Create Images in Minutes…..
Create images that get you noticed and spark engagement. Having easy tools to use is the best, simplest and quickest way for you to be able to create you own memorable images in just a few minutes.
Being a great lover of art and design, this is a subject very close to my heart, I delight in the fact that this relatively new trend continues to blossom, it is fun and produces great results for you connectivity and branding.
It's no secret that images are vitally important for social media success. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have brought visual marketing to the forefront. Even LinkedIn, which most do not associate with images, has changed now your images are essential for grabbing attention, connection and getting likes and follows.
Marketers have always spread the maxim that “content is king,” but now, it seems no King is worthy without a Queen. The image is our “Queen” “a picture really is worth a thousand words” and don’t we just love this Queen – images get 84% more click through rates.
It wasn't long ago (Nov’ 2013) that Twitter added inline image previews to its official apps, and it's including even more image focus in the latest redesign. Stats show that the images make a huge difference to engagement we found that images can increase retweet rate by up to 150%
When it comes to products for sale businesses are learning to show, not tell, and visual content sites are fuelling our desire for beautiful photography and sensational design.
The trend towards images has been helped by our changing habits and technology. As more people engage with social media via smartphones, taking a picture “on the go” using your phone is the norm now and it is also much less tedious than typing out your status, your photo or image is now uploaded in seconds and in that instant all your friends have an emotional connection.
If the image is powerful so will be the connection and the engagement here are two very different images with a huge amount of likes over 5 million between them – which one do you think gained the most likes?
A 2012 study by ROI Research found that when users engage with friends on social media sites, it's the pictures they took that are enjoyed the most. Forty-four percent of respondents are more likely to engage with brands if they post pictures over any other media. Pictures have become one of our default modes of sorting and understanding the vast amounts of information we're exposed to every day.
A great image will engage, convey and gets a reaction in the blink of an eye, nothing is quicker for us to understand. The shortest quickest way for us to communicate.
As I said above when you have a passion for something it is all fun, so for me this is awesome fun, but many of my clients have struggled with this side of their content creation. Thankfully you no longer need to struggle and you don't need to be a whizz at adobe photoshop there are a lot of fantastic free apps out there that can inspire and help you make great unique images.
Here are some of my top picks:- Enjoy
First up is PicMonkey
PicMonkey is a feature-rich, free online photo editor that works right in your browser; no downloads necessary. Touch-up tools like Teeth Whiten, Blemish Fix, Weight Loss. Many effects are available with drag and drop ease.
PicMonkey is really easy to use, you can jump in straight away and give it a go without creating an account or even uploading your own photos. You can quickly and easily edit a single image, create a collage or put together a design for a background or your Facebook cover.
2. Easel.ly
Infographics are especially popular on Pinterest, Facebook or in blog posts. easel.ly is a great tool for making and creating infographics. Easel.ly features thousands of free infographic templates and design objects which users can customise to create and share their visual ideas online. Using the site is as easy as dragging and dropping design elements, and users can either choose a template from their extensive library, or they can upload their own background image and start from scratch.
Easel.ly has made it possible for anyone to design their own custom infographic in minutes. The best part? It’s free.
3. Shareasimage
Formally Pin A Quote lets you highlight copy and paste text on images and photos simple to use and very effective It creates micro-content anywhere on the web. Turn images or text into viral, eye-catching micro-content that you can share in seconds.
Shareasimage has 50 different fonts and many backgrounds so you are only limited by your imagination.
Share with other social media there is a Free version and the Pro version is currently $8/month
4. Memegenerator
Who hasn't laughed at a meme? Used to create instantly funny sometimes a little outrageous images. Memegenerator is a quick easy and Free tool to create those crazy and fun memes. Warning not for kids!! some images can be rather rude.
Choose an image, the words and you are ready to go. Use your own image or there are lots of pre-formated memes to choose from.
5. Canva
Canva is probably one of the very best. A start-to-finish design program perfect for non-designers.
Fun, Free and easy to use. You can start with a custom layout or a blank page, they have plenty of pre-made templates as well. Then with all the tools you need in one place, it is so easy to create your design.
Simply search for the best graphics, photos, and fonts, or upload your own, then use Canva’s drag and drop tool to create a design. Also included is Canva’s photo editor very simple and straight forward. Canva includes hundreds of free elements and fonts.
Here are 2 Bonus Apps that are well worth looking at.
Bonus App 1 – Gimp
GIMP is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, and more versatile.
Bonus App 2 – PickMarkr
PicMarkr lets you add a custom watermark (image or text) to your images online and for free.
It is useful when you need to protect your copyrights or if you want to add comments
to your photos.
The above are just a few of what is an ever evolving collection of apps to help with image creation really you are only limited by your imagination.
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