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  • Lensa AI App: A Step-By-Step Guide to Magic Avatars (2023)

    The Lensa AI App is a mobile application and AI art generator that uses AI to change your selfies into magical works of art. Lensa AI is a powerful photo editing app that gives you tools to create stunning works of art and content to share with friends and family on social media or the web.  In this post, we’ll review what you need to know about using the app, look at some of its features, and discuss the criticism surrounding this app for you to bear in mind when using it for your personal and professional life.

    What is the Lensa AI App?


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    Lensa AI is a photo editing app by Prisma Labs that uses AI to edit photos and generate Magic Avatars. The Magic Avator feature is its most popular feature because it is so easy to use and is able to generate stunning results using powerful AI photo editing features. That app uses Stable Diffusion, a popular AI deep learning model, to help create images. It supports both Apple and Android devices and boasts millions of users, including famous creators, influencers, and celebrities.

    Why Use the Lensa AI App

    In a world focused on sharing content, showing up as your “best self” has become paramount. When you combine the growth of photo-sharing apps like Instagram and Pinterest, ensuring that your photos look good is on everyone’s mind. Lensa can help you quickly edit photos without opening up heavy programs like Photoshop or Lightroom. You can easily use your mobile device to modify your image and share it online.

    Getting Started with the Lensa AI App in 2023

    Now that we have some history about the app, let’s walk through and take a deeper look at how AI and Lensa work together to create a fun mobile photo editing app. A vital feature of the Lensa app is Magic Avatars. AI-powered Magic Avatars allows you to upload photos and selfies and generate custom, out-of-this-world avatars to use online and offline.

    Magic Avatars by Lensa

    The feature works best with selfies and also works with animals for pet lovers out there. You have a range of styles that you can choose from that you can combine to make variations of the images that you’ve uploaded.

    Lensa's Magic Avatars

    It should be noted that while you can do quite a bit with the Lensa app’s free version, the Magic Avatars feature requires you to purchase a pack of credits or a subscription to generate your images.

    How to Use Lensa’s Magic Avatar Feature (Step by Step)

    Here is a step-by-step guide to creating your first set of Magic Avatars with Lensa.

    1. Download the Lensa AI Mobile App

    To download the Lensa Mobile App, visit your app store and search Lensa AI.

    Visit the Apple App Store or Google Play

    This is what their listing looks like in the Google Play Store. Download the app and open it. Follow your phone’s instructions on how to download and install an app.

    2. Open the Lensa App

    After the app is on your phone, you’ll be presented with a series of screens.

    The Lensa landing screen

    The first screen is the landing page for the editor. Notice that you need to check the privacy policy before using the app. Click Continue to be taken to the next screen.

    Lensa's many features

    The next screen talks about Lensa’s photo editing abilities. Though the app is famous for its Magic Avatars, it also functions as a solid photo editing app.

    Lensa's Magic Avatars

    The final screen talks about Magic Avatars. This is the main feature we’ll walk through in this post. Press the grey button that says Continue.

    3. Choose a Subscription Level

    Depending on how you intend to use Lensa, you can use the 7-day free trial or subscribe to the service.

    Subscribe to Lensa

    You get additional photo editing features, discounts on credits, and exclusive packs. For our tutorial, we will be using the free trial. Click on the 7-day Free Trial slider to begin your trial.

    Step 4: Begin Building Your Magic Avatar

    You’ll be presented with the following screen once you’ve subscribed or started your trial.

    The Lensa screen before creating avatars or photo edits

    Clicking on the grey box will open Lensa’s photo editor. However, we won’t be covering that today. Instead, click on the yellow button that says Magic Avatars.

    5. Create Your First Set of Magic Avatars

    Magic Avatars can be created for humans and your favorite furry friends.

    Select the Type of Avatar

    First, select whether your avatar will be an animal or a human. For our exercise, we’ll be selecting humans. Click the yellow button that says Create within the Humans box.

    Choose animal or human generation

    Select Gender

    Next, select your gender.Select your gender of choice

    Select Your Styles

    Using AI, Lensa combines your photos with filters, designs, and effects to create your Magic Avatar. There are no prompts or instructions that you need to send the app. This makes it an accessible and easy way to generate AI imagery. Even with tools like Midjourney, which do a fantastic job at generating AI art, the learning curve can be steep. With Lensa, a simple click or some styles and uploading your photos can generate cool selfies and avatars.

    This is an example of some of the styles under Fantasy.

    Various styles for generating your art

    Here, you’ll get a feel for what your selfie could look like with the Art style.

    Various styles for generating your art

    Finally, you can expect this when you use the Essential style.

    Various styles for generating your art

    Lensa has more than 30 graphic styles you can apply to your avatars. Lensa allows you to choose up to ten avatars when selecting your style. However, the number of styles you select will affect the number of images generated and the time it takes to generate said avatars. Select up to ten styles of your choice by clicking on the thumbnail for each style. Then, click the grey Continue button.

    Upload Your Photos

    Before you can upload your photos, Lensa provides a guideline on the types of photos you should upload.

    Lensa's preferred selfie postures

    Magic Avatars works best with close-up selfies, photos of the same person, adults, and different head poses and backgrounds. Next, select 10 – 20 selfies from your phone’s photo gallery.

    Select your photos from your camera roll or photo gallery

    You can click on the meatball menu in the top right to select photos outside your Cameara’s folder. Once you have selected your photos, click the yellow Import button.

    Select the number of credits to purchase

    Once you select your photos, you’ll be given a screen to purchase your avatars. The price and number of unique avatars will vary depending on the number of styles and photos you upload. Select the number of credits you’d like to purchase. Then, click on the yellow Purchase button. If you have a subscription, you may not come across this screen.

    Purchase your credits to use Lensa's Magic Avatars feature

    Please note that you must purchase credits through your mobile device’s app store cart. Your cart may look different than the one displayed above. Follow your mobile phone’s instructions to purchase your credits.

    Wait for Your Avatars to Generate

    After you’ve purchased your credits, you’ll need to wait some time for your avatars to be generated.

    Waiting for avatar's to generate

    Your time to wait may vary depending on the number of photos uploaded and styles selected. You can select whether to receive a notification once your avatars are ready. Click on the black Notify Me When It’s Done button to receive a push notification from Lensa once your avatars have finished generating. Alternatively, you can click the grey Hide This Screen button to continue to use the app while your avatars are generating.

    6. Preview Your Magic Avatars

    Once you receive your notification from Lensa, it’s time to look over your Magic Avatars.

    Lensa's list of avatar packs

    When you click on the notification, you’ll be directed to the Magic Avatars section of Lensa. Now notice that a new pack of Magic Avatars has been created. Click on the pack, and let’s see what’s inside!

    Each style you’ve selected will have an equal number of generations created for it.

    Another example of Lensa generated artwork

    This is an example of the five images that Lensa’s AI created with the Fairy Princess style.

    An example of Lensa generated artwork

    Here’s another example of another set of art that was generated with the Egypt style.

    An example of Lensa generated artwork

    You can then download each individual photo by clicking on it.

    8. Download Your Avatar Images from Lensa

    Once you’ve browsed through the images within your pack of generated avatars, you are presented with a few options. First, click on the image that you’d like to work with.

    Edit, share, download or print your AI generated art

    Once your selected image has opened, you are presented with three options. You can download the image in two resolutions and edit the image with Lensa’s photo editor. Sharing your photos on social media networks, Bluetooth, or email is also possible. Alternatively, you can purchase a physical print of the picture through the Pixels.com service.

    Select your image resolution after editing or before sharing outside of the Lensa AI app

    Before you download, save, or edit your selected photo, you must decide on its resolution. You can download your photo in either 4K or in a 1024 x 1024 JPG. Select the option that works best for you.

    Save all photos generated by the Lensa AI app

    Alternatively, you can download all the photos within the pack. To do this, navigate back to the generated list of photos. Then, click on the Save All link in the top right-hand corner. Finally, select the resolution you’d like your photos to be downloaded.

    That’s it!

    Is Lensa AI Trustworthy?

    While Lensa is a creative and user-friendly app, it has had its fair share of controversy. With so many looking deeper into the repercussions of using AI, Lensa has caught some flack for how it uses the data generated by its AI. Prisma Lab’s privacy policy seemingly leaves room for the company to use your data even after you are finished using the app. It also seems to allow your data to be used to retrain Lensa’s AI, test its AI for quality assurance, and more.

    Additionally, Lensa has had some conflict in how its avatars for people of color and women are generated. Some women had claimed that when they used the app, Lensa’s AI-generated images were sexual, even though the photos they uploaded were far from that. This can be alarming for some users. Also, some people of color have complained that Lensa cannot identify their features, leading to images that are improperly created to match their ethnicity.

    Final Thoughts on Lensa AI

    Although Lensa AI is a fun app for creating interesting images, it has its pitfalls stemming mainly from its Magic Avatars feature. While we cannot tell you whether or not you should use Lensa, we would advise you to exercise caution in using the app. As with any app, it is always a good idea to read the terms and conditions of Lensa AI to see how they manage your data. While this is an uphill task, if you feel unsafe using any AI app, reading how you and your data are in play could give you some peace of mind.

    If you are looking for some alternatives, check out our top AI art generators.

    Have you used Lensa before? How did you find it? Do you think the concerns surrounding the app are valid? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section down below!

    The post Lensa AI App: A Step-By-Step Guide to Magic Avatars (2023) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • 7 Best AI Photo Enhancers in 2023 (Compared & Ranked)

    In the digital age, the demand for high-quality images is ever-increasing. Whether it’s for professional photography, graphic design, or simply enhancing personal photos for social media, the need for tools that can improve image quality is undeniable.

    While many new AI art generators are on the market, there are also AI tools for enhancing or editing images you already have. AI image enhancers can effortlessly remove blemishes, add vibrant colors, and even change the background of an image, all while preserving the original quality. They are capable of transforming ordinary images into extraordinary works of art. But with many options available, choosing the right AI photo enhancer can be daunting.

    In this article, we’ve curated a list of the best AI photo enhancers that will help you elevate your images to the next level.

    The Best AI Photo Enhancers

    We’ve looked around and found some of the best photo enhancers on the market. We have big names and new players on this list. You will also notice a fair mix between SaaS AI enhancers and desktop options. Starting with Adobe Photoshop, here are the top picks:

    1. Adobe Photoshop (Firefly)

    Adobe Homepage June 2023

    Adobe Photoshop is a renowned name in the world of digitally created art.  Recently, Adobe released a powerful generative AI engine called Adobe Firefly that is now integrated into Photoshop. With the power of AI, Photoshop’s capabilities extend to features like automatic subject selection, generative fill, and neural filters, which can drastically change the style and mood of any image. This exciting AI integration will undoubtedly enhance all the Photoshop tools designers and photographers have used for years, like blending modes, image scaling, and making GIFs.

