Oh my, I have some catching up to do within this series! If you’d like an intro to this series click here, or if you missed Part 2 click here! Otherwise, let’s continue shall we?
Today I’m going to be talking about WHAT I use. For example: The program I use to create my unique photos and the pictures I find on the internet that are absolutely free.
Have you ever noticed that I pretty much use the same “theme” within the pictures that go along with my blog posts? Some people like to change their main pictures up while I tend to keep mine similar. It’s completely up to you and what you feel is best for your blog.
Because this is a series I changed it up a little bit with giving it some uniqueness, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, most of my blog posts pop up with pictures such as these:
As you can see I went with a very basic semi-transparent rectangular middle and I’ll change the letter font to which I feel is appropriate for the post. Now, how did I make these you ask? I use an excellent program that gives me a lot of freedom.
Canva.com
Canva allows you to easily create documents and re-design pictures (like I showed you above). It even has sections to pick from that will set you up with the perfect dimensions for making Facebook covers, Twitter covers, cards, restaurant menus, posters, flyers, and so much more. It’s the only program I have ever used since blogging, and I love it so much that I haven’t felt the need to find anything else.
Everything is free besides some of their pictures and icons. Looking for something completely free? Never fear, as you are allowed to upload any pictures you want to add to your creation. They give you a very fast introduction once you sign up with your own account that will explain the rest! 🙂
Free Photos
Please beware that if you use pictures you find through Google or any website to where the photo is copyrighted, you can get SUED. When I first started blogging I would save pictures off of Google Images and upload them within my blog. Well I found out later that it was illegal. It’s serious business here folks. Thank goodness it never happened to me, but I’ve read numerous blogs that explained how they had been sued by the photographers. Always assume that the pictures are copyrighted unless you or the owner of the picture can prove otherwise.
Once I found out, I immediately took the photos down and I looked high and low for FREE for commercial use pictures. What you’re looking for is photos that say allowed for commercial purposes. Meaning you can edit and use the photo without providing attribution to the photographer or website.
Here’s a list of the websites I use that give me the freedom of using pictures that are free of copyrights.
Pixabay – Over 660,00 photos that are released free of copyrights. Lots of options to choose from here!
Unsplash – This site has high resolution photos that are free of use and copyrights. They make the promise of uploading 10 new pictures a day! This is one my new favorites!
Boss Fight – Another site that offers free photos and are high resolution as well. I choose not to use this site too much as I feel there isn’t as many options as Unsplash or Pixabay. However, if you can find what you’re looking for, the picture won’t disappoint.
So there you have it! That’s the “what’s” that consist of my blogging career. Now you know the secret to making fantastic intro photos. 😉
What do you use? What picture sites are your favorite? Do you use a program like Canva? If so, what is it? Don’t be shy, comment down below! 🙂
2 Comments
Canva, PicMonkey, and Pixaby are regulars for me! I love that each of them provides different services as a part of their free service. I use PicMonkey for photo editing, Canva for my post images and pins, and Pixaby as a source for some photos!
PicMonkey?! I’ll have to check that one out. Thank you for commenting! 🙂