Pinterest has been growing by leaps and bounds, as you probably know. And in order for you to get a piece of that, you need to know how to create graphics for Pinterest. And that’s what I’m going to show you how to do today.
The Chicken and the Egg
You’ll need an image and a quote for what we are going to be doing. Which one should you have first? It really doesn’t matter. Sometimes I have a quote in mind, and sometimes I see an image that shouts, “Use ME!” But before you begin, you’ll need both.
Finding Quotes
Quotes are everywhere. My favorite sources are the Bible, the books I’m reading and the people I talk to. There are also more websites than I can list that have quotes categorized by subject and author. For inspiration, search for “inspirational quotes,” “funny quotes,” or quotes by your favorite author.
Finding Images
Images are everywhere, and while they are calling your name, just be sure you are following the usage guidelines. Many images that would be perfect are copyrighted, and you can get in big trouble using them. Don’t make that mistake!
My two favorite sources for images are Google Images and Wikipedia.
Google Images will allow you to filter your results by usage rights. Once you have created a search, click the little gear icon over at the top right and choose “Advanced Search.” At the bottom of that page, you can choose to filter the images to show only those you can modify and use for commercial purposes.
Legal Disclaimer – I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on television, so don’t take anything I say as legal advice. However, please know that I could not find any definitive answer to this question: Does “commercial use” mean I am selling the image on some product, or does it mean that I am using it on something that represents my business, but I’m not selling it (like graphics for Pinterest)?
Wikipedia is a great source of images. You can search for anything, and you will find some images. If you click on any image, you will see the license — some will show what is required for you to use the image, and some are copyright free (like this one), and you can use them in any way you choose. Those, obviously, are the best ones!
One more tip for finding images at Wikipedia – over in the left sidebar you will see a long list of other countries that have entries for your subject. They often have different images, and you will often find wonderful copyright-free images there.
Now What?
Okay, now you have an image and a quote. All you have to do is put them together. www.Pixlr.com is a very user friendly online graphics editor that you can use for free. You don’t even have to register or create an account.
You can, of course, use the graphics programs that you have on your own computer, but whichever resource you use, make sure to add your website address and any attribution that is required for the image.
For the graphic at the top of the page, I searched for hippo on Google Images and filtered the results for those that could be used commercially and modified. Then I used the URL of the image in Pixlr.com and added text. Finally I saved it to my computer and uploaded it to my Pinterest account.
And many blogs (like this one) have made it easy for you to share images on Pinterest. I would encourage you to do that as a way of sharing the good things you find with others.
I would love to hear what your favorite sources are for graphics and quotes, and also would love to visit your Pinterest account — Leave me a comment and let me know your best practices to create graphics for Pinterest.
Great step-by-step directions, Susan. You are wonderful at taking complicated things and making them easy. PS – I pinned your hippo!
Hi Kim ~ There are so many great things you can do these days, and I love being able to break them into “bite-sized” pieces so everyone can do them. And thanks for pinning the hippo!
Thank you for the info! I’ve been wondering how I could do this. I use many photos for my blog that I get for free. My 2 sources are: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ and Microsoft.com
Free digital photos has free photos, all you have to do is give the photo credit using their small template. It’s very easy. Watch out to be sure you are getting one of their stock photos, because if they don’t have what you are looking for they will search Dreamtime and you have to pay to use those.
Microsoft.com has downloadable clip art, photos and sounds for free. You don’t need to give them credit. As you search their material and get familiar with what they have, you will see it in use all around the web.
Free digital photos has more to choice from. But Microsoft also has sound. Take a look around both and see what’s right for you.
Hi Arleen ~ Those are two more great resources – Thanks for sharing them! Another one similar to http://www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net is http://www.sxc.hu. They have a good selection of free photos (depending on what you are searching for, of course), and then also offer “premium” photos from iStockPhoto.com
Hi Susan, good job on this. I would like to sign up for blogs that you write. Please remind me how to do that.
Hi Mary Lou ~ I’m glad you found it helpful. You can sign up to receive notifications when posts are published by clicking the big orange Subscribe button near the top of the sidebar. That will give you a choice of how to be notified – either through a reader or by email.