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25+ Creative Photography Ideas and Techniques to try

2020 has been a year like no other. Never before has the world been so connected–connected by the same crisis, sharing the same problems, and fighting the same demons. But at the same time, all of us as individuals have had to disconnect. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many of us to be stuck at home, self quarantined and isolated from our friends and family.

Photographers have been just as isolated as everyone else. Significant events are cancelled, socially distanced get-togethers are harder to shoot. Photographers used to work with new people and models may be feeling like they're stuck in a bit of a rut, unable to continue with their normal workflow.

So much time alone can be used in a few ways. Many creative individuals might spend their time looking for ways to be, well, more creative!

What is Creative Photography?

There's no tidy and agreed-upon definition of what constitutes creativity in photography. Unlike other forms of art, a creative photo is one that has some original artistic touch added to it. Creative photography is not, however, an excuse for bad photography. For a photo to be considered creative, there must be an intent to say something. All photographs should tell the viewer a story. The creative part should only help to do that.

The cool thing about adding some creativity into your images is that you can do it to any genre or type of photography . The absolute best images are the ones that are calculated and creative. So wherever you are and whatever you are shooting, putting yourself into a creative mindset helps you up your photographic game.

How to Be More Creative in Photography

Being creative in photography requires coming up with new creative photo ideas and inspiration. But don't limit yourself to only photography–creativity takes many shapes and forms. One of the best ways to get more creative is to try something new. Try drawing, sketching, or painting for a change. Get creative with a pen and paper first, and start storyboarding what you'd like to shoot.

You can also spur creativity by changing things up. Maybe there's an old camera body in the bottom of your equipment bag you seldom use or an old prime lens that's getting dusty. The point is that you need to mix up your routine and see where it takes you.

Getting inspiration from other photographers through their online photography portfolios or social media posts only goes so far. Because it's a passive process that your creative mind is disconnected from, it's hard to make the leap from admiring other people's work to actively making your own. It's a starting point, but you've got to make the biggest leap from there.

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Children are, by far, the most creative individuals among us. Spending some time with kids is a great way to relearn what it means to be creative. Physical activity and play can also help you harness a little creativity, but in the end, it is a mindset. All too often, adults get themselves firmly planted into a way of thinking or a way of life. Shaking it up a little and forcing your brain to problem solve more is the only way to recapture that child-like mindset.

25+ Creative Photography Ideas and Techniques

Diy filters.

Putting something on the end of your lens and shooting through it is a fun way to mix up your photos and see what you get. There is no cost to snapping some trial and error shots in the age of digital photography and trashing them. Create your own artistic filters with cellophane wrap, also called cling film, from your kitchen drawer. That will add a blurred or foggy effect. You can warp or shape the plastic to reduce or increase the look. Search around the house and find other types of clear or translucent materials that you could shoot through. Many different plastics can make star-light effects and even colored blurs.

Off-Lens Add-Ons

You can also hold items out and away from the camera, and include the item as part of the composition. Glass globes or photographic glass spheres have become popular in recent years because the sphere creates a distorted image of the world around it. You can also pick up other types of lenses that can be held out. You can also shoot through your glasses or sunglasses, which add a cool framing effect. If your glasses are colored or polarized, all the better.

Creative Lighting

Playing with the lighting in a scene is a fundamental way for a photographer to learn to become better. Photography is, after all, painting with light. You can do it a few ways. You can move lights around and play with the types of lighting your use. Everything from everyday candles and flashlights to photography-specific mini LEDs and speedlights can be used.

You can also modify those lights. Lighting gels are colored filters that fit over the lights to create different effects. You can make gels with clear or colored pieces of translucent plastic.

Play With Your Still Lifes

Let's go ahead and admit it. Many of us haven't done a real still life shoot since art class in high school or college. Giving the artists control over all elements, from the subject matter, arrangement of subjects, composition, and lighting, still lifes are an excellent way to spur creativity.

So do you take a bowl of fruit and start shooting? You can, but try to get creative! What kind of story can you tell? Is there any way that you can make your still life into an entire dramatic scene?

Get a New Perspective

Playing with perspective is a quick and easy trick many photographers like to use when they want to up their unique creative photography ideas. You can change your perspective as you take the picture or change what the viewer sees.

To change your perspective, you need to move around. Getting down low and shooting while looking up are great ways to see the world from different points of view. Or, consider shooting straight down from above. If you've got a drone, now's the perfect time to go flying.

Forced perspective is the manipulation of visual cues in the composition in an attempt to fool your viewers. Have you ever seen a picture where a huge person appears to be holding the moon in their hands? That's an example of forced perspective. Using a telephoto lens and zooming in on the person from a distance, you can frame the photo to make small things look large against big things made to look small. Read this article for some great tips on forced perspective in photography .

Fantasy Worlds

There's a whole genre of photography that revolves around creating fantasy worlds in your image frame. Small action figures or other toys are excellent subject matter. Legos are really popular.

Macro Landscapes

Another fun and creative thing to try is making an entire landscape out of something else. Many photographers have found food works great with this, but it could also include toys or the subjects mentioned above. Broccoli trees sprouting from lettuce fields, with fruit rainbows in the sky. Go wild!

Focus Your Lens on Your Kids or Pets

Many people are seeing more of their kids, pets, and other family members, which is one positive outcome of 2020 for some. Why not turn your camera to subjects at home? Look for inspiration in their daily lives, and shoot from their points of view.

Go Monotone

One creative exercise from art class is to pick a color for a day and focus entirely on that one element. Include compositions in monotone or limited color palettes . Look up the complementary colors and use them. Hunt around for design ideas. Just for the day, think about your photography in terms of design rather than the camera and the tools you use.

