Canva Enterprise Design and Testing Tips

These recommendations assume you’re designing Canva templates that will have their text, images, or charts dynamically populated from Cloze using Canva Enterprise.

Design Tips for Autofill-Driven Canva Templates

Design for data variability

Leave breathing room

Autofilled text or image content can vary in length (e.g., description, feature lists). Design with margins, padding, or flexible containers so longer text doesn’t overflow other elements or wrap.

Avoid hard-coded placeholders that assume full content

If your template always expects 5 photos but a listing only has 2, the extra frames should handle this gracefully (e.g., the placeholders can be deleted without diminishing the design overall).

Use dynamic frames / containers

Let elements adapt. For example, a text box linked to “Description” should expand vertically (when the content is longer.

Use layers

While you can use Cloze to truncate content after a specific number of characters, you can also let variable content, like listing descriptions, run behind other content. This lets you feed the full listing description in, and then agents can choose what they want to keep or edit out.

Map data fields carefully & consistently

Name your data fields clearly and uniquely

The names you assign inside Canva must match exactly the Cloze data field values. If there’s a mismatch, the element won’t populate.

Match data types to element types

Canva differentiates between text, image, and chart fields. Don’t map an image URL to a text element or vice versa.

Each element must map to a unique field

For example, if you are including price, beds, baths, and square feet in your design, each of these elements will need to be in a separate text box so they can be mapped separately.

Limit dependencies among fields

Avoid mapping elements whose layout depends on other fields (for example, overlaying text on an image that may shift). Instead, separate content and decorative elements when possible.

Prioritize robustness & fallback design

Fallback content or default text

For fields that may occasionally be missing (e.g. listing data — it's not unusual for some information to not be included in the listing), consider default content (e.g. “—”) or a fallback layout (a version without that field).

Cloze includes many fallback options you can use to set default text and control formatting.

Avoid overlaying autofill content on decorative elements

If text flows over graphics or shapes, unexpected phrasing or length can break contrast (e.g. if using light text on a dark graphic) or legibility.

Layering and depth control

Place autofill elements in a layer order that ensures they’re visible and not hidden behind fixed design elements. Also, lock artwork so users/designs don’t shift dynamically.

Test edge cases

Use several listings with varying amounts of information

Preview with short and long descriptions, missing fields, minimal vs. many photos, etc. See how the template behaves.

Check to make sure your price field is wide enough to handle higher-end price ranges.

When using Cloze's formatting options, test templates using properties with

• a single bedroom or single bath, or none of each
• a short list of features, and a long list
• a missing value (like no beds or baths)

Spot-check mismatches

For any placeholder that remains blank (because no data was fed), ensure the design doesn’t leave awkward empty space or visual “holes.”

Preview exports, not just editor view

Sometimes the filled design looks fine in Canva itself, but misaligns after export (PDF, image). Always do a final export test.

Download and preview videos before posting to social.