By now, you probably know that to attract attention on social media, your images need to be, well...attractive. Many bloggers and businesses are branding their images so that fans and readers can recognize them instantly in their feeds.
Have you seen some of the amazing Pinterest boards or Instagram accounts where all the images have a similar visual quality and style? Chances are, you can recognize one of your favorites right away just by a thumbnail of their photo.
If you want to do this too, but don't want to spend hours playing with each image until you get it exactly right, then you may be very interested in this cool new toy from PicMonkey.
Now, you can create the best combination of effects the first time, save it, and reuse it on all of your images. Here is a sampling of what it can do:
Have you seen some of the amazing Pinterest boards or Instagram accounts where all the images have a similar visual quality and style? Chances are, you can recognize one of your favorites right away just by a thumbnail of their photo.
If you want to do this too, but don't want to spend hours playing with each image until you get it exactly right, then you may be very interested in this cool new toy from PicMonkey.
Now, you can create the best combination of effects the first time, save it, and reuse it on all of your images. Here is a sampling of what it can do:
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I opened the email this afternoon about the new tool. I was dying to try it, but I couldn't drop all my chorin' and stuff to go try it. Then we had a thunderstorm that knocked out the power. So it was late when I finally got to experiment.
But it was worth the wait!
Here is the first one I worked on:
On the left is my starting photo. And on the right is the effect I created. (not the coolest, but I was in a hurry to see if it worked.)
But it was worth the wait!
Here is the first one I worked on:
On the left is my starting photo. And on the right is the effect I created. (not the coolest, but I was in a hurry to see if it worked.)
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To create the pink flower, I first went to the Warhol effect. I set it to pink with a grey background. Then used Gritty at 50%, because I love slightly grungy stuff. Then I tapped Burst at 50% to brighten the pink a little. And lastly I hit Lomo to make the dandelion glow just a tad.
Once that was done, I hit "save custom effect", gave it a name, and went to find another photo.
Sadly, it only worked well on other black and white photos. Otherwise, it just makes things really, garishly pink. But you can adjust it just like any other PicMonkey effect.
Here is where I was able to repeat the effect on a second photo:
Once that was done, I hit "save custom effect", gave it a name, and went to find another photo.
Sadly, it only worked well on other black and white photos. Otherwise, it just makes things really, garishly pink. But you can adjust it just like any other PicMonkey effect.
Here is where I was able to repeat the effect on a second photo:
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I did fade the effect a bit since it was a brighter photo. Still, before this option became available, the only way to get a perfect match was to either experiment for hours or keep notes of each little step.
Here is a second effect trial. Because, this was just too much fun:
Here is a second effect trial. Because, this was just too much fun:
Random flower photo from last year.
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I really wanted to play more with this one, but seeing how the Gritty Pink one didn't look great over some photos, I decided to keep it simple. I can after all, tweak it AFTER its in use.
So now to see how well this works on a random photo. Well, it looks cool on the flower it was designed for, but how does it look on say...one of the motorcycle photos from my archives?
So now to see how well this works on a random photo. Well, it looks cool on the flower it was designed for, but how does it look on say...one of the motorcycle photos from my archives?
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Pretty cool, actually. That is without any tweaking whatsoever. Just the plain, naked (custom) effect.
Now that I know it works, it will be so simple (and time saving) to sit down and create a couple of effects to use all the time for my online images.
However, it isn't perfect yet.
Here are some things I learned tonight:
Now that I know it works, it will be so simple (and time saving) to sit down and create a couple of effects to use all the time for my online images.
However, it isn't perfect yet.
Here are some things I learned tonight:
Tips for the New PicMonkey Tool
The most important thing first...
Don't switch to another edit option before you save your effect. I did that the first time and had to completely retrace my steps.
It will only save effects. I can't wait until they add a way to save custom background textures, and then, maybe (pwease, pwease?) combine them with the effects so its a one-stop edit for the basics.
Some of the weirder effects like Mirror might look freaky if you add them to a custom effect. They look good on the image you are working on at the moment, but if another photo is centered a bit differently...you end up with something that looks like a science experiment!
Make sure you like your effect before you save it. It can't be deleted from the effects menu afterwards.
Other than those things, this effect tool is really neat. I can see it having a lot of potential for image branding. So if you haven't tried it out yet, why not head over there right now and see what you can concoct?
Note: This is a Royale feature, which means you will have to have a membership. You can sign up here and get a free trial for a month. After that, PicMonkey's pricing is $33 for one year, or $4.99 per month if you want to try it short term.
Oh, and here is their blog post about the new feature.
Don't switch to another edit option before you save your effect. I did that the first time and had to completely retrace my steps.
It will only save effects. I can't wait until they add a way to save custom background textures, and then, maybe (pwease, pwease?) combine them with the effects so its a one-stop edit for the basics.
Some of the weirder effects like Mirror might look freaky if you add them to a custom effect. They look good on the image you are working on at the moment, but if another photo is centered a bit differently...you end up with something that looks like a science experiment!
Make sure you like your effect before you save it. It can't be deleted from the effects menu afterwards.
Other than those things, this effect tool is really neat. I can see it having a lot of potential for image branding. So if you haven't tried it out yet, why not head over there right now and see what you can concoct?
Note: This is a Royale feature, which means you will have to have a membership. You can sign up here and get a free trial for a month. After that, PicMonkey's pricing is $33 for one year, or $4.99 per month if you want to try it short term.
Oh, and here is their blog post about the new feature.
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