Built Your Own Background

Shooting still lifes and portraits of your family around the house is bound to creatively run dry sooner or later. Spice things up by creating backgrounds that can be fun and dynamic. Many photographers use large chalkboards. Draw out the scene you want your subject to star in. Plan it out, and then incorporate your living subject into the drawn-out scene. Have your subjects help make their own backgrounds.

Of course, that's only one example. If you're doing macros or still lifes, you could use a cardboard box and create a lightbox and background. You could paint a background on an old board or a piece of artist's canvas. Use old fabric and sew up something unique. The possibilities are endless!

If static still lifes are getting you down and your family has returned to their devices, try your hand at splash photography. You'll need a fast shutter speed and your camera up on a tripod in burst mode. You can spill things, drop things into water or other fluids, or dribble water out of bottles. Get creative with the background, as above, or combine into one of those fantasy worlds you created.

Sit Down and Learn Something

If there's one thing we can agree on, it's that it's easier to learn new skills than ever before. YouTube and online education websites are chockablock full of excellent tutorials in post-production techniques. Some of them are beyond creative–they're nothing short of genius. It doesn't have to be anything far out and artistic, either. You could spend the afternoon learning how to do focus stacking or texture overlays. How are your HDR skills? Or maybe you'd like to learn how to simulate the look of tilt-shift lenses for that distinctive tiny world effect.

You’ve Got the Time

Long exposure photography is one thing that many people know how to do, but few dedicate the time to doing it. Now is a great time to play with long exposure photos, both indoors and outdoors.

If you've never used an ND (neutral density) filter for long daytime exposures, it's an excellent tool for creative photography images. They add a moody and dramatic feeling that really can't be achieved in any other way.

Manual Panoramas

Panorama stitching is easy to do in any photo editing software, but many photographers rely on using their phones' built-in automatic functions for the purpose. Next time you're out admiring a fantastic vista, grab your tripod and take a real panorama. How many megapixels can you squeeze in?

Reflections

Reflections are incredible tools in photography. They create symmetry and force the viewer to alter their perspective. You might want to read this article on symmetry in photography . The best thing about reflections is that photos make us admire them more. In real life, we're so used to seeing them that we put them out of our minds. But when they're used well in photographic composition, they make the whole image pop.

Try Free Lensing

Free lensing is the technique of holding your lens off-camera and shooting through it. To get the aperture to work, many photographers purchase broken lenses off of eBay and use them. Why go to all of this effort? Free lensing creates some unique images right out of the camera. The extra light entering the sensor from the opening creates neat washouts and softens the focus. As you get better, you can control the angle like a tilt-shift lens.

Embrace the Blur

Blurry photos don’t have to be bad. In the efforts to be creative and perform some trial and error, work on emphasizing blur. Look for moving objects that you can capture motion blur on, or try some whip pans with the shutter open. Zoom blur is fun, too, when you move the lens zoom in or out during the exposure.

Incorporate Shadows

Use shadows in your composition to help tell your story. Here are a few great photography composition tips and techniques to help you get started. Have a model interact with their shadow, or tell an entire story using nothing but shadows.

Blow Some Bubbles

Play with bubbles. They reflect and refract light in unique ways, often with colorful oily films.

Take a Dive

Are you near the beach or even just a neighbourhood pool? Experiment with underwater photos . You don't have to have your best camera in expensive housing. You can pick up underwater cases for point and shoot cameras on Amazon or eBay reasonably cheaply. Your subjects can range from kids at the local community pool to exotic coral reefs in the South Pacific. It's fun and challenging, and there's a lot to learn.

Picture-in-Picture

Try using printed photos as elements in your picture for a picture-in-picture effect. You can modify the picture with paint or materials to create a mixed media artwork.

It's also an excellent time to look at all the ways you can have your work reproduced. Check out the latest laser-etched metal photos or classy canvas art wraps available from online printers.

Blow Off the Dust

Spend a day with a piece of equipment you never use. What is in the very bottom of your camera bag that is collecting dust? A fisheye lens, super-telephoto, or an old point-and-shoot? What about those speedlights that haven't gone off in a few years? You could also scour eBay and your local used camera shop for bargains. Find a $20 old-school vintage lens and buy an adapter tube for your camera.

Paint with Light

Light painting is the act of moving some illuminated object around in a long exposure photograph. Sparklers are common, but some people make their own with steel wool and wire whisks. Flashlights and lanterns work. Even remote controls work since the infrared light they use is visible to the camera's sensor.

Light It Up!

While you're thinking about light, think up some creative off-camera lighting positions. Put your flash inside objects or backlight your subjects.

Bonus Creative Idea–Use What You Hate

Do you have a pet peeve? What gets your goat, photographically speaking? Take some time to ponder what bothers you about it, and learn to embrace it. You don't have to have a change of heart, but why not perform an artistic experiment and embrace things you usually hate. Lens flare is a classic example that many photographers loath. How about over-the-top HDR images? Soft focus or out of focus images can be used well in the right context. Whatever bothers you the most, think about why that is and ask yourself, if I worked out a way to use this, what would it look like, and what kind of story would it tell?

