Beautiful images no longer belong exclusively to graphic design pros. Even though Photoshop is still the best choice for advanced design work, you can now create your own look and style using a variety of web-based graphic design tools.
In this guide, you’ll learn not only which tools are the best for creating the most in-demand graphics (like social media cover photos, infographics, and trendy header images), but you’ll also discover what makes an image truly stand out and get shared
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of companies that have stepped up to the challenge, offering a wide range of visual tools at your fingertips. And, many of them are free or low cost.
A Picture Really is Worth a Thousand Words
And, the best part is that there’s no graphic design experience needed to create stunning, share-worthy images. With many of them, you can simply drag and drop the elements you want to get surprisingly good results.
And, even when you’re done, you can optimize the finished graphics to load fast and look great on any device – no designer necessary!Here are a few of my personal favorites, along with the types of images you can create with them. Canva lets you create a whole host of graphics with the sizing and dimensions already taken care of for you. Create everything from flyers to business cards or social media images and infographics.
Whole host of graphics with the sizing and dimensions
Beyond photos, Canva also has a fully stocked library of graphical elements and shapes that form the perfect backdrop for any kind of image. Simply search, drag and drop your way to an image you’ll be proud to say that you created.
· A wide range of images and styles are available – ranging from social network graphics and design courses online to collage-style images and everything in between.And, if you’re looking for price information – you won’t find it.
· Canva is free to use, apart from the photo licensing fees, so you can create as many graphics as you want without restrictions.
· You can even login using your Google or Facebook account – saving you from yet another password to remember.
Helpful Graphics Utilities
Optimizilla works with both JPG (photos) and PNG (logos and transparent images) formats since both of these file types tend to be larger in size. All of the images you upload are automatically deleted after an hour and you can download the optimized versions selectively or all at one time.It works with other popular WordPress image plugins too, like NextGen photo gallery. If you don’t like how a reduced file size image looks, you can either re-optimize it with different settings, or restore the original.
The plugin works by leveraging several unique optimization utilities in one complete package. Because each individual image format has different ways of conserving file size, each one has its own unique utility to compress images without sacrificing quality.