If you’ve been following my blog series about creating more engagement on Facebook and taking action, at this point you’re posting regularly, scheduling your posts, and varying your content. So, today I wanna talk a bit about one of the most popular types of content…photos…and specifically graphics.
People love inspirational quotes on photos!
It’s awesome if you can design your own, but my guess is you aren’t a graphic designer and may not know how to do it. So, today I wanna show you 2 of my favorite ways to create graphics. Both are super simple, one is free, and the other is only a few bucks! How does it get any better than that?!
By the way, here’s the funny thing. I know Photoshop decently well. I took an 8-week basics of Photoshop class last year to up my graphics game. And while I really enjoy using it, I’ve found that most of what I need can be done easier and so much faster using these 2 tools…
- Canva
- Word Swag
Canva
Canva is a free membership website (www.canva.com) that gives you templates for graphics AND makes it the correct size for whatever platform you want to use it.
Did you know that Facebook has different dimensions (sizes) for cover photos than newsfeed photos than ad photos? If your dimensions aren’t right, either it won’t post, or it just won’t look right.
Canva can help with that. And if you’re using your own photos, everything is completely free. If you want to use their pics, it’s only $1 per pic, which is SUPER cheap.
My tip: My favorite FREE place to get good pics for background images is unsplash.com but also here’s an awesome blog post from Canva of 74 sites to find free photos… https://designschool.canva.com/blog/free-stock-photos/
Here’s how to create a graphic in Canva…
Once you are logged into Canva, this is what is will look like. Select ‘More’ to see all the options for sizing.
Select which type of graphic you’d like to create. In this case, I chose ‘Facebook post’
Scroll through the options of what you’d create. You can change the background, font, etc or keep as is. Most are free and will say free in the bottom right corner. A few will be paid options.
Once you’ve selected a canvas you like, click on various sections to edit them. Click on the words ‘Summer Deals’ to change them.
You’ll see options to change the font, size, and color, or simply change the text.
If there’s a section you don’t like, simply delete it by clicking on the trash can.
Once your graphic is done, click ‘Download.’
Since I’m creating a Facebook post, I’ll select ‘As an Image.’ If I were making a flyer to print, I would chose ‘High Quality PDF.’
While it’s creating…
Now your image is ready to be uploaded into Facebook!
Word Swag
Word Swag is an app for your phone. (They don’t yet have a website for it.) It costs $3.99 and is amazing for creating fun and inspiration graphics that are easily shareable.
Here’s a few reasons why I quickly became obsessed with it.
1. They give you text suggestions, or you can use your own.
2. You can supply the pics, use one of their backgrounds, or search pixabay for free.
3. There’s so many different options for the font and style of the text that would take SO LONG if you had to create them on your own in Photoshop.
4. It’s super easy to add your own water mark/logo once you’re done.
Here’s how to create a graphic in Word Swag…
You’ll need to download Word Swag from the App Store. Here’s what it’ll look like
Click on the photo to get started. If you want to take a new picture to use for it, click the camera icon.
You can use your own photos by clicking ‘Camera Roll,’ use Word Swags pics, by clicking on any of the pics below, or use Pixabay images (that you would normally have to pay for the use of) by typing in a search term under ‘Search Pixabay Images…’
In this case, I did a search for ocean pictures. Scroll through and click on one you like.
If you like the picture you selected, click ‘Square Crop.’ If not, click the ‘X’ on the top left and keep searching.
Just as it says, double click on the text to change it.
Double tap to change the text, or click on any of the words on the left to get text suggestions.
Click the crossing arrows to get a new suggestion, or when you’ve found a quote you like, click “Save and Close.’
Ta-Da! If you like how it looks, you’re done. Otherwise, now we get to play!
Click the different style icons to quickly change the layout of the text.
Click the different number for a different layout within the same stlye. And click the dice to shake up all those layouts and try new ones.
Click color to change the color of the text.
Select image to play with the background image’s coloring.
When you like how everything looks, select ‘Done.’
If you want to add your logo/watermark, select ‘Add logo/watermark’
Move and scale your logo, decide the transparency,and click the check mark.
Your graphic is ready to post to Facebook and other social media!
Two things you should know about me…
1. I fully believe we are all lifelong learners.
2. I am an action taker. I like being shown how-to do something and then I take action almost immediately. So for just about every blog, webinar, video training, etc from me, you’ll find action steps.
So, here are your action steps…
1. Check out Canva and Word Swag. (If you don’t want to spend the $3.99, Word Dream is another app that is free with in-app purchases and very similar. I don’t like it as much, but feel free to check it out as well.)
2. Post your newly created graphics to Facebook.
3. Let me know what you think of them. Which one do you like best? Is there something you like even better? Let me know in my Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jennpossick