    Neural Filters and Generative Fill

    Photoshop has had Neural Filters for a while now. They can be used to create contextual but new elements in an image. Instead of relying on the original pixels of an image, Photoshop can use a neural network to generate new material/pixels that are contextually relevant to the original image. This takes photo editing to a whole different place. Here’s an example from Adobe where a Neural Filter was used to reduce JPG artifacts in an image (before is on the left and after on the right).

    "</p

    Abobe brings numerous types of Neural Filters to its user base. Some of them can recognize human faces and transform critical features. The below image showcases a user changing the position of a person’s eyes and lips to be arranged in a very different pose.

    Photoshop AI Smart Portrait Neural Filter

    Adobe’s AI Generative Fill takes all of this to new heights. Generative fill lets users select a portion of an image and type in a text-based prompt that transforms that aspect of the image. Below is a side-by-side comparison of a 1920s cartoon (original on the left) with the same cartoon edited with generative fill. The chair was replaced with a stylistically similar lamp, and the rug was replaced entirely. These changes were all based on two prompts (less than six words)!

    Photoshop Generative Fill Example

    Original: Shoshone Journal. Volume 41. June 8th, 1923

    Key Features:

    • Integrated generative AI with Adobe Firefly
    • AI-powered subject selection
    • Generative Fill for editing images with AI using prompts
    • AI neural filters for making stylistic transformations to images

    Best For:

    Adobe Photoshop is best for professionals and enthusiasts who want to take photo editing to the next level. It’s ideal for photographers, graphic designers, and digital artists who need advanced editing tools and AI-powered features to enhance their work. Photoshop is a mainstay in digital creative work and should be a tool that is well-utilized among most professionals.

    Pricing: An Adobe subscription is $20.99/mo

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    2. HitPaw Photo Enhancer

    Hitpaw - Homepage June 2023

    HitPaw Photo Enhancer is an AI-powered desktop app that enhances the quality and boosts image resolution. It offers five AI models, including the General, Denoise, Face, Color Calibration, and Colorize models, each designed to cater to different enhancement needs. It’s a versatile tool that can make pictures less blurry, remove noise, and upscale images without losing quality.

    Key Features:

    • Five unique AI models for different image optimization
    • Ability to make pictures less blurry and remove noise
    • Upscale images without quality loss

    HitPaw Photo Enhancer Batch Bulk

    Best For:

    HitPaw Photo Enhancer is best for individuals needing a versatile photo quality enhancement tool. It’s perfect for photographers who need to upscale images, remove noise, and improve the overall quality of their photos.

    Pricing: macOS or Windows app for $39.99 and $35.99, respectively

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    3. Luminar Neo

    Skylum Luminar Neo - Homepage June 2023

    Luminar Neo is a photo editing software that leverages AI to help users enhance their photos. It offers a range of features, including Portrait Bokeh AI, Relight AI, Sunrays AI, Sky AI, and Enhance AI. These features allow users to create out-of-focus background effects, light up dark photos, add rays of sunshine, replace dull skies, and control shadows, highlights, contrast, and tone.

    Ascent and AI Color Correction with Luminar Neo

    Key Features:

    • AI-powered features for comprehensive photo enhancement
    • Ability to create out-of-focus background effects with Portrait Bokeh AI
    • Recognize and replace skys to better match the image subject
    • Relight AI for lighting up dark photos

    Contrast and Sky AI with Luminar Neo

    Best For:

    Luminar Neo is best for photographers and digital artists who want to leverage AI for creative photo enhancement. It’s ideal for individuals who wish to add unique effects to their photos and control various aspects of their images. Each enhancement can be controlled individually, so the creator retains the ability to see their vision come to life. This makes it a valuable tool for novice photographers and professionals alike.

    Pricing: Available for $9.95/mo or as an LTD at $199 (lifetime deal)

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    4. Remove.bg

    Remove.bg - Homepage June 2023

    Remove.bg is a specialized AI tool that removes backgrounds from images and does it about as well as any service out there. Sometimes a photo doesn’t need to be touched up as much as it needs to be repurposed. That’s the case for eCommerce shops, car dealerships, and various marketing functions. Remove.bg is a time-saving solution for all who frequently need to isolate objects in their photos. With just one image upload, you can get a transparent background for any image, making it a perfect tool for many types of photographers.

    Key Features:

    • AI-powered automatic background removal
    • High-quality image output
    • API and Integrations to edit images at scale

    Uploading an image automatically starts the AI background removal. Remove.bg allows users to blur the background or replace it with another photo or color. If portions of the photo need to be still removed (or added back), the “Erase / Restore” option lets users select areas of the image to retouch.

    Remove.bg Car Example - Steps 1-4

    Photo Credit: “Cars in Cuba, Cuba” by Nouhailler and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

    Best For:

    Remove.bg is best for photographers who frequently remove backgrounds from images. It’s ideal for eCommerce businesses, designers, and social media marketers who want to streamline their workflow.

    Pricing: Can be used for free, but higher-resolution images have usage-based pricing starting at $0.90 per image (and lower if purchasing a subscription)

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    5. Fotor

    Fotor - Homepage June 2023

    Fotor is an online photo editing tool that offers a wide range of features, including an AI image upscaler (making images bigger while retaining image clarity). It’s designed to be user-friendly, making it easy for anyone to enhance their images. Fotor provides other tools to perfect photos, such as enhancing photos, retouching portraits, removing backgrounds, and applying styling effects.

    Key Features:

    • AI-powered photo enhancement (unblurs photos with AI)
    • Intelligent background removal and replacement
    • Batch edit photos and apply one change to assets in bulk
    • Online editor with more image editing options than Canva

    Fotor UI AI Enhance

    Best For:

    Fotor is best for individuals who want a simple tool for photo editing. It’s perfect for social media enthusiasts, bloggers, and anyone who needs to edit photos and create eye-catching designs regularly. Especially when an image needs a single change, Fotor is a sinch for applying that change with little effort.

    Pricing: Free plan with paid plans starting at $8.99/mo

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    6. Topaz Photo AI

    Topazlabs - Homepage June 2023

    Topaz Photo AI is a tool that maximizes your image quality on autopilot. It uses deep learning to sharpen, remove noise, and increase the resolution of your photos. This tool is designed to supercharge your image quality, allowing you to focus on the creative part of photography. It’s certainly a contender for the best AI photo enhancer and deserves your attention.

    Key Features:

    • AI-powered noise reduction and sharpening
    • Upscaling of images for increased resolution
    • Face recovery feature for enhancing image resolution with authentic detail

    Topaz Photo AI Enhance and Upscale

    Best For:

    Topaz Photo AI is best for photographers who want to focus on their creativity and leave the technical aspects to AI. It’s perfect for sharpening images, removing noise, and upscale photos for better resolution.

    Pricing: An LTD of $199 (lifetime deal) with one year of product updates

    Get Topaz Photo AI

    7. VanceAI

    VanceAI Homepage June 2023

    VanceAI, an AI-powered image editor, packs in a multitude of handy tools. Its standout feature, an upscaler, enlarges images up to 800% without sacrificing quality. Other useful tools include AI image compression, photo restoration, and image enhancement. You can access many of these tools for free on their website or use the complete suite of tools through their desktop app.

    Key Features:

    • AI-powered upscaling of up to 800%
    • Data safety guarantee with processed images deleted in 24 hours
    • AI background remover
    • Online or desktop application for convenient workflows
    • API for image touchups

    The image below shows VanceAI decreasing image noise, increasing image size, and improving the overall quality of the image simultaneously.

    VanceAI Photo Enhancer Example Result

    Photo Credit: “Cars in Cuba, Cuba” by Nouhailler and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

    Best For:

    VanceAI is best for individuals who need to improve images with various tools. It’s ideal for photographers, digital artists, and anyone who needs to upscale images for prints, eCommerce, presentations, and more. People looking to restore old photos or who need help making their photos look more professional for passports or resumes also flock to Vance.

    Pricing: Usage-based pricing starting at $0.049/credit (1 credit = 1 image), or $39.90 per month for their desktop app (with lifetime pricing available)

    Get VanceAI

    Best AI Image Enhancers: Price Comparison

    AI photo enhancers come in many different packages. Some of them are freemium SaaS, while others are premium applications. Here’s a comparison of our best AI image touch-up tools based on their price and pricing model.

    Rank AI Photo Enhancers Starting Price Free Option
    🥇 Adobe Photoshop $20.99/mo ❌ Get
    🥈 HitPaw $39.99/mo ❌ Get
    🥉 Luminar Neo $9.95/mo ❌ Get
    4 Remove.bg $0.90/img ✔️ Get
    5 Fotor $8.99/mo ✔️ Get
    6 Topaz Photo AI $199 LTD ❌ Get
    7 VanceAI $39.90/mo ❌ Get

    What are the Best AI Image Enhancers?

    To sum up, AI photo enhancers are filled with powerful tools, but Adobe Photoshop stands out as the best all-around tool. Its advanced editing capabilities and AI-powered features make it a go-to choice for professionals and enthusiasts.

    HitPaw, a downloadable AI tool with a wide range of user-friendly features, is another top contender, providing an excellent solution for photo enhancement. It has an attractive monthly price point and solid features. Luminar Neo, with its unique AI-powered effects, offers tons of creativity for photo editing.

    Each of the tools on our list shines in its own way, offering unique capabilities that make them stand out in the world of photo enhancement. Whatever you choose, you will enjoy this new world of AI graphic design and photo editing.

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    What is the best photo enhancer AI?

    The best and most widely used photo enhancer AI is Adobe Photoshop. This comprehensive tool offers advanced editing capabilities and AI-powered features, making it a top choice for professionals and enthusiasts alike. Another popular option is HitPaw, a downloadable app for desktop and mobile devices with many helpful features, including an AI image upscaler. Both Photoshop and HitPaw offer a robust set of enhancement tools that can significantly improve the quality of your images.

    Do AI photo enhancers work?

    Absolutely, AI photo enhancers have proven to be highly effective. The field of AI image editing has made significant strides in recent years, leading to the development of tools that can save time, improve image quality, and offer a host of other benefits.

    These tools use advanced algorithms to perform tasks such as removing blemishes, enhancing colors, and changing image backgrounds, all while maintaining the image’s original quality. Whether you’re a professional photographer or a casual user, AI photo enhancers can greatly simplify and improve your photo editing process.

    Is there a free AI to enhance picture quality?

    Yes, there are several AI tools that offer free options for enhancing picture quality. Fotor, for instance, provides a variety of free features, including an AI image upscaler. Remove.bg offers a free option for its AI-powered background removal tool. Vance AI also provides free access to many of its tools on its website.

