The download-and-upload loop
The usual Canva workflow ends in a downloads folder: export the design, upload it to a scheduler or to Instagram, paste the caption from Notion, set the time, and do it again when the client asks for one more change. Canva’s own Content Planner removes the upload, but then the schedule lives in Canva, away from your Notion calendar.
The design is in Canva and the plan is in Notion. Nothing should have to pass through your downloads folder.
Setting it up
- Start free at getninecast.com/start and embed the planner in your Notion page with /embed.
- Connect your Notion content database and your social accounts.
- Connect Canva once, from Connect social accounts, where it sits with your other accounts.
- In each row’s media column, choose Embed link and paste the Canva design’s link. The design appears in the grid.
- Give the row a date and turn on Auto-post.
Planning in Airtable? Put the Canva link in the base’s Canva field instead; everything else is the same. The rest of the setup is in scheduling Instagram posts from Notion.
Questions that follow
How do I post my Canva designs to Instagram from a Notion content calendar?
Paste the Canva design’s link into the row’s media column and connect Canva once in Ninecast. When the row’s date arrives, the design is exported and posted with the row’s caption, to Instagram and every other platform you connect. A multi-page design posts as a carousel. Nothing is downloaded or uploaded by hand.
What if I edit the design after scheduling it?
The design is checked again at most every ten minutes and re-exported when it changes, so the post uses your latest version.
Can I see the Canva design in my Instagram grid preview?
Yes. The design shows in the Ninecast grid inside your Notion page as soon as the link is in the row.
Do I still need Canva’s own Content Planner?
Not for this. Canva’s planner schedules from inside Canva; this schedules from your Notion calendar, where the caption and date already live.
Which Canva designs work?
Image designs, exported as high-quality JPG, one image per page. For a video, export it from Canva and put the file in the row.
How much does it cost?
The grid preview is free, forever. Publishing is on Creator, $15 a month or $12 a month billed yearly, for 3 planners — and the free plan includes 2 posts so you can see it work first.
Try it on your own calendar
30 days free. No card, no password, no account. The guide walks through setup in ten minutes.
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