Today's article is much better explained via a video tutorial so, I grabbed one of the videos from my Blog Camp Series to illustrate how to design free professional images for your blog and also how to create awesome Facebook posts using af free graphic software called Canva.
Inside this video below I am showing you specifically how to create an image for your blog, HOWEVER, creating professional Facebook posts is done exactly the same way except that you would select the Facebook Post image template instead. The software works the same regardless of what size image you are creating.
But I wanted to add just a couple more things about Canva that maybe some may not realize. It is NOT just a graphic building software. I have used it to create really great presentations and also job aids! Check out my 8 Steps To Creating Your Own Course as an example. Pretty cool right? You just have to select the ebook option and start adding text and images. I used their icons and some images of my own that I uploaded. The only downfall to this, particularly when creating presentations is that you can't really use templates like you can with PowerPoint. You have to duplicate each page in order to maintain whatever consistency you need throughout your copy. But hey, with a little bit of pre-planning and storyboarding, you don't really need to change TOO much later. And for a short project, the advantage of its high resolution output, all the icons it comes with AND (my favorite plus), the ability to position images ANYWHERE on the page, is definitely worth it. In fact, NEXT, I am going to use it to create a business card size gift card! Fun times ahead!
Canva so far is free and you can grab your own free account at http://canva.com. I believe I heard some rumors that they were also expanding into MOBILE so you can design these graphics and post from your phone!!! That is awesome and I can't wait to try that function next.
In the meantime you need to get a good feel for how Canva works first from a computer (and because I don't think the mobile option is out yet). So here is a 12 minute tutorial on how to create a blog graphic using Canva. I use it to create ALL my Facebook image posts.
If you like this video, I got 10 more like it inside my Blog Camp Learning Center that walk you through how to create your own self hosted blog! Or if you already have a blog and want more info on SEO type stuff, you might enjoy some of the videos too. And it's free!