Make A Blog Banner With Picmonkey Graphics

I absolutely love Picmonkey. When Picnik went away, I was so sad. But Picmonkey far exceeds Picnik! I do pay for the premium version, which I feel is far worth it. I think it's around $30 per year. I make all my headers on Picmonkey, as well as edit all my photos.

You are going to be working primarily with Overlays and Text. I am basing this tutorial on the banner I have my Cozy Little House blog right now.

The newest feature for Picmonkey is Design. You will see it as soon as you arrive on Picmonkey. Click on Design and it will show you sizes. I usually choose Facebook, simply because it's the closest size to what I'm getting ready to do.

Then after you click on that, it will take you to Canvas on the left. It will show you white, and you probably want white, so click that.

Then you're going all the way down the row to Resize.

When you go to Resize, uncheck the box that has Keep Proportions. You do not want that right now.

Now size your banner however you want it in width. I usually go 1000 or 1100. My last one is 1100. You don't need to worry with the other size. I think it's around 300. You'll probably end up cropping anyway.

So then you will have a long banner box. You are going to build your banner on this. And then if you have a white background on your blog, it will blend in seamlessly.

First I go to T for Text. I am going to make mine with turquoise blue in the center (little) and red for Cozy and House. So I am going to start with the middle word, little. I will size my text box to 64. Then I am going up to the right where it has your box with info in it, and you will see the six space Hex Code. Probably what you will see is this: #000000. That is black. I keep a HTML color picker site on my bookmarks. And I have the colors I primarily use in a notebook next to where I work.

So I erase the #000000, and put in the number I want. Then I put my cursor on the box, type "little" into it, and move it up to the middle at the top. Just guest-o-mate.

Then I do the same thing with "Cozy" in red. The red hex code I prefer is #CE0000. I do both Cozy and House in the size I want, which is 64 or sometimes I go up one, and I take my cursor and move them up next to either side of "little."

Now it's time for Overlays. I am going to use a graphic I bought on Etsy. It is a mason jar that I paid about $5 for. I downloaded it and have it waiting on my Desk Top.

So I go all the way to the top on the left where you are choosing what to do, and it has a place to choose my own Overlay. I check computer, and it takes me to my Desk Top where I retrieve the mason jar.

Now the mason jar is automatically on my page. I move it about where I want it with my cursor. As long as there is a box around your item, you can move it. If the box goes away, then click on the item and the box should come bacvk.

Then I want a mason jar on the other side of my blog title, so I repeat what I just did. Okay, I'm done with the graphics that aren't on Picmonkey.

Next I want some daisies. Go down the Overlap options until you see Daisies. First I want the red daisy Picmonkey already has in the shade I desire. I put that one in the middle of the lip at the top of my mason jar. I then choose the gold ones I want, but I use different hex codes because the gold is a little too orange for my taste. And of course I have regular hex codes for my primary colors I use, so I look to my notebook for the numbers.

I size the daisies up or down to make them larger or smaller. Then I situate all my daisies with my cursor to the top of my mason jar.

Then I'm going to add some birds. The birds I want are in chick 'n eggs. I click on the bird I want and it pops on my page. I take the cursor and put it where I want it. But I don't like the blue of the bird. I want another blue. So I look at my hex code guide and choose another six digit code and put it where the other blue hex code was.

I continue. I add some branches and then some pine cones. I have to size them much smaller. You can take your cursor now and move the birds around where you want them.

To finish, I want something in the middle to tie the two components together, so I go to ribbon. I choose the one you see on my blog, but it is much bigger than what you see in Overlays. I change the hex codes for it and make the ribbon different colors.

The biggest challenge about this is getting accustomed to how everything works. Then it is quick and easy to make yourself a new banner. And you won't need a designer to create it for you with the Picmonkey tools at your disposal.

Let me know if you try something and it doesn't work. I will try to help you.

That's it!

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