    While these free options may have some limitations, they can still be a great way to try AI photo enhancement and see the benefits yourself.

    Featured Image by Favebrush / shutterstock.com

    The post 7 Best AI Photo Enhancers in 2023 (Compared & Ranked) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Create AI Art with Adobe Firefly in 2023

    If you haven’t been keeping up with the latest developments from Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite of apps, you’ve been missing out. Adobe has been diligently working on a suite of tools with the groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) world, resulting in impressive progress. The buzz surrounding Adobe Firefly has been palpable, with eager creatives anxiously awaiting the chance to try it out. After a few months of anticipation, Adobe has released its newest beta version of Firefly, complete with generative AI technology. In this post, we’ll introduce you to the captivating world of Adobe Firefly, demonstrate how to use it, and showcase some examples you can create with it.

    Let’s get started.

    What is AI Art?

    AI art is a form of art that is created with the help of AI algorithms (set of rules). They analyze large amounts of data, learn patterns and styles from original sources, and then generate new pieces that can have a variety of styles, subjects, textures, and lighting, amongst other features. Sometimes, the algorithm can produce unexpected yet imaginative results, often combining source data uniquely. One of the most amazing things about generative art is the time it takes to complete. While humans can create digital assets that compare to generative AI’s results, it takes a fraction of the time it would require a human to do.

    What is Adobe Firefly?

    Adobe Firefly website

    Firefly is a generative AI system created by Adobe, designed to integrate with Adobe’s Creative Cloud applications. At least, that’s the end game. Adobe Firefly is in beta right now, so it’s only available to Creative Cloud subscribers who sign up for access. In our experience, it takes a couple of weeks to be accepted, so keep that in mind should you decide to try it.

    Currently, there are two ways to use Firefly: in a browser on the Firefly website or within Photoshop’s latest beta version. Options include generative fill, text-to-image generation, text effects, and generative recolor. However, Adobe has many more tools in the works, including 3D to image, sketch to image, text to pattern, and text to vector, which we personally can’t wait to try.

    According to Adobe’s website, its AI art generator is trained on Adobe stock photos, openly licensed content, and public domain content. This approach is unique to any other generative AI that we’re aware of and should quell some of the copyright issues that are currently being raised with other text-to-image software, such as Midjourney and Stability AI.

    Getting Started With Adobe Firefly


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    For this tutorial, we will use Firefly solely in the website setting rather than within Photoshop itself. We’ll save that for a later post. Before we get to that, though, let’s look at the features of the web version of Firefly, so you’ll know what to expect when using it.

    Currently, there are four tools available on the Firefly website:

    • Text to image: Generate images from a text prompt
    • Generative Fill: Remove objects (including backgrounds) or paint in (inpainting) new ones using text
    • Text effects: Apply styles and textures to text using a prompt
    • Generative Recolor: Create color variations of your vector art from a text prompt

    Text to image

    generative fill

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    The first tool, text-to-image, allows you to generate images using a text prompt. The interface is simple, with only two options: entering a text prompt and clicking the generate button to create art. One of the cool things about the interface is that you can scroll through other artists’ creations to gain inspiration, view their associated text prompts, or even try one out by hovering over an image and clicking the Try Prompt button.

    Firefly interface

    Place a descriptive prompt in the text bar to create an image, then click the generate button. Firefly will do its best to interpret your prompt, then provide four images. After your image is generated, you’ll have a wealth of options at your disposal.

    Text to Image Settings

    These settings are where Adobe Firefly shines. With other AI art generators, such as Midjourney, you get better results when you use descriptors in your prompts, such as cinematic lighting, macro photography, or highly detailed. In Firefly, that’s optional, thanks to the many filters and settings it provides.

    text-to-image settings

    1. Clear Style: By default, Firefly will add the Art content type to your image; you can click this button to remove it, then replace it with another.
    2. Refresh: If you want to re-run your prompt, you can click the refresh button to ask Firefly to give it another go.
    3. Aspect Ratio: By default, images are generated in a 1:1 ratio (square). However, you can choose from additional ones, including landscape, portrait, widescreen, or vertical.
    4. Content Type: Four styles including none, photo, graphic, and art.
    5. Styles: You can filter through different style types to give your images different looks. Overall, there are 63 options in 7 categories.
    6. Color and Tone: If you want a certain color or tone, you can choose from 7 presets, including black and white, muted color, warm tone, cool tone, vibrant color, or pastel color.
    7. Lighting: options include backlighting, dramatic lighting, golden hour, studio lighting, and low lighting.
    8. Composition: Want to create a close-up shot or wide angle? No problem. Adobe Firefly comes with 7 options to add lighting effects to your images.

    To put these settings to the test, we used the text prompt sports car on pavement, wet streets without any additional descriptors. It produced very realistic results on our first try:

    Firefly no descriptors

    Next, we added the following settings:

    • Aspect ratio: Widescreen
    • Content type: Art
    • Style: Science Fiction
    • Color and tone: Warm
    • Lighting: Dramatic
    • Composition: Shot from below

    The Output

    After applying these settings, we ended up with a dramatically different, more interesting, and more detailed set of images.

    Firefly with descriptors

    While the results are impressive, there’s room for improvement. Unlike other AI systems, Adobe doesn’t give you a way to add a negative prompt, which would be a great addition. Negative prompts help AI to learn what you don’t want in your images. However, we’re optimistic that will change soon as Adobe works out the kinks and adds more features.

    Generative Fill

    generative fill

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    The next AI tool, generative fill, allows you to erase backgrounds or add inpainting to your images. You start by uploading an image, then adding or subtracting an area within the image you wish to change. Let’s take a look at the settings for the generative fill tool.

    generative fill settings

    1. Insert: Mode to add elements to images
    2. Remove: Mode to remove elements from images
    3. Pan: move the image around the canvas
    4. Add: Allows you to erase parts of your image, then add something in its place
    5. Subtract: Allows you to remove aspects of your image
    6. Settings: Controls the size, hardness, and opacity of the brush tool
    7. Background: AI determines the image’s subject, then removes the surrounding background
    8. Invert: Inverts the selection
    9. Clear: Removes all styles

    We uploaded an image of a lake house to test Adobe’s generative fill tool to add elements. We started with the add tool to erase areas on the deck. Next, we asked Firefly to place a dog in the area we erased from the photo. Before generating the new area of our image, we tweaked some additional settings within the generative fill tool.

    Generative Fill Image Settings

    Adobe Firefly generative fill

    First, we selected the add tool to erase a section of the photo. Next, we entered our keyword, dog, then clicked the settings button. From there, we assigned freeform as the matching shape. This lets Firefly know that you want the inpainting to fill the area we erased but not conform to it. Next, we set the preserve content slider to new. This tells Firefly not to use the original image to generate the new one; rather, follow our text prompt. Then we set the guidance strength to prompt rather than the original image. Setting this to the original image would tell Firefly to fill the area with surrounding elements of the original image rather than be guided by our prompt. Finally, we clicked the generate button to add our dog.

    Adobe Firefly inpainting

    Firefly did a pretty good job adding a dog to the deck of our image. One cool thing about this is that it generates four different looks, just like in the text-to-image tool. This allows you to choose the one you like the most. If you aren’t satisfied with any of the options, click the + more button to generate four additional images.

    additional image generations

    Text Effects

    The text effects in Firefly work much like text-to-image. Add a text prompt describing the image you wish to create, then apply settings as you see fit. The text effect tool has a few settings, including text effect fit, which allows you to control how close you’d like the text to conform to the letters. You can also choose one of twelve fonts and apply any number of colors to either the text itself or the background.

    Generative Recolor

    generative recolor

    Adobe Firefly’s generative recolor tool enables artists to generate unique colors and color palettes for vector art. It works by uploading an SVG file, then adding a text prompt to describe the color palette you’d like your art to incorporate. There are a few settings you can use to improve the output, including a collection of sample prompts with various colors, a harmony selector, where you can choose from complementary, analogous, and more, along with a color picker to select additional colors.

    Tips for Creating Stunning AI Art with Adobe Firefly

    Creating AI art can be an exciting and rewarding experience, but it can also be challenging. To help you get started, here are five tips to make your AI art more effective and engaging. From selecting the right styling keyword to experimenting with modifiers and combinations, these tips will help you take your AI art to the next level.

    1. Start With an Idea

    When experimenting with Firefly, start with a general idea of what you want to create and include a subject. The subject can be anything from a building to an animal or car. The sky is the limit with AI. However, remember that AI still has its limitations when handling text (although this will likely change in the future). Therefore, it’s best to avoid prompts involving word depiction.

    Firefly text

    For example, it’s a great idea to use AI art generators for logo concepts, but remember that prompting Firefly to include words will likely provide undesirable results. If you want to use AI to create logos with text, you might be better off going with a tool such as Canva or Designs.ai.

    2. Use Style Modifiers

    Remember to include style modifiers when crafting your prompts to enhance your images. Firefly offers a wide range of presets, making it easy to follow this tip. However, suppose you use a style modifier in your text prompt that matches a preset. In that case, Firefly will omit the word from the prompt and incorporate it as a style. For instance, if you add modifiers like “hyper-realistic” or “dramatic lighting,” they will be automatically removed, and the associated style will be selected for you.

    For example, when creating this image, we used the hyper-realistic style preset, along with dynamic lighting, beautiful, and bioluminescent.

    use style modifiers

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    3. Add a Boost Word or Two

    Boosters are adjectives that increase the quality of your output when used. You can use words such as beautiful, highly detailed, dark, etc. Generally, you’ll get better results using these types of words rather than simply stating a subject. In addition to adjectives, use words that depict an act taking place. For example, if you want to create an interesting photo of a lion in the jungle, include the word running to give Firefly a better idea of what you’re looking for.

    4. Be Clear, Yet Descriptive

    It is essential to be specific and detailed to achieve the best results. By providing clear instructions and details when creating prompts, you enhance the quality of your art. This specificity gives the AI more information, increasing the likelihood of satisfying results. However, striking a balance and avoiding overly long prompts is important. While descriptors and modifiers can be helpful, too many words may confuse and hinder the AI’s understanding.

    5. Add Repetitions

    While this concept may seem counterproductive, it actually can work well in some settings. This is basically because of the way AI algorithms work. Since most of the current artificial intelligence systems use a form of machine learning called supervised learning, an AI trained on specific data can associate what you are looking for more clearly if you repeat certain modifiers. For example, using the prompt glowing river in a cave, blue and green glow, blue water will likely produce better results than a river in a cave would.

    glowing river in a cave

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    Showcase of AI Art Created with Adobe Firefly

    Now for the fun part. Rather than just explaining what Adobe Firefly can do, we’ve included a few more examples with the prompts we used to create each piece. Enjoy!

