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Filling text with an image — also called photo-in-text or image-filled typography — makes a word show a picture through its letters. This guide covers two ways to do it in Canva: the fast way with the Text to Frames app, and the manual frame method.

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What “fill text with image” means

Instead of a solid color, each letter of your word acts as a window onto a photo or pattern. The image shows only inside the letter shapes. To do this in Canva, the letters need to become frames — placeholders that crop an image to their shape.

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Method 1: Turn letters into frames with Text to Frames

This is the fastest way, and it keeps your text editable as real letter shapes.
1

Open Text to Frames in Canva

From the Apps panel, open Text to Frames.
2

Type your word and pick a font

Enter the text you want to fill. Choose a font and weight — bold, rounded fonts hold images best.
3

Convert to frames

Convert your word into letter frames. Each letter becomes a separate frame in your design.
4

Drop an image in

Drag any photo or pattern into the letters. The image fills the text and crops to the letter shapes.
5

Add a border or blur

Add a border around the letters or apply blur to the image inside, so the text stands out against your background.

Try Text to Frames

Turn any word into photo-fillable Canva frames with fonts, borders, and blur.

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Method 2: The manual frame method

You can also do it without an app, though it takes more steps and the result is a flat image rather than editable letters.
1

Type and style your text

Add your text, then pick a thick, bold font so the image is clearly visible inside.
2

Download the text as a transparent PNG

Download just the text as a PNG with a transparent background.
3

Re-upload and layer your image

Upload the PNG back into Canva, then arrange your photo behind or inside it to create the fill effect.
The manual method flattens your text into an image, so you can’t edit the wording afterward. Use Text to Frames if you want to keep the letters editable.

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Fill a shape with a picture too

The same frame trick works for any shape, not just letters. Turn a shape into a frame, then drop a photo in to fill it. See How to Add a Photo to a Frame in Canva.

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Canva vs Photoshop

In Photoshop, filling text with an image uses a clipping mask. Canva’s frame approach reaches the same result without layers or masks — you simply drop the image into letter-shaped frames, which is faster for most designs and works on mobile.

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Frequently asked questions

Turn your letters into frames — fastest with the Text to Frames app — then drag a photo into the letters to fill them.
Yes, if you use letter frames. The manual PNG method flattens the text into an image, so the wording can’t be edited afterward.
Thick, bold, or rounded fonts work best because they leave more surface area for the image to show through.