Saturday, January 2, 2016

How to Create a Blog Header for Free

Hello friendly friends! 

Firstly, I want to start this post off by saying 1) I am NOT a graphic designer and 2) I like answering people's questions because I'm all nice like that. 

One of my favorite bloggy friends - Christi Conley of Art Without Anxiety emailed me and asked me how I made my blog header. I figured if she had that question, maybe other people would, too! Thus, a tutorial was born! 


how_to_create_a_blog_header_free_tutorial

I'm all about doing things for free and so everything I show you today is at no cost (unless you want to pay for a special graphic). Also, please note that everything that I'm showing you pertains to BLOGGER'S platform. I'm not sure how Wordpress would.


Step 1 - Identify the width of your blog 


finding_the_width_of_your_blogger_blog



In order to make sure your blog header stretches all the way across your blog, you have to know how wide it is. 
In order to figure this out:
> Go to blogger Dashboard
> Go to template
> Hit customize
> Hit adjust widths
> Find the number that is next to "Entire blog" and write it down

Step 2 - Go to Picmonkey


There are many free online graphic-making programs. I like to use Picmonkey because it's super easy and you don't even need a subscription or log-in information. Anonymity. Nice!
Canva.com is also a good online program, but it does require log-in information. 

Designing_a_blog_header_with_Picmonkey

To start the process:
> Hover your mouse over "Design"
> Click custom

Remember that number you wrote down earlier, this is the part where you use it! Type that number into the right-hand box and choose a number, any number for the left-hand box. I'd suggest less than half the size of whatever the number is.

For this tutorial, my blog width is 1220 and the header I created for the tutorial is 550. My REAL blog header (at the top of the page) is 250 because I wanted it to be thinner. 


Step 3 - Start Designing!



I'm going to show you several of the different tools on Picmonkey you can use. 

Tool - Themes


making_a_blog_header_with_pictures

For any beginner, this is the way to go. Each theme will have graphics, backgrounds, and font packages that work well together. So all of the guess work is taken out of it for you! I got this bird and a corner flourish from the Winterland Theme. 

Tool - Add Text


adding_text_to_a_blog_header

Easy, peasy, rice and cheesy - Just figure out which text you want, click on it, then click add text. A font box will pop right up and you can just type right into it, then resize and reposition. The texts I used are "Edo" and "Special Elite".

Tool - Borders


How_to_create_a_blog_header

You can play around with borders. Different shapes and colors are available. This one is the Drop Shadow border.

Tool - Textures


Textures... well I like to think of them more as backgrounds. There's metal, bricks, and - in this case - crumpled paper.

Tool - Overlay


making_graphics_for_your_blog

Overlays are just graphics, really. There are many different free graphics to choose from. I really like the "Postal" themed graphics for vintagey stuff. 

It should also be noted, that if you have a graphic of your own, or a picture that you've taken you can click on the Overlay Tool and then Click "Your Own" right up top and upload it. 


Step 4 - Save it and Upload it



Once you're satisfied with your handiwork:
> Go back to Blogger Dashboard
> Click on Layout
> Click edit next to "header"



A pop-up box will... well... pop up. Click on "Image from your computer" then tap the "choose file". Upload your image, hit save, and VOILA! You're done. 

That's it. Hope you all like my tutorial and if anyone has any questions, just let me know! 

Also - if you ever have any tutorials you'd like me to write up, just let me know that, too! 

24 comments:

  1. Awesome tutorial Becca. Thank you for sharing. Pinning it
    Cheers
    Dr Sonia

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  2. Must investigate Pic Monkey. HYN :)

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  3. Thanks Becca, just changed the header on my blog as per your tutorial !! see here http://kalasirjana.blogspot.in/....thanks again !!

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  4. You make it sound easy!! Great tutorial. Thank you:):)

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  5. Thanks Becca - as soon as I get home I'm going to give this a try - and happy 2016

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  6. This is such a fabulous tutorial! THANK YOU TONS :)

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  7. Thanks so much for this tutorial Becca! I may have to give this a try! Have a great week!

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  8. Thank you so much for this tutorial! I've been wanting to do something different with my blog title. This should help a lot!

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  9. You know, don't you, you're an angel and a fount of knowledge. Thanks so much for this.

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  10. Thank you Becca!! I love your tutorial. I am going to have to give this a whirl!!

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  11. Thanks Becca! I was wanting to do a new blog header and you made it easy!

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  12. Nice tutorial! Always love pictures with explanations.

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  13. Thanks for this, Becca! I think I could manage to do this!!! :D

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  14. P.S. How 'bout a follow-up on a customized background, too? ;)

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  15. Thank you so much, Becca - I've bookmarked this!

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  16. You're a sweetie to do this, Becca--thank you! After I retire I want to see if I can do something different for my blog--love your header!

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  17. Wow..SO nice of you to share it Becca !

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  18. I just have to first, wish you a Happy New Year and second, thank you for taking the time to do this FREE tutorial which was well-written and easy to understand. There are so many ways we bloggers can help each other and share more than just our cards, but not everyone is as forthcoming, so I want you to know I appreciate you!! I don't plan to redo my header as of yet, but I am a beginner on using Pic Monkey so I may be back with questions on using it when they arise. Mwah! Hugs, Darnell

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  19. Wow...Thanks much for sharing, Becca. Well written post.

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  20. This is awesome! Will be bookmarking this! Thank you!

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  21. Hello Becca, just followed your tutorial and made my own banner thank you so much :)

    Jade

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  22. he he he awesome! Thanks Becca! Chris showed me your tutorial, I followed it and made my own chalkboard header...awesome!! Thanks for sharing (and teaching)
    :)

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  23. Finally got around to play around with my blog header according to your directions! Check it out:
    http://keepintouchcards.blogspot.com/
    Thank you so much for the tutorial!

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