How To Make Blog Graphics + Graphic Stock Giveaway

You may remember I started this series, Taking Care of Business, to equip new bloggers with some blogging basics. It has been quite a while since I shared anything new in this series so I thought I would cover one of my most asked questions - how to make graphics/collages for the blog. The things I have learned are from trial and error, and research. I actually started blogging without any experience in graphic design or Photoshop, and that's always been my regret. I wish I had equipped myself with some of this knowledge before I jumped into blogging, but you live and you learn right?!

If you are one seeking to learn more about how to make graphics or create collages, then this post is for you. Here, I'll cover the basics on how I create the graphics for this blog and my most used tools in Photoshop.

Tip: One of the things I love doing to save time, and also because I lack that graphic design expeirence, I use the GraphicStock database to download graphics. It's such a time saver and I get the results I want. FYI - I used the GraphicStock database on my image above to get that cool ampersand.

And available through July 6 A DOSE OF PRETTY readers can sign up for a free 7-day trial to GraphicStock. There's NO limit on the number of downloads and the images are yours to keep/share. See the Giveaway details below to enter to win a 1-year membership {a $588 value}.

What You Need- Software: Photoshop Elements- Images {from Graphic Stock and others (like J. Crew) to create your graphic}How To Make Blog Graphics {+ Photoshop Tips}1. Gather the images you need for your graphic.2. In Photoshop Editor Open a new blank document and open your images.3. Size your blank document the width of your content area (my content area is 700 px) with a white background. I'll usually make my blank documents 700 px x 1400 px. You can crop it if need be but I like to start with a bigger document just in case.4. On the toolbar, use the zoom in tool and bring up the document to how it would look on your blog {you won't see it the full length but you should see the full width}. This way it gives you an idea of how big to make the products on your graphic.5. I like to center my title when possible. Go to view, then new guide and type 50% for vertical position. It will put a blue line down the middle. The line disappears when you save it as web.6. Add your graphics and font. For graphics I normally do 10 px or 12 px. If I'm doing a title I do it bigger just depending on the font I'm using. Use the magic extractor tool to remove backgrounds from graphics {see image below}.7. Before you finish the graphic, zoom out so that you see the full length of the document so you can see the "big picture". A lot of times you will see things that look off and this gives you a better idea of how big or small they should be. This way if you notice something looks to big, you can make it smaller, or if it looks out of place you can drag it somewhere else in your document.8. Save your document as "save for web". I save it as a png with preset of PNG 24. See image below.Another question I get asked frequently is why fonts look pixalated in your graphic. There are three reasons why that may be happening to you.1. When you open your document and set it to 900 px wide and then shrink it to 700 px as an example.2. When you upload your graphic to your blog at 900px wide and your content area is set to 700px wide -- the website automatically shrinks it to fit the content area.3. Or when the AA tool isn't selected {I circled it in the image above}.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Graphic Stock has offered to give one lucky reader a free 1-year complimentary access to GraphicStock (valued at $588). To qualify for the giveaway you must:

1. Sign up for the 7-day free trial or the limited time $99 annual membership (a $588 value). If you don't want to use it past the free trial, remember to cancel your subscription so you won’t have to pay for the membership.

[one-half-first][/one-half-first][one-half][/one-half]

2. Visit GraphicStock website and locate an image you would like to use on an innovative project of your own

3. Comment on the blog, sharing a link to the image you would like to base your project around if you received the 1-year account

4. BONUS ENTRY: Retweet this Tweet below and leave an additional comment letting me know you did!

@GraphicStock_ 1-year membership giveaway on the blog {see the blog for details} or try it for free: http://t.co/YWbAro2z7f #FreeGraphics

— Sara Mueller (@Sara__Mueller) June 22, 2015

Giveaway ends July 6. 

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