Do Checkout These Articles

• 15 Great Tips on How To Create Awesome Mood Boards
• Best No-Code Tools for Photographers in 2024
• 15 iPhone Photography Tips to take Great Photos
• 16 Must-have Camera Accessories for Travel Photographers

Getting creative with photography isn't a challenging task as long as you have the time to have fun with it. If it's always a chore or part of your job, it's sometimes difficult to relax and enjoy the process. But only by stepping out of your comfort zone and making some playtime will you rekindle that creative spark that made you love photography in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you get creative photography ideas? Being constantly aware and observant of the world around you is key in getting creative photography ideas. The idea behind photography is to capture unique and interesting moments and objects and for that you need to constantly be in search of such things. It is also a good idea to play around with your camera settings,  experiment with various camera angles and lighting to see if you can create some interesting results. 
• What are some ideas for photography? An easy and creative photography idea is to create interesting macro landscapes using items you have lying around at home. You can also use forced perspective to create some compelling and fun visual stories. Clever use of mirrors and reflections can also create unique and interesting photographs that do not require a lot of specialized equipment. 
• How can I do creative photography at home? If you want to try creative photography at home, you can use forced perspective, DIY filters, creative lighting etc. to take fairly mundane photography ideas and take them to the next level. With clever camera techniques and hacks, you can make your photography more creative and interesting without having to travel too far spending too much on fancy equipment.

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Creative photography

39 Free Tools for Creating Unique Images

Written by by Alex York

Published on  May 31, 2017

Reading time  12 minutes

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, and the average length of an English word is 5 letters, it would take you 35.71 Tweets to tell the same story you could with one shared image on social media. So why wouldn’t you just include an image?

We know it can be difficult to come up with a fresh image for each social post you create, so we’ve put together this list of amazing tools to help you create free images for websites, social media posts, blogs and more.

While all of the resources on this list have a free version, some may require you to pay for additional features or access.

Types of Free Image Creation Tools

Below are some jump links to help you quickly navigate to the type of image you’re looking to create. These image tools range from free to premium and from desktop software to mobile apps, so there should be enough tools here to fit all of your needs.

Image Design Tools

Infographic makers, logo makers, quote makers, collage makers, cover photo makers, profile picture makers, screenshot tools, image resizing tools.

Don’t forget to put those great images to use with a free 30-day trial with Sprout Social .

There are dozens of free image editing tools out there that you can use to start altering, touching up, or creating your own social images. These are some of the best ones we found with simple web-based interfaces.

Plan Upgrades: Canva for Work: $9.95/mo (pay annually), $12.95/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: Infographics, Logos, Quotes, Collage, Cover Photos, Profiles and Resizing

Canva is easily the most all-inclusive tool on this list. There are so many different design templates that make it easy for users to create images, build resumes or design book covers. Canva also has social media templates, making it easy to create social media images, including: cover photos, profile pictures, posts and advertisements.

2. PicMonkey

Plan Upgrades: Premium $3.99/mo (pay annually) or $7.99/mo (pay monthly), Supremium $8.33/mo. Other Features: Logos, Quotes, Collage, Cover Photos, Profiles and Resizing

PicMonkey is a fantastic tool for editing or designing brand new images for your social media posts. One of the best parts of PicMonkey is its blog, where it publishes fantastic guides to help you create your own free images.

Plan Upgrades: Pro: $9/mo (pay annually) or Unlimited: $19/mo (pay annually). Other Features: Logos, Quotes, Collage, Cover Photos, Profiles and Resizing

If you’re looking to update just a few images a month without making a major investment, Stencil is perfect. The free version allows you to design 10 images a month, but only provides limited features.

Plan Upgrades: BeFunky Plus $2.91/mo (pay annually) or $4.95/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: Infographics, Collage, Cover Photos, Profiles and Resizing

BeFunky is a photo editing tool that doesn’t require users to register, which is a big plus for a lot of people. The site has tools for editing and effects. BeFunky also includes tools for a collage maker.

It’s absolutely a breeze to use these image creation tools and publish them with our social media management software and Smart Inbox.

Using an infographic maker is an easy process to share large sets of data in visually pleasing content. This is why marketers still find infographics to be some of the most shareable types of content in the digital marketing space. Infographics are highly shareable when done right, which is why it’s important to select a quality tool to make them.

5. Venngage

Plan Upgrades: Premium $16/mo (pay annually), $17/mo (pay quarterly) or $19/mo (pay monthly) and Business $39/mo (pay annually), $43/mo (pay quarterly) or $49/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: Infographics, Collage, Cover Photos, Profiles and Resizing

Venngage has both free and paid accounts that make it incredibly easy to create and share your own infographics. Simply choose a theme, alter the text and data, insert some graphics and share.

6. Infogr.am

Plan Upgrades: Pro $19/mo (pay annually) or $25/mo (pay monthly), Business $67/mo (pay annually) or $79 (pay monthly) Other Features: Logos

Infogr.am is a high-quality tool for illustrating big data and creating ready-to-use infographics for your audience. There are a number of great features available for free, but to access the full suite of infographic tools, you’ll need a paid account for things like interactive maps.

7. Piktochart

Plan Upgrades: Lite: $150/yr (pay annually) or $15/mo (pay monthly), Pro: $290/yr (pay annually) or $29/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: Image Design, Logos

Piktochart is a popular infographic creation tool that has plenty of free design features for beginners and experts. Widely used by some larger organizations, Piktochart’s free plan is great for those getting started.

Plan Upgrades: Standard: $10/mo (pay annually) or $15/mo (pay monthly). Complete: $19/mo (pay annually) or $28 (pay monthly). Team: $57/mo (pay annually) or $84/mo (pay monthly). Other Features: Image Design

Visme is a great tool if you’re new to infographic creation. With a free version to get you started, you can craft engaging and informative infographics.

Plan Upgrades: Pro: $3/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: None

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEy5IDKgdFY

Claiming more than 4 million created infographics, it’s easy to see why Ease.ly is popular for infographic creators. While the free version has limited templates, it’s still a good tool to use without spending any money.

