How to Create Sharable Images for Social Media

Published on October 3, 2014

Images are a powerful tool for social media sites. Users respond to images more than they respond to text, so it makes sense why digital marketers place a good deal of emphasis on using images to promote your content.

So how to you create images that will successfully market your content? The good news is, you don't have to be a graphic designer to make a quality, sharable image.

Here are 3 great online design tools, recently shared by Social Media Examiner, to help you create some of your own sharable images.

1. Reusable Images Have Layers

Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. And, most importantly, reusable images have layers.

A great way to consolidate your image-building time is to initially create images that are easily reusable. To make an image reusable, we recommend creating your image with something that we call "layers."

Layers break up your image into separate pieces. Say you start with a solid blue background - this will be your first layer. Then you take a text tool, and type a phrase on top of the blue background. This is another layer. These two layers are not immediately glued together, but are separate (and editable) for future use.

In this way, you can create a template for yourself upon which you can replace separate elements to create a unique image every time. Replace the text, background, or other elements as you see fit.

While we use Photoshop as our editing software of choice, there is an online tool called Canva which is built by designers for non-designers. There are free options and paid options available, including photos, icons, and graphics (as well as, of course, the ability to upload your own.)

2. Fonts Can Create Interest (With A Discerning Eye)

Using a variety of font sizes and colors is a great way to elevate an image to the next level.

A user-friendly interface with a huge font collection is PicMonkey. The tool itself is free, while there is also a paid ad-free version with premium fonts and layouts.

You can change background and text colors easily with this app. Like you would see in Photoshop, PicMonkey has the ability to change a font or background color to a specific hex color code, or select a specific color directly from the image with the dropper tool.

While PicMonkey does have a vide variety of fonts and colors, the general rule is to stick to one or two fonts and to one or 3 colors for the image. Otherwise the image will appear too busy.

3. Use Your Phone to Create Quick Images

Want to quickly throw up a quality image on your social media site? WordSwag is a solid mobile-only tool for developing quick notes.

Upload an image from your camera or use one of their preset images for your backdrop. Then add text on top of it. There are pre-created quotes available to you, but you can also create custom text from the menu. You can also create different font styles instantly by selecting their pre-set design options.

From there, you can set this app up much like an Instagram account so that this image is can be shared across your social media platforms directly from the app.

Do you have favorite image-editing software? We want to hear from you! Drop a comment below, or send us an email.