Easily Create IMAGES That Sell (for free!)

Easily Create
IMAGES
That Sell
(for free!)
by
Mariya K.
Content
Intro
2
1. Snap It
Profile Photo
Products Photo
4
5
2. Tweak It
Native Image Editors
Other Image Editors
Top 5 Tools
7
8
9
3. Source It
Get Your Images Online
13
4. Get Wordy
Word Art
15
Fin
16
Hey you!
Then this PDF is for you.
Are you a laywer,
The world of images and graphics is
real estate investor,
real estate agent,
fitness trainer,
vast, but more approacheable than
you might think.
marketer,
performer,
dog groomer,
chef,
Intro
salesman,
The best that can happen after this
read is you’ll embark on a journey to
graphic and photo internet victory.
manager,
consultant,
contractor,
painter,
teacher,
actor/actress,
CEO,
CFO,
The worst that can happen is you’ll
start communicating with your
hired designers more effectively.
Then they can complete the project
faster and hopefully cheaper.
butcher,
baker,
candle stick maker,
or anyone else that relies on
marketing to get leads and clients?
2
1. SNAP IT
Many businesses align their brand with their personal identity, especially when it comes to
social media profile, and sometimes, cover image. This approach is often recommended
because people prefer to connect with a person, rather than a business.
If you follow this concept, or even if you don’t, your business prospects are likely to
meet you on your social media page first. Let’s make sure we make a good impression by
starting with a great photo.
Profile
Photo
Use Outdoor, Indirect Light
Keep the background simple
Direct light creates harsh shadows that
A few blurred colors, especially if they
pop-out wrinkles and highlights that
contrast the face and hair are fine.
completely white out areas on the face.
Avoid anything that has too many
Your Brand is Your Expression
identifiable objects, or blends in with
Looking into the camera while facing it can
your clothes or face.
feel direct, engaging, and/or challenging.
Looking into the camera while face is
for Social
Media
Size Matters
turned feels friendly and approachable
A large, crisp image goes a long way.
and a little timid.
Good resolution is key.
Looking off camera feels ponderous,
creative and intriguing.
Take Tons of Photos!
Get different angles, both from the subject
moving their head, and by moving the
camera. Also blurring happens, and it’s
almost impossible to fix in editing later,
so give yourself the flexibility to toss
bad photos.
4
How often have you bought a product you’ve never seen? Probably not often. Even infoproducts use images of CD’s and books to represent a product that will only be provided
in digital format. Pictures drive sales. Period. Use the tips below to get the most out of yours.
Product
Photos
Eye Candy in Different Flavors
Light
A mix of these is a good idea. Some shots
Use diffused (not direct) preferably
should be clean, polished and isolated,
natrual light. Flourescent lamps can
while others are “action” shots of the
be diffused by tracing or wax paper
product being used or hanging out in
in front of the bulb (just keep heat in
intersting, and appopriate surroundings.
mind). Outdoor light works best when
it’s cloudy or you’re indoors next to a
window (bright, but again, not direct).
White and Crisp
For a crisp product shot, place a white
poster board that sits under and behind
That Sell
your product. The board should bend
to create a smooth transition called a
“sweep”. Use a tripod for your camera
to avoid blur. Take plenty of shots, while
Clean Your Product
moving the product to face as many
You’ll need a lot of time to edit out finger
angles as possible. Take a set with your
prints, and smudges OR you can take a
cameral lowered and one with it raised.
few minutes first to wipe the product
down with ethyl alcohol (try it first
gently as it may damage plastic) and do
what you can about scratches and stains.
5
2. TWEAK IT
Photos rarely come out perfect even from the best cameras. Even if they do, putting a
consistent spectrum of effects (varying slightly) will help you visually build your brand.
Let’s take a look at some image tweaking moguls for Desktop and Mobile.
Native
Image
Editors
Desktop
That’s right. Google+ offers its own
Mobile
If you use Instagram you probably
image editing capabilities, and might I
already know they allow for some pretty
say, they’re fairly impressive. Check out
comprehensive photo edits. Use them.
my free tutorial for it here.
They are praised by laymen and designers.
You Might
Already
Be Using
These
Platforms
Fun Tip:
Google+ Profile Covers allow for
animation. Just ask your designer if they
do “gif” files, or email us for more info.
7
Desktop
Mobile
GIMP is a free downloadable
software for raster graphics. Comparable
to Adobe Photoshop - very comparable.
Other
Editors
You Might
Already
Be Using
These
Platforms
Raster File:
A pixel based image that holds a limited
amount of information. If it is forced to
scale larger than it’s given size, the image
will become pixelated and distorted.
mug and gets rid of imprefections. The
makeup modes work surprising well, but
guys can get all they need too by hitting
the “natrual” option.
