22 Of The Best Photo Editors For Bloggers (Free and Paid)

by vbmomblog | Jun 12, 2018 | New Mommy Blogger, Pinterest

22 Of The Best Photo Editors For Bloggers

(Free and Paid)

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There are so many different programs out there to use as a picture editor. If you are new to blogging, it can be overwhelming! I know it was for me, I didn’t know where to start. Should I pay for an editing software or would I be able to use a free software that would work just as well?

Personally, I don’t have any background in photography or picture editing. I need something that is well…. easy and dummy proof. I know what I like but once I start editing then it starts to look forced and over edited. I try to go with less is more. If I like the picture to begin with then I just do a little touching up and not overdo it.

However, if you have the eye for it and the knowledge then go for it! But even with the know-how and the eye you may still be lost on which one to use or which ones are even available. I did some research for you and this is what I found!

I found 22 different programs to use as a picture editor. 14 of them are free photo editor programs! I personally use two of them, but I have read other bloggers that recommend a few of the other ones so it is entirely your preference.

Some will just come easier to you and some may not be your style. For example, I use both Canva and PicMonkey. I had the free version of them both for a while, but I did go ahead and invest in the paid version of PicMonkey and I will explain why in just a bit. For now, I want to tell you the differences I see in them.

Canva vs PicMonkey

1. Canva

Canva is great for creating Pins for Pinterest and other social media images. Canva right away shows you different templates you can use for your photo. Let’s say you are creating an image for Facebook it already has the template with the correct size that is best for Facebook. Same for Pinterest, flyers, business cards, etc. It doesn’t however, in the free verse at least, let you do much actual editing to your photo itself.

You can upload an image and crop it, filter it, flip it, adjust the transparency, link it, and rearrange the content on your design. But again, you can’t do anything like photoshop work to it.

I do like that Canva shows what you have created on your profile. After you download your design it shows you all your past creations when you go to your profile. You can also create a team to work on a project together, you can see what images others have shared with you, and what is really cool is you can set up your brand as well.

Within Canva you can:

Choose a layout

Within the layouts, it had many different options to choose from. These are nice because they are all done for you. You just have to add your touch and done!

Choose an Element

Within the elements tab, there are 9 choices. As you can see you can pick from Free Photos, Grids, Frames, Shapes, Lines, Illustrations, Icons, Chats, and I love Canva.

Free Photos

Canva gives you many beautiful free pictures to use and then they do offer some you can buy.

Grids

Grids are where you can add multiple photos to your image in a specific layout that you choose. It is just like a collage and you pick the design you want to use.

Frames

You can add a frame or a border to your image.

Shapes

This one is really great for making Pinterest images. You can add shapes to your image to really make a certain word or number stand out in your image. This is also great to break apart the text on your image.

Lines

Again, this is great to break apart the text on your image or to make a certain word or number stand out to the viewer. It also brings a little character to your image as well!

Illustrations

This is like Clipart for Canva. This is where you can choose from a variety of different illustrations to use for your image. If you are planning a 4^thof July BBQ there is a red, white and blue popsicle illustration, or if you are planning a camping trip there are binoculars, a compass, and a lantern illustration you can use! So many options!

Text

The text section seems pretty obvious but Canva added a little twist. They have text templates already available for you to pick from. Instead of just offering different fonts you can adjust yourself, Canva has the different fonts already put together for you to just change the words to your own. For example, they have a baby announcement one that has all the same font, but they emphasized the “We are having a baby girl!” part by making it a larger font. Then they have some that have one that invites you to an ice cream party and it uses multiple fonts and sizes. You just click on the template you like and drag it over to your creation! Or start from scratch and create it yourself!

Background

Once again, choose from the many different free and paid for backgrounds that Canva has to offer. There are solid backgrounds, patterned backgrounds, or upload your own!

Upload your own!

I hope that helps walk you through what Canva has to offer for photo editing, now let’s dive into PicMonkey!

2. PicMonkey

PicMonkey has a lot more to offer. Canva and PicMonkey each have their own pros and cons and again it is each to their own. Some prefer Canva and some prefer PicMonkey.

You can see right away that you have more to choose from as to what you can do on PicMonkey. You can either edit a photo, touch up a photo, choose a design or template to use, or make a collage.

