Blogging 101: Creating a Header

9 January 2015


Hey guys! I'm going to attempt my first basic type guide to creating a blog header. I'm going to be using Photoshop during my guide but you should be able to follow along using most photo editors.
(You can download a 30 day trial of photoshop here!)
Remember practice makes perfect!

 If anyone needs any extra information, or has a question please leave it in the comments and I'll do my best!

Today we'll be making a header with a photo or image behind it.

Let's Begin!

First things first, I'm going to use the dimensions of a typical blogspot header. You may need to adjust your header size to fit your own blog template. Sometimes you can find the dimensions with the template so you know what you're working with, other time's its trial and error.


Then press okay, you'll end up with a big white rectangle that will be your base, and your header size.

Next up we are choosing a sweet font style for your blogger header.
Go to Dafont.com  and find yourself a font! Once you've found one that you like, you can click the download button at the edge of the font you've chosen. For help on installing fonts go here.

I chose the font DK Double Quick for my example today.


Choose a Background

In choosing a background it's important that the photo doesn't legally belong to someone else, especially without showing any credit to the original photographer. You can use your own picture for this or you can use a free rights one. One of my favourite websites for these free photos is Unsplash so I'll be using them today.

Choose a picture that's not too busy, and one that has a bit of space where you could easily place text where it would still be easy to read.


I've chosen this great horses pic, as the open sky is the perfect place for a text heading, while still having space left to see the pretty horses underneath.

Save the picture, or copy it and open it up in your photo editing program.

Your image will likely be a lot bigger than your base header size, so you need to resize it.

After you change the size of new photo to the same width as your base header you can go ahead and copy and paste it on top of your base header.
Make sure you select the entire image before copying and pasting.  You can copy and paste under the toolbar that says Edit or you can use the keyboard commands, (Ctrl + C) for copy and (Ctrl + V) for paste. (It's command instead of control on Mac also.)

When you paste your image in, it will probably look dumb and you won't even be able to see everything, no issues, just grab it and move it around until you can see the right amount of everything to your own preference.



Now For Some Text

Awesome! Now it's time to add your blog title!
Go ahead and click on the T button to open the text section. You can choose the font style, size and colour up the top.


Pick your chosen font, and a colour to start with and then click on your image where you want the text to go. Don't worry you can change the font/size/colour and position at any time if you change your mind! I went with black font because it's always easy to read, especially on a light background.

Play around with the position and size until you're happy!


You can add a little subtitle underneath your text if you want to, in a different font.


So there you have it! One pretty nifty blog header! And it's all yours!


For a tutorial on how to install it onto your blog, (with blogger) I found a good tutorial by Plumrose Lane right here.

I hope you found my tutorial helpful! If you have any questions I will try and help out the best that I can!

Cya! xx

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19 comments

  1. This is really awesome, thanks for sharing!

    Candice | Beauty Candy Loves
    ♥♥♥

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  2. Thank you, now I know finally to create a header what I didn't know before :)

    Thank you for your pleasant comment on my blog. You have a beautiful blog and now I wonder if you want to follow each other?

    xx from Germany/Bavaria, Rena
    www.dressedwithsoul.com

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  3. This is such a great blog!
    I finally know how to do it! Please
    make more like these in the future!
    Kaci xo | http://earthtokace.blogspot.com

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  4. Crazy helpful! I'm so bad at this stuff. I didn't even know there were such sites that gave free images!

    Thanks so much!

    rebekahkoontzsite.com // US Lifestyle Blog

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  5. I could have done with this a few weeks a go! Great tutorial, I'll refer back to it when I change mine. I literally just drew mine on free-hand (free-mouse? lol)

    Ivana @ Hope & Ramble x

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    Replies
    1. Your header is super lovely for free mouse! haha x

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  6. great tutorial, thanks for sharing!

    Georgia | www.georgiajade.com

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  7. This is so helpful for some one as tech challenged as me! Thanks
    http://truth-b-toldx.blogspot.co.uk/

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  8. Great tutorial, I love the outcome! I always have trouble finding the right header dimensions, so I will give your ones a try!

    The Velvet Black // UK Style & Beauty Blog

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  9. Such a good post, defiantly good of done with this when making mine!

    Annabel ♥
    Mascara & Maltesers

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  10. I was thinking about changing my header, so this tips are really helpful! With love,
    Vera

    http://theflashwindow.weebly.com/

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  11. These tips were really helpful! x
    http://heyitshannaah.blogspot.co.uk/

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  12. This is such a useful tutorial! Even though my template is premade, this would be so useful for twitter! Your blog layout is a dream,as well as the consistency between your posts! Perfect!

    Clothing Conscious // Fashion & Lifestyle Blog

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  13. This is so helpful, thanks for sharing

    Stefanie | Casualllyawkward | Bloglovin

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  14. So helpful! Im terrible with any sort of design stuff

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  15. This was super useful, as a photoshop noob, I really appreciate this post. :)

    Debasree // ALL SHE NEEDS

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Thanks so much for commenting everyone! I read and appreciate every single one of your comments! xx