What is DzynSpace?

DzynSpace is a New Zealand-based online platform designed to help small businesses, freelancers and other users create their own marketing content.

The obvious comparison is Canva, because DzynSpace includes an online design editor and a large collection of templates. But there is considerably more being built around it.

As well as the design editor, DzynSpace includes video editing, AI tools, brand asset storage, print-ready designs and access to freelancers. Its Business plan also includes CRM, email marketing and social scheduling.

For a small business, the idea of having more of these marketing functions available in one place is interesting.

My first test: creating a Facebook post

I wanted this to be a genuine first-use test, so before recording the video I hadn’t watched the DzynSpace training material or learnt how the design editor worked.

I started by looking through the available templates.

There are templates for Facebook and Instagram posts, Facebook covers and ads, Pinterest, LinkedIn, email signatures and plenty of other digital uses. There are also templates for physical marketing material including business cards, posters, flyers, invitations, menus, signage and newsletters.

I chose a Facebook post template.

My current project happened to be related to vegetable gardening, but the template contained a photograph of flowers. Rather than searching for another photograph, I tried the AI image editing tool.

I asked it to change the image to a colourful old vegetable garden with some flowers such as roses.

About 23 seconds later, I had my new image.  And I liked it.

From there I changed the wording, repositioned some of the elements and downloaded the finished graphic as a PNG.

That was my first DzynSpace design finished.

Then I tried creating something for print

The next thing that caught my attention was the ability to create print-ready material.

I chose a business card template and started changing it.

This time I uploaded my own photograph and used it to replace the image supplied with the template. I uploaded another graphic, changed the name and other text, removed information I didn’t need and changed one of the colours.

There were some nice little touches that I noticed while doing this. Alignment guides appeared when I moved elements around, I could select several elements and move them together, and Ctrl+Z rescued me when I accidentally deleted something I hadn’t intended to delete.

None of these is revolutionary on its own. What mattered to me was that I was able to work most of it out without having been shown how to use the editor.

Once the design was finished, I could download it as a print-ready PDF.

DzynSpace supports print-ready PDFs for appropriate templates, including bleed and CMYK colour handling. That means a design can be created in DzynSpace and supplied to a commercial printer rather than having to recreate the artwork in separate design software.

It’s more than a design editor

My first video only scratches the surface.

DzynSpace currently brings together a design editor, video editor, AI content and image tools, brand management, freelancers and printing. There are also business marketing tools available at the higher membership level, including email marketing, CRM and social scheduling.

The brand tools are particularly relevant for businesses because logos, fonts, colours and other brand elements can be stored in the cloud rather than having staff hunting around for the right version every time they create something.

The Pro plan also allows team members to be added, which makes the platform more interesting for businesses where several people are involved in marketing.

I’ll be looking at some of these other features in future videos.

Is DzynSpace free?

Yes.

At the time of writing, DzynSpace has four membership levels.

The Free account includes limited use of the design editor, free templates, saved designs, a brand toolkit, five downloads per week and 2GB of storage.

The Starter plan adds the full design editor, premium templates, basic AI tools, background removal and resizing, additional downloads and 10GB of storage.

The Pro plan adds the full video editor and AI tools, team members, unlimited downloads and 30GB of storage.

The Business plan adds CRM and email marketing, social scheduling, 150GB of storage, onboarding and some freelancer support.

Pricing and inclusions can change, so I recommend checking the DzynSpace website for the current plans rather than relying on the prices in an older review.

What did I think after my first attempt?

My overriding impression was that it was pretty easy.

There were a couple of moments where I had to hunt for something, and you can see those in the video. I deliberately haven’t edited those moments out because that’s part of the point of this series.

These aren’t intended to replace DzynSpace’s own training and tutorial material. I want to show what happens when an ordinary business user sits down with the software and starts trying things.

I’ll also say when I find something I particularly like, something I think could be better, or something that surprises me.

There are features I haven’t touched yet, so I’m not ready to give DzynSpace a final verdict. But after creating my first social media graphic and having a play with a print design, my initial reaction is positive.

And I particularly like seeing a New Zealand company building an alternative in a market dominated by very large overseas software companies.

Want to try DzynSpace yourself?

You don’t need to buy a paid membership to have a look around. There is a free account available, so you can try the platform and see whether it suits the way you work.