The full walkthrough of Image Merge for Canva: masks (44 shapes, design shapes, images, text), backgrounds (design, image, gradient), all 17 blend effects, and bulk merge.
This is the complete, step-by-step guide to Image Merge: choosing a mask, choosing a background, picking one of the 17 effects, fine-tuning position and color, and merging — one image at a time or in bulk.
The Image Merge panel: Preview, Effect, Mask type, Background type, and Merge images
Tap a shape in the System row — the selected shape gets a purple outline and the Preview changes immediately. Use the › arrow to scroll the row.
The heart mask selected in the System row — the Preview updates instantly
Press See all (44) to open the full 4-column grid. Scroll down for the artistic masks — brush strokes, ink splats, torn paper, hexagons, leaves, mushrooms, butterflies and more. Tap a shape to pick it, or press ← to go back.
All masks (44): the full grid with artistic shapes further down
Right below System sits From Design. If the page has no shapes yet, the app shows “No masks found in design” — add a vector shape (Elements → Shapes), press Reload, and the shape appears as a selectable mask. A rotated shape keeps its rotation as a mask.
From Design with the Reload button — scan shapes you've added to the page
Select an image on your page and press Use selected image — the app recommends “use an image with a clear shape and transparent background” (a logo, a cutout subject). The chosen image shows as a thumbnail; Remove selection clears it.
Image tab: Use selected image with the transparent-background recommendation
Type into Enter text to use as shape (sample text: YOUR TEXT), toggle B (bold) or I (italic), pick a Font (Roboto, Open Sans, Montserrat, Inter, Roboto Condensed, Roboto Mono…), and set Letter spacing.
The Text tab: text box, B / I buttons, Font, and Letter spacing
Press Use selected image after clicking a photo on the page — or press Export design to flatten the entire page (text, stickers, graphics and all) into one image and use that as the background.
Background type → Image: Use selected image or Export design
Until a background is chosen, the Preview shows “Background image required”. As soon as you pick one, the mask fills with it:
The HELLO text mask filled with the selected photo
Build a gradient instead of using a photo. Linear has an Angle slider (0–360); Radial radiates from the center and has no angle. Each color stop has a swatch and a position (0–100); + Add color adds more stops.
Scroll the Effect carousel with the ‹ › arrows. Every effect has a parrot thumbnail so you can compare them at a glance: Mask, Double exposure, Darken, Multiply, Color burn, Lighten, Screen, Color dodge, Overlay, Soft light, Hard light, Difference, Exclusion, Hue, Saturation, Color, Luminosity.
Scrolling the 17 effect thumbnails
Mask is the clean cut — the background simply fills the shape.
Double exposure is the classic portrait-meets-landscape blend with a soft, vintage light.
The rest mirror Photoshop blend modes for darkening (Darken, Multiply, Color burn), lightening (Lighten, Screen, Color dodge), contrast (Overlay, Soft light, Hard light), comparison (Difference, Exclusion), and color mixing (Hue, Saturation, Color, Luminosity).
Multiply: the image inside the heart darkens
Double exposure: a soft, bright overlay blend
Blend effects show their differences most clearly when the mask is a color image (Image tab). With silhouette masks (shapes and text), many effects differ mainly in tone.
Press Merge images. The merged result — a transparent PNG cut exactly to the mask — is added to your page and selected, ready to move, resize, and layer like any image.
The merged heart lands on the page, cut to shape with a transparent background
The panel keeps all your settings after merging, so you can change one thing — the shape, the effect, the background — and merge again for another variant. Every merge creates a new image; earlier ones stay untouched.
Combine several masks with the same background in one click:
1
Select multiple masks
In the Shape tab, tap additional shapes. A “2 selected” badge appears next to System with a Clear button, the Preview becomes Preview (2 merges) as a grid, and the bottom button becomes Merge 2 images.
Two masks selected: the badge, Clear button, grid preview, and Merge 2 images
2
Keep tuning as usual
The same effect, adjustments, and background apply to every combination — the grid preview updates live.
3
Press Merge n images
Every mask × background combination is merged and the results are laid out on your page. Up to 50 combinations per run.
Bulk result: the heart and circle merges placed on the page together
4
Back to single mode
Press Clear next to the badge to drop the multi-selection — the button returns to Merge images.
Multi-select works within one list (for example several System shapes). Text and Gradient stay single-select, and in bulk mode the position control keeps the Snap tab only.
The result is a baked PNG, not a live effect — to change it, adjust the settings (they’re kept after each merge) and merge again.
Preview = result. The pinned preview matches the exported image exactly.
Blend effects pop with color-image masks; silhouette masks mostly change in tone between effects.
Export design is the move when your background should be a whole composed page — text, stickers, graphics included.
Ideas: double exposure portraits (portrait mask + landscape background), product photos in hearts/circles/t-shirts, photo-filled words as hero titles, bulk mood boards and sticker sheets from one background.
Works well with Glass Maker to add glass over merged images, and Image to Frames when you need a refillable Canva frame instead of a baked image.
The output is a finished PNG, not a live effect. To change it, adjust the settings in the panel and merge again — your previous settings are kept.
Why doesn't my design's shape show up under From Design?
The app scans when it loads. After adding a shape or image to the page, press Reload in the Mask or Background section.
What's the difference between Image Merge and a Canva frame?
A Canva frame stays editable but offers no blend modes. Image Merge bakes the image into the shape with any of 17 blend effects and a transparent background. If you need a reusable Canva frame, see Image to Frames.
Which features need Image Merge Pro?
Image masks, uploaded masks, text masks, and bulk merge are Pro. The 44 shapes, design shapes, all backgrounds, all 17 effects, and manual positioning are free.
