Create Beautiful Social Media Visuals - 6 Free Tools

Every social media platform now incorporates visuals in some way. Whether it be simple pictures, graphics, infographics or videos. To help you maximise your social media updates, we have put together this handy guide that profiles 6 free tools to create beautiful social media visuals.

If you follow us on our social media platforms or keep an eye on our blogs, you will know we are always talking about the importance of visuals on social media.

Here’s a blog outlining why visuals are vital in social media, which you can read right here!

Not every business has the ability to snap regular pictures suitable for use online. Therefore it’s always handy to have resources at hand that you can rely on. It’s important to remember when using images online that they must be suitable for commercial use. Saving images from google images or other websites may be a breach of copyright!

Below we have outlined a selection of sites that are suitable for commercial use. Some are free to use, whilst others are subscription-based. Depending on the quality of the images you need and the regularity in which you need them, it’s always worth exploring a range of sites to see which best suits your needs. Most subscription websites offer free or discounted trials, so it may be worth trying before you buy!

Pixabay

We regularly recommend Pixabay to our attendees at workshops and training sessions. It’s free to use and it is packed full of commercially licensed visuals.

The search facility is convenient and you can narrow down your search. For example, you can search for photos, graphics, illustrations or videos. It’s handy if you’re looking for a particular type of image to suit your brand.

If you would like an image of a meeting, type ‘meeting’ into the search bar.

You can then narrow down the search even further; you can select the orientation, category, primary colour and even the size of the images.

Keep in mind: if you’re too specific you might find yourself with slim pickings! Try to be broad with your search and keep your options open.

Pexels

You wouldn’t be wrong if you’re looking at Pexels and thinking it’s very similar to Pixabay. Both sites use the same search facilities and even layout structure. However, there are a few missing features, such as you can’t narrow the search by image type. Although once you search a term, you are given many images and videos listed in separate tabs, which is handy.

Canva

If you’re looking for a quick, easy and free way to add text and edit your images, consider Canva. This free site can be used via an app or on a desktop. Add text to your photos, frames, icons or generally enhance your images with the simple to use navigation bar.

Although the site and app are free, you will have to upgrade to the pro version if you want more advanced features, which will cost you around £9 a month.

Ripl

Videos are a fantastic visual resource for social media, but creating animated visuals without expensive software can be challenging. Ripl is quick and easy to make bespoke videos and images. In addition, the simple drag and drop process allows you to add text, logos and music to your photos or videos.

This clever app allows you to quickly enhance your visuals without the need for a desktop device. The free version has some functionality but a host of extra fonts, layouts and features are available with the pro version, which will cost you around £12 a month.

Once you’re happy with your creation, you can quickly upload it to your chosen social media channels with one click. So it’s a quick and easy way to post visual content!

Shutterstock

When you talk about stock images, you tend to think about Shutterstock. Arguably one of the most popular sites for visual assets, Shutterstock is jam-packed with visuals. It incorporates the functionality of the previous sites but with ten times the features. You can narrow down searches with ease, enjoy related suggestions and browse 1000s of visuals.

There isn’t a free version of Shutterstock, only a free trial that allows you to download ten images within 30 days; after this, it’s £19 a month! Using the trial is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of Shutterstock’s editor, which allows you to edit your images by adding text, logos and adjusting the overall effects.

Shutterstock will undoubtedly give you plenty of choices, and it’s ideal if you regularly require visuals for use on social media.

Adobe Stock

Although lesser known than its famous editing counterpart Photoshop, Adobe Stock is a fantastic resource for visuals. Although a little pricey, it has a huge archive of stock images, many of which are suitable for commercial use.

It’s also a fantastic resource if you are a Photoshop or Premier user. You can upload and edit more advanced visuals such as leaflets and flyers using Adobe Stock’s templates. You can even play with more advanced 3D objects if you so wish!

The pricing system is a little hefty, so we recommend using Adobe Stock if you regularly create bespoke visuals at a more advanced level. A monthly subscription will cost around £20 for ten standard images a month. That’s about £2 per picture. You can also purchase credits which is helpful if you don’t regularly purchase photographs.

Top tip: If you are already a Photoshop CC user, you will receive free templates now and again!

That’s it for our quick roundup of visual resources. These are just 6 free tools to create beautiful social media visuals, but there are plenty more out there! Do you have your own go-to visual resources for social media? Tell us all about them on Twitter and tweet us on @lucky6marketing

If you have found this blog post useful, stick around and look at our past blogs or check back weekly to see our latest updates.

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