A NOTE ON CONTENTS PAGES IN CANVA: What You Need to Know About Page Numbering
When creating a yearbook in Canva, adding a contents page can help your readers navigate your publication with ease. However, there’s one important limitation in Canva that we want to make you aware of – and that’s how page numbering works.
Canva Doesn’t Show Left and Right Page Views
Unlike some design software, Canva does not display pages in a “spread” view, meaning it won’t show your pages as left and right pairs like they will appear once printed and bound. Instead, Canva shows all pages in a single vertical list. This can make it tricky when it comes to working out which pages fall on the left and which fall on the right – especially if you’re trying to number pages or create a contents page.
Because of this, we strongly advise our customers not to include page numbers in their designs. Page numbers are something we handle as part of the final print layout, ensuring they line up correctly with the printed format (left and right pages) and binding.
Creating a Contents Page? That’s Up to You!
If you’d like to include a contents page in your project, that’s completely up to you. However, there are a few important things to keep in mind:
✅ If You’ve Used Our Templates
Great choice – we highly recommend using our BLANK YEARBOOK template! DOWNLOAD IT HERE!
If you’ve used them from the start (and have created your COVERS and CONTENTS PAGE using our COVER TEMPLATES), the very first page you created will be PAGE TWO. From there, you can confidently count through your pages and build your contents list based on that sequence.
🚫 If You Haven’t Used Our Templates
No problem – but please be extra careful when numbering your contents page.
If you’ve designed your own layout without using our templates:
Do not count your front cover or inside front cover as part of your contents.
Your first page of actual content (text or introduction) should be considered page TWO as your CONTENTS PAGE is page ONE (see below)
Work through your document carefully from that point on.
NOT Creating a Contents Page?
If you are using our templates and NOT creating a contents page (or using the INSIDE FRONT COVER as your CONTENTS PAGE), the first page you create will be PAGE ONE (see below). This will be the first page you see when you open the book (on the RIGHT HAND side)
Use the Canva GRID VIEW to keep track of your pages.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We Don’t Check Contents Pages
While we do check your file for technical print readiness, we do not check or edit your contents page. That part is up to you. So before you submit your file, please double-check your contents page to make sure:
The page numbers align with your design,
You’ve counted pages correctly (starting from your first content page),
And you haven’t accidentally included your cover pages in the count.
Final Tip
If in doubt, leave the page numbers out of your contents page altogether, or simply list section titles (e.g. “Sports”, “Class Photos”, “Staff”) without numbers. This keeps things clean and avoids confusion – and we’re always happy to help with final layout adjustments to make everything come together beautifully.
Have questions or need help using our templates? Just reach out – we’re here to help!