Logos are an important piece of your brand. They’re seen by most of your target audience and it’s wise to consider spending a little bit of money when creating one. But nonetheless, here are some free logo creation tools to get you started:

10. LogoGarden

Plan Upgrades: Custom Logo: $39.99 (starting) Other Features: None

LogoGarden is a quick and easy free option for logo creation. If you aren’t super design-oriented and don’t mind using existing imagery to create your logo, it’s the perfect tool. The company also offers a custom logo ($39.99 starting price) from their design team.

11. LogotypeMaker

Plan Upgrades: Basic $24.99 or Premium $39.99 (One-time Payment) Other Features: None

Logotype Maker is a site for small companies and startups looking to create their own logos. The site has over 200 custom fonts, custom sizes, a handful of special effects and more. However, the free version only provides non-customizable logos.

Plan Upgrades: Designer Tools App: Free Other Features: Image Design

UCraft is known for being a content management system, but it also has a free logo editor. While it’s templates are not very robust, the tool can create simple logos you would use on a website. There’s other add-ons you can purchase to get more designer tools for image editing.

13. Logaster

Plan Upgrades: BrandKit: $29.99 (One-time Payment) Other Features: None

Another free logo tool is Logaster. Here you can create multiple versions of product designs or logos all for free. However, you can only download small images and there are upgrade features to download at larger, higher resolutions.

This set of tools is not known by too many people, but they’re great for social media. These sites will take a quote and turn it into a beautiful image, shareable for social media. The ease of creating and sharing content make these a great tool for marketers posting frequently.

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: None

“Turn A Quote Into A Masterpiece” with Recite. The site has a ton of different design themes which will easily make your quote look great. Just plug your quote into the box they provide and choose a template.

Quozio is another tool for creating and sharing a quote design. The site does lack some sharing features that Recite has, which makes it more difficult to publish your quotes.

16. Quotescover

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Cover Photo Markers

QuotesCover is great for turning your fantastic quotes into social media cover photos. The site allows you to create quote designs for multiple social networks. You can even make a quote image a cover photo on Facebook.

Try scheduling your beautiful quotes with Sprout Social’s Social Media Calendar tools .

You’ve undoubtedly seen photo collages all over social media sites, most likely in a post celebrating someone’s birthday. Collages are great for telling a story on social media. Here are some of the tools we’ve found that make collage creation easy.

Plan Upgrades: Fotor Pro: $3.33/mo (pay annually) or $8.99/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: Image Design, Quotes, Cover Photos, Profiles and Resizing

Fotor is a great free site for putting together a photo collage. You can pull photos from your computer, Dropbox, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, web or any camera you have set up with your computer. Additionally, Fotor has Android, Apple and Windows apps to take your editing skills on the road.

18. Photovisi

Plan Upgrades: Premium: $4.99/mo Other Features: Image Design

Photovisi is a simple tool for creating a photo collage. It’s as easy as choosing a theme, adding your photos, choosing additional text and shapes and letting them put it together. The only downside is that you’ll have to pay $4.99 per month to get access to a collage without the watermark.

19. Picture2Life

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Image Design, GIF Maker

Picture2Life is an incredibly powerful tool to edit images, create GIFs and make truly customizable photo collages. Additionally, users can have their work professionally enhanced, enlarged and framed! Image prints start at $4.03 and framing at $77.30. Otherwise, everything you create or make on Picture2Lie is free.

20. PhotoCollage

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Image Design, Quotes, Cover Photos, Profiles

One of the most simple tools listed here is PhotoCollage. This completely free tool allows users to create collages, add text and then easily save them for Facebook and Twitter Cover Photos. The site also has canvas print options available for purchase.

21. Google Photos

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Image Design, Screenshots

Did you know Google Photos has a collage maker feature within its editing tools? This is a great source to quickly build a collage and save it to your Google Drive. There are multiple collage variations and editing tools to enhance the image. The best part–it’s all free.

Cover photos are arguably the most important images that you’ll use on social networks. These images have some of the biggest dimensions. Also, it’s typically the first thing customers see when they visit your page. Here are some tools to help you create the perfect cover image:

22. Fotor for Twitter

Plan Upgrades: Fotor Pro: $3.33/mo (pay annually) or $8.99/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: Image Design, Quotes, Collage Maker, Profiles and Resizing

While we’ve already mentioned Fotor in our Collage Maker section, it’s hard not to put it on the list again for Cover Photos. This tool has a specific feature to custom create Facebook, Twitter and Etsy Cover Photos. Not only that, but Fotor can make Medium board leaderboard images and even customer blog headers.

23. Pagemodo

Plan Upgrades: Basic: $4.25/2yrs (pay biannually), $6.25/mo (pay annually) or $9/mo (pay monthly). Pro: $10.95/2yrs (pay biannually), $13.25/mo (pay annually) or $19/mo (pay monthly). Agency: $23.95/2yrs (pay biannually), $33.25/mo (pay annually) or $59/mo (pay monthly). Other Features: Image Design, Quotes, Profiles, Resizing

Pagemodo boasts more than a million users and has a lot of great features like professionally designed themes, access to thousands of free stock images and shapes and the ability to upload your own images. The cover photo tools start for free, but allow users to upgrade to professional tools.

24. Adobe Spark

Plan Upgrades: Adobe Cloud: Starts at $19.99/mo per app (pay monthly). Other Features: Image Design, Quotes, Profiles, Resizing

Adobe Spark is a free app to help users make their social media cover photos look amazing. With plenty of editing tools, size formations and easy-to-save features, Spark is definitely a tool worth having in your back pocket when creating cover images. However, an Adobe Spark banner will exist on your content until you upgrade to an Adobe Cloud member.

