Zoom Backgrounds

Swetta Abeyta; Nataly Blas; Theresa Huff; John Jackson; Jessea Young; Karna Younger

Zoom Backgrounds

Explore the OER California Zoom Background Series and choose your favorites to customize for to customize for meetings, orientations, events, and virtual outreach. (Flip through the templates by selecting the arrows above, hover to view the name each template, or select the four arrows at top right to see the full screen. Scroll down to access the templates.)

Introduction

“The medium is the message.” — Marshall McLuhan

A Zoom background can help make OER visible without taking over the conversation. It can signal support for open education, introduce a specific OER, or quietly promote a resource during meetings, workshops, and virtual events. These backgrounds were designed to do exactly that in a way that feels polished and professional.

Below you will find the full zoom background set, ideas for how to use the backgrounds, real examples of virtual background use in open education, and guidance for adapting the designs for your own campus.

Ideas for Use

Here are a few simple ways to use the Zoom backgrounds:

Use one during Open Education Week events, orientations, webinars, or campus meetings.
Choose a background for library outreach, faculty development, student support, or affordability initiatives.
Use them across a team so OER has a visible presence during a shared event or campaign.
As faculty, add a QR code that links to the OER you are using in your class or course.
Adapt the wording, color palette, or regional imagery to match your campus audience or event.

Inspirations

Here are a couple of real examples of virtual backgrounds being used in open education outreach and events.

Staff Example: Open Education Week Visuals Kit

Who did it: Open Education Global

What they did: Open Education Week provides a visuals kit that includes virtual backgrounds, along with banners, social media images, and slide templates, for participants to use during Open Education Week events and promotion. In 2026, Open Education Global specifically highlighted that the visuals kit included “virtual backgrounds” available under a CC BY license.

Why it worked: The backgrounds gave participants an easy, low-effort way to show visible support for open education during online events. Because the materials were openly licensed and shared as part of a broader promotion kit, they were also easy for many institutions and individuals to reuse.

How to adapt it with this Zoom background set:

- Invite staff, faculty, or campus partners to use one shared background during Open Education Week or a virtual event.
- Pair the backgrounds with slides, social graphics, or event materials so the campaign feels visually connected.
- Keep the message short and readable so it supports the meeting without distracting from it.
- Share the files in one easy-to-access folder and include simple setup directions for Zoom.

Staff Example: Open Textbook Library 10-Year Celebration

Who did it: The Open Textbook Library / Open Education Network

What they did: As part of celebrating a decade of the Open Textbook Library, the Open Education Network created Zoom virtual background images for community use during the event and for year-round advocacy for the library, OER, and open education.

Why it worked: The backgrounds helped participants visually express support for open education in a playful but professional way. They also extended the reach of the event by giving the community something reusable beyond the celebration itself.

How to adapt it with this Zoom background set:

- Use the backgrounds during celebrations, webinars, or virtual panels related to OER or affordable learning.
- Choose designs that feel professional enough for cross-campus use but still recognizable as part of an OER campaign.
- Make the files available for continued use after the event so they can support year-round awareness.
- Include a short message or tagline that invites curiosity, such as “Rooted in the Open” or “Stay Golden, Go Open”.

Quick Tips for Zoom Backgrounds

Keep the message subtle. A Zoom background should support the conversation, not compete with it.
Design around the camera frame. Important text and graphics should stay near the edges, so they are not blocked by the speaker.
Use strong contrast. Text should be easy to read on screen, even in different lighting conditions.
Keep it professional. Soft textures, low-opacity images, and simple typography usually work best.
Test it in Zoom before sharing widely. A design that looks good as a flat image may behave differently once someone is centered in front of it.

Guidance and Templates

View the video or select the arrows to read the steps for customizing your Zoom background.

Get the template

Zoom Background Template in Canva

screenshot of a zoom background of orange poppies and blue sky with "OER - Rooted in the Open" and highlighted "View template" — *Select the Canva template link and then select **View template** to access the template.*

Select a zoom background design from the Canva links below to open the editable template. The templates are free to use and adapt, but you’ll need to create and sign in to a free Canva account to customize and download your Zoom background. To begin using the template, select View template. Once you sign in to your account, you may then be prompted to Open in Editor.

Need more options for adapting your asset template?

Once you’ve created your free Canva account and signed in, you can open the Growing Your OER Starter Kit alongside any asset template to copy and paste colors, graphics, icons, photos, and design elements to help your version stay within the OER-California branding theme.

Customize your Zoom background

Step 1. Open the Zoom background in Canva and choose how to use it.

Use the Canva template links above to open your sticker design in Canva. Then, choose what you want to do next:

- - Customize it.
  - Keep it as-is and just download it. (skip to Step 3).

Step 2. Adapt your Zoom background.

Two OER Zoom background examples with QR codes and textbook promotion — Two examples of adapting the templates to quietly promote your OER creation. The template on the left was adapted by adding an OER QR code and images modeling the use of their OER textbook on digital devices. The template on the right was adapted by adding an OER QR code, a new tagline, and their university logo. Both added a “Check out our OER” call to action.

If you are adapting the Zoom background template in Canva, you might:

- Add your campus logo or program name
- Adopt a tagline to fit your audience, event, and campaign
  - Examples
    - Together We Grow Open
    - Rooted in the Open
    - Stay Golden, Go Open
    - SoCal, NorCal, No-Cost
- Add a QR code that links to your OER or campus OER website
- Remix visual elements for a related awareness series

Need a QR code?

You can create one with Canva’s QR Code Generator tool. Select Elements from Canva’s left-side menu [1] and then using the search tool to search for “QR code generator” [2]. Select the QR code generator, paste in your OER textbook’s URL [3], and select Generate code [4]. A QR code will appear on your image.

Remember to keep the center of the background visually quiet. Since the center of the background is where a person’s camera feed will usually appear, place text and key visuals near the top corners or side edges.

You can also open the Growing Your OER Starter Kit in Canva to copy in colors, fonts, icons, and other design elements from the OER-California theme to further customize your Zoom background.

Step 3. Download your file.

When you’re happy with your Zoom background, download it from Canva. To download, select the Share button at the top right of the screen [1] and then select Download [2].

From the File type drop-down menu, select PNG [3].

Then, select Download [4], and your file will be downloaded to your device.

Step 4. Test the background in Zoom.

Before using during a Zoom meeting, upload your background into Zoom and check:

- Whether the text is still visible when someone is centered on screen
- Whether contrast is strong enough in different lighting situations
- Whether logos, slogans, or illustrations are mirrored or obscured
- Whether the design feels calm and professional during a live meeting

License

Icon for the CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license

To the extent possible under law, Swetta Abeyta; Nataly Blas; Theresa Huff; John Jackson; Jessea Young; and Karna Younger have waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Growing Your OER Program, except where otherwise noted.