Design made easy with Canon PosterArtist

Promoting your small business or event doesn't need to be complicated or expensive. Compatible with Windows and macOS, Canon PosterArtist is a free web application, that gives you the creative freedom to create flyers, banners, menus and more in-house.

With hundreds of templates to choose from, and a range of fonts and images, you don't have to be a master designer to get started. It's even possible to generate QR codes to add to your designs.

You can log into Canon PosterArtist with an existing online account, such as Google, Twitter or Facebook, or create your own secure Canon ID.

Here we'll show you how to use PosterArtist templates to create a menu and a calendar for a small bakery business.

• For more information about the new features introduced in the latest version of PosterArtist, read our guide to designing posters, flyers and more.

When you first launch Canon PosterArtist, you will be greeted with a quick tour of the website, so you can familiarise yourself with its layout and features. When you're ready to get started, select Menu from the PosterArtist homepage, and you will see a variety of template options in the left panel.

The most crucial step is adding an eye-catching image to show customers what you do. You can upload your own photos or choose stock imagery and there are a selection of frame options for your image, as well as editing tools.

To replace the cup graphic in the top left of the template, select Clipart. Choose Food and Drink from the dropdown category menu and you'll see a range of clipart options, including a bread roll, which is ideal for the bakery theme.

Menus are essential for a hospitality business, but a calendar that customers can perhaps purchase, or be given as a token of appreciation, can help to promote your company and boost sales. If customers hang your calendar in their homes, it will serve as a visual reminder to visit your business. It's also useful to keep a company calendar for staff rotas, events and team birthdays.

Based on the style of your business, you can choose whether you want a minimalist or a more colourful aesthetic. As with the menu, you can edit all the text and graphics.

Add a background image – perhaps of a team member working hard behind the scenes – to add a human touch. You can also select QR code in the left panel to generate a code for your design linking out to your website or social media channels.

There's no right or wrong way to go about it, so let your imagination run wild. Plus, if you change your mind, you can select the backwards arrow to go back a few steps.

When you are happy with your design, select Proceed to print – the first time you do this, you will be prompted to install a print plug-in.

A high performance printer from the Canon PIXMA or MAXIFY ranges will yield great results. The Canon MAXIFY GX3050 has low running costs – essential for a small business – enabling you to produce up to 14,000¹ prints with a full set of ink bottles. It can also print banners up to 1.2m in length, giving you enough space to experiment with your designs. If you're looking for a portable option, the Canon PIXMA TR150 enables you to take your business on the road, so you can print your designs quickly and professionally.

You can also save JPEGs of your designs to your computer for posting on your social media channels.

The beauty of Canon PosterArtist is that you can quickly edit your designs to accommodate price changes or discounts and special offers. Plus, you don't need to save your design to your computer every time you make a small change. Saving your designs securely to cloud-based services means you don't have to worry about losing them if your computer is compromised.

When you've mastered menus and calendars, why not have a go at creating a photo collage of your products, or your staff hard at work, which you can print and display around your premises?

Marketing your small business doesn't have to be daunting – PosterArtist is a hassle-free design tool that simplifies the creative process, enabling you to create eye-catching promotional materials quickly and easily.