The pictures and graphics you use on your website tell the story of you and your business. They stimulate emotions and help connect you to your website visitor. What kind of images are on your website?
Stock photos are a great option for high-quality photos for your website. However, sometimes you may want to change or add text to that image. In that case, you can create a graphic for your website or social media platform YOURSELF!
I know what you’re thinking. “Where do I start”?
Great question! In the infographic below I outline the 7 steps on how to create a graphic to help walk you through the process step by step. This is the big-picture overview of how I create all my graphics!
How to Create a Graphic in 7 Simple Steps:
1. Pick A Shape for Your Graphic
The first step is to decide what shape to make your graphic. You’ll need to decide if you are going to make a square, rectangle, tall pillar, long banner, postcard shape, etc. Or you can combine shapes together and have a square shape with a heart or star etc on to. If you’re just starting, keep it simple. You can always try something more complex later on.
2. Pick A Tool to Create Your Graphic
Now that you have decided on your shape, you need to decide which image editing tool you will want to use to create your graphic. A couple of free tools that I like are Canva and IPiccy. Different image editing tools will allow you to do different things so think about what you want and then pick the appropriate tool.
3. Pick An Image as the Basis for Your Graphic
Now that you’ve decided on your shape and image editing tool, you move on to the FUN part! Pick your main image. Either a free photo, stock photo, illustration, or your own photo/graphic.
4. Add Text And More to Your Graphic
Add the appropriate text to your image. It could be an inspirational quote, a Bible verse, a poem, etc. You may also want to add an overlay and put your text on top of it. You also want to add your watermark which is your name and/or business name (if applicable) My watermark is @ChristinaHills | WebsiteCreationWorkshop.com. You’ll also add in any extras, i.e. flowers, stars, arrows, speech bubbles, etc.
5. Save Your New Graphic Image to Your Computer
Double-check that your image looks the way you want it and you have cropped out anything you don’t want in the image. Then, you’ll want to save your image from the image editing tool/software…but what file format do you want/need? Do you want a .png or .jpg? I like saving images as .png as the image seems sharper and crisper.
6. Compress Your Graphic Image to Make it Light
If you are uploading the image to your website, you’ll want to compress it to make it smaller. Why do I need to do that you might ask? Great question! Some reasons we compress images for our websites are so they load faster, so they don’t slow your website down and so they don’t take up more space on your server than needed. If you are only going to use your images for Social Media, you may skip this step.
7. Share Your Graphic On Social Media or Your Website/Blog
Now, you’re to step 7. You’ve learned a lot and taken the idea from your mind and created a beautiful graphic all by yourself for FREE! Now you can proudly share your image on Social Media, or upload it to your website/blog. Woo hoo!
Try It Out!
Now it’s your turn. Follow these seven simple steps to create your own graphic for your WordPress site or social media platform.
For more training on how to create your own graphics, join me in my online training, the Graphics Creation Workshop! Click the button below to find out more!
(this article originally appeared Feb 2018)
