Tips

Extract your files from .zip folders:

You have just retrieved the files from your online space.

Now we have to open them!

Select your .zip folder and right-click on it.

Then select “Extract all” then validate by pressing “Extract”.

Your files will appear in a separate folder that will have the same name as the previous folder. (For Windows, you can check the “Show extracted folders when completed” box to access your files directly.)

You can now open your files!

Reminder: as the products are offered in different formats and/or colors, it is not necessary to carry out an extraction on all the files. Choose the format and/or color that suits you then proceed to an extraction.

Edit your files:

The vast majority of products are sold without text so that you can add your own (Latin alphabet with accents).

To keep the layout of the text and in particular the original fonts, you must open the documents with Chrome or Edge browsers. You can also try to open them with Adobe Reader, however, on some products, the results were not as satisfactory as with the previously mentioned tools.

To open your document, right-click the file, then click “Open with.” Then select the drive you want to use.

Once the document is opened, you will notice a large number of blue areas. These are guides that represent editable text fields. These guides disappear when exported or when printed. You have no obligation to fill in these areas; you can easily leave the fields blank to write your text by hand.

To add your text in the fields, simply click where you want to write! If you want to navigate faster you can use the SHIFT key which will take you directly to the next area.

After making your changes, you can save them by pressing the CTRL+S keys or by doing “Save” or “Save as” in the software menu. If you do not save your changes, the document will be blank again the next time you open it.

You can then export or print your document!

Export or print your documents:

Your documents are now modified (or not), all you have to do is print them or export them (or both!) to be able to use them.

Export

File export allows you to use it digitally or simply to keep a digital copy ready for future printing.

In the menu at the top, select the “Print” icon or field.

Then choose “Save as PDF” from the printer drop-down menu.

Select the pages and desired finishes (colors, scale, etc.) then validate. A dialog window will allow you to indicate the name of the new file and its saving location.

If you want to use your file digitally, all you have to do is import it or open it in your dedicated application on tablet and smartphone or directly on your computer using PDF modification software to be able to fill in your document.

The impression

If you want to use your product in paper format, you have no other choice than to print it. (to keep a copy for later, don’t hesitate to also export your file).

As for export, select the pictogram or the “Print” field in the menu at the top.

Then select your printer from the drop-down menu.

Adjust settings such as color (printing in black & white or color), scale (reduce the scale if you want to create a larger margin around the document), number of copies per page (if you want to obtain a smaller format such as going from A4 to A5, select two prints per page). When all the parameters suit you, simply click on print.

Reminder: it is almost impossible to reproduce the same color on paper and on screen knowing that each printer has a different color rendering. However, if the colors are too different from those on the screen, try printing again by changing the color space directly from your printer settings.

Advanced, edit your files with Canva:

Before starting the explanations regarding the possible modifications on Canva, I would like to clarify that my products are not designed for these particular modifications (unless specifically mentioned). The results can be completely random depending on the documents and your skills on this tool, so I cannot guarantee that your changes will work. I had the opportunity to test certain products for which I had very good results (simple templates without text) while for others, it was much more complicated.

Final reminder, you CANNOT share my templates on Canva, whether they are modified or not. As customers, only you can use the products purchased, they cannot be shared for free or resold. If you wish to show them, particularly through posts on social networks, you are completely free to do so as long as you do not present them as being your own creations.

If you still want to try editing documents with Canva, here are some tips and tricks:

• Export and import pages one by one. In the majority of cases, if the export and import contain more than one page it will not work, the formats will not be respected.
• If you import a file whose text fields have not been previously filled in, you will not necessarily be able to find the font used. However, it can also be interesting if you don’t like the original font, so you can replace it.
• It is quite simple to change the colors. After importing your file, the colors used in the document are visible in the bar at the top (with more or less reliability). Simply select these and replace them to change the design.
• Some texts are considered shapes or images and not characters. Unfortunately, you will not be able to modify them unless you delete and replace them.
• Certain texts are modifiable, however the alignments are no longer respected or not respected, so you will have to rework this.

Advanced, modify your files with other software:

As with the previous point “Edit your files with Canva” my (your) products may be significantly altered if you attempt to edit them with third party software. However, you are completely free to do so as long as you respect the points mentioned above; that is, do not share the products for free or resell them or assign intellectual property to you.

For information, I use the Affinity suite as well as Scribus and Inkscape to create my products. You will therefore be able (to a certain extent) to modify files with these tools. Likewise, the Adobe suite also allows you to edit PDFs, so you can also try using it. Finally, you can try to modify PDFs with more mainstream software, Word and Libre Office. On some of my products, I have seen astonishing results that in no way alter the quality of the original.

Advanced, use SVG files:

For some products, additional SVG files are provided: why and how to use them?

SVG files, unlike JPEG or PNG, expand and shrink without altering, because they are not made up of pixels. So you can add and resize them to your liking in your own documents (cool huh?).

At the moment not all products have these SVG files provided simply because it is not always relevant.

To use them, nothing could be simpler, you can consider them as images and insert them into documents that you create yourself, particularly in word processing software or on Canva for example.