Create a Professional Photo for Your Website for Free

Images are one of the most powerful marketing tools. They are instrumental in bringing more traffic to your website and driving sales.

In fact, even if you have just one photo on your blog or internet page, it’s much more likely to rank on Google than if you have none. That’s why being able to create a professional photo can be an important part of your content marketing strategy. However, learning to do that is not exactly the easiest job in the world, right?

In order to create great imagery, you need to have an imagination, know how to work with different photo editing software, and be creative. Unfortunately, not all of us have those skills.

That’s why in this article, you will be able to find quick tips and tricks that will help you create professional-looking photos for your marketing strategy.

5 Great Image Editing Tools To Help You Create Professional Photos

No matter how good of a photographer you are, you cannot make a professional photo without using a proper editing tool. Nowadays the internet is full of all kinds of apps that promise you everything you may ever want: ease of use, loads of editing options, loads of pre-made filters, etc. However, the problem is that most of these tools tend to cost a lot and if you’re just starting out as a business, you may not be willing to spend the money.

That’s why we will be looking at some apps that make editing pictures for free possible.

Let’s get started.

1.PicMonkey

If you’re not good at graphic design, but still want to have nice-looking, clear images that look professional, PicMonkey is one of the best tools you can use to help you achieve that.

To go along with that, this software allows you to make an account using the free trial option which enables you to use most of its editing powers without having to pay even one dollar.

Here are some of its incredible imagery creating features that will make you sign up after finishing this article:

• With PicMonkey, you can edit already existing photos that are uploaded on Facebook or another social media network. You can also use specific effects or pre-made filters to touch up your images and make them look better.
• Along with that, you can create designs from scratch or with a preset template. This enables you to create images that can be used for a pamphlet or an e-mail marketing campaign.
• PicMonkey has most of the photo-editing functions you can find on software like Photoshop. By using it, you can sharpen, blur, lighten and darken photos, as well as create presets that can be used automatically for each photo you upload on the app.
• With PicMonkey you can also touch up photographs, especially portraits. You can change people’s skin color, remove their blemishes or wrinkles and whiten their teeth.

Overall, PicMonkey is an incredible software that has most of the photo editing features that you will likely need when creating a professional photo for your next marketing campaign or your online store. Along with that, it’s easy to use and is not too technical, so you can turn a photo from normal-looking to professional in a few minutes, even if you lack any previous editing experience.

2.Canva

Every marketer in the world has at least heard of Canva and most marketers have certainly used it. That’s with good reason, as it’s one of the best platforms for editing and creating images.

Not only does Canva have standout features and dozens of templates, but it’s also completely free to use and you have to pay only if you want to use some of the premium templates and icons.

As far as must-use apps go, Canva for me takes the top place. It has some incredible features that you will not be able to find on any other free software:

• You can create graphics in specific sizes that are designed to fit different types of posts. For example, you can make an image and then choose to export it in a size that works for an Instagram story, for a Facebook Event cover, or for a PowerPoint presentation. This is a feature that really comes in handy, as you don’t have to waste time trying to find the perfect size for each post you want to make.
• It has thousands of free graphic design templates for just about every scenario you can think of. You can create imagery for presentations, Facebook and Instagram posts, blogs, resumes, and more. It even has specific templates for YouTube thumbnails and Google Ads. Each of these templates is customizable: you can change its main colors, the photo used in it, and its size, meaning that you can make any free design your own, by just tweaking a few simple things.
• You can add different elements to your images, including symbols, icons, illustrations, charts, and text.
• If you opt for using text in your graphics, you can choose from a wide variety of fonts until you find the one that best suits your style.
• Canva can also be used as an app to edit photo backgrounds or to completely remove the background if needed.

Overall, Canva is the best free tool for creating graphics that can be used for everything you need: Google Ads, client presentations, and social media. If you’ve never used the app and are in need of some guidance, you can check out this 10-minute long tutorial that will give you all the knowledge you need to get started.

3.Piktochart

If you need a tool that can help you create terrific infographics then look no further than here. Piktochart is a user-friendly, free app that allows you to create any kind of infographic you may need in minutes.

On this platform, you are able to create a free account and then immediately use it. Piktochart gives you the opportunity to make three different types of graphics:

• infographic
• presentation
• printable

For each one of these, there are plenty of pre-made templates that you can choose and edit so that they fit your needs. What makes Piktochart stand out from the competition is that it gives you the ability to brand each infographic with the colors that your company uses, while giving you access to high-quality graphics and a huge stock photo library.

With this app, you will never have to ask yourself how to make edits, as it’s incredibly easy to use and navigate. However, if you’re in need of some lessons, here’s a quick one to get you started.

4.Snappa

You can think of Snappa almost as Canva 2.0. These two platforms are incredibly similar and offer the same kind of useful features.

That being said, there are still a few things that make Snappa stand out:

• It has an endless amount of free stock photos and icons. Unlike Canva, where some of the best ones often need to be paid for, here you get unbelievable designs without spending any money.
• Another stand-out feature is Snappa’s social media scheduling tool that enables you to share graphics and images directly from the app to Instagram, Pinterest, or any social media network.
• There’s a dedicated tool that helps you resize images so that you can use them for different purposes: from Facebook posts to client presentations.
• Snappa allows you to build templates in a variety of formats and it has a diverse selection of social media and PPC ad sizes.
• Snappy allows you to edit everything on any given template: color, text font, icons, and more.
• Snappa has incredible icons that look like they’ve been custom-made by a graphic designer just for you.

All in all, Snappa is a terrific tool for any business owner or marketing expert that wants to be able to create posts and ads, without having to wait for a graphic designer to help them make the content. The app is simple to learn, has tons of terrific features, and is completely free. Additionally, if you ever get stuck and need help with editing an image, you can check out some of the YouTube tutorials for help, such as this one.

5.Pixlr

As a photo-editing tool, Pixlr largely resembles Photoshop. It has almost every kind of editing feature you can think of and thus allows for deep customization.

That being said, Pixlr isn’t really a tool for people that have no background in graphic design and find it difficult to create graphics from scratch. It’s aimed at more experienced users who have an eye for creative ideas and need a tool that can help them turn their vision into a reality.

Pixlr is completely free to use, even though the options it gives you are that of a premium, paid-for application. It allows you to create a new image from scratch or edit a professional photo that’s already on your computer. Working with Pixlr is basically the same as working with Photoshop, as it has a lot of detailed filters and layers while giving you the freedom to make any type of adjustment you may want.

That being said, Pixlr is definitely not an easy tool to learn and master. You may need to watch a few tutorials before starting to use it. This is a great one for beginners, as it covers all the basics without going into too much detail.

Final Words

Learning to turn your standard photograph into a professional photo that is fit to be on a company’s website is a skill that you definitely need to master.

If you’re an entrepreneur that’s just starting out and needs to save as much money as possible, developing this skill set will allow you to do graphic design work without having to pay for someone else to do it.

If you’re a digital marketing expert or just starting out in the field, this skill will be useful whenever you need to create content for a client or to promote your own work.

The great thing is that nowadays, there is software to make your job easier every step of the way. The editing tools discussed in this article are free to use and enable you to create terrific imagery without any prior graphic design experience, thanks to their user-friendly interfaces and incredible templates.

But what’s even greater is that, even if you hit a wall and cannot find a way to edit a particular photo, there are tons of detailed tutorials to help you along the way.