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Adding visual elements (shapes, icons, photos) to accessible designs

Cherry
Cherry
  • Updated
Available on the following Venngage subscription plans: Free, Premium, Business and Enterprise.

 

Non-text elements add interest to designs; make them accessible with the tools in the upgraded Venngage Editor.

Add a shape or a line

Click "Shapes" in the left toolbar. To access the Shapes menu with your keyboard, use the Tab key to move the selector and hit the spacebar to select it.  

A light blue canvas appears in the upgraded Venngage Editor, with nothing on it. A user clicks on the left sidebar to expand the Shapes catalog, which opens in a panel to the immediate right of the sidebar. The Shapes and Lines panel has two tabs: it opens by default to the Shapes tab. The user clicks on several shapes to add them to the canvas. The user clicks on the Lines tab and adds two lines to the design canvas. The user resizes and repositions the elements so that they appear neatly arranged on the canvas.

 

Use your cursor or the tab key to select a shape and add it to the design canvas by either clicking on the shape or hitting the spacebar.

You can swap out one shape for another using the top toolbar shape feature.

Edit a shape or a line

Shapes and lines have different customization options, like colors, borders, fills and ends. The customization tools appear in the top toolbar when you select a shape or a line, or you can right-click the element on the canvas to access more options. 

Shapes: Color, fills and borders

Select a shape and the tools for customizing its colors and appearance will appear in the top toolbar.

A partial view of the top toolbar in the upgraded Venngage Editor, with several tool icons visible. The first icon in the row, a silhouette of a water droplet with the lower part shaded, is selected. In its selected state, it has light blue shadowing and a darker blue border. The widget open underneath it is titled Color Fill. The widget contains a slider and a text field that indicates the slider is set to 100%.

The Color Fill tool allows you to add another color to a shape with a solid fill. Use the slider to control the fill percentage, or enter a numeric value from 0 to 100 in the text field. 

A partial view of the top toolbar in the upgraded Venngage Editor, with several tool icons visible. The second icon in the row appears is a color tile, and in its selected state (pictured here) it has light blue shadowing and a darker blue border. A tag appears underneath it with the label Fill Color One.

A partial view of the top toolbar in the upgraded Venngage Editor, with several tool icons visible. The third icon in the row is a color tile, and in its selected state (pictured here) it has light blue shadowing and a darker blue border. A tag appears underneath it with the label Fill Color Two.

Fill Colors appear in the top toolbar as tiles, in the same color as that part of the shape. For shapes with a Color Fill less than 100%, the colors are labelled Fill Color One and Fill Color Two. 

Click the Fill Color to open the Color Tool widget and adjust the color to your liking, either with the color picker or from the Project or Brand Kit colors.

A partial view of a light blue canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor shows several shapes and lines. The top shape is a simple, single-color square with a blue fill. A user clicks on the square, and color and styling tool icons appear in the top toolbar over the canvas. The user clicks on the Color Fill icon in the top toolbar. When the widget opens, the user moves the slider from 0% to 48%, which causes the fill of the square to change from blue to red, reflecting the percentage the user selects in the slider. When the user closes the Color Fill widget, the square is 48% blue and 52% red. The user clicks on Fill Color One, which appears as a blue tile the same color as 48% of the square, and opens a Color Tool widget. The Color Tool widget displays multiple color swatch tiles and a color picker. The user changes the blue color to a dark teal, which appears as a circle under the heading Project Colors. The user closes the Color Tool widget and clicks on Fill Color Two, which appears as a bright red tile the same color as the 52% portion of the square, in the top toolbar, and changes the red to a medium green.

Certain shapes appear, by default, with only a border. You can use the Color Fill tool to change the percentage of their color fill.

A partial view of a light blue canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor shows several shapes and lines. The bottom shape is an oblong with a thin blue border and a transparent fill (which appears as no fill, so the light blue background of the canvas is visible through it). A user clicks on the oblong, and color and styling tool icons appear in the top toolbar over the canvas. The user clicks on the Color Fill icon in the top toolbar. When the widget opens, the user moves the slider from 0% to 100%, which causes the fill of the oblong to change from transparent to red, reflecting the percentage the user selects in the slider. The user resets the fill to 0% and closes the Color Fill widget.

Or, change the Fill Color One from transparent to a solid color 

A partial view of a light blue canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor shows several shapes and lines. The bottom shape is an oblong with a thin blue border and a transparent fill (it appears as no fill, so the light blue background of the canvas is visible through it). A user clicks on the oblong, and color and styling tool icons appear in the top toolbar over the canvas. The user clicks on Fill Color One, which appears as a blank white tile, and opens a Color Tool widget. The Color Tool widget displays multiple circular color swatches and a color picker. The user changes the transparent color to a dark green, using the widget's color picker. On the design canvas, the fill of the oblong changes from transparent to the dark green selected by the user. The user closes the Fill Color One widget, then reopens it, and clicks a color swatch that appears as a white circle with a slash through it, representing transparency. The oblong now appears with a transparent fill on the canvas. The user closes the Fill Color One widget again, and clicks on Border Color in the top toolbar, which appears as a square color tile with an empty center, in the same blue color of the oblong's border. The user clicks into the color picker in the Color Tool widget, changing the color of the Border Color icon to a dark blue as well as the color of the oblong's border on the canvas to the same dark blue.