I used the free version of PicMonkey as my photo editor for a long time but then I went ahead and invested in the $7.99 a month to be able to do more editing to my pictures. I have heard that photoshop is difficult to learn and is expensive so in my opinion, I would rather pay the $7.99 and have a very user-friendly photo editor program for me to use.

If you are already a photo editor wizard then this might be too simple for you. If you are like me and just need the basics to touch up an image than PicMonkey is amazing! There are so many things you can do in PicMonkey. Here is a run through of the options available.

Basic Edits

Here you can crop, change the canvas Color, Rotate the image, change the exposure, change the color of the image, sharpen the image, and resize it. There is also the option at the top to auto adjust. This feature makes life easier for me so I don’t overdo it with all the options below. I just hit auto adjust and move on to the next section.

Effects

Here is where you can change the effect of the image or the tint of it. These are preset that you can go through and click on to see which one fits the look you are going for. Again, I have to paid version so I may have more available to choose from than the free version.

Touch Up

As far as editing your photos this is my favorite feature. I don’t necessarily have the most beautiful skin in the world. So, when I wanted to make a headshot profile picture I needed to do some touch-up work on certain areas. This made it super easy! My husband took my picture with his new iPhone 8, not even with a fancy camera, and I went in and edited it to remove some blemishes, wrinkles, and scars and wah-lah! You can give yourself a complete facelift if you wanted to! I am not all into that but removing some blemishes and wrinkles absolutely! You won’t have as many options in the free version but it will still help you clean up your image!

Text

You can add text to your photo and change the size and font but unlike Canva it doesn’t have text templates of fonts that go well together. Still is very easy to add and adjust the text to your photo though.

Overlays

This is similar to the shapes you can add in Canva but here you can add symbols, arrows, spirographs, as well as all the illustrations of different clipart type inserts. You can also add your own. This is a great way to be able to overlap text and images through your design.

Frames

Here is the same where you can add a frame to your photo to give it a fun touch or certain look.

Textures

This reminds me of the filters on SnapChat. You can add fun accents to your photo. If you want your photo to look like it is on an old piece of paper they have that texture you can add to your photo. Or if you want it to look painted on or stitched on, they have that texture.

Themes

Themes are everything all rolled into one. If you have a certain vibe you are going for but you don’t want to go through each category one by one to try and achieve that look, then go to the themes section and it has them all categorized together. If you want it to look like an old newspaper clipping then you can click on the School U theme and under there it will list all the effects, overlays, text, textures, and frames that will most likely go with that look. Under effects in the School U theme it says newspaper and then you just go from there! This can say you a bunch of time!

Templates

Here is where you can choose a template for your image. Just like Canva, you can make a Facebook image, business card, flyer, Pinterest image, etc. You will want to make this decision before you start any editing though.

So there you have it. The differences between Canva and PicMonkey. I would like to say again that I do have the free version of Canva and the paid version of PicMonkey. You may be able to do more in the paid version of Canva that I don’t know about. I do know that still with the free version of PicMonkey I felt you were able to do more and you could do actual photo editing.

Check out my FREE Pinterest Image Course where I walk you through how I make my Pinterest images. I show you where I get my free stock images, how I edit them, how I make one image into multiple, and then how to use a bonus program you may already have on your computer to make beautiful Pinterest images!

Here is the complete list of the 22 programs you can use as a picture editor. Numbers 3-22 I have not personally used before. I did look into them though so here is more information on them!

Canva – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
PicMonkey – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
Gimp – FREE
PhotoScape – FREE
Fotor – FREE TRIAL (upgrade to paid plan)
Pixlr Editor – FREE
Aviary – FREE
On1 Perfect Effects – PAID
Snappa – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
PortraitPro – PAID
Inkscape – FREE
PhotoViewer Pro – PAID
iPiccy – FREE
BeFunky – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
Picasa – FREE
Serif PhotoPlus X8 -PAID
Ribbet – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
Adobe Lightroom – PAID Adobe $9.99-19.99 a month
Photoshop CS2 – PAID Adobe $9.99-19.99 a month
Photoshop Elements -PAID Adobe $9.99-19.99 a month
Pixelmator – PAID
Fotoflexr – FREE

3. Gimp

Gimp is a free online photo editor site. I have heard of other bloggers using this program and it reminds me of PicMonkey and Canva but just not quite as user-friendly.

