2015 Writers’ Blog Hop Week 4 – Lifelong Learning

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Today I’d like to share a couple of graphics programs that have made a huge difference for me.

WordSwag

Wordswag is a free app I downloaded onto my iPad. It’s very easy to use and is great if you want to create square graphics to use on your website or other social media. (All my blog hop graphics were made using Wordswag

Like:

  • Free app
  • Easy to use
  • Quick
  • Option to use your own photos or backgrounds included in the app
  • Includes free searchable pictures from Pixabay
  • Able to choose from many free font options; you can purchase other font options in the app
  • Built in share options to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Text, or E-mail.
  • Option to add a logo or watermark
  • Ability to use a graphic as a template

Don’t Like:

  • Not very flexible – can’t change the shape of the graphic (only options are rectangle or square) or select portions of font to change
  • Only available via iTunes

Canva

Canva makes design simple for everyone. Create designs for Web or print: blog graphics, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, invitations and so much more.” Canva is much more flexible than Wordswag, but it will take longer to get a graphic designed.

Like:

  • Available as an app from iTunes, or directly on the web at http://www.canva.com
  • Choose from presized canvases for social media, poster, presentation, Facebook cover, Facebook post, etc.
  • Make your own custom canvas size (in pixels, mm, or inches)
  • Free backgrounds, fonts, and layouts are available, as well as text holders, borders and other items
  • If you have your own picture, you can upload it to Canva and use it in your design
  • Other pictures, fonts, etc. are available at the cost of $1.00 each/design
  • Basically if you can imagine it, you can make it on Canva
  • When you’re done you can download the graphic as an image or as a PDF file
  • You can share the graphic right from Canva

Don’t Like:

  • It takes a lot of time to make a great design
  • Sometimes when you change something in your design, you can’t go back if you change your mind

What have you learned in the past year that has helped you in your writing?


 

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Although this is the last week of the general writers’ blog hop, there will still be a blog hop in two weeks:

Social Media Blog Hop
#1 Favourite Social Media Site – Tell us where (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) you spend most of your time/energy and why (Week of Mar 2)
#2 Graphics for social media – Share your favourite source/app (Week of Mar 16)
#3 Scheduling posts – How often? Do you use a program like Hootsuite? Other tips? (Week of Mar 30)
#4 Content of posts – What do you share? Where do you find content? Ratio of promotional/other? (Week of April 13)

Note: If you’re interested in participating in the social media blog hop and want an e-mail reminder, send me an email and I’ll add you to the list.

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