Once you’ve drawn in visitors with your vibrant and unique cover photo, it’s likely that the next most important visual they’ll see is your profile picture. That’s why it’s necessary to create a great image for your page.

25. Profile Picture Maker

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Quotes, Resizing

This tool is equipped to help you create great photos for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and more. There are several great frames and themes for you to choose from on the site.

26. Mypictr

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Resizing

This is a site that allows you to upload a photo in order to resize it to perfectly fit profile image dimensions for various social sites. The simple tools make it easy to edit, save and upload your profile images without spending a dime.

27. Timeline Slicer

Another free profile and resizing tool is Timeline Slicer. This site works to incorporate your profile picture and cover photo into the same image, which helps create a unique look. Timeline Slicer also allows users to scale images for ads.

Taking a screenshot of something on your monitor can sometimes be a quick and effective way to generate an image for a social media post. Most computers and laptops have their own screenshot tools, but we listed some here that have some more comprehensive editing features.

Plan Upgrades: Snagit Upgrade: Starting at $24.95. Other Features: Resizing

Jing is a free tool from TechSmith that lets you capture both screenshots and screen videos. Then you can easily share with a custom shortened URL via Screencast. Jing also has tools to edit the image that you’ve captured with text, shapes and colors. However, if you use Screencast, there’s a monthly or yearly fee to connect.

29. Awesome Screenshot

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Image Design, Resizing

Awesome Screenshot is a browser extension that can connect to your Google account to start editing, resizing and enhancing screenshot images. There are a ton of great features for capturing screenshots with Awesome Screenshot and its editing tools also help you to create insightful annotations and comments on top of an image.

Plan Upgrades: Evernote Plus: $34.99/yr or Evernote Premium $69.99/yr. Other Features: Image Design, Resizing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE325A4RvQc

Similar to Jing and Awesome Screenshot, Skitch also boasts great features for editing your photos on a mobile device. This is a big plus for social media managers and content creators looking for simple tools on-the-go. Skitch is absolutely free, but Evernote upgrades are available for more features and integrations.

These types of tools are fantastic because they allow you to take all of the images that you already own and crop them to meet exact specifications of each social network. If you need those specifications, check out our always up to date social media images size guide.

31. Landscape by Sprout Social

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Image Design, Cover Photos

We realize it’s difficult to keep up with the ever-changing image dimensions of each social network. However, now you don’t have to worry about resizing images for social with our free tool, Landscape. Sprout Social’s social media image resizing tool was created specifically for social media managers. Simply upload your photo, choose the networks and post types where you’d like to resize your image, guide the cropping process and download all of your new images.

32. Simple Image Resizer

With the Simple Image Resizer, all you have to do is upload a photo and choose the new dimensions. It’s as simple as that.

33. Picresize

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Image Design

Picresize is another picture resizing tool with more than a dozen special effects and resizing features. It’s a breeze to upload your image, add effects and save it in different image formats.

The pronunciation of the word GIF may be heavily debated, but its popularity isn’t. Most social networks allow GIFs to play in feeds and brands use them often to correspond with customers. Here are some tools to help you put custom GIFs together more quickly:

One of the biggest sites to feed your GIF cravings is Giphy. Not only does it host millions of GIFs, but it’s GIF Maker is easy to upload video content and create a looped video. Store all your GIFs on your account or easily make one without having to log in and share!

35. GifMaker.me

If you’re looking to upload multiple images to turn into a GIF, this is the tool for you. Easily use the control panel to select the size and save the GIF. The tool also has a resizing feature connected–all for free.

36. Imgflip

Plan Upgrades: Pro: $9.95/mo Other Features: Resizing

Imgflip allows for fast and customizable GIFs. You can create GIFs from online videos, your own videos or images. Its simple interface is perfect for beginners.

37. Makeagif

Plan Upgrades: Premium: $5/mo (pay bi-annually), $8.33/mo (pay quarterly) or $11.99/mo (pay monthly) Other Features: None

Make a Gif has a free GIF creation tool you can use on YouTube links or uploaded video files. It’s fast, simple and has the option to add stickers on your GIF.

PHHHTO is mobile app for Apple and Android devices that creates custom GIF-like videos from your content. Your content ends up looking very similar to a traditional GIF, but has its own flare.

39. Boomerang by Instagram

Plan Upgrades: None Other Features: Image Design, Profiles

It’s hard to talk about GIFs on social without mentioning Instagram’s Boomerang. This mobile-only tool allows users to make GIF-style videos that loop forward and backward on repeat. You do have to connect the app to your Instagram account, but the short pieces of content can really make your Instagram posts pop!

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70 Picture Prompts for Creative Writing (with Free Slides)

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Visual writing prompts help young writers generate new ideas and overcome writer’s block. We’ve put together 70 picture prompts for creative writing that you can use in your writing centers or lesson plans to get your students’ creative juices flowing.

Picture Writing Prompts for All Ages

Writers of all ages and experience levels can get stuck thinking about what to write. Writer’s block is not just a challenge for reluctant writers. Even professional writers have days when they feel less than inspired.

Visual prompts can result in a vast array of story ideas. A single image viewed by ten writers will result in ten completely different stories. Even if you use verbal cues to get students thinking about the picture, each student will still write a unique response to the image.

Visual creative writing prompts are fantastic for elementary school because younger students often relate more to a pictorial prompt than a written one, but don’t shy away from using these with high school and middle school students as well. Pictures make a fun alternative to your typical writing prompts and story starters and can help shake up your regular routine.

How to Use Picture Prompts for Creative Writing

There’s no limit to the ways you can use writing prompts. Here are some of our favorite ways to incorporate image prompts into your weekly lesson plans .

