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Text to Frames turns a word into Canva frames — one frame per letter — so you can drop a different photo or video into each letter. It’s the fast way to make photo-filled typography in Canva, with real, editable letter frames. This guide covers every feature, step by step, with screenshots.

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What makes it different

  • Canva’s default / Clipping Mask: one image shows through all the letters at once.
  • Text to Frames: each letter is its own frame, so you can fill every letter with a different image and arrange them freely.
Text to Frames main panel with text input, font picker, and letter spacing

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Step-by-step

1

Open the app

Launch Text to Frames from the Canva Apps panel.
2

Type your text

Enter your word (up to 200 characters). Use B (bold) and I (italic) — if they’re greyed out, the chosen font doesn’t include that style.
3

Choose a font

Pick from 100+ fonts. Fonts marked Pro are part of the paid plan.
4

Adjust the shape

Set Letter spacing (−100 to 100) and Font size. Turn on Split into letters so each character becomes its own frame for different images.
5

Add effects (optional)

Turn on Blur, Border, or Inner shadow and pick a color for each (see below).
6

Check the preview

The Preview updates about half a second after each change — what you see is exactly what gets added. If the text is too long, the app says so; shorten it or reduce the size.
7

Add to design and fill

Click Add to design, then drag a photo into the letters. With Split into letters on, drop a different image into each one, then drag/zoom inside each letter.
Some Canva design types don’t allow frames. If you see “Frames can’t be added to this design type,” open the app in another design (Presentation, Poster, Instagram Post, etc.).

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Fonts: 100+ options

The app includes 100+ curated Google Fonts — modern sans (Roboto, Poppins, Montserrat), elegant serif (Playfair Display), handwriting (Pacifico), plus specialty fonts like pixel (Press Start 2P), horror (Creepster), and sci-fi (Orbitron, Audiowide). The free plan opens 5 fonts (Roboto, Open Sans, Lato, Playfair Display, Pacifico); Pro unlocks all the rest.

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The three Pro effects

Text to Frames Pro effects: blur, border, and inner shadow sliders with color pickers

Blur

A soft glow behind the letters (0–20). Great for a neon or glowing look, or to soften the edges.

Border

An outline that hugs each letter (0–50). Helps the text stand out when the image inside is busy.

Inner shadow

A shadow inside the letters (0–40) for depth — as if the text is carved or raised.
Each effect has a color and a strength slider, and they stack: Blur and Border sit behind the letters, Inner shadow sits in front. When a free user turns on any Pro effect (or a Pro font), the main button changes to Try Text to Frames Pro. After upgrading in the browser, click Restart Text to Frames to apply Pro without reopening the app.

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Use cases

  • Event banners — each letter a highlight photo.
  • Movie/album titles — each letter reveals a different scene.
  • Social covers — a big word with video running inside each letter (Canva frames accept video too).
  • Logos / branding — a brand name with a different background per letter.

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Frequently asked questions

Type your word in Text to Frames, add it to your design, then drag a photo into the letters. Turn on Split into letters to fill each letter separately.
The letters are real Canva frames, so you can swap and reposition images anytime. (Re-typing the word means generating it again in the app.)
Thick, bold, or rounded fonts leave more room for the image to show through.

Open Text to Frames in Canva

Turn any word into photo-fillable Canva letter frames.