Intermediate
40 mins
Teacher/Student led
+70 XP

Editing Images with Canva, Part 1: Crop, Resize and Adjust

Students edit a digital image in Canva, a free browser design tool, learning what each edit does to how the image reads. They crop to change what the viewer's eye lands on, resize for where it will be seen, apply a filter, adjust brightness and contrast, stack elements as layers, and export. The lesson closes on the ethics of the crop: deciding what a viewer never sees is a real editorial choice.

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    1 - Start ~4 mins

    Look at Version 1 first. Who is on the beach, and is it busy? Then look at Version 2.

    Version 1Version 2
    Two surfers in wetsuits carry one yellow surfboard towards the sea, alone on a wide, empty beachThe whole photo: the two surfers are part of a surf class of about fifteen young people in wetsuits, walking to the sea with their boards while two adults push a trolley of boards

    Photo: "Strandhill, County Sligo, 2016 08" by serrini, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Nothing was added or faked. Version 1 is part of Version 2 with the rest of the class cropped out, and that changes the story.

    Your practice photo

    Open the practice photo, which is Version 2. Then right-click it and choose Save image as.

    2 - The Words Editors Use ~5 mins

    You will meet these words in image editors.

    WordWhat it meansFor example
    PixelsThe tiny squares of colour that a digital picture is made of. More pixels means more detail.The practice photo is 2400 pixels wide and 1280 pixels high.
    ResolutionHow much detail a picture has, which depends on how many pixels it has. More detail makes a bigger file.A tiny part of a photo, stretched to fill a big screen, looks blurry, because it has too few pixels.
    CroppingCutting away the parts of a picture you do not want people to see.Version 1 on the first step is the practice photo cropped down to two surfers.
    LayersThe parts of a design, stacked on top of each other. You can move each one on its own.A heading on a photo is one layer, and the photo under it is another.
    ExportingSaving your design as a picture file you can use outside Canva.Choose JPG for a photo, or PNG for sharp edges or a see-through background.

    3 - Open Canva and Crop an Image ~11 mins

    Canva runs in your web browser. You need a free Canva account, signed up with your school email. If you do not have one yet, tell your teacher now rather than sorting it out alone.

    When you are signed in, follow the steps below to crop the practice photo so it shows what you want it to show.

    4 - Filters, Brightness and Contrast ~8 mins

    A filter changes the mood of an image in one click. Brightness and contrast help when an image is too dark or looks flat and dull.

    Both change how people feel about a picture without changing what is in it.

    5 - Layers, Then Export ~8 mins

    Everything you add to a Canva design sits on its own layer, stacked in the order you added it. That is why a heading can sit on top of a photo and still be moved on its own.

    When you are finished, export it as a picture file, because a design that stays in Canva cannot be used anywhere else.

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