Ideally, create class-photo layouts in professional software such as Adobe InDesign or Adobe Photoshop. These applications provide greater control over finished dimensions, image placement, typography, export settings and colour management.
If you do not have access to those tools for the layout stage, Canva can be a practical alternative for arranging class photographs, names, school details, logos and borders. However, Canva does not provide the same advanced colour-management controls, so do not assume that its export contains a reliable embedded ICC profile.
A Canva-designed class photo should still receive a final preflight in colour-managed software before it is uploaded to Workspace. Open the exported file in Adobe Photoshop, or arrange for someone with suitable software to check it. Review the image quality and exposure, confirm its colour interpretation, embed an accepted RGB profile and soft-proof it for Queensberry printing.
Set up the Canva design for the finished product
Create the design for the exact aspect ratio and orientation of the Class Photo product you intend to sell. For example, a 10×8 inch Class Photo has a 5:4 aspect ratio and requires at least 3000×2400 pixels for a 300 dpi print.
- Keep names, logos and borders safely away from the finished edge.
- Check spelling, class names and the school year carefully.
- Use photographs with enough resolution for the final size.
- Do not stretch portraits to make them fit a frame.
- Export the completed page at the full pixel dimensions required for the product.
Avoid using a screenshot of the Canva design. Export the finished design at the highest suitable quality, then inspect the exported file itself rather than relying only on the Canva preview.
Check exposure and highlight detail before designing
Lighting and exposure are especially important in class photography. A screen can make an overexposed face appear to retain more detail than a small printed face can reproduce. When many faces are reduced to a small size in a class photograph, pale or clipped highlights can lose texture and facial definition very quickly.
- Check the original photographs at 100% view before placing them in the design.
- Use the histogram and highlight warnings as well as judging the image visually.
- Inspect foreheads, cheeks, noses and other bright skin areas for clipped or nearly clipped highlights.
- Compare faces across the group so that exposure and skin tones remain consistent.
- Pay extra attention to children closest to lights, windows or reflective surfaces.
- Review the finished class-photo design at approximately its intended print size. A face that looks acceptable when enlarged may appear flat or washed out when printed very small.
If important facial detail is missing, correct the source photograph where possible and rebuild the design. Reducing brightness alone may make the area darker without restoring lost texture. For high-volume work, keep the lighting and exposure workflow consistent and order a representative print before releasing the gallery.
Open the exported file in Photoshop
Open the final exported file in Photoshop and check:
- Image → Mode → RGB Color
- Image → Mode → 8 Bits/Channel
- The pixel dimensions are sufficient for the finished print at 300 dpi.
- Photographs, names, logos and borders are sharp at 100% view.
- No highlight detail or tonal separation has been lost during the Canva export.
If the file has no embedded profile
If Photoshop reports that the document is untagged or has a missing profile, use Edit → Assign Profile and assign sRGB IEC61966-2.1.
Assigning a profile does not change the colour values in the file. It tells Photoshop how those values should be interpreted, so changing the assigned profile can significantly change the appearance. Canva designs should normally be treated as sRGB unless you have reliable evidence that a different source profile was used.
If you want an Adobe RGB file
Queensberry accepts files with an embedded sRGB or Adobe RGB (1998) profile. Once the Canva export is correctly interpreted as sRGB, it is acceptable to keep it in sRGB.
If Adobe RGB is required for your established workflow, use Edit → Convert to Profile and choose Adobe RGB (1998). Converting preserves the intended appearance by changing the colour values for the destination space. It does not create colour information that was absent from the original Canva export.
Soft-proof with the Queensberry profile
Install the current Queensberry Soft Proofing ICC profile and use it to preview how the file is expected to reproduce in print on a calibrated monitor.
- Choose View → Proof Setup → Custom.
- Select the current Queensberry profile as Device to Simulate.
- Choose Perceptual rendering intent.
- Select Black Point Compensation.
- Leave the other simulation checkboxes off, following Queensberry's current soft-proofing instructions.
- Choose View → Proof Colors to toggle the print simulation on and off.
Pay particular attention to skin tones, facial highlight detail, dark uniforms, strong school colours, gradients, logos, borders and text placed over photographs. Soft proofing is most useful with a calibrated monitor in consistent, neutral lighting.
Save the print-ready file
Save an editable Photoshop master before creating the final print file. Queensberry's current specifications for a single-layer print file are:
- RGB
- 8-bit
- 300 dpi at the finished dimensions
- An embedded Adobe RGB (1998) or sRGB ICC profile
- JPEG preferred, at Quality 10 or better
When saving the final JPEG, make sure Embed Color Profile is selected. Reopen the saved JPEG and confirm that the profile is present, the dimensions are correct and no text or design element has changed during export.
Order a representative print first
Before opening a large school gallery for orders, order a representative Class Photo print. Review exposure, facial detail, colour, density, sharpness, names, borders and the finished crop under normal viewing light. Check the print at a natural viewing distance as well as close up. If you change the lighting, editing, Canva design or export process later, produce another representative print.
After uploading the approved file to the School/Daycare gallery, use Edit to mark it as a Class Photo so Workspace offers the intended Class Photo products and download rules.
Related guidance
Queensberry file specifications
Queensberry soft-proofing instructions
