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Please Note - Each of the Content sections are links you can click on to take you to that specific part.
You may be wondering ‘Why do we need to add a header image?’ – especially if you already have a website.
A Picture is Worth 1000 Words:
Our research has shown that profiles that have a header image & are branded to your organisation and the work you do, get longer views on your profile and more click throughs to find out more.
We realise that, for some people, the thought of creating a graphic for your header image may be something that instills dread and for others they can’t wait to get started. Some of you may be lucky enough to have a volunteer or even a dedicated media department that handles all graphics. However just in case, here is a quick guide and a link to some templates to help get you started and also a link to a workshop on creating your header using Canva.
Please Note: This guide is in a different format to others in the Guides Hub as we have based it on a workshop that we did to show how you can use Canva to create your header image. Please see the last section in this guide if you would like to watch the replay.
Adding a header image to your profile gives you an opportunity to share a quick ‘feel’ of your organisation through the use of images, colours, short phrases. There is no right or wrong – the choice is yours.
1 EDAS: Have used one main brand colour in slightly different shades, their logo, a short phase that gives you information about the support they give and a simple graphic
2 Yeovil Diversity Project: Have used their logo, split bands of colour (half and half), a slightly longer descriptive sentence and then some simple shape graphics
3 WayMakers: Have used their logo, a range of shapes in a variety of colours to match their logo, white space in the centre to help their text stand out. They have also used simple straight lines under some of the text
4 Brave Bold Drama: Have used a photo on the left-hand side, and to the right a black background with white text – creating a ‘dramatic’ look and feel to their profile
5 Access Sport: Have used a ‘grid’ to enable them to add a variety of their own images, as well as space for their logo
Please note: if you like this design style, but don’t have your own images, then Canva has a brilliant media library of images that you can safely use
Just in case you didn’t know, you cannot use any random photos or graphics from the internet – this could get you in some legal trouble due to copyright and plagiarism and cost you a lot of money in fines.
Please be careful where you source your images – this is where Canva can help. All the graphics, photos and animations in Canva’s media library are free to use, depending on the type of account that you have with them, Free or Paid.
Please note: If you are a Charity or Non-Profit you can apply for an extended free account – to find out more click here: https://www.canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits/
Canva is an incredibly useful tool for graphics – this is just a quick introduction to get you started.
Please note: These may appear slightly differently on your screen depending on the device (phone, tablet, laptop, etc), or browser that you are using.
1 Select your font (text style)
2 Select the size of your text
3 Select the colour of your text
4 These 3 give you the option(s) to make your text ‘Bold’ – ‘Italic’ – ‘Underlined’
5 Change text style to all UPPERCASE – lowercase – Camel Case
6 Text alignment – Left – Right – Central – Justified
7 Lists – bulleted or numbered
8 Line and letter spacing
9 Effects
10 Annimate
If you have selected a graphic/image, then to the left-hand side of the menu shown above, three new options will appear:
1 Edit image – there are a variety of options that open up when you click here
2 Crop – this option allows you to crop your image
3 Flip – this gives you the option to flip a graphic vertically or horizontally
4 ‘i’ – this gives you information about the graphic and also enables you to save it as a favourite, or see similar images
1 Name of graphic/document – you can change this here
2 Position – this will enable you to do things such as: bring an item to the front, move it to the back or align it on the page
3 Copy Style – similar to ‘Format Painter’ in Microsoft Word and ‘Copy Style’ in Apple Pages
4 Transparency – this enables you to alter the transparency of an image or shape, helping you to create your desired effect
5 Link – add a link (to be honest we haven’t used this)
6 Lock position and content – this is useful if you have very strict brand guidelines as it will enable you to ‘Lock’ aspects of your design in position
7 Share: There are multiple options in this section, including: downloading the image to your computer, sharing with team members or others, giving permissions for others to edit or comment and also sharing graphics directly to other programmes.
1 Design: Here you can find templates and styles for your graphic
2 Elements: Find things like, icons, images, photos, frames, etc – you can have a lot of fun here finding graphics that are safe to use. Please remember that some are free and some may need to be paid for depending on the type of account that you have
Please note: If you are a Charity or Non-Profit you can apply for an extended free account – to find out more click here: https://www.canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits/
3 Uploads: If you have logos, photos of your own, screenshots, etc, you can upload them here – please heed the warning above about graphics and copyright permissions as mistakes can cost a lot of money in fines
4 Text: This allows you to add a text element
5 Projects: Here is where you can find previous graphics that you have made. You can also create a ‘Filing System’ to help make it easier to locate graphics in the future
During the summer of 2022 we had the pleasure of having an amazing Kickstart Trainee, Isla, who has put together some pre-prepared Canva templates for you to use as you would like.
This next section will show you some of the templates and give you some ideas as to how you can change them to suit your organisation. Here is the link to the guide showing all of the templates available – we are adding new ones all of the time:
Canva Header Templates – Free For You to Brand to Your Organisation
You can also watch a replay of a workshop that we ran on creating headers – the link is a little further down the page.
1 Select the template that you want to use
2 Make your changes – click on any of the elements in the template to do things like:
3 Once you are happy with your design and you have renamed it, it is time to download it to your device and the next stage will be uploading it to your profile.
3.1 In the top right had corner select the ‘Share’ button
3.2 Next select the ‘Download’ option – this will open up a new set of options for you
3.3 We recommend downloading as a ‘PNG’. We don’t change any of the other options
3.4 You will now be asked, if you have more than one ‘page’ in your design, if you want to download all of them. You can click on the little down-arrow to the right to see your options and make your choice.
Once you have downloaded your graphic to your device, you are now ready to upload it to your project profile on aDoddle.
1 Go to the Design section in your project profile dashboard
2 Select the image from your device and click upload
3 You have the option to select a main branding colour (please see the design section of the guide for more information)
4 Click Save
You can now view your profile with the updates you have made – Congratulations 🙂
Last Updated: 8th February 2023
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We are committed to making everything we do as accessible as possible, to as many people as possible. Our team always listens to feedback and if it is something that we can do, we will. Sometimes we are able to make changes immediately, at other times it may be a 'bigger' piece of Tech development, or we may need to do a piece of research first and it may take a little longer, and then there will be times when it is something that we can't do and for that we apologise.
Please Note Regarding Grammar & Accessibility:
Feedback from those with different abilities suggests that the use of punctuation can help them with reading and understanding. Therefore, our content and layout may not always be grammatically correct, we are doing this purposefully - working towards making it accessible for all.
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