You may have noticed that on the cards on the My Courses page, each course appears with a default image. This image, if not modified, is randomly chosen by the system. As an instructor, you have the option to change this image by adding a banner to your courses, which will also be used on these cards on the My Courses page.

Adding the Image to the Course

It is possible to add the banner from different points:

• On the card, by clicking the three-dot icon that appears when you hover over it
• In the course, by clicking the pencil icon in the area where the banner will go
• In the Details and Actions menu, by clicking Course Image > Edit Display Settings.

Once the settings panel opens, you can upload the image by clicking the image icon and selecting from your device.

If you prefer to choose an image from a stock library, select Unsplash as the image source and enter a keyword to search.

Click Next. Move the viewer to select the part of the image that will be visible in the banner and save to finish. You will see that the portion of the image you chose is displayed in the banner area as well as on the card.

If you want to change the image later or delete it, access the settings again and click the trash icon.

What Size Should the Course Image Be?

It is important to consider the size and how its dimensions change across different screen resolutions. Blackboard crops the images we upload instead of shrinking them, so the ratio is maintained, but not all of the image will be visible at all resolutions and aspect ratios.

Follow these recommendations to create banners that work well in all cases:

• 1200 x 240 px is the minimum size for a banner/card image.
• The maximum file size is 10.24 MB
• The ideal ratio is 5:1
• If you want certain content to always be visible on the images, wherever they appear and at any resolution, place it inside a 550x150px square centered on the banner image. Anything outside this square may not be visible at some resolutions.
• An abstract image works better due to the many variations in cropping of banners and cards.

Any Tips for Choosing These Images?

In many cases, we add text to our images (the course title, for example) or we look for very specific images and want a particular part to be visible rather than another. When we view these images, the result may not be as expected.

This happens because the image is prepared to be viewed on any device. The system adjusts and re-adapts it according to the screen on which it is displayed. Thus, if we have text, it may not be fully visible, and if we want a specific part to be seen, another part is shown instead. These are behaviors we cannot control. Imagine an image with text viewed from a smartphone screen.

Our recommendations are:

• Use neutral images with global elements

• Do not use text on images. If you do, add the same text as alternative text when uploading the image.

• Once uploaded, select the crop area that best fits what you want.