to make a change. You design it, share it, tweak it, sync it.

If you've been putting off email marketing because the setup felt overwhelming, this is an easy entry point to get you started!

Ready to Try Flodesk?

You can start with a free trial and get 25% off your first year if you decide to make it official. Check the link in the description.

How to Design a Beautiful Email in Canva and Send It to Flodesk (Step-by-Step)