GabrielSoft - Create custom graphics with Canva

The Homepage Feature Region is a great way to showcase important information on your homepage and works best with a high-quality original image in combination with the built-in title, caption, and call-to-action features. When working with a "designed" image, where text and other elements are combined to construct a graphic, the Homepage Feature Region's size restrictions can result in text or other important parts of the image getting cut off. A great, free tool that will help you solve this issue is Canva.com.

PRO TIP: Unless you need to feature multiple images in a rotation, you should opt for the Headline Section instead of the Homepage Feature Region! This section type can be used on any Sections-compatible theme to add a static image, complete with complementary title, caption, and call-to-action buttons.
1

Head to Canva.com to sign up for free

2

Create your design

Once you are logged in, click the Create a Design button, and choose the Custom Size option at the bottom of the menu.

3

Enter your width and height values

Here, you can enter the recommended width and height values for your particular feature region.

Not sure what size to use? Check your Feature Region settings for the recommended image dimensions, or reference this list of feature region dimensions.
4

Add Ruler Guides

Set Ruler Guides to ensure you stay within the center 1000px (width) of your image, If you are using a Full Feature Region size, you should also keep to the middle 80% (height) of your image. To turn on the Ruler and Guides, click on the File tab at the top of your Canva page.

When your rulers appear (top and left of page), click and drag from the rulers onto your design to add guides. Here is a blank design (1920px by 480px) after adding the guides:

Some simple math: To figure out where to place the guides so that they will outline the middle 1000px, subtract 1000 from the recommended width of your image, then divide that number by two. So for a 1920px image, I should place vertical guides at the 460px mark and the 1460px mark.
5

Start designing!

You can add photos, text, and even select from templates to use as a starting point from Canva's menu on the left. These will all use the dimensions you've selected, ensuring it will fit nicely in your Feature Region. Be sure to keep any essential information, like text, within that middle rectangle outlined by your guides!

I used a Canva template and replaced the text with a friendly reminder :)

6

Download your design

Unless you add Premium elements to your design (marked with a crown symbol when browsing the left-hand menu), there's no cost to download your design.

Click the Download button at the top right of your screen, and choose to download your image as a PNG or JPG, in order to use the image on your GabrielSoft website.