Branding #1 - How to customize your images?

Branding #1 - How to customize your images?

My favourite - canva.com

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3 min read

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Are you sharing content digitally on the world wide web? If so, what do you do to leave your brand on your images? This blog is for those who asked me how I design my custom images.

Often we spend so much time on the words and the message we want to convey online that we simply neglect the images that are worth a thousand words. For me, my father, Late Nannaka Srinivasa Rao was an amazing artist who visualized designs in his batik prints. I think I got my artistic/creative flair from him but I hardly find time to do the drawing or painting these days. So, what do I do - I use my blog images as a medium to leave that creative mark😊. And, let's not forget it is adding to my personal branding as well. Whatever your reasons may be, it is time that you leave your personal mark on those images.

Tada! - CANVA

Yes, Canva is my go-to tool for customizing images. It is a very popular and easy-to-use graphic design platform with lots of options/features to design and customize your images.

The first step is to sign-up with Canva using this link.

Once you are signed in, you will be directed to a home page. This is more like a dashboard that has access to all the designs. From here, you can pick a design mode you are after. This can be a simple social media image, presentation, video file, or a marketing flyer. You will notice all these designs are preset with the canvas sizes, thereby saving you loads of time from researching the size specifications for a particular social media post.

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You can also go with your custom size by clicking on the custom size button. When clicked, you will be prompted to specify the width and height measurements.

Templates

One of the awesome features of this design platform is the huge collection of free templates that can be used as they are with little to no changes. You will find a template for every occasion and purpose here. You can use them to get inspired or create your own by simply removing all the elements.

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Hands-on

It's time to grab your keyboard and mouse tightly! I have decided to create a cover for my Etsy store.

Tip πŸ‘- Now, the first thing I do to save some time is use the search bar on the top. You can use it to search for anything in Canva. So, here I searched for an Etsy cover and I got a suggestion with Etsy Shop Cover. Clicking on it will take you to a page with all the templates for Etsy shop covers. You can use one of the free templates or click on 'Create a blank Etsy Shop Cover'. I chose the blank option.

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Once you have your blank image opened in editing mode, you will have the options to add a different background, elements, text, animation and also add your own logo using the upload option as I do with all my images.

You will notice that every feature has both free and pro options and it is easy to search for features with specific settings by using the filter option:

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You can easily make do with the free elements but I found most of the pro elements are usually a dollar or less. You can also get credits to use pro elements by referring your friends. It's a win-win because you both will receive a credit after their first design creation.

Now, with the use of just the free elements, I have designed the below cover for my store:

Etsy Store Cover.png

What do you think - does it stand out? Do you have your own favourite tool for customizing images - don't forget to add your thoughts in the comments.

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