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Post by Ken on Mar 9, 2021 14:46:49 GMT
The first few times I used Canva from Lulu I was presented with several choices of prepared templates.
Now there are none available, has anyone experience similar?
Now after first downloading a template for the current book and then starting Canva I just see a blank canvas but of the correct size.
It seems necessary that after apparently downloading it is necessary to also save it as a local file and then after starting Canva download the template from the saved location into Canva, place it on the canvas and then snap into position to occupy 100% of the blank canvas.
Comments?
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Post by Ken on Mar 10, 2021 11:24:29 GMT
Any thoughts yet?
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Post by ronmiller on Mar 10, 2021 13:12:37 GMT
I presume you may be only talking about using Canva to establish the proper size of a cover: that is, for instance, the proper size for a trade paperback or a mass-market paperback allowing for trim and bleeds. This is all well and good...but I absolutely would not use Canva for anything else.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2021 13:47:43 GMT
A concise roundup of what you can and cannot do with material obtained from and created by Canva is available HEREIt seems that there are 5 Licence Agreements in total that can come into play depending on what you do, each having certain restrictions and conditions. The first question posed on the linked webpage - "Do I own the graphics I create on Canva?" has the answer “It’s complicated. Very.” so if you intend to use Canva you should be fully aware of what rights you have in the use of the created product.
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Post by Ken on Mar 10, 2021 15:10:03 GMT
I presume you may be only talking about using Canva to establish the proper size of a cover: that is, for instance, the proper size for a trade paperback or a mass-market paperback allowing for trim and bleeds. This is all well and good...but I absolutely would not use Canva for anything else. No, that is not what I was talking about. The product, through Lulu seems inconsistent. The first time I tried to use it I was presented with with several predesigned templates all sized for my book size having first chosen the first step of download Lulu book template. Later the the previous sample templates no longer showed but the canvas was the correct dimensions for the book. Interestingly it appears that whichever of the three cover design options one chooses Lulu now presents the proper size dimensions. For me the whole point of this exercise was to give Canva a thorough test to see how easy, good, bad or otherwise it was compared to other method of designing a cover for any book. After many hours effort involving several different designs and cover sizes I can find little to recommend it’s use to anyone especially newcomers or those with a lack of graphical design experience. I found it to be quite fiddly to use, many of the tools are not self intuitive nor consistent with those found in May other design programs. Canva seems to use multiple layers for various elements but again these are not intuitive nor obvious. My normal design process for covers is using the well established method with InDesign for the layout, placing of text and graphics and Photoshop for the original graphical design. The foray with Canva was interesting but nothing else. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2021 16:39:35 GMT
Thanks all, I was thinking of using canva with Lulu but not now. I still haven't finished my book in the "Stolen" series, so i've got a little while to decide who to go with.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Mar 10, 2021 16:52:38 GMT
I presume you may be only talking about using Canva to establish the proper size of a cover: that is, for instance, the proper size for a trade paperback or a mass-market paperback allowing for trim and bleeds. This is all well and good...but I absolutely would not use Canva for anything else. No, that is not what I was talking about. The product, through Lulu seems inconsistent. The first time I tried to use it I was presented with with several predesigned templates all sized for my book size having first chosen the first step of download Lulu book template. Later the the previous sample templates no longer showed but the canvas was the correct dimensions for the book. Interestingly it appears that whichever of the three cover design options one chooses Lulu now presents the proper size dimensions. For me the whole point of this exercise was to give Canva a thorough test to see how easy, good, bad or otherwise it was compared to other method of designing a cover for any book. After many hours effort involving several different designs and cover sizes I can find little to recommend it’s use to anyone especially newcomers or those with a lack of graphical design experience. I found it to be quite fiddly to use, many of the tools are not self intuitive nor consistent with those found in May other design programs. Canva seems to use multiple layers for various elements but again these are not intuitive nor obvious. My normal design process for covers is using the well established method with InDesign for the layout, placing of text and graphics and Photoshop for the original graphical design. The foray with Canva was interesting but nothing else. A good summation on the usefulness of the tool, thank you. |
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Post by Ken on Mar 11, 2021 8:30:15 GMT
Thank you Cameron.
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Post by thunderguy on Mar 15, 2021 16:00:52 GMT
The first few times I used Canva from Lulu I was presented with several choices of prepared templates. Now there are none available, has anyone experience similar? Now after first downloading a template for the current book and then starting Canva I just see a blank canvas but of the correct size. It seems necessary that after apparently downloading it is necessary to also save it as a local file and then after starting Canva download the template from the saved location into Canva, place it on the canvas and then snap into position to occupy 100% of the blank canvas. Comments? I'm not familiar with Canva but have spent many years with Photoshop, so I just upload my book, then use the template dimensions provided and create my cover from those. You don't need to download the template, you can just set up a Photoshop document from the dimensions provided after uploading your document. But not everyone has Photoshop right? Try Photopea.com. It works very similarly to Photoshop, and it's free. A small ad runs down the right of the screen, but toggle full screen with F11 and you should have plenty of room to work. I'm sure some may have negative things to say about it - there's always ONE, right? But better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Happy publishing!
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Post by Ken on Mar 15, 2021 16:14:05 GMT
This thread was only about Canva.
Other ways of producing a cover are fully discussed in another thread,
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Post by thunderguy on Mar 15, 2021 16:33:20 GMT
This thread was only about Canva. Other ways of producing a cover are fully discussed in another thread, Was only trying to offer help. Sorry, won't happen again.  |
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Mar 15, 2021 16:41:49 GMT
Since Photoshop and InDesign were mentioned earlier as being normally used as opposed to Canva, Photopea being mentioned as another alternative sounds good since I'd never heard of it before.
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Post by JesusNinja on Mar 15, 2021 21:29:09 GMT
This thread was only about Canva. Other ways of producing a cover are fully discussed in another thread, Was only trying to offer help. Sorry, won't happen again. Don't be sorry. You're advice is as good as anyone else's. Sometimes all it takes is one word to help someone understand. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2021 4:36:10 GMT
This thread was only about Canva. Other ways of producing a cover are fully discussed in another thread, You're doing it again Ken. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2021 8:00:22 GMT
This thread was only about Canva. Other ways of producing a cover are fully discussed in another thread, You're doing it again Ken. Larika 😙, you fearless woman. |
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