I know I promised that I was "back" after working my summer job, but then we decided to go on a long vacation, so I wasn't as "back" as I thought! We had a great time, and now that vacation is over and we've started homeschooling again, I'm ready to get back into the (occasional) groove of writing.
If you missed the first post of this series, you can find Part 1 here.
I originally was only going to make this a 2 part series, but I realized that there is actually a 3rd way, so I will be writing part 3 after this one, so stay tuned for that!
In Part 1, I taught you how to make a title photo using real objects. In this post, you will learn how to make a title photo from scratch without using your camera or the expensive program known as Photoshop.
The way I do this is through free, online photo software known as ribbet. I LOVE ribbet, and even more so now that they have added so many great features. Several of the things in this tutorial, such as "starting from scratch with a blank canvas" and "True Vintage" effects were not available the last time I made a blog title photo. So, hooray for you that I get to include them in this post!
Read on for the complete tutorial on how to create a photo title using method #2:
Step 1: Go to www.ribbet.com. You can sign up for an account, but it is not required. I do have an account and log in every time I use it because it allows me to access my previous photo projects. I think signing up for an account is what gives you access to the "premium" features, but everything is still free.
Step 2: Go to "Edit a Photo."
Step 3: There should now be two layers of tabs at the top in green. The bottom green layer should have two tabs: "Home" and "Library." Make sure you are on the "Home" tab.
Step 4: On the bottom right, you have the option to "Start from Scratch with a Blank Canvas." This is what you want. Click "Blank Canvas."
Step 5: You now have the option to choose a size and color for your new canvas. I always just use the size it says, but you can change it to whatever size you want. To pick a background color, click the drop-down box where it says "Color." Choose whatever shade you want, or you can just leave it white if you prefer. (I do not recommend clicking "transparent," as it literally makes the entire canvas see-through and extremely hard to work with for this kind of project.)
Below is a basic background canvas after I added color. (Unedited excusing my watermark and inserted as an appropriate size.)
Step 6 (optional): To give your canvas dimension, click on the "Effects" tab and choose an effect to add to your canvas. This step is entirely optional. {Note: Because you are working with a blank canvas and not an actual photo, some of the effects will not do much, while others will change it way more than you want. If you decide you do not like an effect, there is an "Undo" button in the top left hand corner, or you can simply hit "Discard" if it asks you if you want to keep it.}
Below are some samples of what different effects look like when added to the above canvas.
{Note: While I didn't do this in the below examples, you can also adjust the fade level and often other elements of your effect if that's something you want to play around with.}
Matte
Morocco
Fiji
One of the Texture Effects
(on the bottom row, second from the end)
Another Texture Effect
(on the bottom row, fourth from the end)
A True Vintage Effect
(top row, last one)
Another True Vintage Effect
(middle row, second one from the left)
Step 7 (optional): Whether or not you add any effects, you may or may not want to add a frame to your photo. This is completely optional. To add a frame, go to the "Frames" tab. You can then add whatever frame you would like. Remember, undo is in the top left corner if you add a frame you decide you don't like.
Below are a few examples of frames that have been added to the "Morocco Effect" photo above:
Museum Matte Frame
(added to Morocco Effect)
Polaroid Frame
(added to Morocco Effect)
Love Flare Frame
(added to Morocco Effect)
Step 8: Add your title by going to the tab that says, "Aa Text." Type in your text and hit "Add." You can resize it to whatever size you want. Hit enter when appropriate if you want/need your text to go onto multiple lines.
You can add more than one text box if you want. You can also change the text to whatever color you want. {Note: Ribbet always defaults the text color to be white. I usually change it to black to make it easier to read. You can do this by moving the color dot to anywhere across the very bottom of the spectrum.}
Ribbet has quite a few fonts to choose from, and you can pick whatever font you want for each text box. If you want more than one font for your title, just make each font its own text box and then move them around accordingly.
Don't see the font you want? Use their awesome, free feature "Load my fonts." This will upload all of your fonts for you to use on ribbet. Awesome, right?!! If you still need font inspiration, you can check out my Pinterest board Free Fonts & More for hundreds of free fonts you can download and use. Then you can upload said free fonts onto ribbet to use for your photo titles. Yay for more free blogging tools!
Step 9: Save Your Photo. Go to the green tab "Save." (In the same green layer that the "Home" tab was in during step 3.) Save your photo using whatever title you want.
Now you can upload your new photo title into your blog and pin it on Pinterest. Hooray!
There is yet another way to create a photo title, other than the other two I've already taught you. The third way is a combination of the first two. Stay tuned for another blogging/ photo tutorial!
{Full disclosure: This post does NOT contain any paid or referral links.}
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