Every blog article needs graphics. This post will help you get easily get free to use graphics for your blog posts, product or even the next family event invitation.
Here’s a list of free graphics resources for you to use and how I used them.
Table of Contents
Why not to use Google Image Search
If you fear copyright, I suggest not to use google image search. The problem with it is that most pictures are copyrighted.
Having said that, there’s an option to search for “free to use” images:
Then again, it is stated that this feature is not bullet proof:
So… let’s look for other alternatives that are 100% legally free.
Free Images
You should be aware of copyright policies. I had 2 friends who got a letter from a lawyer claiming they are illegally using copyrighted images. Here are great sources for free images:
Pixabay – a really nice website. If you are also into gaming, it has nice audio section where you can download free audio files as well as images.
Unsplash – images for free 🙂
Remove background/Transparent Background
Sometimes you find a really cool image and you want the main character in the image without a transparent background.
For instance, I’ve found an image of a sorceress on pixabay, and I wanted it without the background:
I did this using the website remove.bg.
Blur edges
There comes a time when you want to merge images together. You can throw them inside a google drawings canvas and mix them up. Sometimes, it is useful to blur their edges so they will blend in an environment.
Here’s something I did with it:
This cool tool does the trick: https://www.quickpicturetools.com/en/blur_edges/
Image Editing with Google Drawings
This is a simple, yet powerful and free image editing option. You can copy images, add all sorts of annotations and download your image to your computer. Very easy to use.
Image Editing with Canva
Canva is a nice image editor. It has lots of free images to use and nice Photoshop-like effects. You can use it for free. I never found the need to upgrade myself.
By using Pixabay to find character images, Canva for finding a nice background and Google Drawings to fine tune the image I’ve managed to get my Witch, Ranger and Warrior to fit into a nice book cover:
Summary
Graphics are a must in blogs. Even if you just intend to highlight a certain portion of a graph you copy-paste from someplace, you have the tools you need.
I hope this list of free tools will save you time and enrich your articles (or maybe you’ll publish your own book 😉 ).
Featured Image by Bailey Design on Pixabay