4. PhotoScape

PhotoScape is a free download that you install onto your computer.

5. Fotor

Fotor offers a free trial to test it out but then it is either a monthly or yearly subscription after that.

6. Pixlr Editor

Pixlr is a free photo editing site that also offers an app!

7. Aviary

Aviary is free as well and they too offer an app for photo editing!

8. On1 Perfect Effects

On1 offers a free trial but then it is a paid program.

9. Snappa

Snappa offers three different plans to chose from. One is paid with fewer features and then the more you pay the more you get on the other two features.

10. PortraitPro

PortraitPro has a free trial but then becomes a paid program.

11. Inkscape

Inkscape is free to download.

12. Photo Viewer Pro

Photo ViewerPro can be download for a price. That price depends on which plan you choose. They offer three different plans. To find those prices go to the bottom and lick on FAQ and it has the answer there.

13. iPiccy

iPiccy is another free program for editing your photos. You just have to install it to run the program. It works for graphic design too!

14. BeFunky

BeFunky has a free basic plan to edit your photos and then they offer a paid plan as well that offers more features.

15. Picasa

Picasa seems to be still available to download but there is a statement saying that it is being discontinued. I didn’t try to download it because I didn’t want to actually download it but you can try to here. If you want to read more about why it is discounted and what it is now turning into you can read more about that right here!

16. Serif PhotoPlus X8

Serif PhotoPlus X8 is a paid program that you can purchase for $24.99

17. Ribbet

Ribbet is free to edit photos but it does offer upgrade features for a price. Again this one reminds me of Canva and PicMonkey.

The next three are Adobe programs that run $9.99 and up a month

18. Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom

19. Photoshop CS2

Photoshop CS2 – Adobe offers too many programs to list them all. I just listed the ones that I found to be the most popular.

20. Photoshop Elements

Photoshop Elements

21. Pixelmator

Pixelmator can be downloaded from your Mac App Store for $59.99

22. Fotoflexr

Fotoflexr is another free program for photo editing.

Summary

Now that you have gone through all of them I hope you can see which ones may or may not work for you. Without actually downloading and trying each one it is hard for me to give them a proper review. I would like to say that though you may be thinking some of those are a bit pricey, don’t forget that those are a one time fee and the others are a monthly fee.

Of course, you may not want to pay for any of them and decide to go with one of the free programs! I don’t blame you there!

If you are a photographer that needs in-depth photo editing than I suggest you get one that you have to buy. You get what you pay for and if your product is the images themselves you don’t want to cheap out there.

If you are like me and you are a blogger and you just need to make some quick edits and make pin images, then you can definitely go with a free program. I lean more toward Canva and PicMonkey of course since I have used those two before.

If I could only pick one of those two I would go with PicMonkey.

Suzi from Start a Mom Blog has a great FREE course on PicMonkey that goes more in-depth on all its amazing features!

Good luck on your photo editing journey!

Vanessa

P.S.

Don’t forget to check out my FREE Pinterest Image Course!

How to Create Pinterest Images and the 4 Simple Steps I Use

by vbmomblog | Feb 24, 2018 | New Mommy Blogger, Pinterest

How to Create Pinterest Images and the 4 Simple Steps I Use

Creating Pinterest images use to sound so hard to me. When I first started blogging I remember thinking that I had no idea what I was doing and it was going to be so hard to learn. I had no idea that I would actually come to love it and it would be one of my favorite parts of blogging!

I did have some help from other bloggers but now that I have learned the basics I have been able to come up with a few tricks myself!

There are many different ways to create Pinterest images and I think that is half of the fun as well. You aren’t stuck with one program that you don’t like, you can choose which one works best for you. Or you can use them all like I do! It depends on what I want to make on which program I will use.

I use to be worried that my images wouldn’t be eye-catching or they would not look professional and now it is like second nature to get in there and design them just how I want!

