Enjoy these examples of PicMonkey goodness!
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You've heard about PicMonkey photo editor, right? Its one of the most popular solutions for those of us who don't want to spend jillions of dollars on expensive software just so we can brighten a few photos or add some text. So, why should you use Picmonkey?
Read just about any blogging tutorial and someone will be telling you about how important photos and other images are to your success. People like to stare at pretty images more than they like reading, so having something stare-at-able is a must.
Another reason to use a photo editor is so that you can conquer Pinterest. Okay, maybe conquer is a strong word (from someone who has like, 4 followers over there.)
But you have noticed that more and more pins have text on them these days, haven't you? That's because as much as people like to look at attractive photos, they are hesitant to click something that doesn't tell them why they should be clicking.
Adding titles to images makes them "Pinterest friendly". A picture of a sunset is nice, but a photo that says "28 Gorgeous Sunsets from Around the World" is much more enticing.
Enough with why you should juice up your photos.
Read just about any blogging tutorial and someone will be telling you about how important photos and other images are to your success. People like to stare at pretty images more than they like reading, so having something stare-at-able is a must.
Another reason to use a photo editor is so that you can conquer Pinterest. Okay, maybe conquer is a strong word (from someone who has like, 4 followers over there.)
But you have noticed that more and more pins have text on them these days, haven't you? That's because as much as people like to look at attractive photos, they are hesitant to click something that doesn't tell them why they should be clicking.
Adding titles to images makes them "Pinterest friendly". A picture of a sunset is nice, but a photo that says "28 Gorgeous Sunsets from Around the World" is much more enticing.
Enough with why you should juice up your photos.
1. Add Text to Photos
Use PicMonkey filters and text overlays to personalize your photos and make them Pinterest friendly.
After you give your photo of choice a little tweaking (you can use several different filters), you can overlay some text. Picmonkey offers dozens of different fonts, so you can match your title to the tone of your post, or keep all of your blog titles branded together with a few "signature" styles.
If your text is too light or too dark to show up against the background, just head to the overlay images. The one I used here is a Royale Victorian label. I changed the colors to cream and brown to match the autumn leaves, and faded it slightly so it wouldn't look too cartoonish.
If your text is too light or too dark to show up against the background, just head to the overlay images. The one I used here is a Royale Victorian label. I changed the colors to cream and brown to match the autumn leaves, and faded it slightly so it wouldn't look too cartoonish.
2. Use PicMonkey to Make Your Labels
Use PicMonkey overlays to create pretty labels for your organizing tasks.
But don't settle for boring labels.
Picmonkey has a fair selection of label shapes. You can overlap them to create new shapes, which is what I did here, with the pink edge. The center part is an oval from the geometric overlays.
After adding the text, I faded the cork tile texture over the whole image, then uploaded my own overlay (a photo of beads) to create the random "sparkles" Did I mention you can upload your own overlays and textures?
To finish, I rounded the corners slightly with the photo frame option. This goes in my dream office scrapbook, where I am collecting ideas.
Picmonkey has a fair selection of label shapes. You can overlap them to create new shapes, which is what I did here, with the pink edge. The center part is an oval from the geometric overlays.
After adding the text, I faded the cork tile texture over the whole image, then uploaded my own overlay (a photo of beads) to create the random "sparkles" Did I mention you can upload your own overlays and textures?
To finish, I rounded the corners slightly with the photo frame option. This goes in my dream office scrapbook, where I am collecting ideas.
3. Logo or Motif
Get creative with PicMonkey shapes and create your own logo.
Even though there are several different floral graphics already on PicMonkey, I wanted to show you how you can use different shapes to create your own logos/motifs. This flower is created using a circle and 14 hearts.
By moving overlays backwards or forwards, you can hide parts of the shapes in order to create new shapes. Such as above where I hid the points of the large hearts to create petals, and the tops of the smaller hearts to create the petal centers.
I then saved the whole piece with a transparent background. This way it can be uploaded later as an overlay and used for a variety of projects. Some ideas:
By moving overlays backwards or forwards, you can hide parts of the shapes in order to create new shapes. Such as above where I hid the points of the large hearts to create petals, and the tops of the smaller hearts to create the petal centers.
I then saved the whole piece with a transparent background. This way it can be uploaded later as an overlay and used for a variety of projects. Some ideas:
- Label
- Birth announcement
- Invitations
- Decorative motif for printables
4. Watermarks
Brand your blog photos with a customized watermark overlay that's easy to use over and over.
It's a lot easier to create a watermark file than it is to recreate one each time you edit a photo. The above examples are very simple, because a watermark isn't supposed to draw attention away from the photo.
Both of these are made using a simple overlay and some text. You certainly have the option of adding a few little flourishes to make it unique.