Change the color of shape borders with the Border Color tool in the top toolbar: click to open the Color Tool widget and select a color from the color picker or from the Brand Kit or Project Colors. 

A partial view of the top toolbar in the upgraded Venngage Editor, with several tool icons visible. The fourth icon in the row is a color tile with a single color around the border and an empty center. In its selected state (pictured here) it has light blue shadowing and a darker blue border. A tag appears underneath it with the label Border Color.

Lines: Color, weight, style, start and end

Lines and the borders on shapes can be customized using the weight and style tools in the top toolbar. 

A partial view of the top toolbar in the upgraded Venngage Editor, with several tool icons visible. The seventh icon in the row is a series of horizontal lines of the same length, with varying widths. A tag appears underneath it with the label Border Width.

Change the border or line weight by clicking Border Width (the Line Weight tool works the same way for lines) in the top toolbar with that element selected; use the slider to toggle the width of the border or the line, or enter a number between 0px and 20px in the text field.

A partial view of a light blue canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor shows several shapes and lines. The top shape is a simple, single-color square with a dark teal fill. A user clicks on the square, and color and styling tool icons appear in the top toolbar over the canvas. The user clicks on Fill Color One in the top toolbar, which appears as a teal tile the same color as the square, and opens a Color Tool widget. The Color Tool widget displays multiple color swatch tiles and a color picker. The user changes the dark teal color to a dark purple using the color picker. Now the Fille Color One tile in the top toolbar, and the square itself on the canvas, are both the same dark purple. The user closes the Fill Color One color tool widget and clicks on Border Color, which opens the same type of Color Tool widget. The user clicks into the color picker and selects a light, lavender shade of purple, which appears in the Border Color tile in the top toolbar as well as in the thin border around the square on the canvas. The user closes the Border Color widget, then clicks on the Border Width tool in the top toolbar and opens the slider widget. The user slides the selector on the widget, changing the border width from 6px to 15px, making it appear thicker and more visible around the square on the canvas. The user closes the Border Width widget and clicks on Border Style, which opens a widget displaying several options: Solid, Dashed and Dotted. The user clicks on each of the border styles in the widget and the square's border on the canvas changes, until the user selects Dotted and closes the widget. The border on the square now appears as an unbroked string of equal-sized circles. The user reopens the Border Width widget and changes the width of the square's border from 15px to 6px. As the width of the border decreases, the size of the circles around the border of the square on the canvas get smaller.

Style borders and lines with dots and dashes with the top toolbar: click on the shape or line you want to customize, then click Line Style in the top toolbar. Choose from solid, dots, dashes or a combination of those styles. 

A partial view of a light blue canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor shows a single, dark green line. A user clicks the line to select it and color and styling tool icons appear in the top toolbar over the canvas. The user clicks on the Line Style tool, and the widget that opens displays several different types of line styles, including solid, dot, dash, and combinations of those styles. The user selects the styles Dot, Dash, Long Dash and finally Dash-Dot; with each selection, the style of the line on the canvas changes to reflect the style from the Line Style widget. The Dash-Dot appears as a series of alternating dashes and dots. The user closes the Line Style widget and clicks on the Line Weight icon in the top toolbar. The user changes the line weight from 15px to 5px to 13px, using the slider; as the line weight decreases, more and smaller dashes and dots appear in the line; a larger line weight makes the dashes and dots appear larger and there are less in the repeating pattern across the line.

Lines can be further customized with arrow starts and ends. Click on the line and use the Line Start and Line End tools in the top toolbar to change the style.

A partial view of a light blue canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor shows a single, dark green line. A user clicks the line to select it and color and styling tool icons appear in the top toolbar over the canvas. The user clicks on the Line Start tool, and the widget that opens displays several different types of arrow styles. The user selects Sharp Arrow and a narrow arrow with slightly curved ends appears at the left end of the line. The user then clicks on the Line End tool icon in the top toolbar and select Triangle Arrow. A wide, equilateral triangle appears on the right end of the line. The user closes the Line End tool, then clicks on the icon again and changes the selection to a Sharp Arrow, making the arrow that appears on the right end of the line the same as the one on the left.

 

Add an icon

Select (tab and hit the spacebar key on the keyboard) or click "Icons" in the left toolbar.

Type a search term into the search bar to filter icons, or use the pre-existing categories to filter. 

