Personalizing your summer garden flag is a great way to have a unique yard decor that your neighbors will want. We’ll show you how to personalize this sublimation design for garden flags using Canva.
Canva is a beginner friendly, graphic design app that’s web-based. It’s beginner-friendly because it’s very easy to use and comes with a lot of templates. It is perfect for customizing your sublimation designs.
And best of all, no design experience is necessary. Anyone can do it with our easy to follow, step-by-step tutorial below.
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Why Personalized Decor Is Better
Easy With Sublimation
Creating personalized garden flags is easy with your sublimation printer. It is literally as simple as design, print, and press! Every beginner sublimator can do this.
Unique Home Decor
Home decor is an extension of your personality. Putting a personal touch on the things you love and holding them close to your heart makes it that much more meaningful when people see what’s inside…your own signature style, color palette or specific print. It identifies who you really are. It’s uniquely made, just for you, by you.
Sell For More Money
And if you’re selling your sublimation products, then offering personalization to your customers will make you stand out from the crowd. Since it’s personalized, you can also sell it for more than what the generic product costs. And best of all, the big retail stores cannot compete with you and you won’t have to compete with their low prices either.
The value of your products is not just about how much it costs, but also the meaningfulness that customers attach to them. Personalization can help you stand out from other sellers and offer unique deals for those who want something extra-special!
What You Need
These are the items you need in order to be able to personalize this summer garden flag design using Canva.
1. Sublimation Garden Flag Blank
You can either get a single sided or double-sided sublimation garden flag. They will both work well for this project. Remember that most flags do not come with the metal garden flag pole holder so you may need to get one of those too.
Most blank sublimation garden flags available measure 12 x 18 inches. With any sublimation print, you will want to add a “bleed” area to it, about 0.25 inches. So that means your print will have to be 12.25 x 18.25 inches.
Sublimation Garden Flag
The double-sided garden flags are better than the single-sided ones. They are thicker and will withstand the outer elements better.
Garden Flag Poles
You’ll also need these flag poles to hang and display your sublimated garden flags.
2. Sublimation Printer
You will need a wide format sublimation printer for this project. The large or wide format sublimation printers are capable of printing on 13 x 19” paper which is the perfect size for the flag design.
You can either convert a Wide Format Epson Printer to sublimation or get a true sublimation printer that does not have to be converted.
3. Heat Press
A 16×20 inch heat press works well for sublimating garden flags. A smaller heat press may work too but you will need to press the flag in sections. Getting a perfect press when you press it in sections can be a test of your patience but some have been successful with a lot of practice.
4. Canva Account
You can try the pro version for 30 days for no cost and no obligation. With the pro version, you’ll be able to download your work as a PNG file. It has a transparent background which is better for sublimation.
What Makes Canva Pro Great?
- Beginner-friendly design program for sublimation.
- Download 300dpi images for sublimation.
- Capable of social media content creation, video editing with audio, and social media scheduling.
- Includes 40,000+ templates.
- Low cost monthly charge with no contracts.
5. Summer Garden Flag Sublimation Design
This free sublimation design is made by SublimakersAcademy. You can use it for both personal and commercial use. You are bound by our Terms Of Use so please read it before downloading it.
6. Adhesive Spray
This sublimation adhesive spray keeps your sublimation garden flag blank adhered to and positioned correctly on your printed sublimation design so it doesn’t shift. If your blank shifts, you can end up with some sublimation problems such as an uneven press or ghosting. Those mistakes can cost you money so it’s a good idea to have the proper tools for the project.
Prospray Adhesive
- Repositionable
- Lasts for hundreds of uses
- Prevents your print from shifting
Step By Step Canva Tutorial On How To Personalize A Sublimation Garden Flag
Once you have all the supplies mentioned above, it’s time to personalize your garden flag. Below is an easy to follow tutorial on how to add a last name to our free garden flag design.
- STEP 1 — Using your desktop computer, log in to your Canva Pro Account. The log in button is on the upper right of the window.
- STEP 2 — Once you’re logged in, click on the purple “Create a design” button.
- STEP 3 — A drop down menu will pop up. Canva gives you some pre-designed templates but you will have to click on “Custom Size” at the bottom left of that menu.
- STEP 4 — Enter the size 12.25 x 18.25 inches for your sublimation garden flag design.
- STEP 5 — Your blank canvas will now be generated for your flag where you will need to add the sublimation design as the background.
- STEP 6 — On the left hand side, click on “Uploads” and choose “Images”. Navigate to your computer folder where you downloaded and saved the garden flag design. Choose the design and Canva will upload it to your account. If you need some designs to use for your sublimation, check out our Free Sublimation Designs section.
- STEP 7 — Once it’s uploaded, the design will show up under “Images” and you can drag that onto your blank canvas.
- STEP 8 — Resize your design to fit into the canvas by dragging the circles at the corner of the design. Or you can also right click on the design and select “Set image as background”.
- STEP 9 — The design should perfectly fit inside the canvas. Make sure it is centered properly. When you’re happy with its placement, click on the center of your image and a menu will appear right above the design area, under the purple menu. Click on the padlock to lock the design. This prevents it from shifting during the personalization process.
- STEP 10 – Now your background is properly placed, it’s time to add your personalization. Click on the “Text” button on the left hand side and choose “Add a heading”.
- STEP 11 –A text box appears on your design. Double click on it to highlight it to change it.
- STEP 12 – Add your personalization of choice by typing it in. You can customize it any way you want it: add a last name, address, or even a message such as “no soliciting”.
- Then when you’re done, click anywhere outside the canvas. You can now move that text box to the blank area of the garden flag. Simply drag it to where it looks centered.
- STEP 13 –Change the font of your text by clicking on the font options. This will bring up a menu on the left side where you can choose your font. If you have a favorite one that is not there already, you can easily add your font to Canva.
- STEP 14 –The standard font color is black and you can either leave it as is or change it to match your sublimation design. To change the text color, click on the A with a color bar under it at the menu.
- STEP 15 –A color menu appears on the left. Canva is smart and will give you a palette of colors that they find in the design itself. Choosing a color from here will make sure your color matches your design.
- STEP 16 –Once you’re happy with the personalization, save it to your computer by clicking “Share” on the upper right of the screen.
- STEP 17 –A menu will drop down. Choose the “download” option.
- STEP 18 –Choose the PNG as your file type and leave the size as 1342 x 2000 px. Put a checkmark on the “transparent background” option. This background option is only available if you have Canva Pro. If you don’t have the Pro version, you can try it free for 30 days.
- As an alternative to the PNG file, you can also download it as a PDF format with an RGB color profile. Check out another Canva-made sublimation design that we downloaded and used on sublimating kitchen towels. As you can see in the video tutorial on how to sublimate on kitchen towels, the colors are rich and vibrant!
- STEP 19 –Once the download process is done, find the file under your downloads and save it to the right folder. And that’s it…you now have a personalized garden flag using Canva.
Personalization Ideas
You’re not limited to adding just a last name to personalize this garden flag. You are free to add any other words or phrases to fit your personality or customer’s needs. Some ideas of what you can add include:
- Address.
- Soak up the sun.
- Live, Laugh, Love.
- No soliciting.
- When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!
What other ideas or phrases can you come up with? Let us know, post your results on social media and tag us so we can see. @sublimakersacademy.
Updates & Social Media:
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*DISCLAIMERS: Any prices mentioned above are the price at the time of the original publication. These can vary, can fluctuate, and can change at any time. Please check the retailer for current prices.
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