• Writing Center. Print cards or writing pages with these images on them and put them in a writing center for your students to discover at their own pace.
• Specific Skills. Use story picture prompts to help kids work on specific writing skills. For example, you could work on descriptive writing by having them describe the setting of the picture in detail. Or you could work on character development by having them make up a history for a person in a picture.
• Warm-up Activity: You could pop the pictures into Google slides and project an image on a screen or whiteboard for the first fifteen minutes of class and have students work on a short story as soon as they enter the class.

No matter how you decide to use them—whether at home or in the classroom—photographic writing prompts are a great way to cultivate a daily writing habit and encourage kids to explore new topics.

70 Pictures for Writing Prompts

We’ve selected 70 of the most interesting pictures we could find for this exercise. When choosing photos for writing prompts, we look for high-quality photos with intriguing subject matter, but we try to go beyond that. We want to share images that suggest a story, that make the viewer ask questions and wonder why things are the way they are.

We want to feel propelled to explore questions like, What happened before the photo that led to this moment? What are we witnessing in this photo? What’s about to happen?

A photo doesn’t make much of a story starter if it doesn’t suggest that there might be a bigger picture lurking beneath the surface.

We hope you and your students love these picture prompts for creative writing as much as we do. If you love them, go ahead and scroll to the bottom to grab your own copy.

We’ve included a couple of questions with each picture that you could use to spark pre-writing conversations in your classroom, which can be helpful when working with younger students who might need a little more direction.

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Whose cat is this? What is he looking at? Where is he?

What is the owl thinking about? Is he alone? What does he hope to eat for dinner?

Who are these frogs? What is their relationship with each other? Why are they taking photos?

How did the dog get a phone? Why is he taking selfies? What is he doing with the pictures he takes?

This cat doesn’t look too happy. What’s bugging him? Did he get too many phone calls or is he waiting on an important call that’s taking too long to come?

What do these chicks think of the dog? What does the dog think of the chicks? Do you think they can communicate with each other? If so, what would they say?

Where do these lemurs live? What are they looking at? What is something unusual that might happen to them?

What is this fox doing? Is he yawning and stretching or is he trying to scare someone away? What kind of mischief does he like to get up to?

Is this wolf alone? If not, who is with him? What is he planning to do? Does he have a family to feed or protect?

What is this child doing on the laptop? Can he actually read and type or is he just playing? If he can read and type, how did he learn that at such a young age? What other cool things can he do?

Where is this woman? Is she lost? How did she get to this street? What interesting things might she discover as she explores this new city?

Why is the dog wearing glasses? Can he see through them? What are he and the girl doing? How does he feel about it?

Who are these two little boys? What is their relationship with each other? What is the teddy bear’s story?

Who are these children? Why are they running? Is it a race or are they playing a game? Who’s going to win?

Whose horse is this? Does the little boy own it or does he just visit it? Can the horse talk? How does the boy feel when he’s with the horse?

What is this boy reading? Does the book have magical powers? Does the boy? Do the stories in the book become real or does something else special happen?

Where is this man? How did he get there? What is he looking for?

Who is walking over the bridge? What’s on the other side? Is it worth the risk?

What are these people doing on the elephant? Where are they? Are they tourists or is the elephant their pet? What would life with an elephant be like?

Who made this map? It looks old. Has it been hidden away for a long time? Who discovered it and how? What does it lead to?

Whose typewriter is this? What important or secretive thing might they be working on? What could happen if the wrong person finds their work?

Who are these three stuffed animals? Are they living? What is their story?

Whose ukulele is this? Why did they leave it here? Who might find it?

Where is the owner of the bike? Where does this path lead? What if the bike’s not there when the owner returns?

Whose shoes are these? Why did they leave them here? Why are they so dirty?

Who was reading the newspaper? What was the most interesting thing they read? Where have they disappeared to?

Who put this sign on the old truck? What do you think of it? How did the truck end up in its current condition and location?

Who set the table? Who are they expecting? What special occasion are they celebrating? What could go wrong?

Whose birthday cake is this? Are they having a party? Who is there? Who did they want to have there that didn’t show up?

Who lives here? How do they access their home? What is their life like?

Who built the igloo? Where is it? How does it feel to spend the night inside it?

What is the history of this castle? Who lives in it now? Does it have any special or magical features?

Is this barn abandoned or do people live on the property? What kind of animals might live here? How do they keep themselves entertained?

What is it like living on a houseboat? What kind of community do you think forms among the neighbors? Imagine you live on one of these boats and think about how your daily life might change. What interesting things could you do if you lived here? What would you miss the most?

Where is this hut? Who lives here? What mystery might unfold if a stranger came knocking at their door?

What is this lighthouse called? Who runs it? How often do they leave? What is the most memorable experience they’ve had as a lighthouse operator?

How did this house get here? Does anyone live in it? What would life be like here?

Where is this festive street? Are the people there celebrating something? Where is everybody?

Who lives here? How did they build this house? Are they hiding from something? What does it look like inside?

Whose notebook is this? Why did they leave it here? What’s written in it and how might it change the life of the person who finds it?

What are these women doing? What are they supposed to be doing? Will they be in trouble if they get caught?

Who might be represented in this statue? Why is she being pulled by lions? What amazing things might she have done to deserve a statue in this prominent place?

Where is this? Who is riding in the hot air balloons? Where are they going and why?

How old is this tree? Where is it? What are some of the most fascinating stories it could tell?

Where is this carousel? Who is riding it? Can you think of a special or strange story about how it came to exist in this particular place?