    Prompt: A lion running through the African jungle, professional color grading, soft shadows, no contrast, clean sharp focus, blurred background, film photography.

    Result:

    generative fill

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    Prompt: A fish swimming in a coral reef, ultra-realism in 4K, Canon EOS-1D X Mark III, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR, f/1.4, Light Painting.

    Result:

    Firefly fish swimming in a coral reef

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    Prompt: Steampunk style with splashes of water.

    Result:

    Firefly water letters

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    Prompt: 1800’s Native American warrior, full headdress, sharp focus, bioluminescent lighting, blue and green lighting, soft shadows, professional color grading, no contrast. Style: hyper-realistic.

    Result:

    Native American warrior

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    Prompt: A beautiful mountain scene, a modern log cabin with large windows, smoke coming out of the chimney, and snow-capped peaks. Style: photo, hyper-realistic, dramatic lighting.

    Result:

    mountain scene

    Image created with Adobe Firefly

    Final Thoughts on Adobe Firefly

    Firefly is a relative newcomer to the AI scene, joining the likes of AI powerhouses, like Jasper, Midjourney, and Photosonic. With Adobe’s expertise in all things digital, it’s likely to be leading the pack before long. Even though it’s still in beta, creators can use it to get a good idea of what AI can do. Plus, they have a few features that other AI systems don’t, including text effect images that you can download with a transparent background. Additionally, the output resolution is much higher than with other AI art generators, which is a major plus.

    Another thing we should mention is that Adobe is taking the ethical use of AI seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they watermark and embed metadata in each image generated in Firefly. In our opinion, this is an excellent way to ensure that AI-generated images are easily identifiable and used responsibly.

    Looking for more tips on creating AI Art? Check out these posts:

    Have you tried Adobe Firefly? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    The post How to Create AI Art with Adobe Firefly in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Use Midjourney to Create AI Art in 2023 (Detailed Tutorial)

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm. With countless text-to-image generators hitting the market, there are plenty of options to try. However, if you want to create the most realistic images using AI art generators, MidJourney is among the best. In this post, we’ll walk you through the steps you’ll need to take to get started, along with some tips and tricks to get the most out of it. Let’s get started.

    What is MidJourney?

    Midjourney

    Midjourney is an excellent example of generative AI that creates images based on text prompts. It has become one of the most popular tools for creating AI art, along with Dall-E and Stable Diffusion. Unlike its competitors, Midjourney is self-funded and closed-source, so knowing exactly what’s under the hood is cloudy. We know that it relies heavily on machine learning technologies such as large language and diffusion models. The results are sometimes startling, always impressive, and can possess very realistic qualities.

    Unlike other AI art generators, it doesn’t have a free trial. It’s become so popular that signing up for a subscription is necessary before using it. That said, their lowest-tiered plan is reasonable at $10 monthly. In our experience, it’s well worth it, considering the level of detail, realism, and creativity it provides. It’s also relatively easy to get started. Within a few minutes, we were able to generate a highly detailed, realistic series of photos of a dog having the time of his life in the bed of a truck just from a simple text prompt.

    Midjourney pups

    Getting Started With MidJourney


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    As previously mentioned, Midjourney no longer offers a free trial. You’ll need to subscribe to generate AI art to get the most out of it. We’ll walk you through the steps to set up your Discord account and show you how to subscribe to Midjourney.

    Step 1: Setting up Discord

    Before you can create amazing AI art with Midjourney, you’ll need to sign up or sign in to your Discord account. If you already have one, you can skip to the next step. Start by navigating to the Midjourney landing page.

    Click on Join the Beta.

    Join Discord

    This will bring you to a new screen where you can create a Discord account. Once you’ve filled out the required fields, click the continue button. Alternatively, if you already have Discord, click Already have an account.

    Discord account creation

    Next, click the + button near the top left of the Discord toolbar. This allows you to add the Midjourney server to your Discord account.

    add discord server

    A popup will appear with several options. Click join a server for this tutorial.

    join a server

    Next, click don’t have an invite. This allows you to browse servers you’d like to join.

    Midjourney sign up

    Locate Midjourney under the featured communities, then click on it.

    join Midjourney

    Once logged in, you’ll be redirected to the Midjourney Discord server. As a free member, you won’t have the option to create images, but you can poke around the interface to see what all the fuss is about. You can browse other users’ artwork by visiting different rooms, such as newbies-4, to get a feel for how Midjourney works.

    newcomer rooms

    Step 2: Signing up for a Midjourney Subscription

    To create artwork, you must sign up for a Midjourney subscription. We’ll walk you through the easiest way to do it. Near the bottom of the screen, you’ll discover a text prompt. Click within it and start typing /subscribe. This will bring up the subscription prompt, allowing you to sign up for one of Midjourney’s paid plans. Click subscribe to Midjourney, then click enter on your keyboard.

    subscribe

    The bot will redirect you to the subscription page to choose a plan tier that meets your needs. There are three tiers: Basic, which costs $10 per month, comes with 200 generations a month, and gives you a private chat room to generate images. The next plan, the Standard, gives you 15 hours of image generation, unlimited relaxed (slow) generations, and a private chat room for $30 monthly. Finally, there’s the Pro plan, which costs $60 per month, and provides 30 hours of fast image generation, a free chatroom, and unlimited relaxed image generation at $60 per month.

    Midjourney paid plans

    The basic plan is your best option if you’re starting out. It allows you to explore the platform, generate images, and familiarize yourself with the interface and how text prompting works. If you like what you see, you can always upgrade to a higher tier simply by inputting the /subscribe prompt to bring you to your account, where you can easily upgrade.

    Understanding MidJourney’s Tools and Features

    When first starting out, Midjourney can be hectic. While it is a good idea to check out one of the newcomer rooms to get a feel for how things work, it can be challenging to keep up. Thousands of people are in the newbie rooms at any given time, making it difficult to see your generated images. It’s best to download and install the Discord app, where you can access private messaging with Midjourney, making viewing and altering your images much more straightforward. To download the app, click on the floating green bar at the top of your screen. Discord will sense your operating system and automatically suggest the correct app version.

    Download Discord

    Once installed, you can click the Discord icon at the top left of the app to access your private chat room.

    Midjourney private messages

    Using private messaging provides a much less hectic interface, where you can generate images and easily see them in a private chat without the distraction of viewing other users’ photos. However, participating in group rooms is a great way to get inspiration and watch what prompts others use to generate gorgeous images.

    Creating AI Art with Midjourney

    Before beginning your quest to create unique AI art, there are a few basic commands to be aware of. First and foremost, any prompt must start with /. For example, when wanting to create a new image, you’d input something along these lines: /imagine a hyperrealistic image of a dog in the bed of a truck. In less than a minute, your first set of images will appear.

    general imagine prompt

    When your first set of images appears, you’ll notice a series of buttons underneath them. The top row of buttons is for upscaling one or more of the generated images. They are numbered U1 – U4, which are used to identify the images in the sequence. So, for instance, if you want to upscale the second image, click the U2 button in the top row.

    upscaling buttons

    On the right side of the first row is the regenerate button. This is an excellent tool if you aren’t satisfied with the first set of images Midjourney created for you. Click the regenerate button to ask Midjourney to try another concept based on the original prompt.

    regenerate button

    Finally, the second row of buttons is used for variations. Numbering V1 – V4, you can choose the button corresponding to the image you wish to create variations for. Once clicked, Midjourney will take that image and create variations of it.

    variation buttons

    In addition to the imagine prompt, there are a few other commands to be aware of. Here’s a list of all the basic commands within Midjourney.

    Imagine Commands

    If you want to control the output of your imagine prompts, you can input additional parameters behind /imagine. You can choose things like aspect ratio, level of styling, and more. For example, we input this prompt to generate an image that has an image quality of 3 and an image prompt weight of .25: /imagine cats and dogs –q3 –iw 0.25. We instructed Midjourney to create an image of cats and dogs, give it an image quality of 3, and set the image weight to .25. Image weight lets Midjourney know how closely you want your image to relate to the text prompt. A higher weight will result in images closely related to your prompt. In contrast, a lower one gives the bot more freedom to create the images.

    cats and dogs

    There is also the aspect ratio command, which is useful for changing the width and height of your images. By default, Midjourney creates square images with an output resolution of 1024 x 1024 pixels. If you want to create an image that isn’t square, you’ll need to specify an aspect ratio. For example, we used this prompt to generate a photo with a 16:9 aspect ratio: a beautiful, hyperrealistic landscape with mountains in the background. A frozen lake is in the foreground, with children ice skating –ar 16:9:

    Midjourney aspect ratio

    Since the release of version 5, some commands no longer work. For example, you can no longer use the width (–w) or height (–h) parameters. Here’s a full list of all parameters you can use with /imagine.

    Advanced Prompts

    With image prompts, you can upload one of your images to use within Midjourney. You can combine them with image weight (–iw) to adjust the image’s importance in relation to the text portion of your prompt. You can also use Remix, which allows you to change your prompts, parameters, model versions, or aspect ratios. You can use remixing to change the lighting, evolve a focal point, or create cool compositions. To enable remix mode, type in /prefer remix. For example, we’ll take an upscaled image of a frozen lake with children skating and change it to penguins skating.

    Midjourney remix mode

    There are also multi prompts, which gives you the ability to define more than one concept during image generation using a double colon (::) within your prompt. For example, typing /imagine cat tails will have a very different result than /imagine cat::tails would:

    Midjourney multi prompts

    Finally, permutation prompts allow you to generate variations of a single /imagine command. It works by inputting a list of options separated by a comma within curly brackets. For example, if you want to create variations of different colored flowers, you’d use something like this: /imagine a {red, orange, yellow, blue} bouquet of flowers:

    multi-prompt

    Tips for Using Midjourney

    Knowing a few tips is important to successfully use any AI generative software. Although a relatively new concept, AI art generators like Midjourney are becoming mainstream. Because of this, learning how to get the most out of it is important. Here are a few tips and tricks to start you on your quest for digital art creation.

    Be Concise

    While that might sound counterproductive, generating AI art follows the same concept as writing a good blog post. It’s always better to be descriptive but concise when constructing prompts in Midjourney. Giving it too much to go on can either overwhelm it or, at the very least, result in undesirable images.
    For example, check out the differences in these prompts. The first one /imagine a photorealistic cat will produce a set of cat images, but a more specific prompt, such as /imagine a photorealistic cat with long white fur and blue eyes, will produce a more detailed output.

