Verified plan limit

On the tested Canva Free account, creating a blank design at a new custom size was free. Resizing the existing design from the editor was not: the Resize workflow displayed a Free trial for 30 days control. Copying content into a second design is therefore a manual workaround, not the same operation as Canva’s paid resize feature.

Test setup

We used a signed-in Canva Free account and synthetic blank designs only. From the Canva home screen, we created a 1200 × 800 px custom-size design. In the editor, we opened Resize twice and inspected the available controls without starting a trial or entering payment information.

Tested steps

  1. From Canva home, choose Create a design and Custom size.
  2. Enter 1200 by 800 pixels and create the blank design.
  3. Confirm the editor title reports 1200 × 800 px.
  4. Open Resize, then open the resize options.
  5. Confirm presets and Custom size are visible, while the action area offers a 30-day free trial.
  6. Close the panel and repeat the same check.

The custom-size design was created successfully. Both in-editor checks showed the same trial gate. We did not start the trial.

Same aspect ratio versus a changed aspect ratio

A new canvas with the same aspect ratio gives you a geometry that can be scaled proportionally, but Canva Free does not automatically perform that scaling when you create the new file. With a different aspect ratio, manual copying also leaves a layout decision: crop, add empty space, move elements, or rebuild the composition.

The reliable conclusion from this test is about feature access, not automatic layout quality: free custom-size creation worked; existing-design resizing did not.

When to use the manual workaround

Use a new custom-size design when the layout is simple and you are prepared to inspect every element after copying. For dense, multi-page, or multi-format work, budget time for manual correction or use Canva’s documented paid resize workflow.