If you regularly make graphics for your ministry, business, organization, or just for fun, these four tools will save you literally hours a week. I use them constantly to generate graphics, social media posts, and more for FCC, for my blog, and even for personal use. They’re worth a look and I guarantee if you try them you’ll be hooked. Here they are in no particular order:
Canva
Canva is a web app/tool that can be used to create graphics for all kinds of applications. There are a bunch of templates already designed that you can use, or you can create your own from scratch. They also have custom sizes already created for various uses (Facebook cover, Instagram/social media square graphic, poster, postcard, business card, etc.) or you can input custom dimensions. They also have a huge library of images that you can use; some are free and some have a minimal per-use cost. Canva allows you to export in two formats: JPEG for web use or PDF for print. You can create an account for free and there’s no cost unless you use any of their pay-for images. I love Canva and literally use it almost every day for one thing or another. I actually use it to quickly size the images for my blog posts because it’s so much faster than Photoshop and I can do it from my phone.
FYI, there’s also a Canva WordPress plug-in that you can install to create graphics for your website or blog from within your WordPress dashboard. They’ll even allow you to embed the Canva platform into your site so your visitors/customers can use it on a page within your site. Pretty cool stuff.
Over
Over is an app for iPhone/Android that has endless possibilities. There are lots of great fonts included for free and you can unlock hundreds more for minimal cost. You can also get hand-drawn icons and other graphics (some packs are free, some are pay-for-use). Over will export to your phone’s photo album or straight to social media networks. I haven’t used it quite as much since discovering Canva, but it’s nice to have at the ready on my phone.
Wordswag
Wordswag is awesome. It’s another smartphone app that will create amazing text graphics in seconds. You simply pick a photo (either from your photo album or one of their royalty-free offerings), input text, pick a text generator, and you’re all set. You have to try it to see how great it works. I just found this one a few days ago and I already love it.
VSCOcam
VSCOcam is a camera app with lots of cool filters and editing tools. There’s no built in text editing, but paired with another app like Over or Wordswag, it can help you create some awesome pictures and graphics. It’s Instagram-style editing on steroids…much more powerful for photo creation. I use it quite often to tweak pictures and images when I want to really dig in and have control over the various settings and photo controls. It also has a built in camera function, as the name implies, that allows you to use the app like a one-stop-shop for generating stunning pictures.