Pixlr-O-Matic is a fun filter,
overlay and frame spewing machine, that
gives you tons for what you spent - $0.
Vector File:
Perfect360 cleans up your
An endlessly scaleable (resizable)
Inkscape is downloadable
graphic. “Objects” are shapes created
software for vector graphics. Comparable
by plotting “anchor points”, which are
to Adobe Illustrator - also does an
connected by a path.
impressive job.
iPiccy is a fantastic bit of free
Camera360 ‘s cam quality
isn’t the best but that’s easily solved by
software for use on a web browser, that
importing photos taken by the phone
continues to surprise me in functionality.
camera, then making the edits. It lets
In the “5 Editing Techiniques” chapter I’ll
you perform just about every feature
use it to cover some advanced features.
I’ve seen in other apps, and with a more
intiutive interface. Simple names like
“Sketch” and “Dreamlike” for effects
make it easy (thank you).
8
1 Brightness and Contrast
Fix a dull photo in a flash. When raising
either brightness or contrast, watch the
lighter and darker areas of the image. Once
detail starts to get lost in a sea of white or
black you’ve gone too far. *The loss may go
Top 5
Tools
unnoticed when looking at the overall photo.
If you’re going for a crisp black and white
photo though go a little heavy on the contrast,
it’ll make those whites and blacks pop.
Saturation
2
This raises the purity of your colors and saves
dull, lifeless photos.
for Editing
Excellence
The opposite of saturation is gray and that can
be approached for a more weathered look.
Reduction of saturation means you’re also
reducing some contrast and creating softness.
3
Silhouetting & Layers
Silhouetting means isolating a section of
your image from the rest of it. It’s a good
technique to, say, fade, blur or remove a busy
background in your photo, while keeping
Tip Time: When saturating an image,
your face in focus. It’s usually used in
it’s easy to go overboard. Your eye is
conjunction with layering.
likely to enjoy the more colorful version
Ex: Here I gave Nick a fabulous moustage on
of an image in contrast to the original.
a new layer so that it doesn’t effect the main
Step away when you think your photo is
image. I can turn it off at any time. Same with
perfect and come back in a few. Do you
the background, which is also on a different
still think it’s perfect?
layer. iPiccy allows for layers.
9
The clone tool in iPiccy and other software is how you make more yous for doing all your graphics. Just kidding. It can actually be a
crafty way to remove people and things. It’s in the Advanced section, but don’t get nervous. Use your cursor with Set Source selected
(cursor is green) to click on any area in the picture. Now the curser is white and you can click anywhere else to “draw” the source spot.
There are some inherent difficulties when it
1. Clone Minimally
comes to patching using the clone tool.
Keep the cover-up area as small as possible.
Sampling (sourcing your patch) from too far
The bigger the patch, the more difficult it will
away can result in different tones and size
be to blend it in. Going further out to try to
Ironic, but a common use for cloning is to
of detail than the one you’re covering up,
blend it in seems instinctive but you’ll likely
use pieces of the background and cover up
resulting in noticeable inconsistency like
find yourself with a mounting mess.
unwanted parts of the photograph, like a
below. Green outline is the source.
4
Cloning
person in your landscape, or an electrical line
2. Small Brush, Light Brush
Lowering brush Size, Hardness (a sharp
in front a pretty sky.
edge vs feathered) and Strength will allow
Here I used the clone tool to remove the sign
you to paint and layer the effect on, rather
post from a picture of me on the bank of a lake.
than splicing in another chunk of the image.
If you compensate by sampling from the closest
possible space to the cover-up, you may end
Smoothing the patch on, will create better
integration.
up with patches next to each other that are
3. Sample From Different Sources
noticeably repeating. Can you see it in the
This is most important. I achieved success
coastline and clouds below?
in the first example because I sourced from
both the right and the left of the coverup
area, and sometimes even from another
area alltogether. When doing the later
make sure colors and tones still match the
Here’s how we counteract common issues
coverup area. Avoid edges, in other words,
including these.
pull with a small brush from the middle of a
big color and texture field.
10
Image effects (or filters) are a great way to spice up your photos and establish your identity as a brand (even if your brand is just you). When
establishing visual consistency you encourage not only trust from your audience (there is comfort in seeing what’s expected) but also recognition.
You can take pictures of portraits, people, products and places but applying an overall, consistent effect can name all these varied images as yours.
