10 simple photo editing tools you can use to create great visual content for social media (plus 5...
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Is your online marketing strategy running on a tight budget? Are you struggling to create original images for your social media strategy, but you're spending too much money on it? Today's article has 10 great & simple photo editing tools PLUS 5 tools for infographics. AND if you read until the end you will see the article is sprinkled with BONUS tools that you can use for video creation & online marketing.TRANSCRIPT
Are you in search of free, user-
friendly photo editing tools?
Are you using images in your blog
posts? What kind of pictures are you
sharing on your social media profile?
In an online business a picture may be
the only reason someone clicks on
your link, or reads your
article. However, a lot of the amazing
business owners I know are working
with limited budgets. Hiring a full-time
illustrator is not something they can
afford. Plus, they shy away at the
thought of having to work with
complicated software such as Adobe
Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.
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10 Simple Photo Editing Tools You Can Use To Create Great Visual
Content For Social Media (Plus 5 Tools For Infographics!)
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I totally get that. If you are like most of these business owners, I’m sure you totally get that
too.
This is why I put together a thorough list of the best photo editing tools. Most of them
are free, and the ones which aren’t are worth every penny.
Tip: If you are patient enough to read to the end, you will see the article is sprinkled with
several bonus tools that are simply heaven-sent. Really, they do their job SO well you will
start wondering whether you will ever need the help of an illustrator…
Tools to create amazing photos & photo collages:
PicMonkey
PicMonkey has a free option with lots of frames and font types to choose from. As long as
you have a photo ready to be edited, you can crop it, resize it, add frames, text or special
effects. Plus, you can also create great banners for your social media profiles.
PicMonkey
Then, of course, there is a paid version, with even more frames and more fonts…
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Bubbls.us
Bubbl.us is not really a photo editing tool, but I included it here and you’ll soon see why.
Allow me to explain…
I know you are a brainy person, and very organised when it comes to your business, right?
So whenever you want to work on a new project, the first thing you do is you brainstorm
everything.
This is what Bubbl.us is great for. It allows you to create your own mind maps and save
them in your computer. You can also publish them:
on blog posts
in infographics
on social media profiles
in PowerPoint presentations
for webinars
Bubbl.us
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Paint.NET
As the name suggests Paint.NET is a photo editing software. Although its Home page is not
impressive, you can download the software and have a try; you might be surprised.
The software only works with Windows, so if you’re a Mac user just skip to the next tool.
Paint.NET
Bitstrips
Bitstrips is increasingly popular among Facebook users, and it’s easy to see why. What could
be more fun thancreating crazy scenarios where you and your friends are the main
cartooned characters?
The tool can be successfully used on social media profiles to share something funny with
your audience.
You can easily create a bitstrip for those status updates that don’t have an image yet.
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Bitstrips
PhotoFunia
I recommend PhotoFunia for those situations when you need a mock-up. It also has
great sketch effects,museum-like mock-ups and a lot of other interesting backgrounds.
Some really great effects include:
Posters and Cards
I particularly like the Filters section
Galleries and Billboards mock-ups
Drawings and Photography
PhotoFunia
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Canva
Canva is that kind of tool that allows even a novice to become a designer. You have a variety
of backgrounds, text fonts and layouts that you can play with to obtain great visual effects.
You can sign up using your Facebook profile, and once logged in you get access to:
mockups
layouts
collaboration tool
But as great as Canva is, you have to pay for it. You can use it for free to create your visuals,
but when you want to publish your artwork you will be asked to pay.
Canva
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PowerPoint
A highly underestimated tool. PowerPoint is amazing, amazing, amazing. I have
recently tested it as an image-creating tool and loved to see the variety of things it can do.
It was a great experience. You can use PowerPoint’s tools to give life to some brilliant
illustrations. When you are happy with the result go to Save As… and choose PNG or JPEG.
Microsoft PowerPoint
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Fotor
Fotor is incredibly easy to use. I know some people who are using it to create photo collages
of their products. They then post the images on their social media profiles and on their
blogs. The visual effects are really great…!
I highly recommend it and I suggest you use it on social media… especially if you have an e-
commerce. You can easily showcase product details, add your company logo, and so on.
The tool also offers some options for editing portrait images AND it can help you create
postcards.
Fotor
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LiveLuvCreate
LiveLuvCreate might strike you as a website for teenagers. But it really is not. It is
the perfect match between those quotes you’ve been wanting to post online for so long
and a beautiful background to complement them.
Personally, I love quotes, and I share them on my profiles as an inspiration for me and the
community around Super Savvy Business. With LiveLuvCreate you can share famous quotes
with your audience too.
