How to create good images – and stop that scrolling thumb!

Today, most people use at least one social media channel. And most of the time they check it using a smartphone. This requires a whole lot of scrolling. Your job is to make that scrolling thumb stop, by catching their attention and attract them with your content. This isn’t as easy as one might think!

Most research online shows that the saying ‘An image says more than a 1000 words’ is still going strong. Even if you are a very well-known brand you won’t stop a ‘scroller’ by just using text. You need to use images to capture attention in those few seconds you are given in the constant media flow. Of course, the image can include text. It may only be text, but it needs to be in an image that is eye-catching. It can be a photo, an infographic or just a coloured back plate. It all depends on your message and what goes best with your brand profile.

Most of us aren’t designers and don’t have the privilege to have a Photoshop license, but there are loads of free (or almost free) online tools and desktop programs that serves your needs just fine. Both for editing photos and to easily create nice infographics and other graphic images.

Here is a selection of editing tools. 

Many are very similar to each other, but their interfaces may differ and I hope that you may find your own favourite.

1. Canva

To design a nice graphic image or an infographic I would recommend you to use Canva. Here you’ll find pre-made templates and a drag-and-drop interface. You can also make your own templates. They even offer you custom image sizes for various social media channels. It’s a great tool, but it costs a small fee each month.

2. Infogram

If you want an infographic with different kinds of charts with a nice design you should use Infogram.

3. SumoPaint

SumoPaint has got an interface very similar to Photoshop and many of the same features. This, I would say, is one of the better tools to use.

4. PicMonkey

PicMonkey has got a nice and user-friendly interface and all the features, fonts, filters, etc that you can possibly need.

5. Pixlr

Pixlr covers many of your needs while editing an image too. And there are over 600 image effects, filters, frames, etc.

6. Pizap

Another nice looking online tool with many nice editing effects, collage possibilities, etc. is Pizap.

7. iPiccy

iPiccy is also very similar to some of the other tools. What may differ most between them all are different filters and effects. So it’s up to you to just dig in and see what you can choose from.

8. Paint.NET and GIMP

If you prefer to work with a desktop program you can download Paint.NET (only for Windows) or GIMP. In general, desktop programs are more likely to be able to handle larger images. Both of these have complete tool boxes to be able to retouch and manipulate your images in almost any way you want.

There are many more tools out there, but these are the ones I think are the best at the moment. If you have another favourite photo editing tool, please add it as a comment below or get in touch with us :)