What are these people thinking about? What’s at stake for them? What happens if one of them sneezes?

Where are these penguins? What are they talking about? Which one of them is the leader?

What is this place? Was it designed to be open like this or was it once part of someone’s home or a public building? How have people’s opinions of this place changed over time?

Who are these kids? Is this what they’re supposed to be doing? What happens when their teacher sees them?

Who is supposed to ride in this boat? Where are they going? Will they make it there?

Is this plane special to someone? What did they have to do to get it/build it? Where will they fly to in it?

Who decorated this train car? Which passengers will fill it up? What will they talk about?

Whose skis are these? Why are they sticking out of the snow? How did their owner get down the mountain without them?

Where does this gondola go? Who rides it? How does it feel to ride it?

Who’s driving the monster truck? Why is it at the beach? What is it going to crush? Who is watching?

Where is the boat going? Who is on it? What is their mission?

What city is the helicopter flying over? Why? Is the driver looking for something specific or do they have a special delivery?

What’s the little boy doing in the boat? Is he alone or is someone with him? Where is he trying to go?

Who is in the sub? What’s it like inside? What are they doing?

Whose book is this? What’s it about? What’s happening to it?

How did that piece of land with the house on it break off from the rest of the world? Why? Where is it going? Is anyone in the house?

Who is this girl? Where is she? Who is she shooting at?

Where does this scene take place? Is the lizard/dragon good or bad? What is its relationship with the girl?

What do these books represent? What kind of world is this? What (or who) is inside the books?

What are these dinosaurs discussing? Where are they? What do they do for fun?

Whose cottage is this? Do they still live there? If not, where have they gone? If so, what do they do there?

What is the moth thinking about? Is it alone? What’s the biggest challenge it faces in this moment?

Who is the owl looking at? Has it read these books? What is its greatest talent?

Where are these trees? Why are they pink? Do they have any special powers or features?

What do you think? Which kind of pictures do you like best for creative writing prompts ? Let us know in the comments.

Tuesday 5th of March 2024

I LOVE these! My daughter has always struggled with written story prompts and an internet search this week convinced me of the value of picture prompts for reluctant readers/writers (https://youcanjournal.com/journal-picture-prompts/ if you're interested!). I'll definitely be using these to help improve her writing skills. Thanks so much!

Tuesday 26th of December 2023

I think the idea of using picture prompts is a great idea. It initiates oral language thus building vocabulary. It allows lends itself to students working in small groups to stimulate new ideas. The prompts engage the students and gives the teacher the opportunity to focus on specific writing skills.

luke elford

Wednesday 13th of December 2023

cloey mckay

Tuesday 17th of October 2023

I tried this with myself and my 6th-grade students, and they love it. it gives room for so much creativity.

Nayyar Abbas

Tuesday 30th of May 2023

This is very good idea and it really works, viewing these one try to think one's own way that what these pictures are telling or asking? I also recommend that this idea should also be given to the students for building their creative instinct.

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Adobe Firefly's latest tool makes generative AI more practical for creatives

A dobe Firefly continues to evolve with today's introduction of a new feature designed to improve consistency when using generative AI to create variations of a reference image. Structure Reference is the latest attempt to make AI image generation more predictable and less random.

Following the introduction of style reference tools (and character reference in Midjourney ), Adobe Firefly Structure Reference allows users to ask the AI to apply the structure of an existing image to new generations.

With Structure Reference applied, Adobe Firefly will create a structural template from a reference image and generate image variations with the same underlying composition. Demonstrating the tool at the annual Adobe Summit, Adobe showed how the tool could be used to redesign by uploading a picture or sketch of the existing room and hitting ‘generate’.

Another example showed how a children’s drawing could be turned into a striking neon-hued image while respecting the form of the original (see above). Paintings can be made to look photorealistic or vice versa. The tool can also be used to colorize black and white images and line drawings, and create a new subject that has nothing to do with the reference image but keeps the same general compositional structure.

"We’ve eliminated the trial and error process of having to write the perfect prompt to get an output that matches your imagination," Adobe said in blog post on the tool. Structure Reference can also be combined with the existing Style Reference feature to maintain consistency in both structure and style at the same time for greater creative control.

Adobe suggests that Structure Reference will allow creators to easily modify work, while marketers will be able to generate on-brand images to use across a campaigns, and designers easily create an image layout, as well as the structure and pose of a subject, without needing to find the perfect text prompt. It's another example of how the leading models are working to add more control and make AI image generation more practical for creative workflows (you can always leave the new feature off if you preferred the fun of the random extra limbs and chaotic compositions).

The New Structure Reference capabilities are available today in the Firefly web application for both free and paid subscribers (see below for subscription prices). The launch comes just days after Adobe added its first AI tools in Adobe Substance 3D , its suite of 3D programs. 

It also comes a day after the announcement of Canva's acquisition of Affinity , one of Adobe's main competitors. Affinity's tools lack generative AI functions for now, but Canva does have text-to-image features.

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Craft the perfect creative writing prompt from Microsoft Designer's AI images

march 22, 2024

by Monica Jayasinghe

Hello, fellow educators! I recently discovered an exciting way to create engaging writing prompts for my students using AI and Microsoft Designer . The results were amazing, and I can't wait to share this fun and innovative approach with you!

Describing the Vision:

To get started, head over to Microsoft Designer . We'll use the power of AI to generate an image that will serve as the foundation for our writing prompt.

We'll use Image Creator , where you can describe the image you want to create. The goal is to generate an image that will capture your students' imagination and inspire them to write.

For this example, I entered the prompt, A spacecraft landing near a house, futuristic, mysterious.

