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Spend a few minutes on Pinterest, Instagram or Tumblr and you’re bound to come across an image with an inspirational quote.
That was not the case with Facebook or Twitter just a few years ago but after the launch of the Timeline and the ability to display an expanded image within a tweet, more and more image quotes are being shared on these two social networks as well.
But, why do these image quotes work so well on social media? If you notice, they do get a lot of re-shares, likes, comments, retweets, repins, etc.
My guess is because most people are looking for (and need) some motivation to get them through the day. A quote with a positive message provides exactly that – a boost to your level of enthusiasm during any time of the day.
If you’ve been wondering how some of the people and pages you like and follow on various social networks have been sharing those eye-catching image quotes (complete with their brand names and logos which seem to get so many likes and shares) – you can create your very own image quotes, brand them with your logo/URL, and share them on your social pages to generate enough buzz using a simple, online photo editing tool known as PicMonkey.
Plus, did I tell you that you could do all that for FREE? (You can pay and upgrade to the Royale version but lemme tell ya, the free tool has pretty much everything you need to create a compelling image quote for sharing on social).
So, let’s get crackin!
Follow these 5 simple steps to create your very own shareable image quotes for social media using PicMonkey.
To start with, let’s select a quote that I’d like to work with. There are plenty of quote resources available online. Notable ones are Goodreads and Quotery.
I’ll work with this quote by Dr. Seuss from Goodreads.
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
Step 1: Create a canvas
Head over to PicMonkey.com.
Now, here’s the best thing I like about PicMonkey – you don’t even need to create an account with them to start working on your image. You can directly upload an existing image from your computer, Dropbox, etc. and start working on it or create a new one from scratch.
For our tutorial, we will create an image quote from scratch. Follow the 2 steps below to create your canvas.
- On the PicMonkey website, place your cursor over the “Design” () icon. PicMonkey will layout some default canvas sizes for you.
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- Choose “Custom” so that you can specify your own canvas size. Enter the dimensions and click on “Make it”.
Now, your canvas size can vary depending upon which social network you are planning to create the image for.
For the purpose of this tutorial, we will create an image quote for Pinterest, so I will choose the canvas size to be 735 x 1102 px. This is the best size for displaying an image on Pinterest. For a complete guide on the best image sizes for all the major social networks, check out this guide by Buffer.
A few things to mention before we proceed to the next step.
- If you wish to create a quote using an existing image from your computer, Dropbox, etc., you will need to click on the “Edit” icon to upload your image. This would then be your canvas to start with.
- If you are using own image, great – you’re covered! You don’t need to worry about copyright issues. However, if you wish to use an image from another website such as Flickr or MorgueFile, make sure to review its terms of use before downloading.
The best option would be to use images that have a Creative Commons Zero license – meaning you are free to copy, modify and distribute the image without having to ask permission or credit the photographer. Unsplash is a great resource for high-quality Creative Commons Zero license images.
- Web-based editors tend to run rather slow if you upload a very large image. Re-sizing the image prior to uploading will make things run much smoother.
Step 2: Add a background
We will now add a background to our image to make it look catchy. There are many ways to do this.
- You can select a single background color and then play with the various settings such as transparency, exposure, sharpness, etc. to give it the look and feel of your choice.
- You can select a texture as a background. You can even upload your own texture if you like.
- You can select a theme and work with that.
- You can add a graphic as a background by using an “Overlay”.
For our quote, we will just keep it simple and go with the School U theme. I just love chalkboard backgrounds and this theme has all the options I need to create a simple chalkboard quote.
So, I head over to Themes School U Textures Boards and select the black chalkboard.
Now again, you can make your own adjustments if you like – fade, saturation, etc. But I like the dusty, chalky texture as is and will leave it at that.
Step 3: Add the quoted text
Now to add the quoted text.
For our School U theme, PicMonkey suggests the “Penmanship” font styles. You can either choose a style suggested by PicMonkey or use something else from their library.
Now, here’s another feature of PicMonkey that I really like – you can even add your own font styles if you don’t want to work with any of theirs (such as Google Fonts). Especially, if you’d like to use a particular Google Font that works well with your websites’ theme.
For our quote, I will go ahead and use the “Eraser Dust” font suggested by the theme. So, I click on “Text” and select “Eraser Dust” and then click on “Add Text”.
To select a different font, follow the steps below.
- If you’d like to use another font style from PicMonkey’s font library, click on the “Tt” icon and select the font of your choice.
- If you’d like to use your own font, download the font and upload it to your system’s font library.
Let’s take an example of a Google Font. (This method only applies to a Mac user).
- Go to google.com/fonts and select your font. As an example, let me select Lato.
- Add it to your collection and download the font. Your font will get downloaded as a .zip file.
- Unzip it and copy the folder to your /Users/Your_Username_Here/Library/Fonts folder.
And that’s it! Your font is installed and ready to be used.
Now, when you head over to PicMonkey and click on “Tt“, your installed font should be visible under “Yours”. In case you don’t see it, just restart your system and it will show up.
Note: If you don’t see your Library folder, hold the Alt/Option key while clicking on the “Go” menu in the Finder.
Go ahead and type in your quote. You can use the pop-up menu to format your text – change the size, color, style, etc.
Step 4: Brand the image
Add another text box to add your site name, URL and logo (whatever you like) to your image quote. To add your logo, go to “Overlays” and click on “Your Own” to upload it.
Step 5: Save your creation
And that’s it! We are ready to save and download our image quote.
If you are sure about your design and love the way your final creation looks, you can click on the down arrow icon – “Combine all image elements” before saving. This will fuse all the individual elements into one single image.
However, once you click on this you will not be able to go back and make any more changes to your image. So, use this feature only when you are 100% sure.
Else, just click on “Save”.
PicMonkey lets you save your image in 3 file sizes either as a .JPG or a .PNG. I always save my files as .PNGs. For sharing images on social media, I’d recommend using the .PNG format because it offers a much better clarity than a .JPG image.
After you save a copy, PicMonkey will take you back to your image. Don’t close this window if you wish to use the same background and layout to create another quote. PicMonkey does NOT save the editable version of your image.
Now, if you want to use one particular background for a lot of your quotes, the best option would be to create and save your background once and for all as a .PNG file, so you wouldn’t have to have to repeat the step of adding the background every time you wanted to create a new quote.
For example, if I wanted to use my chalkboard background frequently, I would go ahead and save it and use the “Edit” option every time I wanted to create a new quote. Would save me a whole lot of time, right?
This is also an instance where the “Combine all image elements” feature could come in handy. Once you create your background, add your logo and site name/URL to it and click on the combine elements icon. Then save your file. You will now have a branded background template to work with. Again, this would save you time because you wouldn’t have to add your brand elements separately each time you wanted to create a new quote.
So that’s it! 5 simple steps and you have a brand new, branded image quote to share on social media.
Here’s the final version of our image quote and it’s perfectly pinnable. If you like the quote, show me some love and share it on Pinterest.
Click here to sign up for the Royale version of PickMonkey. (Note: This is a referral link and I will make a small commission ONLY if you sign up for the PicMonkey Royale version – in fact, you can try it free at first for 30 days. If you use the free version, I will not get paid. Plus, I only recommend tools/products/services that I personally use and love).
What did you think of this tutorial? If you’ve used PicMonkey before, how do you rate it? Wanna pin this post? Use the image below for the best results.
Do you use any other design tools to create image quotes? Let me know in the comments below.