    Midjourney concise prompts

    Use Styles and Mediums

    One of the best aspects of Midjourney is its ease of use. Literally, anyone can create a prompt that produces beautiful artwork. If you want to improve your game, use styles and mediums in your prompts. For example, we uploaded images of ourselves to turn us into Victorian queens simply by telling Midjourney to imagine this woman as a 1700’s era Victorian queen. Using the descriptors Victorian and queen, Midjourney understood what we wanted. The results were interesting.

    Midjourney era art

    You can also have Midjourney create images based on different artistic styles. In this example, we asked it to /imagine a photo of a Goldendoodle created in the style of Leonardo da Vinci, with the following result:

    Leonardo da Vinci goldendoodle

    Additionally, you can use mediums such as line art, sketch, oil painting, or similar to create images that have a unique artistic appearance. For example, /imagine a black-and-white line drawing of a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro:

    Midjourney Chevy Camaro

    Combine Concepts

    Another thing to try is combining concepts to create interesting pieces. Rather than prompting Midjourney to create a superhero, add another theme to get more targeted results. For example, we used /imagine a Canadian superhero, which resulted in a series of images of a superhero clad in the colors of the Canadian flag:

    Combining concepts

    Use Lighting for More Dynamic Output

    One of the most important aspects of artistic expression is using lighting effectively. By default, Midjourney will add some lighting to the output. However, if you want to see improvement, one of the best places is to start by adding a bit of lighting to your prompt. For example, we used the following prompt to incorporate beautiful lighting effects: /imagine an image of the Eiffel Tower at midday, complete with cinematic lighting.

    cinematic lighting

    Examples of Midjourney AI Art With Prompts

    One of the best ways to learn Midjourney is to play with it as much as possible. Use it to generate images with different styles, learn better ways to enter prompts, and gain inspiration from other AI artists. To show you the massive capabilities of Midjourney, here are a few examples of what can be achieved after a few hours of image generation.

    Using Your Images

    If you want to turn yourself into a member of the Royal family or just a cool superhero, try using one of your photos with Midjourney. To do this, click the plus next to the text prompt box at the bottom of your screen.

    upload a file

    Once uploaded, click the image, then select open in browser. In the next step, you’ll need to copy the image URL to use alongside /imagine.

    open in browser

    Next, type /imagine into the text field, then paste the URL of your uploaded image. Follow up with the image you’d like to create. In our case, we want an image of a superhero with cinematic lighting.

    image prompt

    Midjourney will do its best to create your desired image, but remember to be specific. If you want the photos to be female, specify that. Just because you upload an image of a woman doesn’t mean you’ll receive female superheroes. For example, we used the prompt /imagine a hyperrealistic image of a female superhero. Omitting the word female might cause Midjourney to create male photos, which may or may not work for you.

    female superheroes

    Using Blending Effects

    Try using the /blend command to create stunning effects.

    blend command

    It works much like the /imagine command, except you can upload anywhere from 2-5 images, then ask Midjourney to blend them with a text prompt. That said, ensure that both images have the same dimensions for the best results. You can even specify the aspect ratio you’d like. For example, we used the /blend command to combine a photo of a cat and dog, resulting in the image of the dog taking on the same feel as the photo of the cat.

    blended images

    Final Thoughts on MidJourney

    No matter what type of AI art you create, Midjourney can do it. One of the best things about generating AI art is not having to be able to draw or paint to be creative. Using pre-defined tools such as blend or custom parameters for aspect ratio, styling, or image weight, you can create one-of-a-kind pieces of artwork that will blow you away.

    AI art collage

    Are you looking for more AI tutorials? Check out our post using Midjourney and Divi to design a website: How to Use AI to Create Amazing Web Design with Divi (Using ChatGPT & MidJourney).

    The post How to Use Midjourney to Create AI Art in 2023 (Detailed Tutorial) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • 9 Best AI Design Tools in 2023 (Reviewed & Compared)

    If you’re not up-to-date with the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) tools, you might have been living under a rock. AI has taken the world by storm. With countless tools available, it can assist you in various tasks, from content writing and mathematics to code generation and image creation. With AI technology constantly improving, it’s hard to imagine where it will take us next. Nonetheless, we’re all in, and in this post, we’ll focus on the best AI design tools. Whether you’re a designer, developer, or just looking to streamline your workload, we’ve got you covered. So, let’s dive in and explore the possibilities with valuable tools to get those creative juices flowing.

    What is an AI Design Tool and Why Do You Need One?

    As a creative professional, you’ve likely experienced those moments when you feel like you’re in a design rut. Thankfully, AI is revolutionizing the way designers find inspiration. Using a good AI design tool can ignite a new wave of creativity and explore new ways to approach your designs. These tools provide fresh ideas and allow designers of all skill levels to generate custom color palettes, build web pages, enhance photos, and develop creative assets. They can even provide insight into your existing designs. With AI, the possibilities are endless.

    9 Best AI Design Tools in 2023


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    We considered a few things when we set out to find the best AI design tools for this post. First, the tools chosen need to be easy to use. After all, AI tools are supposed to make your life easier, not harder. Secondly, we looked for variety. We wanted to find text-to-image generators and tools for the entire creative process. That’s whether you need a logo, want to design a web page, or build a custom color palette.

    1. Canva

    Canva best AI design tools

    Canva is one of the most popular design tools available. It is a good alternative to Adobe Creative Cloud, appealing to designers of any skill level. You can create social media posts, videos, presentations, brochures, drawings, and more, thanks to a wide range of pre-designed templates, an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, and royalty-free images. What you might not know about Canva is how many AI design tools they include with their product.

    Key Features of Canva:

    • Create graphics for multiple platforms
    • Tons of pre-made templates
    • Several AI design tools onboard
    • Drag-and-drop visual editor

    Canva Magic Design tool

    One of Canva’s new AI design tools is the Magic Design feature, which enables you to use a text prompt to create templates for your design based on the images and text you add. Like all other AI models, what you get depends on what you put into it. What’s great about the Magic Design tool is that it gives you design inspiration faster than sifting through thousands of pre-made templates. While most results need tweaking, it’s a good way to get those creative juices flowing.

    Canva Magic Edit AI design tool

    Another cool feature of Canva is the Magic Edit tool, which lets you erase a part of an image, then replace it with a different one based on a text prompt. In our example, we used the Magic Edit brush to remove a flower and replace it with a bouquet of roses. It did a decent job of swapping out the flowers and completed the requested task in only a few seconds.

    Magic edit results

    There are other AI design tools, too. For instance, there’s Magic Erase, which functions much like the Magic Edit tool, except you can remove an item in a photo rather than replace it. There’s even an AI-powered copywriting assistant that aids in generating written content from a text prompt. Finally, there’s Translate, which enables you to swap the text in your designs with more than 100 other languages on the fly.

    Canva is Best For:

    For people with limited design skills, Canva is a great option. You can create, edit, download, and publish your designs on social media and other platforms. Combined with the new AI design tools in its arsenal, that makes Canva worth a look.

    Pricing: Free, with pro plans starting at $119.99 per year, per person.

    Try Canva

    2. MidJourney

    MidJourney AI design tool

    Our next AI design tool, MidJourney, utilizes a somewhat frenzied approach to produce AI-generated images. Developed via Discord, MidJourney has gained a reputation for being the premier AI image generator. Nonetheless, the tool can be messy, somewhat frustrating, and flooded with countless other users generating images simultaneously. Despite this, MidJourney deserves a place on our list because of the realism it produces in its images.

    Key Features of MidJourney:

    • Runs on the Discord server
    • Requires subscription for best results
    • Creates all types of images

    Midjourney image creation

    MidJourney has the AI chops to create almost any image you can think of – in a stunning way. That said, working with it does require a bit of patience. In our experience, MidJourney was so busy that they would only allow us to create images with a subscription. That makes perfect sense, considering how many people use it. However, once you get over the panic of being a newbie, MidJourney is quite simple to use. Simply type in /imagine to access the prompt, where you can provide as much detail as you desire to generate your image. The end results are often so realistic that it’s difficult to distinguish them from images created by humans. The best part? You can use the photos for commercial purposes only if you’re a subscriber.

    MidJourney is Best For:

    If you need assets for creative projects that require a lot of flair, MidJourney is an excellent option. All you need is patience and a vivid imagination to be blown away by what it can do.

    Pricing: Free, with plans starting at $8 per month (billed annually).

    Try MidJourney

    3. Khroma

    Khroma best ai design tool

    Our next best AI design tool is Khroma, a good solution for designers who often struggle to find the perfect color scheme for their projects. With Khroma, the guesswork of color theory is taken off your plate. The process begins by asking you to select fifty colors you’re attracted to, which Khroma uses to generate color combinations, complete color palettes, and even images containing those colors. By marking your favorites, Khroma gains further insights into your preferences and offers more options. The more you favorite, the more options you’ll have.

    Key Features of Khroma:

    • Generate endless color palettes
    • Copy hex codes for easy color implementation
    • AI-generated images with your colors
    • Upload your own images and apply colors to them

    Khroma image generator

    Khroma has several noteworthy features that make it an excellent AI design tool for designers looking to streamline their color selection process. One of the standout features is the SVG generator, which allows you to see how your selected colors can enhance images. You can copy the SVG code to implement in your web projects when you find one you like. Additionally, by clicking on the i icon in the top-right corner of a color palette, you’re provided with the hex codes for each color, which can be copied and used in your designs. This feature lets you quickly implement your chosen color scheme in your projects.

    Khroma is Best For:

    People needing little assistance picking colors for their next design project will love Khroma. The AI tool generates color combinations and palettes based on your preference, making it simple for even the most color-challenged people to create beautiful designs.

    Pricing: Free

    Try Khroma

    4. DreamStudio

    DreamStudio AI design tool

    Our next AI design tool, DreamStudio, is built upon Stable Diffusion, which is an energy-based text-to-image model that learns how to create images while minimizing the amount of energy required. The result is AI-generated images that range from photo-realism to art deco to anything in between. What sets DreamStudio apart from other text-to-image generators is the ability to edit pictures and upscale them using various photo-enhancing methods, including preserving fine details and sharpness and minimizing visual artifacts and distortion.

    Key Features of DreamStudio:

    • Utilizes stable diffusion
    • Generate, edit, and download photos
    • Generates high-quality images in less than 2 seconds

    DreamStudio generated images

    DreamStudio has several style presets that allow you to generate different images, such as enhanced, photographic, comic book, etc. Like other text-to-image models, you start with a good prompt. You can add a negative prompt, which lets DreamStudio know what to avoid. You can also upload your own images and then enhance them with your prompts, which is a great feature. There are various image size formats, and you can choose how many versions to generate. For more detailed photos, you can adjust the generation steps required and choose from three different models, each with varying levels of realism.

