This guide helps course providers add pictures to a course, choose its cover and manage the image files in their media library.
The course gallery is the set of pictures selected for one course. The media library stores files that you can reuse. Removing a picture from a course’s gallery and deleting its file from the library are different actions.
Access needed: Use a System Admin account or Course Owner access to the course. Facilitators cannot open the course editor. Ask a System Admin to check your access if Edit Course is missing.
Prepare your images
Use clear pictures that represent the course, and add at least a few to each course. A 16:9 shape is recommended: for example, a picture 1,600 pixels wide and 900 pixels high. This is a shape recommendation, not a required pixel size. Course-card thumbnails crop images to that shape, so keep important details away from the edges.
Use image files such as PNG, JPEG or GIF. The upload picker accepts image files only. The largest file you can upload depends on your plan; see Understand Cademy Plans, Limits and Fees. When an upload fails because a file is too large, the upload area in the media library can show a message that starts Your file exceeds the maximum file size limit. Reduce the file size and upload it again.
You do not need to prepare separate smaller copies for phones. Cademy’s public course page loads a version of the image sized for the visitor’s screen.
On the course page, one selected image is displayed on its own; multiple images appear in a gallery you can move through. The main image on the course page fits within its display area so the full picture remains visible, with a blurred background filling any spare space. Check the course card and course page after saving, particularly when an image contains text.
Add images to the course
Uploaded files are saved separately: Uploading creates a file in the shared media library immediately. Closing the picker or leaving the course editor does not undo that upload. Gallery selection and order are course settings; use Save to save them deliberately. Switching editor tabs can also save existing-course changes.
Open the Cademy admin dashboard and select Courses. Open the course, select Edit Course, then open Description.
Under the course title, select Add Course Images if the gallery is empty, or Manage Images if it already has images. The media library opens.
To reuse a file, click its image or checkbox. Select all the images you want on this course. Clicking a selected image again removes it from the selection.
To upload a new file, select the area labelled Drop files here or click to select and upload. Choose the image files from your computer. Wait for the upload to finish and check which files succeeded. Successful uploads are added to the library’s selection.
Select Confirm. The library closes and the selected images appear in the course editor.
Select Save and wait for Course saved. Reopen the course to check that the images and their order were saved.
Older recording of adding images: opening the media library, uploading by choosing a file and by dropping files on the upload area, then closing the library. The button that closes the library is now Confirm, the star and pencil icons beside each file are no longer there, and the surrounding editor has changed.
You can also drag image files from your computer directly onto the course gallery. Successful uploads are added to the gallery; save the course afterwards. If a file dropped there does not upload, the editor shows a short message such as Failed to upload image. Upload the file through the media library instead; its upload area can show the reason.
Find an existing image
Use Search media to search file names. If the image is missing, check the library’s other pages and any active filters. Show Only Selected restricts the list to selected files; Reset Filters clears filters. This course-image picker shows public image files, rather than every kind of file stored in your account.
Use Sort By to change the library order. Its options are Date Created (Descending), Date Created (Ascending), Date Updated (Descending), Date Updated (Ascending), Name (Descending) and Name (Ascending). Descending date order puts the newest first. The initial order is Date Created (Descending), unless the session remembers an earlier choice. Library sorting does not set the course’s image order.
Choose the cover and image order
The first image in the course gallery is the Cover. It supplies the picture for course-card thumbnails. This is the cover of one course; the wide image at the top of your minisite is set separately, see Set Your Minisite Cover Image.
Open Courses, open the course and select Edit Course → Description.
In the thumbnail row below the large image, drag the intended cover into the first position.
Drag the other thumbnails into the order you want. The first image is marked Cover when displayed.
Select Save and wait for Course saved. If the course is published, use Open in new tab at the top of the editor to check its public page. Also check its card where the course is listed. For an unpublished course, check the editor gallery; you do not need to publish it to change the images.
Clicking a thumbnail or using the previous and next arrows changes the image you are viewing in the editor. It does not make that image the cover. Change the thumbnail order to change the cover.
Remove an image from this course
Open Courses, open the course and select Edit Course → Description.
In the thumbnail row, select the × on the image you want to remove. Check that the intended image disappears from the gallery.
Select Save and wait for Course saved.
The file remains in the media library and on any other courses that use it. If you remove the first image, the next remaining image becomes the cover.
Rename a library file
Rename a file when you want a clearer name for finding it in the shared library. This does not change the picture or its public image address.
Open Courses, open the course and select Edit Course → Description. Open Add Course Images or Manage Images.
Find the image and open its three-dot menu. Select Rename.
In Rename Media, edit File name.
Select Confirm and check for Media renamed. The updated name is saved in the library. If the file disappears from a filtered list, clear or update Search media to find its new name.
The rename is saved immediately to the shared file. You do not need to save the course to save that new file name. If the library is sorted by name, renaming can change where the file appears in the list.
Image names and accessibility
Alternative text is the description that a screen reader uses for an image. The course gallery does not offer a separate alternative-text field for each picture; the public gallery uses the course name. Renaming the library file does not change that text. Put essential information from an image, such as requirements or joining instructions, in the course description as readable text too.
Delete a file from the media library
Permanent deletion: Deleting a library file cannot be undone. It can affect other places that use the image. If you only want to remove it from one course, use the gallery’s × control and save that course instead.
Check where the image is used and replace or remove those uses first. For a course gallery, open that course’s Edit Course → Description, remove the thumbnail and Save. Repeat for other courses that need changing.
Open a course’s Edit Course → Description and select Add Course Images or Manage Images.
Find the file, open its three-dot menu and select Delete... to open the confirmation.
In Delete Media, check the file name and warning. Select Cancel if you are unsure.
Select Confirm only when you want to permanently delete the file. Check for File Deleted and that the file is no longer listed.
If Cademy finds the file still in use, it is not deleted. An error message starts This media item is being used in the following places and lists each place by kind and name, for example a course, a course lesson, an email template, a certificate template, a course collection or your educator profile. Remove or replace the image in each place and save those changes before trying again.
Do not rely on the absence of that message as proof that an image has no other uses. If you cannot identify or safely change a listed use, ask a System Admin or Cademy Support to check it and provide the file name and the error message.
If the course has no selected images
When creating a course without selected images, Cademy can look for a stock image based on its title. If a stock image has already been assigned, it can appear when the gallery is empty. Removing all images from an existing course does not guarantee that a new stock image will be found. Add your own suitable image and check the result.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my chosen picture not the cover?
The first gallery image is the cover. Viewing an image with the arrows or selecting its thumbnail does not change the order. Drag it to the first position, then save the course.
Does removing a thumbnail delete the original file?
No. It removes the image from that course’s gallery after the course changes are saved. The library file and other courses using it remain separate.
Why can I still see a file after closing the upload window?
A successful upload saves a file to the shared library immediately. Closing the picker does not delete it. Selecting it for the course and saving the course are separate steps.
Does renaming an image change its alternative text?
No. Rename changes the library’s file name. The public course gallery uses the course name as alternative text; it has no separate per-image alternative-text field.