Choose the image you want to work with

Once you select Generate , Microsoft Designer will provide you with a variety of AI-generated images. Since we're creating a writing prompt, look for an image that has space for adding instructions and is easy to read.

You'll be amazed by the number of options available! When you find an image you like, click on it and select Edit image .

Customize the image

After selecting your preferred image, it's time to customize it.

• Click on Resize in the top panel and adjust the dimensions to match a PowerPoint slide. This will ensure that the image fits perfectly when you're ready to present it to your students. You can also align the image anywhere on the page to create the perfect composition.
• In the box labeled AI tools , you'll see additional customization options. Consider playing with the filters to update the mood and color scheme of your image.

Add instructions and text

To make the writing prompt clear and easy to read, click on the existing text and customize it. To add a heading, click on Text in the left panel. The right panel will populate with even more ideas you can use.

In this example, I changed the color to white and added a story starter.

Engage your students

The possibilities for using AI-generated images as writing prompts are endless! Here are a few options:

Get inspired by the artwork

The most obvious way to use these images is as direct inspiration for student writing. Generate a bold, fantastical, emotional, or silly image and have students write a story about what's happening in the image.

Try this prompt: A whimsical classroom under the sea. The teacher is a wise old octopus. The classroom is decorated with shell desks and seaweed streamers .

Bring stories to life

Another great idea is to take an excerpt from a story you're reading in class and use the AI to generate an image that matches that specific part of the story. This will spark engaging discussions among your students and bring the story to life in a whole new way.

Bring units to life

Why stop at a story? You can also generate images that fit the theme of a unit you're working on, whether you're exploring weather patterns or reliving life on the Oregon Trail.

Consider setting aside some time each day or week for students to free write or journal. Kick off the writing session with an AI-generated image, then throw on some light classical music and let them write. Mix up the kind of images you show them, from lush landscapes to abstract pop art, and see what it inspires.

Try this prompt: An abstract painting in vivid colors

You can even include animated options. After you generate your image in Microsoft Designer, select the image and Create Design . In the right-hand panel that appears, you'll see several design options. Usually, one or more of these options will be animated. Select the animated option and add it to your PowerPoint!

Accessing your AI-generated images

One of the best features of Microsoft Designer is that all the images you create using AI are saved in the My Media section. This means you'll never lose your creations and can easily access them whenever you need them.

This feature enables educators to curate a collection of visuals for various writing themes, be it aliens, dragons, or any other imaginative scenario.

Wrapping up

Microsoft Designer is a game-changer for educators looking to inspire their students' creativity. The AI-generated images, customization options, and easy access to your creations make this a powerful tool for any classroom.

Head over to designer.microsoft.com today and start creating unforgettable writing prompts!

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This $26 Billion Unicorn Is Gunning for Adobe

March 31, 2024 — 06:50 am EDT

Written by Timothy Green for The Motley Fool  ->

When it comes to creative software, Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) is the undisputed king. The company offers Photoshop for images, Premiere Pro for videos, Illustrator for graphics, and a slew of other applications..

Adobe's products are so widely used by professionals that competing with the software giant is tough. Switching costs are just too high for users. Still, competition does exist. Some competitors cater to those looking for more affordable solutions, or to those who just want to buy a piece of software once rather than on a subscription.

Canva makes a key acquisition

Canva is a privately held company that offers an online editor aimed at creating graphics for social media, presentations, and other uses. Canva targets the non-technical crowd, allowing anyone to create visual content without needing to navigate a complicated application with a steep learning curve.

Canva has grown into a major player in the creative software industry. Annualized revenue reached $2 billion in 2023, and the company was last valued at $26 billion. There's some overlap between Canva and Adobe, but not much. Adobe Express is the company's Canva-like tool, but Adobe's more complex products are the real moneymakers.

Canva announced last week that it was acquiring Affinity, a software company that sells products similar to Adobe's core offerings. While Adobe's software may be more powerful, Affinity has grown its customer base to more than three million despite the advantages Adobe holds.

One reason for this success is Affinity's refusal to adopt a subscription model . Affinity's products are bought once, and they're surprisingly affordable. A license for Affinity's full suite of products is $114.99, while Adobe Creative Cloud users must pay $59.99 every month.

While Canva may integrate Affinity's products into its subscription plans or launch new subscription plans, the two companies have publicly pledged to always offer perpetual licenses for Affinity's software.

A real threat to Adobe

With the Affinity acquisition, Canva is now able to target "the full spectrum of designers at every level and stage of the design journey," according to the press release announcing the deal. While Adobe is unlikely to feel any pain in the short term, given how entrenched its products are, Canva is coming for its customer base.

Canva has more than 170 million users, although only a portion of those users are paying customers. Big companies use Canva's platform, including over 90% of the Fortune 500. For companies that need the services of an easy-to-use platform like Canva and complex editing software like Adobe, Canva will soon be able to pitch itself as an all-in-one solution.

Canva's push into Adobe's territory comes at a time when Adobe is struggling to accelerate its growth. Despite Adobe's push to integrate AI into its products, revenue grew by just 11% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, and the company's outlook calls for just 9% growth in the second quarter.

Adobe stock also looks expensive. Shares trade for more than 11 times forward sales and 30 times forward adjusted earnings. Canva has room to undercut Adobe dramatically on price if it chooses to launch subscription plans for Affinity's software suite, a move that could eventually put pressure on Adobe's margins.

The inertia behind Adobe's products may be enough to fend off any challenge from Canva. However, Canva represents the most meaningful competitive threat to Adobe's dominance in years. Investors shouldn't ignore the possibility that Adobe's sky-high margins and pricing will come under pressure as Canva goes after Adobe's customers.

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