A partial view of a light, sand-colored design canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor displays an infographic with the heading Paving a Way Towards a Sustainable Future. The accents of the design and text are different shades of green, tan and orange. A user opens the Icons panel in the left sidebar by clicking on it; when the panel opens, a seach bar is visible at the top of the panel and three tabs underneath it are labelled All, Color and Mono respectively. The user clicks on the Color tab, and scrolls down the a gallery of equal-sized icon thumbnails, showing different icon packs with categories like Activities and Recreation, Diverse Circular Portraits, Retro Essentials, etc. The user clicks the Mono tab and displays an icon pack labelled Cultural Mono Pack with simple black and white silhouette icons of items like clothes, food, sports equipment, etc. The user then types the term 'green' in to the search bar at the top of the panel, and returns results for both color and mono icons relating to that search term, underneath the search bar in a gallery of equal-sized thumbnails.

Categories relate to what the icons represent, e.g., "Activities and Interactions" or style, e.g. "Retro Essentials", or the color type of the icon, i.e., Mono (single color, customizable) or Color (pre-colored). 

Click on an icon or hit the spacebar on a selected icon to add it to your design canvas.

Add a photo

Select (tab and hit the spacebar key on the keyboard) or click "Photos" in the left toolbar.

Enter a search term into the search bar, or use the categories to bring up photo results. 

Click on a photo thumbnail in the gallery to add it to the design canvas.

A partial view of a dark blue design canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor displays a process flow map with the title The Design Process. The accents of the design and text are light blue and purple. A user opens the Photos panel in the left sidebar by clicking on it; when the panel opens, a seach bar is visible at the top of the panel, with some pre-generated, clickable search categories underneath. The user types the term 'business' into to the search bar at the top of the panel, and returns results for royalty-free stock photos relating to that term in a thumbnail gallery beneath the search bar. The user clicks on one of the photos, a blue and white image of a grid with a jagged arrow pointing upward to indicate growth, and the full-sized photo appears on the design canvas.

Upload your own photos using the Uploads tool, or custom crop a photo to change its shape.

Reposition or resize a visual element

A partial view of a light, sand-colored design canvas in the upgraded Venngage Editor displays an infographic with the heading Paving a Way Towards a Sustainable Future. The accents of the design and text are different shades of green, tan and orange. A user opens the Icons panel in the left sidebar by clicking on it; when the panel opens, a seach bar is visible at the top of the panel and three tabs underneath it are labelled All, Color and Mono respectively. The user types the term 'sprout' in to the search bar at the top of the panel, and returns results for both color and mono icons relating to that search term, underneath the search bar in a gallery of equal-sized thumbnails. The user clicks on a colorful icon of a sprout with two leaves, and it appears on the design canvas. The user clicks on the icon and a blue bounding box appears around it. The user clicks on the top right handle of the bounding box and resizes the icon, making it larger and smaller, and then clicks on the circular arrow icon that appears underneath the bounding box and drags it, causing the icon to rotate. The user then repositions the icon on the canvas by clicking and dragging it, placing it under a heading.

Here are some basic controls that apply to any photo, icon, line, or shape on the canvas:

  • Reposition: Click and drag the element into place, or use the Tab key to select it and use the arrow keys to nudge the element up, down, left or right.
  • Resize: Click and drag the bounding box handles to make the photo smaller or larger, or use the keyboard shortcuts (CTRL + Arrows for Windows; CMD + Arrows for Mac).  
  • Resize proportionally: Hold down the Shift key while you resize.
  • Rotate: Select the element. Click on the circular arrow at the bottom of the bounding box and moving your mouse to rotate it, or use the keyboard shortcuts: Alt or Option + left/right arrows.
  • Flip vertically or horizontally: Select the element on the canvas, then click "Flip Horizontal" or "Flip Vertical" to flip the element along that axis.

A partial view of the top toolbar in the upgraded Venngage Editor. A series of tool icons appear from left to right, including a droplet with a shaded lower portion and several color tiles. The fourth tool icon in the toolbar is the Flip Horizontal tool, which appears as two mirrored right triangles on either side of a vertical line; a user mouses over it and it appears with the label Flip Horizontal. The user moves their cursor over the fifth tool icon in the toolbar, an icon of two mirrored right triangles on either side of a horizontal line, and it appears labelled as Flip Vertical.

 

Apply styles to multiple elements of the same type

Some elements from different categories (e.g., shapes and text boxes) can all be styled at once when you select them all at the same time, if they share some styling options. 

In a partial view of a design canvas in the upgraded Editor, two small rectangles and a text box are selected. In the top toolbar, a color tile is visible with the colors of the text and the rectangles, indicating that they can be customized.

Select multiple elements on the design canvas (click while holding Shift your keyboard), then use the tools in the top toolbar to change their color, size, etc. 

More ways to customize

 

The feature(s) discussed in this article is available on the following Venngage subscription plans: Free, Premium, Business and Enterprise.

Curious about upgrading? Compare our plan features side by side.

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