[intro] Canva is a fantastic platform for creating design images with text for your social media profiles to advertise your EKM online shop. [/intro]

[summary]

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Canva is a free platform where you can create custom images using your own photos, stock images and add text. If you don’t have a graphics program on your own computer, Canva is a great way to learn how to create your own graphics for your EKM online shop. You can also use any of Canva’s pre-sized templates too, which is really useful for when you’re creating cover images for your social media accounts, such as Twitter or a Facebook Page. All of the images you create with Canva are stored within your account, so you can access these and work on them anywhere.

Opening a Canva account

1. To open a Canva account, click here.
2. You’ll then need complete the online form. Select Small Business:

3. You can sign up with an email address or an existing Gmail. Make your choice:

4. Click the most appropriate button to represent why you’re using Canva. I chose E-Commerce:

5. You’ll then see a screen where you can invite your work colleagues via their email addresses to access your account and any images you create. If there’s just yourself working on your EKM online shop, click Skip Inviting Team Members:

6. Canva will then ask you what you want to create first and gives you a summary of some of the kinds of the images that you can create. For now, just click Play With Canva:

7. Canva will then take you to your dashboard screen, but everything will be blurred out until you have watched the demo. It IS worth doing this as you’ll quickly get a good idea of how Canva works and how you can manipulate images. The demo takes around 30 seconds. Click Show Me How It’s Done:

Creating your own custom sized image

8. When the demo has finished, you can create your own image. Click the Canva logo in the top left hand corner:

9. Click Use Custom Dimensions in the top right-hand corner:

10. Enter the width and height you require in the fields provided before clicking the green Design button:

11. The Layouts menu will open by default. Select a Layout from the menu to the left-hand side of the screen for your image. You can use the scroll bar to see more layouts too. Don’t forget, if you are creating a design image to promote a specific product, category or offer on your EKM online shop, you would be best to keep your Layout simple. Click a Layout to apply it to the canvas:

12. When you have selected your Layout, select the Elements tab on the far left-hand side:

13. Here you can choose from thousands of different elements to add onto your canvas, including frames, charts and icons. It’s a good idea to start with an image - to find a royalty free image, simply search for it using the search field provided:

14. The results of your image search will look like this. You can use any free image, and be aware some images must be paid for or only can be accessed by upgrading your Canva account:

15. When you see an image you like, simply drag it onto your canvas and drag it into the right size and position.

[tips] It’s a good idea to play about with the different elements and Backgrounds available to give you an idea of what is possible to add to your Design Images. [/tips]

16. When you are happy with the appearance of your canvas, add some text by clicking the Text tab:

17. Clicking a specific text style will add it to your canvas. If you add more than one version, simply click the Undo button on the top left of the screen. You can make the text element bigger by dragging it out and highlighting the text allows you to change the colour. 

Downloading Your Image from Canva

18. When you have completed your image, click the Download button on the top right:

19. Click the green Download button:

20. You’ll then see a download message:

21. Your image will then be downloaded into the Downloads file of your computer. If you want to add it to your EKM online shop, you will need to upload it into the Design Images area of your File Manager before you can assign it to display in a specific element.

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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Ecommerce Expert or the Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions Board. If you have a non-account specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in EKM Community. If you need some inspiration for your EKM online shop, listen to our podcast on iTunes and Spotify.[/contact]