5
Effects
1. Vintage
4. Collages and Montages
is used a lot, but ask yourself if it follows
a great point. Sometimes it’s less invasive
your theme. Are you selling antiques? Photo
to people viewing your social media posts
restoration? Nostalgic items? If not it may
when the photos you want to share are all
not be for you, but i would venture to say,
posted as one. It’s also another way to share a
the once in a while time you wanna diverge
continuous story through one image.
form your usual look (strategically to grab
I absolutely love Fotor for this. They have great
attention) apply it to sentimental images
Sarah Davidson is a great marketer who makes
Tilt-Shift by CannonLensBlog.com
user reviews and tons of options. Just beware
that some of the more glamourous and
like families, groups of friends, “holidays at
3. Tilt-Shift
professional layotus are “buy-in-app” .
The most misunderstood of all the filters.
Another fun function of this is mult-representing
2. Shapes, Frames and Overlays
Tilt-Shift in photography is an effect that
an image in a single montage. **Collages can be
There are about a million and one aps that
makes real objects look miniature: people
a great background freebies for your clients.
allow you to frame your photo, or overlay
look like toys and cityscapes like maquettes.
shapes. I recommend geting an app that
Filters like the ones in Instagram and Google+
allows for lowered opacity of the effect,
kinda, sorta approach this functionality but it
so you don’t completely lose parts of your
would take more hands-on work to actually
photo. InstaShape by Ceasar does this for
achieve the effect. Instead you can use it to
Instagram (but you can save to your phone
focus in on an area, while blurring the rest of
and use however).
the photo.
home” scenes, or grandmas and grandads.
Studio by Overlay Studio Inc. is another great
free app for all kinds of effects and overlays.
Andy Warhol
11
v
3. SOURCE IT
A word on image legality. The three most common image uses are personal, commercial
and redistribution. Search for royalty free and most of what you’ll find will be free for the
first, sometimes free for the second, and almost never for the third. Below I listed some
awesome resources that are free for personal and commercial use, but make sure to read
RGB Stock’s license and Terms of Use, there are some restrictions within those allowances.
Get Your
Images
Online
Without
Getting
Sued
Pixabay Truly stunning images
SplitShire
for any use, totally fre. With an amazing
advanced search capability, you can find
exactly what you need. This is my number
one go-to.
Gratisography
Daniel Nanescu is kind of a hero. Images
A sweetly arranged collection of
free for all uses, organized by category, and
beautiful, often humerous, photos that
beautiful (with single images and packs):
are studded with niche specific images.
what else could you ask for? Maybe a bit
However, scrolling till you find it is the
more of a selection, but I’m sure this guy is
only navigation option.
busting his butt already, and for peanuts.
Unsplash
Death to the Stock Photo is
These images are intended to be more
a generous package of beautiful images
eye-catching and inspirational than used
that arrives in your inbox once every
for sales and marketing. However, the later
month. Useful for both business and fun,
mentioned uses are pretty darn effective in
but beware. It’s a popular source, and
building trust and grabbing leads.
you might not be the only one using that
monthly batch.
13
4. GET WORDY
Words can be the punchline in your social media cover, a meme that makes people laugh, or a
Some people have a way
graphic quote that goes viral. They can even sell product and engage blog readers. Use them wiesely.
**WordSwag is the ultimate
Phonto This app has just about
with words, and other people
...oh, uh, not have way.
blocky font software but it’s not free AND
everything you might need for simple text
it’s for apple only. It’s probably the source
overlay. The interface looks a little old-
of that cool quote image you saw that other
school, but all that matters is in the end you
guy posting so if you think $2.99 is worth
can assemble text blocks (though manually)
the notoriety go for it, but here are some
that rival WordSwag.
z Steve Martin y
Word Art
free options.
Canva is is backed by Guy
Kawasaki, Steven Memel, Dave McClure
and our own Sarah Davidson.
It’s chock full of specific tools for creating
and image
composites
social media covers, post images, greeting
cards, posters, etc.
Create your work of art mixing-and-
matching done-for-you backgrounds, text
Piclab is
boxes, stock images and so much more in
a good Andriod
your internet browser.
alternative. While it
You may end up with a bill if you go for the
is awesome, it doens’t
fancy stuff, but everything is clearly labeled
create your block
and you’ll rarely see a price over $1 per
layout for you. But
graphic. In fact, the only thing it can’t give
you can totally use it
you is the designers eye to put the elements
to create glamorous
images like these:
FamilyFreshMeals.com
together to make a hyper-effective graphic,
but in a pinch, Canva more than impresses.
15
Thank You for taking an interst in this guide.
I truly hope you’ve gotten something out of it, even though, I could have written a 15 page e-book on photo taking alone (and I
will). I tried to provide enough information for you to get started, and/or to engage with your designers more effectively.
Please contact me at mk@thegooddesigner.net if you have any questions about the content featured here, or any of
the services I offer, and follow me on the social media channels listed below.
FIN
Mariya K. | The Good Designer
TheGoodDesigner.net
mk@theGoodDesigner.net
facebook.com/TheGoodDesigner
twitter.com/The_GoodDesign