How to Put Text Behind an Image in Canva (Free, Without Pro)

There are two ways to put text behind a subject in Canva, and almost every tutorial online teaches the wrong one first. The familiar method — duplicate the photo, erase the background from the copy, sandwich the text between them — leans on Background Remover, which Canva labels as a Pro feature. The other way is a free app that does the whole thing in about four clicks.

Which route do you actually need?

For most posts and thumbnails the app is the right answer. Reach for the Pro route when you want to treat the background separately from the subject — blurring it behind the text, for instance — because that needs the two layers to exist as real, separate objects in your design.

Method 1: the free Text Layer app

1. 1Open Canva and start a new design, or open an existing one.
2. 2Go to Apps in the left-hand panel and search for Text Layer.
3. 3Upload your image or pick one already in the design. It has to be a JPEG, JPG, PNG or WEBP under 5 MB.
4. 4Click Separate Layers. The app works out which part of the photo is the subject and splits it from the background.
5. 5Type into the text box and set the colour, font and size. Drag the text on the preview until it sits where you want it — partly hidden behind the subject is the whole point.
6. 6Click Add to design, then download as PNG or JPG.

Method 2: duplicate and Background Remover (Pro)

This is the classic version, and it is worth knowing because it gives you two independent layers to style rather than one flattened result.

1. 1Add your photo to the canvas and size it how you want it.
2. 2Copy and paste it so there are two identical copies stacked exactly on top of each other.
3. 3Select the top copy, open Edit, and apply Background Remover. Only the subject is left.
4. 4Add your text. It will land on top of everything.
5. 5Send the text backwards until it sits between the two photo layers — behind the cutout, in front of the original.

Because the untouched photo is still its own layer, you can now blur it, darken it or drop its saturation without touching the subject in front. That separation is the only real reason to prefer this route.

Doing the Pro method without Pro

Background Remover is the only Pro-gated part of method 2. If you cut the subject out somewhere else and bring in a transparent PNG, everything after that works on a free Canva account.

Pixly's text behind image tool will hand you that PNG: drop a photo in, and Download cutout saves the subject with a transparent background, free and without a watermark. Upload that to Canva as your top layer and carry on from step 4. Most tutorials point at remove.bg for this; the difference is that ours runs in your browser, so the photo is not uploaded to anyone.

Where Canva runs out of road

• The 5 MB, JPEG/PNG/WEBP ceiling on the app. No HEIC, which is what an iPhone shoots by default.
• No control over the cutout in the app version — if it clips an ear or a roofline, there is no edge to nudge.
• Automatic separation is tuned for clear, single subjects. Street-level houses, cars and cluttered gardens are much harder than a person against a wall.
• The good background work — Magic Grab, Magic Eraser, Background Remover — is all Pro.

The one-step version

If the finished thing is a single image and you do not need the rest of Canva around it, the layer dance is avoidable entirely. Pixly's text behind image tool cuts the subject out the moment you drop a photo in, and you type. Add as many text layers as you like and set each one to sit behind the subject or in front of it. HEIC is fine, there is no 5 MB limit, and export is PNG, JPG or WebP.

Canva or a dedicated tool?

Use Canva when the text-behind bit is one element of a larger design. Use a dedicated tool when it is the whole job.

Making it look deliberate

• Pick a heavy display font. Thin type disappears behind a subject instead of framing it.
• Run the text behind the shoulders or the roofline, not the face or the sky — the overlap is what creates the depth.
• Leave background visible on both sides of the subject, or the word has nowhere to show.
• One or two words. A whole sentence behind a subject is unreadable at thumbnail size.
• Take the text colour from somewhere in the photo so it reads as part of the scene rather than a sticker on top.

For a property listing

The same effect carries a listing graphic: JUST LISTED or SOLD passing behind the roofline reads far better than a caption sitting on top of the photo. If you already build your listing posts in Canva, the Text Layer app fits into that workflow. If you are making the graphic on its own, the one-step tool is fewer moves — and Pixly can turn the finished image into a cinematic clip afterwards.