Design with Canva
Once the plugin is configured and the Canva app is uploaded, designing a product image is a single click. This guide covers launching the Canva editor directly from WordPress and seamlessly returning with updated imagery.
Where the button appears
The plugin injects Design with Canva in two places.
1. The product edit page
Open any product from Products > All Products and look in the right-hand column. Scroll down past Publish, Product image, Product gallery, Product categories, Product tags and Brands, the Design with Canva meta box sits with them:
It contains one line of text, Click below to create a new featured image using Canva., and one blue Design with Canva button.
The meta box is registered for the product post type and for regular post types, in the side context with default priority. Its exact position in the column therefore follows WordPress's normal meta box ordering, and each user can drag it higher or lower; the position is remembered per user. If you cannot see it, check that Design with Canva is ticked under Screen Options at the top of the edit screen.
2. The products list row action
Hover any row on Products > All Products and the row actions appear beneath the product name, in this order:
ID: 38 | Edit | Quick Edit | Trash | View | Design with Canva | Duplicate
Design with Canva is rendered in purple and bold so it stands out. It starts exactly the same flow without opening the product first.
💡 Duplicate comes from WooCommerce and ID: from the products list itself, so the exact set of neighbouring links depends on which other plugins are active. Canva Connect always inserts its link after the core actions.
💡 Both entry points open in a new browser tab, so your WordPress editing session, including any unsaved product changes, stays open behind it.
Who can use it
The link is built with wp_nonce_url() against the wp_rest action, and the endpoint behind it requires the edit_products capability. Administrators and Shop Managers qualify by default.
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Signed out | 401, rest_forbidden |
Signed in without edit_products | 403 |
| Nonce missing or stale | 403, rest_cookie_invalid_nonce |
A stale nonce usually means the page has been open for more than a day. Refresh the product edit screen and click again.
What happens when you click
Step 1, Authorisation. The first time you ever click the button, you are redirected to Canva's consent screen to authorise the integration. Approve it. The five requested scopes are design:content:read, design:content:write, design:meta:read, asset:read and asset:write.
On every later click the plugin uses the stored refresh token to obtain a new access token silently, you will not see the consent screen again.
Step 2, Existing design check. If this product has been designed before, its design ID is stored as the _canva_design_id post meta. The plugin looks the design up and, if it is still valid, reopens it. Your previous work is preserved.
Step 3, Image pre-upload. For a product with no existing design, the plugin uploads the current featured image to Canva as an asset and polls the upload job until it completes. The canvas then opens with that image already placed on it.
Step 4, Canvas sizing. The design is created at exactly the right dimensions, resolved in this order:
- The full-size dimensions of the product's featured image
- Your theme's
woocommerce_singleimage size, when the product has no image - 1080 × 1080 as the final fallback
Step 5, Redirect into the editor. The Canva editor opens on the new (or reopened) canvas, titled Product Image - {Product Name}.
In the editor
Design as you normally would in Canva. The Webkul App panel on the left gives you your catalogue: product search, product data as text, click-to-replace images and the Save Design to Store button.
That panel is covered in full on Using the Canva App, and saving is covered on Save to Store.
Returning to WordPress
Click Return to {your site} in the top-right of the Canva editor, shown as Return to webkul-WooCommerce in the screenshots.
This hits the Return Navigation URL, which clears the session transients and redirects you back to that product's edit screen at wp-admin/post.php?post={id}&action=edit.
💡 Save before you return. Returning does not save anything by itself, click Save Design to Store in the sidebar first. Returning only navigates.
If the session has expired (transients live for one hour), the return page answers "No active session found.". Nothing is lost: your design remains in Canva, and reopening the product and clicking Design with Canva brings it straight back.
Verifying the result
Back on the product edit screen, refresh the page. The Product image box in the right-hand column now shows the design you exported.
The image is a real entry in the WordPress Media Library, attached to the product, and can be edited, replaced or removed like any other upload.
Designing the same product again
Click Design with Canva on the same product at any time. Because the design ID is stored on the product, you reopen the same Canva design rather than starting over, and can iterate on the artwork you already made.
Saving again replaces the featured image with the new export. The previous image stays in the Media Library, it is unattached, not deleted, so nothing is lost by accident.