UPDATED: I created a new guide to make a clickable holiday gift guide using the best affiliate plugin out there on the market. Be sure to check out my most recent tutorial for how to create a clickable digital gift guide to increase affiliate earnings today.
I recently got the gift guide bug and wanted a way to feature some products for the holidays. I thought about a clickable image because I love being able to create and use clickable images within a blog post.
While the idea of a clickable image was great in theory, I have never been that good at image mapping. I wanted to find an easier to me way to create clickable collages and that’s when clickable PDF creation in Canva was brought to my attention. Not quite sure how I find this option, but so happy I did.

How to make Clickable Gift Guide
This post will still put you through the steps of creating a clickable gift guide using Canva. The only downside is that I can’t feature my clickable image any longer, due to removing the plugin I used to put a PDF on a WordPress blog.
Can you add hyperlinks in Canva?
Yes! You can add hyperlinks in Canva! This tutorial to learn how to make a clickable gift guide, using Canva is still applicable as of December 2019. Please follow my step by step instructions or watch the YouTube video below to make your clickable images today.
How to Create a Clickable PDF in Canva
The first step would be to visit Canva.com and sign into the account. You would select Blog Graphic as the option.

Once you have selected the Blog Graphic option. You will then need to select an image to use on the PDF you will be creating or simply upload images that you want to link. See the first image in this blog post as a reference for a collage type Blog Graphic with a collage of products that were uploaded to Canva for use in this clickable PDF tutorial.

The next step would be to upload any product images that you wish to use in your clickable PDF creation through Canva. On the left-hand side you can select to “upload your own images”. Do so now, please.

Moving onto the next step in Creating a clickable PDF through Canva.com, this is the step where you will insert each image and make it look pretty. This is an art so it’s up to you to determine how you want the images to appear. Sometimes we can’t fit as many products as we desired, so play with it and resize images as needed to suit what you like best.

The fifth step in creating a clickable PDF document in Canva.com is to select each image, one by one. If you look in the screen capture below you will see the little “link” on the right-hand side. What you will do is select by clicking on one image, then click the link and insert the URL you wish to have someone land on when they click that particular image. Repeat this process for all images within the collage that you want to be clickable.

Moving onto the next step … now that you have linked all of your images, you can click on them and click the link again to confirm the URL held properly. Just a nice gesture to make sure each image was linked properly.

Now you will want to save this clickable PDF to your computer. The file type needs to be PDF in order for the links to hold when you download the document. See below the option I use, PDF Standard for the file type. This will save to your computer as a clickable PDF file.

Next, I always save a PNG image option too which is what you will find at the top of this tutorial blog post. It doesn’t have clickable images, but it is a nice Pinterest friendly image for social shares.

As you will see Canva.com will notify you that saving as a PNG or JPG will not hold the links but that’s okay so as long as you have downloaded this as a PDF File already.
Next up you will need to have a plugin to embed the PDF into your blog post. You can click here to see my first attempt at doing this and embedding a PDF into a blog post. I am sure you can ask around for other ideas on what plugin to use for this, but I personally recommend the free Embed Any Document plugin.
12/19/2019 UPDATE: I no longer use the Embed Any Document plugin as it was causing issues with other functions of my blog. If you have another plugin that works for this, do leave a comment so I can check it out.
FAQ Clickable PDF with Canva
How do I create a clickable link in Canva?
While logged into Canva, you’ll want to finish your photo design. Then click the link image in the upper right-hand column and type the link you want to hyperlink to your clickable image in Canva.
Can you make a PDF clickable?
Now you will want to save this clickable PDF to your computer. The file type needs to be PDF in order for the links to hold when you download the document. See below the option I use, PDF Standard for the file type. This will save to your computer as a clickable PDF file.
How do I embed a Canva in an email?
On the search bar, type “embed.” Click > Embed. For your design to be embedded, it will be made public. Click Embed to confirm. This means to see on the right-hand side the option to “share” or ‘save publicly, and then you can embed a Canva creation in an email.
Thank you for sharing this. Very timely since I planning to create a new lead magnet for my email list and was wondering if I can create a clickable PDF image. Happy to know it’s very easy to make one and it’s now possible via Canva.
I hope that this helps you have much success with your lead magnet!
I have been using Canva since February 2019. I have yet to discover this feature! Wow! I hope to do it in one of my PDF documents. Cool!
Wow I had no idea that you could do this on canva! I’m going to have a play around with this now.
I never thought I can create a clickable Image with Canva even I use Canva for 2 years. Thank you for sharing your cool thoughts
This is very helpful. I use Canva but didnt know they had a clickable pdf image feature good to know!
I have heard about Canva, but didn’t use. Thanks for stepwise guide. Surely trying this today.
How cool is this! I have a client who has been asking about using Canva Pro and such.
Really great guide! I also love the Canvas templates because I am design-ignorant and they help me create beautiful pins.
Clickable images are so easy to use. They are perfect for the reader because you don’t have to hunt and peck for links.
I’ve never used Canva but this is a great informative post that definitely makes taking on a new program feel much more doable!
Thank you for this helpful blog post , it’s well organized and very clear . i enjoyed it
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Emy bel
https://mylifes-journey.blogspot.com/
I have been trying to figure this out forever Thank you so very much – I read your blog & followed the instructions and now my images can be clickable !!!
I always wondered how you made your clickable images! You provide a great set of instructions to follow.
Oh, this will be a great way to showcase my favorite books. I can’t wait to see if it is as easy as it looks. I sure hope so.
Thank you for this! I am saving this info for later. I love Canva, and I’ve had this on my bucket list to learn how to do!