    DreamStudio is Best For:

    DreamStudio is a great tool for artistic inspiration. While most images are relatively outlandish, you can achieve some incredible results that can inspire you beyond what your imagination can provide.

    Pricing: Free, with 1000 credits for $10.

    Try DreamStudio

    5. Adobe Firefly

    Adobe Firefly

    Creative professionals are undoubtedly familiar with Adobe and its suite of innovative products. However, you may not have heard about their latest, Adobe Firefly. This cutting-edge software comprises a collection of AI design tools capable of generating stunning text effects, transforming text into images, and recoloring vectors to create a wide range of color variations. Although Firefly is still in beta, it’s already available to subscribers of Adobe’s cloud programs like Illustrator or Photoshop. Being accepted into the beta generally takes a few days, which is okay considering its current popularity.

    Key Features of Adobe Firefly:

    • Text to image
    • Text effects
    • Recolor SVGs

    Firefly text effects

    The text effect generator offered by Adobe Firefly is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable features. With this tool, you can create a broad range of text effects by simply entering a text prompt into the generator. However, to achieve the best results, it’s essential to consider your prompt carefully before inputting it. For instance, the generator produced a multi-colored, cartoonish effect when we tried to create a text effect with cats. However, it did a much better job when we provided a more specific prompt. Similarly, the text-to-image feature operates under the same principles, where the output quality largely depends on the input prompt.

    Firefly text to speech output

    Adobe’s text-to-speech generator offers users a variety of options to customize their output. You can tweak every aspect of your generated output to meet your creative vision, from content type to style, color, tone, lighting, and composition. With the right input prompt, Firefly can be a fantastic addition to your creative project. Furthermore, the generated images can be easily downloaded and used in your design projects. However, it’s essential to note that Adobe sternly reminds users not to use these images for commercial purposes and watermarks them accordingly.

    Adobe Firefly is Best For:

    For avid Adobe users, keeping an eye on Firefly would be a good choice. Despite being in beta, Adobe is making daily improvements to the software before releasing it to the masses. Although you can’t currently use output images in commercial projects, we anticipate this will change once it’s officially released.

    Pricing: Starting at $20.99 per month

    Try Adobe Firefly

    6. AutoDraw

    AutoDraw best AI design tools

    Google’s AutoDraw has been around since 2017. Still, it is getting more attention now that AI design tools are literally…everywhere. AutoDraw enables anyone to be an illustrator thanks to machine learning and the generous artists that provide their artwork free of charge. It works by users doing their best to draw anything, from a cat to a house to whatever, then does its best to guess what you are trying to draw. It then matches your doodle to a series of closely related drawings you can choose from. AutoDraw works on any platform and will even let you download your creations as PNGs for your creative projects.

    Key Features of AutoDraw:

    • Extensive drawing tools
    • Turns your doodle into a work of art
    • Download art as a png

    AutoDraw generates icons

    Even if your drawing abilities are limited (like ours, yikes), you can start with a basic design and let the AI design tool do the rest. For instance, when we attempted to draw a mobile phone, AutoDraw could easily decipher our intent, despite our amateurish attempt. AutoDraw is versatile and can be used for various purposes. Still, it really shines as an AI design tool for web projects. AutoDraw’s output can be used to create icons, which easily add visual appeal to otherwise unremarkable content, saving you time and effort.

    AutoDraw is Best For:

    Web developers and designers who aren’t the best with illustrations can get a lot of use out of AutoDraw. It’s an excellent AI design tool to create icons and other image assets to use as accents in your web design projects. However, there is a downside. Output is limited to a png file, and there are some questions on whether you can use them in commercial projects. In this case, it’s best to air on the side of caution and only use generated files on informational websites or personal blogs.

    Pricing: Free

    Try AutoDraw

    7. Let’s Enhance

    Let's Enhance AI design tool

    Up next on our list of best AI design tools is Let’s Enhance. This is a great tool for people who struggle to get good image assets from clients. It uses artificial intelligence to enhance your images in a few clicks. You can remove noise, sharpen blurry images, and upscale smaller images to use in print, real estate, and ecommerce settings.

    Key Features of Let’s Enhance:

    • Upscale photos up to 16x
    • Remove imperfections
    • One-click presets
    • Text to image generator

    Lets enhance in action

    The best feature of Let’s Enhance is its bread and butter – the image enhancement tool. You can generate images up to 16 times their original size by adjusting light, tone enhancement, and color settings. Alternatively, choose a pre-defined preset to scale and perfect your image based on how you plan to use it. There are presets for printing, which will enlarge your photo up to the size of a poster. The ecommerce preset also provides upscaling, Light AI, and background removal to showcase products on your website. Finally, there’s the real estate preset, which adjusts photos of houses and other properties.

    The image generation tool uses AI to generate images from a text prompt along with photo enhancement. However, this feature is still in beta, and from the looks of the photos generated with it, they need a bit more time to perfect it. That said, the image enhancement feature is worth it because it was easy for us to take a 400×400 image and enlarge it to 4 times its size with incredible results.

    Let’s Enhance is Best For

    Let’s Enhance is an excellent option if you are a designer or developer who needs help editing poor client-provided photos. The software is free for up to 10 image enhancements a month but offers pro plans at a very reasonable rate.

    Pricing: Free, with plans starting at $9 per month.

    Try Let’s Enhance

    8. Looka Logo Maker

    Looks logo maker

    Looka Logo Maker is an innovative tool that utilizes the power of artificial intelligence to help you easily create a logo for your brand. The software provides a user-friendly configuration wizard, which presents you with a selection of pre-made logos, giving the software a better understanding of your design preferences. Afterward, the wizard prompts you to select your preferred colors, add a catchy slogan, and pick from various symbol types that best represent your business. Once you complete the wizard, Looka Logo Maker generates multiple logo options based on your prompts, enabling you to choose one that resonates with you and make edits to suit your taste.

    Key Features of Looka Logo Maker:

    • Choose from dozens of logo concepts
    • Specify custom colors and fonts
    • Pick from hundreds of icons

    Looka logo editor

    Once you have selected the logo concept that resonates with you the most, Looka Logo Maker takes you to a user-friendly logo editor where you can unleash your creativity by tweaking the layout, color palette, fonts, symbol, and other aspects to fine-tune the final design. If you prefer, you can also rearrange all the elements, add a background, or include a container to give your logo a more polished look. One of the best things about Looka Logo Maker is its affordability, as you only pay $20 for a high-resolution JPG of your logo. However, if you want complete control over your logo, you can upgrade to the premium logo package for $65, which provides multiple high-resolution file types, such as EPS and PDF.

    Looka Logo Maker is Best For:

    If you love being creative or running a small business but find it challenging to create a logo on your own, then Looka is definitely worth checking out. With Looka, you’ll get access to dozens of logos generated on the fly, making it highly likely that you’ll find a logo you absolutely love.

    Pricing: starting at $20 (one-time fee).

    Try Looka Logo Maker

    9. Uizard

    Uizard AI design tool

    Last but not least, we have Uizard, an AI design tool you can use to create web apps, mobile apps, websites, and desktop software with a simple drag-and-drop editor. Uizard has hundreds of templates to choose from. It will even let you upload a hand-drawn sketch, then convert it to a functional wireframe (insert mind-blown emoji).

    Key Features of Uizard:

    • Hundreds of templates to choose from
    • Create webpages, web apps, and more
    • Create a functional wireframe from a sketch or screenshot
    • Countless design elements
    • Easy drag-and-drop interface

    Uizard magic AI tools

    Uizard’s intuitive interface is one of its standout features, making it a breeze to navigate. Figma or Adobe XD users will find it laid out similarly, yet easier to use. You can choose from hundreds of design elements or create your designs from scratch. Either way, Uizard has you covered.

    But the most impressive feature is its UI design tools, which include a wireframe and screenshot scanner that can quickly turn your sketches or screenshots into editable mockups. With the theme generator tool, you can create design themes, complete with colors and fonts, based on an uploaded image or URL. There’s also a text-to-image generator, text assistant, and focus predictor, which provides insight into where you should focus the most attention on your design.

    Uizard is Best For:

    With wizard, you can create a stunning website or application, even with little to no design skills. There are many templates, useful AI design tools, and a reasonable price point that rivals other popular design software.

    Pricing: Free, with plans starting at $19 per month.

    Try Uizard

    What is the Best AI Design Tool?

    Out of all of the AI design tools we’ve discussed in this post, we feel that Canva, MidJourney, and Khroma have the most to offer.

    Plugin Price Free Option
    🥇 Canva $119.99/year ✔️ Visit
    🥈 MidJourney $8/month (billed annually) ✔️ Visit
    🥉 Khroma Free ✔️ Visit
    4 DreamStudio $10/1000 credits ✔️ Visit
    5 Adobe Firefly $20.99/month ❌ Visit
    6 AutoDraw Free ✔️ Visit
    7 Let’s Enhance $9/month ✔️ Visit
    8 Looka Logo Maker $20/one-time fee ❌ Visit
    9 Uizard $19/month ✔️ Visit

    Let’s give credit where credit is due, folks. If we have to pick one winner, Canva deserves the top spot. It’s a great alternative to Adobe Creative Cloud (don’t hate on us, Adobe fans). It has serious design chops to help you whip up some seriously cool graphics and presentations, all with a little boost from their friendly neighborhood AI. With features like the magic eraser tool, text-to-image generator, magic design, and magic edit, you’ll have all the help you need to create awesome projects, even if you struggle in the design department.

    Need more AI tools? Check out our posts for the 16 Best AI Chatbots in 2023 and the 13 Best AI Writing Software in 2023.

    The post 9 Best AI Design Tools in 2023 (Reviewed & Compared) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • The 60/30/10 Rule Made Our Website Designs Infinitely Better

    Discover how to elevate your website design with the 60/30/10 rule, a powerful color proportion technique that enhances visual appeal, user experience, and brand identity. Learn its benefits, application, and tools for WordPress users.

    The post “The 60/30/10 Rule Made Our Website Designs Infinitely Better” first appeared on WP Mayor.

  • 10 WordPress Site Editor (FSE) Features You Didn’t Know About

    WordPress Full-Site Editing, aka the Site Editor, offers a lot of features, not all of which you might be familiar with. That’s because it’s not only a relatively new addition to the WordPress platform but also under constant development with new features coming out regularly. As a consequence, it’s easy to miss out on some things.

    In order to help you get the most out of the WordPress Site Editor, in this post we will go over some features you might have overlooked. Some of them are bigger, some smaller. However, all of them can help you build better designs and customize your site more effectively — if you know about them.

    wordpress site editor features

    1. Change Style Variations

    Le’s start off with style variations. While these are a fairly central feature of the WordPress Site Editor, if you are not aware of them, you are missing out big time. Therefore, let’s cover them quickly.

    So, what are they? If you open up the Global Styles menu (the black and white circle icon in the upper right corner), you find an option at the top that says Browse styles.

    style variations menu in wordpress site editor

    Here, theme developers are able to include one or more style variations for their themes. For example, in the Twenty Twenty-Three theme, you will find a whole list of available variations right there.

    available style variations in twenty twenty three theme

    Click on one and the site preview on the left will immediately take over its style presets.

    style variation enabled and visible in preview

    We are talking font, font style, background colors — the works. Save it and your site will adopt the same design. Basically, you can change the entire look of your theme with a single click. This gives you great variety for your site, inspriation, and several starting points to add your own flavor.

    2. Edit Styles for Individual Blocks

    In the Global Styles menu, you also find another option that is sometimes a little neglected. Under Blocks at the bottom, you can make changes to individual types of blocks that will apply sitewide.

    edit block styles menu in site editor

    That can be anything from changing fonts and font styles, to assigning colors to backgrounds, links, and buttons, and making layout changes.

    For example, want to make sure all Post Title blocks on your site use the same font style and color? Nothing easier than that.

    First, search for it by name or in the list.

    list of available blocks to edit

    After that, make any changes to the typography and color settings you need. Once done, they will apply wherever this block occurs on your site (unless overwritten on an individual basis).

    modified block style visible in preview

    Beats having to do updates manually across different templates.

    3. Work With Page Templates from the Post/Page Editor

    This technically doesn’t happen inside the Site Editor but its cousin, the Template Editor. However, the two are so closely related that we will let it slide for the moment.

    You might not be aware of it but when editing posts and pages, it’s possible to edit their individual templates or even build custom templates without the need to go back to the main Site Editor.

    You find that option when you click on the name of the current page template on the right. It is located under Template in the options menu on the right.

    edit create new post template

    Pick a template from the drop-down menu and click on Edit template at the bottom to make changes to it. Alternatively, there is also the icon in the upper right corner for adding a new custom template. Either of those will take you to the Template Editor below.

    wordpress template editor

    It’s a pared down version of the Site Editor, however, equally powerful. You can perform tasks like switching the position of your featured image and title, moving around elements, or even inputting a new header or footer. Upon save, the changes will apply to any page on your site that uses this template.

    4. Customize Block Templates

    One of the features of the Site Editor, and the WordPress block editor in general, is that they come with a bunch of blocks that, upon further inspection, actually consist of several other blocks. Examples include the Comments or Post Content blocks.

    If you look at them in list view, you can see that they actually have many parts.

    post element template in list view and site editor preview

    This gives you the flexibility to determine the order and layout of the elements that. For example, if you want to invert the order of Post Featured Image and Post Title, you can do so in the usual ways (e.g. via drag-and-drop or using the arrow icon).

    inverted element order in template

    The powerful thing about this is that, any changes you make here, apply to all site elements built with this block. For example, making changes to one of the articles in your Query Loop block will automatically do the same to the rest of them.

    5. Install Blocks on the Fly

    Ever found yourself in the Site Editor thinking something like “man, I wish I had an XYZ block”? Maybe you would like a table of contents block, an image slider, or a popular-posts widget.

    There are plenty of Gutenberg block plugins to add this kind of functionality to your site. However, WordPress also features a a way to install singular blocks right inside the Site Editor.

    For example, say you are looking to add the aforementioned table of contents. For that, go to the block inserter (the blue button with a plus in the upper left corner) and type that keyword into the search field at the top. While you might not find anything available on your site, you will quickly see a section called Available to install at the bottom with relevant block results.

    install blocks on the fly in wordpress site editor

    If one of them sounds promising, simply click it to install the block on your site. It also immediately inserts the block into the current page where you can test drive and configure it.

    newly installed block usable in wordpress site editor

    Neat, right? Plus, if it turns out that one or more of the newly installed blocks don’t really do it for you, you can always deactivate and delete them from the plugins menu.

    deactivate deinstall wordpress block

    6. Import Blog Patterns via Copy and Paste

    A second feature that creates a lot of flexibility is the possibility to easily import block patterns into the editor. We have already written about this in detail in our pattern directory tutorial, so here is the short version.

    Go to the WordPress pattern directory and look for a block arrangement that you like. The filters and search field are useful for that.

    wordpress pattern directory

    Once you have found something, click on it to get to the pattern page. Here, simply click the Copy Pattern button at the top.

    copy block pattern from directory

    Then, go back to what you are working on in the Site Editor. Place the cursor where you want the pattern to appear and paste.

    block pattern in wordpress site editor

    That’s it. The pattern is now in your content, complete with any images belonging to it. If you think you will want to use it again later, don’t forget to make a reusable block out of it.

    turn block pattern into reusable block

    7. Switch Your Post Display Between Grid and List View

    This is one of those WordPress Site Editor features that’ really small but is still worth mentioning because a) it makes a big difference in the display of your posts on the page and b) it is easy to overlook.

    What am I talking about?

    When using the Query Loop block to display a list of content anywhere on your site, you can switch it back and forth between a list and grid design in the top toolbar.

    switch wordpress query block between list and grid view

    It will either arrange posts as a vertical list or in a pattern next to each other.

    query block list view example

    A small option that can make a big difference.

    8. Show Last Modified Date in the Post Date Block

    Another very small option that, however, can have a big impact. It regards the Post Date block, which is most often a default of the Query Loop. What’s easy not to notice is that it also has an option to show the last modified date. You can find it in the settings on the right when the Post Date block is active.

    display last modified post date option

    After you switch on the slider for Display last modified date, whenever you update your older content, WordPress will automatically show the new date on the page instead.

    last modified date enabled

    This is a great way to signal to search engines that you keep your content fresh. It’s also one less thing to think about when you do.

    9. Move the Block Toolbar to the Top

    If you have used the Site Editor or even just the Gutenberg post editor before, you are probably familiar with the fact that a toolbar with extra settings appears whenever a block is active.

    block toolbar

    The problem is that it can sometimes be hard to reach, depending on your scrolling, or get in the way. What typically happens to me is that I double click a word in a paragraph just at top of the screen to mark it. Then the toolbar appears on the first click so the second immediately activates something in it.

    Again, not a big thing but it can get annoying. If you find that it interrupts your workflow too much, in the Options menu (the three dots in the upper right corner) there is a menu item called Top toolbar. Click it, and from now on the toolbar of any block you choose will always appear on top of the editor. That way, you always know where to find it.

    top toolbar enabled in site editor

    10. Export Modifications as Custom Themes

    The final somewhat hidden because unassuming Site Editor feature is the Export function. You find it in the Options menu.

    export wordpress theme in site editor

    When you click it, you get a download prompt for your theme files. These include all the modifications you have made to both design and templates. You can use those to install the same theme on any other WordPress website and get the same styling.

    While this might just seem like a normal feature, it’s actually a huge deal. It basically means that, with the Site Editor, you now have the possibility to build custom themes visually, without any coding, and make them available for other people. That’s something that, in the past, was purely in the realm of developers. Now, basically anyone can do it.

    If want to get more granular about this, check out the Create Block Theme plugin. It allows you to export block themes, child themes, and style variations easily.

    What Hidden Site Editor Features Did You Find?

    The Site Editor is a powerful piece of software that offers a wide and growing variety of options to make changes to the design and layout of your WordPress site. Because of the amount it has to offer, you can be forgiven if you don’t know every single one of its features.

    Above, we have gone over a few that you might not have been aware of before. From instantaneously changing your theme design with style variations, global styles for single blocks, the ability to install blocks on the fly, or simply small things like switching the post display from list to grid view and vice versa — there is a lot to discover.

    Hopefully, learning these will motivate you to go spelunking around the available settings by yourself and improve your skills further.

    What’s your favorite Site Editor feature that you have discovered? Please let us know in the comments below!

    The post 10 WordPress Site Editor (FSE) Features You Didn’t Know About appeared first on Torque.

  • Toolset – Now Everyone is a WordPress Developer

    One of the first things new users to WordPress worry about is that it will be too difficult for them to build the exact website they have in mind. Thanks to Toolset, that is no longer a concern. Toolset is the perfect set of tools (pardon the pun) for anyone hoping to build a professional website regardless of whether they are a coding wizard or novice.

    The post “Toolset – Now Everyone is a WordPress Developer” first appeared on WP Mayor.

  • Blog Images Best Practices: 10 Ways to Use Images in Blog Posts

    Images are an essential part of blog posts and using visual elements is definitely among the best practices of creating blog content. You probably already know that. But do you ever ask yourself if the way you are using images on your blog is the most effective?

    In order to dispell any doubts you may be wrestling with, in this post, we will discuss how to use images in blog posts in depth. We will talk about why you should do so in the first place and then give you detailed tips on how to best use blog images.

    In the end, we want you to feel like you know how to use visuals in your blog content in a way that enhances it and makes it more effective.

    Can you already picture it? No? I’m drawing a blank as well. Sounds sketchy? I’m just trying illustrate a point. (My deepest apologies. Please leave your favorite image-related pun in the comments).

    Why Should You Use Images in Your Blog Content?

    blog images best practices

    You are most likely aware that using images in blog content is a good idea. However, let’s go over quick refresher why, so that you are more motivated to implement the advice below.

    Humans Are Visually Oriented

    The first thing to remember is that humans are visual creatures. We are much better at remembering visual information than mere facts. It’s the reason why many memory techniques are based on turning information into images so that you can remember it better.

    visual memory technique example
    Image source: e-Learning Infographics

    As a consequence, we are much more drawn towards visuals than just text. It’s the reason why video content has exploded in recent years. 82% of Internet traffic are predicted to come from video in 2022.

    Need further proof? In 2021, the short-video platform TikTok managed to become the most frequented domain in the world, removing Google from the thrown in the process.

    tiktok domain ranking over time graph

    In addition, you know what’s the second largest search engine in the world? It’s YouTube (though with some caveats).

    Visuals Make Content Easier to Consume

    So, people are visually oriented. So far so good. However, in addition to simply being a thing that we as humans are into, visuals in your blog content also offer other benefits:

    • Make scanning easier — According to a study by Nielsen, only around 20% of visitors will end up reading your entire blog post, the rest skim. Consequently, since images transport a lot more information, you do the majority of your audience a great service by including them.
    • Break down long stretches of text — Images make your blog posts more exciting than simply a wall of text. Together with proper formatting, that makes your content more pleasant to consume and easier to comprehend.
    • Add personality — Good use of images can further accentuate the personality of the writer and the tone of the article.
    • Affect SEO — Images also play a role in SEO. Using them is a great way to add more information for search engines to your content.

    Convinced yet? Then, let’s talk about ways to put this knowledge into practice.