Even better, if – let’s say – you are a writer, you can showcase your own quotes using
backgrounds from LiveLuvCreate.
Liveluvcreate
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PicCollage
PicCollage is a killer combo between pictures, text and stickers.
It is an app that you can use on your smartphone or iPhone. Download it from the iTunes
App Store or from Google Play and keep it on top of your mind when you want to share
images while on the move.
PicCollage allows you to edit your pics and share them instantly on social media!
Pic Collage
Did you like these 10 photo editing tools? You can also help hundreds of people by sharing
your findings on Twitter:
Comprehensive list of FREE #editing tools for #photos #videos
#infographics.
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Bonus Tool: PowToon
PowToon is a tool I stumbled upon a long time ago and I’ve been loving it ever since.
You can create personalised video presentations that tell YOUR story.
The team at PowToon are doing a great job helping business owners weave stories around
their businesses. You are given access to an abundance of characters, cartoons, drawings,
sketches… you canrecord your voice and play it over the video and… ta-daaaa!!
You have an amazing opt-in video. Or a video for your latest blog post. Or a video for
a webinar. You know,good-looking videos for every situation.
PowToon has both a free version and a paid one.
PowToon
Tools to create infographics:
Now here’s the problem: infographics are darn expensive. But not only do they cost a lot,
they also take time to create. You need to:
Honestly? The end result is rarely what you hoped for. You now need to explain what you
want changed, taken out, replaced… quite the headache.
Forget about that.
Why don’t you create your own infographics instead? For free.
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Here are some tools I found:
Venngage
Whenever you want to create an infographic Venngage is there to help. You can choose
from a multitude of backgrounds and themes, you can add charts, icons and images.
It is great if you’ve never done an infographic before because it’s a drag & drop kind of tool.
When you’re happy with the result, save. Then publish.
Venngage comes with a free version and also with a Premium one. Considering that an
infographic usually costs hundreds of dollars, the $19 per month subscription is a bargain
price.
Venngage
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Easel.ly
Easel.ly offers a multitude of themes for infographics, but you can also try to create a new
one from scratch. You work on a clear canvas and build your infographic to the tiniest
detail.
The website is still in beta version, but its success is obvious: almost 400k themes have been
created so far.
Easel.ly
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Infogr.am
Like the other infographic tools, Infogr.am also allows you to create free interactive
infographics.
But this one comes with a twist: the world’s first VIDEO infographic creator.
How do you like the sound of that? I’m definitely curious and interested! Find out more
about video infographics on Infogr.am’s page.
Infogr.am
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Piktochart
Piktochart is another cool tool that I wanted to share with you today. Although it caters
more to teachers and professors, it can be used by online business owners as well.
It is a paid service but you can create infographics for free by clicking on the “Try for
free” button on the top right of the page.
Plus, if you are a teacher, you are a lucky person: they offer a free subscription account to
those working in education (but the free version has a limited number of themes). They
also provide discounts for non-profit organizations.
Piktochart
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PowerPoint
Yes, PowerPoint again… Have I told you what an underutilised tool this is? People use it for
presentations and… that’s about it.
Yet the potential of PowerPoint is admirable; you can create crazy good-looking
images with it and you can also create… infographics.
Here’s how:
Open a new PowerPoint presentation.
Go to Design and click on Page Setup.
Edit the width and height of the slide to fit the size of an infographic (which varies
depending on the amount of text & images you need).
Create your infographic using photos, shapes, charts and the SmartArt feature.
When ready, click on File – Save As… – jpeg or png.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Like what you’ve read so far? This article could be helpful to one of your friends; if you
know someone who’s been on the lookout for free infographic tools, share the news with
them:
5 FREE #infographic tools (plus list of #photo #video #editing tools)
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Bonus tool: Hubspot
Hubspot is NOT a photo editing tool and it certainly is not a tool for infographics.
But the amount of marketing materials it provides is absolutely mindblowing. You’ll find
here an impressive amount of information, guidelines, advice and great tips for running an
online business… and these marketing resources are free!
Hubspot
So there you have it: the best photo editing tools that don’t dry your pockets and give your
business a professional look on the internet. If you read this article carefully, you
discovered more than just somephoto editing tools. You now know how to create your opt-
in video on a budget, and you alsodiscovered an unquenched resource of marketing
materials.
Now is your turn… Do you use images in your social media marketing?
How much are you paying for your images?
What is your favourite photo editing tool from the ones I mentioned above?
Are you using any other tools that you might want to recommend?
Place your thoughts in the Comments section here.