Finding photos for your programming posts

Posted on May 16, 2017May 19, 2017 by djbrensinger

What options do you have for better photos on your programming posts? You have two options. Use a photo that you found on a free stock photo site or take your own.
Finding photos for your programming posts

Use a free stock photo site

You can find a variety of photos to use on your site. What free stock photo sites do I use?

What do you do if you can’t find a photo that works or need something specific? You have to make your own.

Make your own photos

With cameras on smart phones getting better and better, you can take your own photos. By taking your own photos, you can use them the way you want. You don’t have to be a photographer to take great photos for your blog.

Use screenshots

What is a screenshot? A picture of your screen with an app or browser window open. You can use a screenshot tool or your computer’s screen capture shortcuts. When you create a screenshot, you can show your entire desktop or a specific part of your screen. With graphic software like GIMP or Photoshop, you can add text to provide more details or highlight something specific.

Screenshot Bootstrap Template

Both stock photos and screen shots can help you to add personality to your post. Do you use both or only stock photos?

Tools on Creating Images for Your Projects

Posted on June 27, 2015June 26, 2015 by djbrensinger

Want to create images for your projects? Photos and images get shared more frequently than plain text. You want your images to be unique. How do you get started?

Where to get photos?

You have two choices. Use your own photos or someone else’s. Not a photographer? Don’t have the time to take all of the photos you need for your projects? You can use sites that have free photos. There are quite a few to choose from. Some sites and photos have different requirements. You may use some photos in personal and commercial projects. Check each photo on how you can use it to avoid copyright infringement issues.

Pexels

Here are a few sites to choose from:

pexels.com – best free stock photos; Daily 10 new high-quality photos.
morguefile – free stock photos
unsplash.com – 10 Royalty Free Images per day
Pixabay – a repository for Public Domain Images
Public Domain Archive – Public Domain Images which are free for personal or commercial use

Remember, when you use these sites, check the license to make sure you can use it in your project.

What tools can I use?

Once you have the perfect image for you project, you need to change it. If you have a photo editing tool like PhotoShop or GIMP, you can change the photo to look the way you want. Not a designer? You can use online tools like:

What if you want to create a quote photo (Photo with a Quote)? You can use one of these 9 tools to make a quote photo.

No tool is perfect. Each tools has its quirks, You’ll need to experiment to see which tool works for you. By using these tools, you can create images for your web sites or social media projects.

Curiosita Labs Post on How to Add Text To Images

How to Add Text To Photo

Posted on December 26, 2014December 25, 2014 by djbrensinger

Text On Photo Have you ever had a great photo that you wanted to add text to? Did the result work the way that you wanted it to? When you add text to a photo, it should compliment the photo not compete with it.

What techniques can you use to add text to a photo?

Here are 5 simple techniques you can use to add text to a photo:

You can add text directly to the image.
Insert a transparent shape and add your text to that shape.
Overlay the entire photo with a transparent shape and add your text to that shape.
Blur the image and then add the text directly to the blurred image.
Use a floor fade. Create a gradient that fades the photo from dark to light.

Presentation Panda on SlideShare tells you how and when to use these techniques. Every photo is different. They show you how to decide when to use these techniques. Presentation Panda shows you the right and wrong way to do each approach. Review this SlideShare presentation to learn about the best way to add text to your photo.

How To Overlay Text On Images (5 Simple Methods) from Presentation Panda

By adding text to a photo, you can customize a photo for your website or blog. Adding text directly to the photo is the simplest and easiest method. This method doesn’t work for all photos. Have you used any of the methods mentioned in the slides?