Everyone has silhouetted shots of their products, or at least you should if you’re in the business of selling product. But your social feeds and websites can look pretty bland if that’s all potential customers ever see. This simple Canva tweak can bring new life to both your still shots and videos alike.

*Use layers of the Glow option on Canva to create lots of looks.*

It’s so simple anyone can do it - and the effects can be remarkable. Take for example a humble shot of a bottle. We created a range of looks using single or layers of Glow to get the looks below.

Follow these instructions to create still images and simple video animations that will add sparkle to your social feeds, and website.

Upload your image to your Canva workspace.
Choose a desired document size. You can start with a square Instagram layout, or a vertical story or TikTok video size.
Remove the background, even if it’s white, using the photo editor (highlight your image and click on “Edit Image” on the upper left).
Search for a background in either Elements, Photos, or Videos. This could be anything from a beach scene to a simple pattern.
Place it on your document and choose “Position” on the upper right. Select “Backward” to set it on the background
Choose “Edit Image” again a choose “Shadows”. From there you’ll see the “Glow” option. Click on “Glow”.
The options for Glow should open, if not double click it.
Adjust the size to your desired Glow - we usually use something around 17 - 20, depending on the look we’re trying to create.
Set Transparency to 100.
Set Blur to about a 3.
Choose White or any color you desire.
Click Apply when you’re done. (Note you don’t have the option to revert back to the original image once you’ve clicked apply. If you’re not happy you’ll have to start all over again).
After you’ve completed the first layer of Glow, you can add another layer for extra pop. Pick a bright color to give your image a pop culture feel, or just add a simple shadow for dimension. If you like the simple paper-doll look of a simple white cut-out stop at one layer.

For a more dramatic look, use Drop Shadow to Create a 3-D look as we’ve done below:

Follow steps 1 through 5 above, then click Edit Photo.

Choose Shadows, then Drop Shadow from the menu.
Click to open the Drop Shadow controls. Choose from the position options, and set the offset, transparency, and color from the available options. Deeper Offset will create more dramatic effects. Alternating between black and a dark grey will create interesting dimension depending on your background image.

These fun options aren’t limited to mere product shots - you can restyle stock shots of people to get a unique look as well. Employ the same methods described above. Here are some examples: