Guide
How to make a custom PNG frame that leaves room for the face
Donye, Founder of Ollabs · August 28, 2026 · 8 min read
Create is Frame, Name, Send. The live preview stays on screen while you adjust the window. Most first frames fail because the art eats the face.
Start with a square PNG, not a photo of a poster
Go to Create. You do not need an account to publish. The builder is three steps: Frame, Name, Send. Artwork is the product. Colour rings are a collapsed fallback if you have no file yet.
Upload a square PNG with transparency. The on-page tip is blunt: PNG with transparency works best. A JPEG of a logo, a screenshot of a badge, or a photo of a jersey usually looks muddy at avatar size. If the crest is unreadable at WhatsApp avatar size, the frame is not done.
The drop zone is large on purpose. The old small circle made upload feel optional. This is the whole first step. You can change the frame image later without starting over. The live preview stays visible while you work, including on a phone. Do not design in a separate tab and hope.
A square logo or round badge works. Ollabs keeps the outer design and opens a window in the center for each supporter's photo. You can also upload a full designed ring that already has a transparent hole. Both are valid. What does not work is a busy rectangle of slogan, date, hashtag, URL, and logo with no empty middle.
Create still accepts JPEG, WebP, and GIF. Those formats are how people arrive with a flattened export. They can still publish. They are not the best source. If you control the file, export PNG from the design tool with the center empty.
Open the photo window so the face is the subject
After a custom image is on the canvas, a Photo window slider appears. Left is more frame. Right is more photo. The default is a centered window so solid logos and badges work without extra work. If your PNG already has a transparent center, you can pull the slider toward zero and let the file's own hole do the job.
Watch the live preview while you drag. The face should be the largest readable thing in the circle. If a supporter cannot see themselves, they will not save the file, so they will not send the link on. That is the whole conversion problem, and it is usually the artwork, not the share copy.
One short line of type in the ring is enough: the series title, the team name, the colour of the month. A QR code does not belong in the artwork. Every campaign already has a downloadable QR on the campaign page and on manage, for print and for a screen at the door.
If you drop an optional preview photo on the circle, you are only checking the fit. That photo is not published as a supporter. Supporters still add their own picture on the public link. The preview is so you can see whether the window crushed a real face before you tap Continue.
On phones, the preview is sticky while you adjust. That is on purpose. Do not collapse the canvas to make more room for sliders. If you cannot see the face and the window at once, you will ship a stamp-sized window and only notice after the first WhatsApp send.
The opaque warning, and what to do with it
If the upload looks solid in the center, Create shows a coral warning: this image looks opaque in the center. Use a PNG with a transparent hole for the photo, or open the photo window with the slider below. The site does not block you. The warning is there because organizers often expect a designed hole and uploaded a flattened badge instead.
Two honest fixes. Re-export the file with a transparent middle, or use the slider to cut a circle so the photo shows through. A transparent border around an otherwise solid square is not a hole. The check looks at the center disc, where the face sits.
A colour ring from Simple styles is the right fallback when you have no art yet. Pick a ring, name the campaign, send. You can Change the frame from manage later without losing the link or the supporter count. That is better than delaying the first WhatsApp send for a designer who is not in the chat.
Premade rings are not the product. They exist so a teacher or a captain can publish tonight. If you have a crest, use the PNG. If you only have a hex colour in your head, use the ring and ship.
You can change the frame after people have joined. Manage has Change the frame. It reopens Create against the live campaign. The URL, the count, and old shares stay. Do not publish a second campaign to "fix the art." The people who already joined will not find the second link.
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Name it so the chat preview is recognizable
Continue takes you to Name. The title is what WhatsApp shows next to the link. A private joke that only the committee understands will look like spam to the aunt who actually posts. Use the cause, the team, the event, or the candidate the group already says out loud.
Description, goal, and category can wait. The name step says they live on Manage after you publish. Do not stall the send to write a paragraph. An empty description is common. It is not what decides whether people join. The frame and the first WhatsApp paste decide that.
A custom slug is optional: ollabs.studio/c/your-slug. Letters and numbers, dashes for the rest. You can change it later on manage. Older links redirect, so a WhatsApp message from this afternoon keeps working. Do not treat the first auto slug as permanent if you already know the public name.
There is no signup wall on Create. If you want the campaign on every device, you can save access after publish with an email code. That is optional. Do not delay Frame, Name, Send to invent a password. Supporters still never sign in.
If you are editing an existing campaign from manage, the header becomes Edit your frame. Saves to the current name. Your link and supporters stay put. That is the same builder, pointed at a live slug, not a second draft.
Send before you polish the ring again
Send is the publish screen. Share on WhatsApp is the primary action because campaigns that get a first supporter almost always get that person in the first hour. Opening WhatsApp is shorter than copy, leave the app, find the group, paste.
If the phone looks Indonesian or Tagalog, Share on Messenger is there too. For everyone, Share another way and a manage link exist. The manage URL includes a private key. Bookmark it. Do not paste the part after ?k= into the group.
A reminder: the first hour is not a marketing slogan. Of the campaigns that ever got a supporter, the median first one arrived 4.5 minutes after publish. Eighty-four percent of those first supporters arrived inside the first hour. Not one campaign got its first supporter after 24 hours. Either the link is sent now, or it is not sent.
If the window still feels tight after the first five saves, Change the frame. Keep the same URL. Ask the same group to try once more. A cleaner PNG in an existing thread beats a new slug that nobody recognizes.
When you know you will run another frame next month, claim a hub at /u/your-handle for the bio. That needs a free organizer login so the handle stays yours. It is not required for tonight's PNG. Publish, WhatsApp, then hub if you still have energy.
Common questions
Does the PNG have to be transparent?
It works best that way. An opaque file can still publish if you open the photo window with the slider. The coral warning is a hint, not a lock.
Can I fix the art after people join?
Yes. Change the frame on manage. The link and the supporter count stay. Do not create a second campaign to reset the look.
Do I need an account to create?
No. Publish first. Optional email save lets you manage the same campaign from another phone.
Where do colour rings fit?
Simple styles are a fallback when you have no artwork yet. Custom PNG is the main path. You can replace a ring later from manage.
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