Tip: When you create a watermark, try making the same one in several colors (at least black and white), if you intend to fade them over photos. If you like solid color, then by all means, be bold!
Both of these are made using a simple overlay and some text. You certainly have the option of adding a few little flourishes to make it unique.
Tip: When you create a watermark, try making the same one in several colors (at least black and white), if you intend to fade them over photos. If you like solid color, then by all means, be bold!
5. Messages
People like pictures. People like pictures with words. And people like pictures of just words. (not sure why that is easier than just reading content, but whatever.) Text-y images are easy to make, and they look good with or without any extra decoration.
For this one, I just used a plain background, 3 fonts, and the squiggle lines from the "corrections" overlay. Finish with a frame.
For this one, I just used a plain background, 3 fonts, and the squiggle lines from the "corrections" overlay. Finish with a frame.
6. Text Masks and Your Own Overlays
Create a custom texture or overlay by uploading your own photos to PicMonkey
Just for fun, I made this label using one of my own textures. When I say textures, I don't mean anything I created with a computer program. The pink in this one comes from a macro shot of....
This melted bowling ball.
This melted bowling ball.
At least I THINK it was a bowling ball, at one time. I found it in the alley when were emptying our storage unit, and I was attracted to the sparkling pink, green and purple scarring.
I take most of my macro shots with either my smartphone (an LG G4) or this Canon point and shoot. I really recommend the Canon camera for bloggers who don't want to lug around a huge camera everywhere they go. (I don't know about you, but I always find the most interesting stuff at times when I am not expecting to take photos).
I used a portion of the pink texture to create the background image, then overlaid that with a couple of Picmonkey textures and effects (faded down to create depth.
Next, I added a label overlay and used the magic eyedropper to match the color to a tiny spot of the background color. (Love the eyedropper tool!)
Once I added text, I used this tutorial for making a text mask. Only I used the same photo as my original background just to see what the effect would be like.
I kind of like it. Its pretty graceful and feminine for an old melted bowling ball! Remember to save "bad photos" from your camera and phone. You may be able to use them as cool textures!
I take most of my macro shots with either my smartphone (an LG G4) or this Canon point and shoot. I really recommend the Canon camera for bloggers who don't want to lug around a huge camera everywhere they go. (I don't know about you, but I always find the most interesting stuff at times when I am not expecting to take photos).
I used a portion of the pink texture to create the background image, then overlaid that with a couple of Picmonkey textures and effects (faded down to create depth.
Next, I added a label overlay and used the magic eyedropper to match the color to a tiny spot of the background color. (Love the eyedropper tool!)
Once I added text, I used this tutorial for making a text mask. Only I used the same photo as my original background just to see what the effect would be like.
I kind of like it. Its pretty graceful and feminine for an old melted bowling ball! Remember to save "bad photos" from your camera and phone. You may be able to use them as cool textures!
7. Your Own Art Posters
I confess to having too much fun making this poster. I love elephants. Cubist elephants walking on the moon? Yeah, you can do that with PicMonkey too!
Here is a quick look at how I created my (new bathroom art!) elephant poster:
Here is a quick look at how I created my (new bathroom art!) elephant poster:
- The elephant is built entirely out of the geometric overlays, except the tail is an arrow overlay, and the swirls are from the corrections overlay.
- The moon is made from circles. Some of the texturing is from circles being overlapped and faded.
- The texturing is done with Smudge, Boards, and Paper textures. Then I added some bokeh dots on the moon.
- The top and bottom are made using the bottom edge only of the "grunge label".
PicMonkey Features and Pricing
There you go! 7 different things you can do with PicMonkey. The possibilities are endless!
I literally use this site every, single day. Its fun, its easy, and they consistently add new stuff to play with. Plus, you have to read their TOS...its the funniest thing on the internet (next to Cracked.com, that is).
One thing about pricing! PicMonkey has a free version and a paid version (the Royale). There is a lot of stuff available for the free users, so you could get by forever without an upgrade. But...
The Royale version is ad-free. This is only important because their ads reload so fast that they can slow down the image editor. Not only do you get more cool stuff with Royale, you can make those amazing images much faster!
(plus, the fee is only about $5 per month, or $34 per year. Which ain't bad at all. )
I hoped this helped to inspire you!
I literally use this site every, single day. Its fun, its easy, and they consistently add new stuff to play with. Plus, you have to read their TOS...its the funniest thing on the internet (next to Cracked.com, that is).
One thing about pricing! PicMonkey has a free version and a paid version (the Royale). There is a lot of stuff available for the free users, so you could get by forever without an upgrade. But...
The Royale version is ad-free. This is only important because their ads reload so fast that they can slow down the image editor. Not only do you get more cool stuff with Royale, you can make those amazing images much faster!
(plus, the fee is only about $5 per month, or $34 per year. Which ain't bad at all. )
I hoped this helped to inspire you!
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