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FREE STOCK IMAGES

There are several different places you can get stock images from. Not all of them are free, in fact, most of them aren’t. The best place I have found is Pexels.com. They have free images where you can donate if you would like. It says on there that images can be used for personal or commercial use. There are so many different choices on there too for photos.

EDITING IMAGES

Once again there are many different programs you can use to edit images. The one that I use is PicMonkey. They do have a free trial but eventually, they want you to pay to use them. After using PicMonkey I can tell you it is worth the small amount to be able to edit pictures so quickly!

I like to take my images that I got from Pexels and edit them before I even start using them for my pins. The main way that I edit the pictures is that even though the background may be white when you add it to your Pinterest Template that has a white background you can see the difference in color. I will then go in and edit that to match.

You may be thinking, “Well, are you allowed to edit the pictures?” Because I know I was! And yes, you can edit the pictures don’t worry!

MAKING MULTIPLE IMAGES OUT OF ONE

To save myself from always going back to look for more pictures to use for my Pinterest images, I like to make several different images out of one. I will find one that I like. Go to PicMonkey and edit the picture, then I will move that picture around and make multiple different images out of that one.

The best way for me to explain it is to watch how I do it in my FREE Pinterest Image Course.

I walk through everything I am talking about in this post, in my course. By making the different images out of one, it saves me so much time and keeps my pins all having the same theme/look to them. Some say to change it up which I do but others say it is good to have a certain “style” you stick with. Elna with Twins Mommy is very good about her pins all having a certain look to them. When I am on Pinterest pinning I will come across one of her pins and I will know it is hers before even looking.

This helps do that for me. I have a certain style that I feel stands out but at the same time, I am able to play around with each pin and make it unique.

THREE PROGRAMS TO USE

There are three programs I use to make my Pinterest images. As you know one of them is PicMonkey, the other is Canva, and the last one is PowerPoint. I not only use PicMonkey to edit my pictures and create multiple images out of one, I also use it to add the words and turn a stock image into my own personal pin image.

Canva is a fun program that I use to not like so much but now I love it. It is free and it saves your past images on there for you so I like to look back at everything I have created. I also like how it is very quick to add the words and design to the pin. Canva has templates set up for you as well to be able to make much more than just Pinterest images!

PowerPoint is not one that most people would think of. I love PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel so when I came across a blogger that used PowerPoint for her images I had to learn what she did. She taught me a lot and I go over those things in the FREE Pinterest Image Course.

One of the best ways to use PowerPoint is to show off a freebie you may be offering to your readers. Like this for example:

I made the “pile of papers” in PowerPoint. I then took that image and made the actual pin in Canva. Or like this one:

This image I made in PowerPoint as well. Then all you have to do is put it on a long pin background and tada! You got yourself a pin for Pinterest!

The fun part is the creative part. When you take the image and move it around to just how you like it and envision how the words are going to look on the pin. Then adding the words, changing the font, changing the color of the words, maybe making them bigger or small, trying to catch the readers attention. I will change a pin around to make it pop and look appealing to the viewers on Pinterest. I want it to catch their attention for being easy on the eyes and they want to save it and hopefully click through.

I don’t want to catch their attention by it being ugly because they are not going to want to repin in…well I know I don’t when I am on Pinterest.

Think about your style and what you like and make what you think is good. That is the best way to start. Go on to Pinterest and see what pins you find attractive and find your “brand” and then start creating!

What are your tips and tricks for making Pinterest images?

How I Gained over 600 Page Views in One Day on My Small Blog

by vbmomblog | Jan 22, 2018 | Pinterest

How I Gained over 600 Page Views in One Day on My Small Blog

How I gained over 600 page views in one day on my small blog - mom blog from home

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I am beyond excited to write this post! I still am in shock of what has been happening on my blog!

I started Mom Blog From Home on September 1, 2017. That was the day I launched it and made it all official. I still didn’t know what I was doing so I would post some and research a lot.

In October, November, and December things were a bit busy in our life and so I didn’t get to work on my blog as much as I would have liked.

I didn’t have much time to work on my blog

I helped out some friends by watching their little girls all day until the end of November so that was a bit time-consuming. In October it was my 30th birthday and I love Halloween so we celebrated big. In November it was my daughter’s birthday and we surprised her with a trip to Disney World and then of course Thanksgiving. Then lastly, in December we celebrated Christmas, my husbands birthday and New Years.

