We keep on hearing about the terms like visual content, infographic, imagery content etc. But what does each one of them mean? Is it a text content on some image? Or is it just an image clicked by a professional camera? Or both?

Text content remains an integral part of a content strategy. But to make it effective there should be an ‘x-factor’ attached to it. After all, spices are loved by audience and in most cases, visual content serves to be the one.

What is Visual Content?

As the term explains, visual content is ‘visual+content’. It is simply a piece of information disseminated to the audience in visual form. It can either be a pictorial form of content or a video content that blends visuals and information for better engagement prospects.

According to various digital marketers, content experts and bloggers, visual content often helps in building successful marketing strategies. It attracts target audience easily and have a long lasting impact on their mind.

Infographic Is Not The Only Visual Content!

One of the popular kinds of visual content is infographic. However, it’s just one of its kind. Visual content covers various kinds of content, including imagery content. To name a few, below are some of its forms:

• Video blogs which are commonly known as Vlogs. Videos on YouTube is the clear example of these kinds of content.
• Infographic is best content style used for sharing information in an innovative manner. It helps in disseminating the information with brevity.
• Banner is also termed as visual content. It gives first impression of the web page and develops a perception about the same.
• Meme is often considered to be an image comprising of humorous captions. It is one of the best sources of sharing an information with a wit.
• Presentation is used by professionals for various purposes. It can be used to showcase products, share company’s information, or a marketing plan/strategy.

Steps To Use Canva For Creating Imagery Content

Learning imagery content is the first step towards visual content creation. These kinds of content cover banner, infographic, meme, etc. So, today we will learn how to create imagery content using Canva. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Sign Up/Login

To start with Canva, you need to sign up using either of the below options.

However, if you have already signed up then just log in with your username/email id and password in the given fields (shown below).

Do not worry! It is a free sign up. 🙂

Step 2: Creating designs

Once you have logged in, you can start creating designs. Just click on either ‘Create Design’ button given on the left panel of the dashboard or click on ‘More’ button, given on the right-hand side.

See the below image for better understanding. Both of them are highlighted with red strokes.

Step 3: Exploring designs

After clicking on any of the above options, this tool will suggest you with some great design patterns. These designs will help you creating designs in right image sizes. For example, if you are willing to create a Facebook cover picture then you can simply choose Facebook cover design. It will open a design board for you with a right size for the same.

The patterns provided by Canva can be seen in 4 screenshots below.

You can also choose to create an image of your choice. Click on ‘Use custom dimensions’ and the boxes asking for height and width of the image will appear on your screen (screenshot below). Just provide desired sizes and rest will be taken care by Canva.

Step 4: Start creating awesomeness

Once you have decided about the design pattern/sizes, you can simply start creating awesomeness. Just click on one of the design patterns and it will open another tab in the same browser (as shown below).

As you can see in the above screenshot, there are 6 buttons on the left panel. These are search, layouts, elements, text, background, and uploads. Let’s take a look on each one of them closely.

Search

This field will help you search your perfect image from Canva library. Just click on the button, write down what you are looking for, and it will give you a plenty of images (both paid and free) to choose. (Screenshot below)

Now, you can simply click on any of these images and it will be shown on the design board like below.

Layout

This section will provide you with some outstanding layouts. Canva offers both free as well as paid layouts to its users. You can choose anyone of them, make modifications, and add a special pinch of your style.

For example, the layouts highlighted with red stroke in the below image are free while the other two are paid layouts.

You can choose them by simply clicking on it. It will appear on the design board as shown below.

The chosen image is further divided into various editable sections like background image, texts, their fonts and colors etc. Just click on them to use editing options of the same. (Screenshot below)

Elements

As you can see in the below image, Canva offers various elements like free photos, grids, frames, charts, shapes etc. These elements simplifies the complete process of designing and helps to enhance the creativity. All you need to do is click and choose.

Text

Canva provides you with various options of text patterns, fonts, and sizes. You can choose your favorite text design by clicking on the text button given on your left. They are a bundle of free as well as paid designs. (Screenshot below)

Background

Using the background button on your left, you can chose a background pattern or solid color as a base of your design. They are again a mix of free as well as paid patterns. (Screenshot below)

Uploads

Canva doesn’t restricts you to its layouts and patterns. You can upload your own images and let the creativity flow. These images can be uploaded using your Facebook account or directly through your system. (Screenshot below)

Step 5: Editing

Editing in Canva is simple. As an example, let’s take a look how you can edit the uploaded images using this tool. You can do similar editing with the layouts of Canva. So, let’s get going!

I uploaded an image using upload button. By just a single click on the image, I could bring it on my design board.

As you can see below, I have resized it by dragging from its corners and used ‘DRAMA’ filter in it.

I blurred it a bit by dragging its slider towards my right.

You can also flip, link or add some transparency to the image using the drop down button, as shown below.  However, in this creation, I chose not to use any of these editing options.

Now, I chose mid-size text given on the left side of the panel.

Depending on my image background shade, I chose my font color to be white, font theme to be special elite and increased the font size as shown below.

I further moved it to the required position. Also, as you can see in the below image, my design is currently named as ‘march 25, 2016’. This name is editable, however, I choose to keep it the same for this creation.

There is also a download button that allows you to download your creation in JPG/PNG/PDF formats. Here, I chose the PNG option.

Final Product

So, this is the final design created using Canva. Likewise, you can easily create numerous imagery content like infographic, banner, social media post, etc.

So, cmon people! Bring out your creativity. Use Canva for quick and easy image editing, creating infographic and all your marketing material. Start disseminating the information in the most appealing and innovative manner.

Please share your opinions, queries etc. through the comment box below.

I would love to take them all. 🙂