Young Writers Society

1. Make a free account on Canva, and create a new design.
2. Add text and choose a font (or two). Note: This step and the following one can be switched around
3. Add a background and elements
4. Position everything to be clear and aesthetically pleasing, if possible
5. Download it, upload it to an image hosting site, get the link, and post it wherever you need it

1. Make a free account on Canva, if you haven't already. Click the purple "Create a design" button at the top right, then "Presentation". I use this size for my NaNo, NaPo, and roleplay graphics.
   
   
2. I start with the largest text on the design, which is usually the title of the project or roleplay. For this example, I'll be creating a design for this Squills article! Click on "Text" at the left, then "Add a heading". Type your text.
   
   
3. If you have extra text to add, like a subheading, feel free to use the "Add a subheading" and "Add a little bit of body text" buttons! Here, I'll add a subheading.
   
4. Now, I might either choose elements or fonts to work on first, depending on which one I have a clearer idea for. In this case, I'm not quite sure what font I want yet, so I'll start with elements. You can click on "Elements" at the left and search for elements. I want to make this autumn-themed, so I'll search for "autumn".
   
   
5. I often use a photo for a background, so I'll click on "See all" next to "Photos". I'm on a free account for Canva, so my choices are a bit more limited, but I can usually find good elements after searching for a bit, or find images on Google (you can copy images from online and paste them onto Canva, or upload ones of your own as well).
   
   
6. Sometimes I find multiple photos I'd like to use, so I click on the "+" sign at the bottom and keep them on another slide. I also do this with cool fonts. That way, I can look back at elements and fonts I liked when I need inspiration for future designs.
   
   
7. But wait! The photo's covering the text now! By default, Canva adds new photos to the uppermost layer. To move an element to a different layer, click on the element, then on "Position" at the top. A menu will replace the elements on the left. You can click the appropriate options to move the selected element backwards or forwards through the layers!
   
   
   Here, I'll move it to the back. I'll also resize the image to fill the space by dragging the dots at the corners.
   
   
8. Okay, that's better, but the text is hard to read because it's over a busy part of the background. I'll click on the text and drag to move it. You can also use the arrow keys for smaller adjustments. Since it's on the left side, I'll also left-align the text (by clicking the lines at the top) so it'll line up better with the left edge and look cleaner.
   Note: You could also add a shape behind the text to cover up the busy part of the background. See step 12 for an example of what that could look like.
   
   
9. Time to choose a font! The default is Canva Sans, which is fine for body text, but a little too boring for titles, in my opinion. You can click on a text box, then on the box at the top that says "Canva Sans" to edit the font. For titles, I often click on "Display" to look for slightly fancier, more eye-catching fonts.
   
   
10. The best fonts are readable and match the vibes of your project! For this design, I'm going to look for a warm, elegant font. I like the weight and style of Noto Serif Display Bold, so I'll use that. You can click the downward-pointing arrow next to some fonts to get more options for boldness.
    
    
11. The fonts of subheadings and other text should complement the main font. If you're new to graphic design or in a rush, you can probably choose the same font as the main one, unless it's very ostentatious. If you have a little more time, looking for a slightly less fancy font is often good. I like to check out the fonts under "Corporate" (click the back arrow to get to the main fonts page, then click "Corporate"). But here, I think going with the same font actually looks better. (Do note that much of my experience with graphic design is informal and based on trial and error-- there may be better guides for choosing fonts online.)
    I'll also change the size of the title to be a little bigger (to fill up space near the top of the design) by clicking on the number at the top menu.
    
    
12. I think the text is still a tad bit hard to read, so I'll add a shape behind it. I'm a fan of the shapes with angled sides, so I'll use one with an angle on the right side and drag it over.
    
    
    
    
    To change the color, I'll click on the colored circle at the top. There are some neat gradients Canva has.
    
    
13. I'll add a shape for the subheading too. I generally like to add white or black borders as well because I think it looks better. Since the blue I chose is a little on the darker side, I'll use white for a nice contrast. To get a border, select the element, then click the differently-sized lines at the top and increase the border weight.
    
    
    Clicking the open circle lets you change the border color.
    
    
14. Alright! Almost there! I'm just going to look for some graphics to fill up that space in the bottom left. I'll take some inspiration from the flowers in the image, which look like marigolds (I am not a flower expert, though, so don't take my word for it xD).
    
    
    I'll also add a stylus, which is something I associate with graphic design.
    Now, the green in the flowers stands out since there are no other spots of green in the design. So, I'll change them to blue. (Yes, the physical world doesn't generally work like that... but the designer is all-powerful while in their own design, mwahaha!)
    
    
15. And with that, I'm done! I'll just download the design by clicking "Share" at the top right, then "Download".
    
    
    If you have multiple pages, make sure to select the ones you want to download.
    
    
    I also usually download designs as a PNG, or, if they have animations, as a GIF.
    
    
16. Last step! Upload your design to an image hosting site. I like imgur.com .
    
    
    Once it's uploaded, right click and click "Copy image link". Paste it in the middle of the following bbcode:
    
    

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    [img]link[/img]

    
    
    Like this:
    
    
    
    

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    [img]https://i.imgur.com/6MsDQOZ.png[/img]

    
    
    Ta-da! Enjoy your shiny new graphic :3
    
    Bonus: If you'd like for people to be able to click your image and be directed to another place, like your NaPo forum, you can wrap that code in a [url] tag! Here's how that works:
    
    

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    [url=url][img]image link[/img][/url]

    
    
    I'll make the image link to the Squills forum as an example:
    
    
    
    

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    [url=https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/viewforum.php?f=387][img]https://i.imgur.com/6MsDQOZ.png[/img][/url]

    
    
    Happy designing!!

NadyaStatham wrote:Two truths and a lie peeps! (This is from my stories and the last Camp NaNo of mine)

1. In the first draft of "Detective Gonzales" the detective was a guy named James Clark.

2. None of my characters are actually bald. ^^

3. I've been working on project "MaryAnna" for two months now.