All birthdays and Holidays crammed into three months.

So, after the first of the year had come, I decided I needed to refocus back on my blog!

For the month of December, I had a total of 300 page views. Not too great. Also, not horrible considering I hadn’t done anything for about 3 months to my very new blog.

300 page views for the month of december 2017 - mom blog from home

Even though I didn’t have a whole lot to share on my blog I knew I needed to focus on traffic. I could critique from there what needed to be fixed as traffic rolled in.

I am horrible about thinking everything has to be perfect first but it will never be perfect so it just had to happen now.

I needed traffic

The first thing I knew I needed to do to get traffic was to test out Pinterest. I always hear that Pinterest is the best way to get traffic to your blog.

So, I did a quick recap (I had already researched it and set it all up) and I gave it a whirl!

I believe it was at the end of the first week of January when I put my Pinterest strategy into effect. I set it up and let it go.

I still worked on my blog every day but it wasn’t until I logged in on Tuesday I had to do a triple take!!

200 views?!? I am used to 10 page views a day, how did I get 200 views?!

By that night before bed, it was at 400 views! I couldn’t believe it! I already had more views in one day than I did all last month!

Finally, the next day after the dust had settled I realize that it had reached a total of 645 views! That is right, 39 views on Monday and 645 views on Tuesday!

645 page views in a day - mom blog from home

You can see here are my page views from January 3, 2018 – January 9, 2018. The total was 874 but 645 of those were on one day, Tuesday, January 9, 2018.

Now, you can bet I was doing the happy dance! I really honestly couldn’t believe it!

I knew it had to be from Pinterest because that was the only thing I had changed!

And It was!

Pinterest had sent 645 people to my blog, in actually about an hour, on Tuesday.

I have continued to test this out to make sure it wasn’t a one-time thing, and time and time again Pinterest delivers!

It is incredible the amount of traffic that has been sent to my new blog. I am still in shock and disbelief to show you this next screenshot.

This is of today January 19, 2018, at 3pm

3700 page views in 19 days - mom blog from home

Just shy of 3700 page views in 19 days! Isn’t that amazing!?

Last month I had a total of 300 page views and with 12 days left in the month of January, I am already at 3700 page views!

THANK YOU PINTEREST!

So, how did I do it?

I didn’t just throw stuff up there on Pinterest. I follow a strategy.

First and most importantly I used Tailwind.

Tailwind is an app that pins for you on to Pinterest. You can’t be on Pinterest yourself all day so Tailwind does it for you!

Within Tailwind, you can schedule your pins for days, weeks, or even a month of pins. They have a new feature called Tailwind Tribes, this is like Facebook Groups but on Tailwind.

Members of the tribe share their content with their fellow tribe members and they all then share it on their Pinterest accounts. Being apart of a tribe helps you get great content to share and to get your content out in front of fellow bloggers to share as well.

You think about it, each of them probably has hundreds or thousands of followers! That is a lot of potential people to see your pins!

There are certain rules per tribe, just like on Facebook Groups. It isn’t anything crazy just be aware and read those first.

Another great feature is you can make board lists for all the group boards you are in to categorize some of your boards.

For example

I made a board list with all of the group boards I am on so when I want to pin one pin to all of those I just click on the board list instead of clicking each one of the group boards each time.

Also, I do the same for when I have boards on my Pinterest that are all about paying off debt or all about starting a blog. Then when I find a pin I like that I want to go to all of those I choose that board list!

Super easy! And very effective!

If you are interested in trying out Tailwind free for a month then you can use my link right here!

If you want to learn the best way to set up your Pinterest account for success then I recommend checking out McKinzie’s FREE Pinterest Primer Course!

If you do check out her course and chose to test out Tailwind then I would greatly appreciate it if you used my link! It get’s you a free month plus me a free month!

I don’t know about you but I sure could use as much free stuff as I can get!

I am putting together more information about how to make an attractive pin on Pinterest and more in-depth details of the Pinterest strategy I used!

I would love to share more with you! If you do sign up for Tailwind just let me know and I can help show you what I did!

Good luck!

Vanessa

Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest and Facebook!

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