nstagram stories and reels are major tools for growing your brand, showing off your products, and connecting with your audience. But if you’ve never created one before, it can feel like a lot. Good news? You can make scroll-stopping story graphics and reel content right inside Canva — even if you’ve never touched a design tool in your life! 🙌
First, head to www.canva.com and log in or create a free account. Once you're in, use the top search bar and type in either “Instagram Story” or “Instagram Reel.” Canva will show you tons of premade templates that are already sized perfectly for each format. Click on one you like — don’t worry if the colors or text don’t match your brand yet. We’re going to customize it!
After the template opens, look to the left-hand side. You’ll see a vertical toolbar with different options like Text, Elements, Photos, and Uploads. Click Uploads to add your own images or videos — this is where you can drop in product photos, sale graphics, or even short video clips. You can drag and drop them directly onto your canvas to replace any existing content.
Next up, let’s make it match your brand. Click on any text to change it. You’ll see a font dropdown bar near the top—tap it and explore until you find one that fits your vibe. To change colors, click on any shape or background, then tap the little color box that pops up in the top left corner. You can use your brand colors here by typing in the HEX codes (if you have them), or just pick something close.
Now—want to speed this up even more? Diesel Designs has a ready-to-go Canva Story & Reel Template Pack inside the Editable Canva Template Drive. These graphics are pre-sized, pre-styled, and made with small biz owners in mind. Just drop in your product or message, swap colors if needed, and you’ve got a polished story or reel graphic in minutes. 💀🖤
Want to make your reel stand out even more? Add some animations! In Canva, click on any element (text, image, or video), and then click Animate from the top toolbar. Try fun options like “Pop” or “Rise” to add movement and energy to your post. For stories, you can also add cute stickers and motion elements by clicking Elements in the toolbar and searching things like “sparkle,” “arrow,” or “new.”
Once your story or reel is ready, click the Share button in the top right. Then choose Download, and select MP4 if you’ve added animation or video. If it’s just a static image, you can choose PNG or JPEG. Now upload it straight to Instagram using your phone and get ready for that engagement to roll in! 🚀
Don’t forget—consistent, on-brand visuals are what help your audience recognize you instantly. So don’t waste time hunting random templates every week. Diesel Designs' Editable Canva Drive gives you access to a whole library of branding tools and story graphics you can tweak and reuse again and again.
You don’t need to be a designer. You just need to show up—and Canva makes that part easy. With a little creativity and the right tools, you can create stories and reels that actually convert. 🎯