    How to Properly Use Images in Blog Posts

    Here are our best practices for how to use blog images on your site.

    1. Use a Lot of Them

    The first step for increasing the effectiveness of your blog images is to use a sufficient number of them. As mentioned, the job of visuals is to keep readers on the page. Think of them as breadcrumbs that guide your visitors along.

    So, how many is the right number?

    Well, a BuzzSumo study showed that articles with an image every 75-100 words are shared almost twice as often as those with fewer images.

    content shares in correlation to image sizes graph

    However, if you don’t want to go ahead and start counting words, a good rule of thumb is to use enough images so that, no matter where a visitor is on your page, they always have a visual element in their field of vision. Besides images, that can also be embedded videos, embedded social media posts, etc.

    many visual elements on page example blog images best practices

    2. Choose Images That Are Relevant and Add Value

    While it’s important to use a lot of images, it’s just as important to not simply include them just for the sake of it (e.g. because we say so). Any image appearing in your web content should both be relevant and add to what the text is saying.

    For example, if I were to add an image of a piece of broccoli in this post, it would confuse you rather than add to your experience.

    broccoli random image negative example blog images best practices

    Sure, here it also functions as a negative example but, aside from that, it doesn’t really contribute anything to the post. On the other hand, the quote image below is both on topic and further expands on a point I am already making.

    quote image example

    Makes a lot more sense than the broccoli, doesn’t it?

    For that reason, whenever you think about adding a visual to your content, always ask yourself the following questions:

    1. Is it relevant to the topic of the piece overall?
    2. Is it relevant to the part of the article it is located in?
    3. Does it add value for the reader?

    If the answer to any of these questions is no, it’s usually better to omit the particular image. In addition, you may consider whether an image fits your existing color scheme and visual language. All of the above is especially important for the featured image.

    3. Make Use of Charts and Graphs

    Charts and graphs are a great way to pack a lot of information into very little space. Here is one that explains how HSV color space works from our article on declaring colors in CSS:

    hsv colorspace schematic as an example for blog images best practices
    Image: SharkD/Wikimedia

    They not only make articles more compelling to look at but also reinforce your points and act as proof for your claims. In addition charts and graphs help visualize data in an easy-to-grasp way that mere text often can’t. Consequently, if you can find any that fit with the content of your article, be sure to use them!

    They are also relatively easy to create, e.g with Imgflip, Canva, or Visme. Even Excel or Google Sheets are able to produce graphs that you can easily screenshot.

    Plus, there are other options for data visualization, like diagrams or infographics. The latter also work especially well on social media. If you can produce a valuable and good-looking infographic, it can bring in tons of views and traffic.

    Finally, charts, graphs, and other data visualizations are highly reusable. You can use them in several articles to make the same or a similar point. They are also a great way to gain backlinks, since they are so popular.

    4. Include Images of People

    Humans are social animals. We are hardwired to look at people and – in particular – faces. Eye-tracking studies show that our gaze is magically drawn to them.

    eye tracking study focus on faces
    Image source: LinkedIn

    That’s one of the reasons why about pages are often one of the most visited pages of websites. We want to connect with real people, not faceless (pun intended) websites. Therefore, including images of people on your site or blog when it makes sense should definitely be part of your best practices.

    You can also go one step further and use them to direct your visitors’ attention. Another thing that studies have shown is that we direct our attention where other people look.

    eye tracking study directing gaze

    You can use this to get your visitors to focus where you want them to. More about that in our science-based web design tips.

    5. Take Advantage of Screenshots

    Screenshots are super useful when you write tutorials or any kind of instructions that help readers do things on their computers.

    screenshot example for blog images best practices

    They make instructions much clearer than if you describe the same thing only in words and they are also perfect for scanning. Plus, screenshots are very easy to produce.

    If you are a Firefox user, your browser has the functionality built in. Simply right-click on a page and choose Take Screenshot. You can also place a button for the same thing in the toolbar at the top.

    create screenshot in firefox

    In Chrome, there are browser plugins like Awesome Screenshot for screengrabs. In addition, computers come with the ability take them as well. On Mac, you can capture the entire screen by pressing Cmd+Shift+3 and grab a selection with Cmd+Shift+4. On a Windows PC, use the Windows button plus Print instead.

    Finally, to annotate your screenshots, a good tool is Skitch (you can also find Windows version), which provided the annotations in this article. Snagit is a another, paid option.

    6. Create Your Own Images

    Besides taking screenshots, it’s generally a good idea to try and create your own images. This is especially since we have become quite adapt at filtering out stock photography.

    stock photos eye tracking study
    Image source: Nielsen Norman Group

    Therefore, among the best practices to stand out from the masses is to make your own blog images. Here are a few options for that:

    • Take your own photos — Especially if you run something like a food or travel blog, this is par for the course. Readers expect you to provide self-made image material.
    • Use professional photos — I once worked with a client who had a stock photo on their About page. I only realized it when I found the same image on a stock photo site. Until that point, I thought those were actual employees and the office interior. Imagine my disappointment. Don’t do that. Hire someone to take actual photos of the people in your company.
    • Turn quotes into images — If you need avisual to spruce up your content and you don’t have anything handy, why not turn the text itself into one? You can always take a meaningful quote from your article make a picture out of it. There are several tools that make this really easy, such as Pablo or the aforementioned Canva. You can also do this for social media using your headline.
    • Try your hand at illustrations — If you are marginally talented with pencil and paper, you can also consider creating your own illustrations. Draw, scan, polish digitally, and you are ready to go. A website that does this really well is Enchanting Marketing.

    Of course, there are other ways to create your own unique images, not least if you are a designer and know your way around Photoshop or Illustrator. For the rest, there are still the tools mentioned throughout this post.

    7. Include Videos With Attractive Thumbnails

    Using visuals in your articles is not limited to just images. As already demonstrated, videos and their thumbnails also fulfill the same role.

    However, make sure that the video is a) relevant and b) has a good-looking thumbnail. If it’s from your own YouTube channel, even better!

    8. Go for Gifs and Memes

    If you spend any time around popular entertainment sites such as Reddit, you will quickly figure out that gifs and memes have pretty much become the currency of the Internet. There’s something about them that people simply seem to love and Internet users appear to be in constant competition to create the best ones.

    memes on imgur example

    The good news about this is that you can use this for your content. A well placed gif or meme (better yet, a meme gif) can really deliver a punch in a way that few other content types can.

    The Wire Reaction GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

    The challenge here is that it requires literacy in the medium. Especially memes have turned into their own kind of language and you really need to know their meaning to avoid coming off as cringy.

    30 Rock Fellow Kids GIF by PeacockTV - Find & Share on GIPHY

    However, with both memes and gifs it’s also important not to overdo it. They are both pretty high impact, so if you overload your blog posts with them, it can detract completely from the actual content.

    9. Observe Usage Rights Licenses

    When using blog images, one of the most important best practices is not to forget that images are intellectual property. That means, they are protected by copyright unless the author has granted a license that permits their usage. For that reason, it’s important to know how to find images that are free to use without getting sued.

    One option is to go for sites that are specifically built to offer free-to-use images like Unsplash, Pixabay, Pexels, or Flickr Commons (though in the latter, be sure to check what license is actually granted by the author).

    unsplash free stock image site

    Even Google has the possibility to set their image search to only show pictures that have a Creative Commons license. You find it in the image search under Tools > Usage Rights.

    google image search for creative commons licensed images

    Seriously, don’t use images that you don’t have the license for! There are companies that specifically scan the web for these and it’s not worth the legal trouble.

    10. Use High-Quality Images and Optimize Them

    blog images best practices low quality image example

    What did you think when you first looked at the image above? You probably thought that surely someone made a mistake, right? That nobody in their right mind would use such a blurry image in their finished blog post.

    Well, now you know what your readers think when you use low-quality images in your content. So, the first lesson here is: don’t. It makes you look amatuerish and introduces doubt about the quality of your content as a whole.

    At the same time, don’t use full-width, super high-resolution images in your posts either. Doing so increases page weight, bandwidth usage, and reduces site speed (if that is an issue on your site, you can find out via speed testing).

    The challenge is to find a sweet spot between image size, quality, and performance. Important tools here are using the right file type, size, and taking advantage of image compression. Plus, don’t forget to use a file name that makes sense and add an ALT tag for both visually impaired readers and search engines. You can find detailed tips for that in our dedicated article on image optimization.

    Final Thoughts: Blog Images Best Practices

    When using images on your blog, it’s important to know how to do it right. That way, you can make sure that they have the most impact and don’t detract from your content or – worse – land you in legal trouble. Above, we have gone over a number of best practices for blog images designed to help you do so.

    In the end, images are just as important as your text. They can make or break an article, so don’t skimp on them. Otherwise, you might find yourself out of the picture soon. Figures, doesn’t it?

    What other best practices for blog images do you think are most important? Please share your thoughts (and worst puns) in the comments below!

    The post Blog Images Best Practices: 10 Ways to Use Images in Blog Posts appeared first on Torque.

  • Top 5 Blogging Trends of 2023 You Definitely Shouldn’t Ignore

    What new trends can we expect to emerge in blogging in 2023? While blog writing has been around for a long time, and its basic premise doesn’t change much (put words on screen, publish), it does go through developments and fads. Some of them come and go, others stick around for longer or become a permanent fixture of the medium.

    To make sure you stay up to date on what’s going on in the blogging game, in this post, we will examine five of the trends you can expect to encounter this year. Knowing this allows you to stay current on the latest practices as well as gain inspiration what you could do better or differently on your own blog. Either way, here are the latest blogging trends 2023.

    1. Custom Visuals

    blogging trends 2023: custom graphics
    Image source:
    Enchanted Marketing

    Visuals have always been a key part of blog content. They provide your readers with necessary breaks from long walls of text, present information in a different medium, and make your content more pleasant to consume. Need proof? Orbit Media found that bloggers who use ten-plus images in their posts report higher rates of success.

    blogging visual usage statistics
    Image source:
    Orbit Media

    So, do we agree that using visuals is good? Good. However, why the need to go for custom graphics and not more generic images?

    First of all, because we as humans have gotten pretty good at filtering out certain imagery on the Internet. For example, eye tracking studies show that stock photos are all but ignored these days.

    stock photos eye tracking
    Image source: Nielsen Norman Group

    One of the biggest advantage of tailored graphics is in branding. With custom-made visuals, you can use color palettes and fonts that resonate with your blog’s design and philosophy. Doing so makes sure your posts and pages look coherent and not pieced together. You can also create visuals that refer directly to the content they are part of, like charts, graphs, or infographics.

    But what if you’re not a designer? Can you still take advantage of this blogging trend?

    Thankfully, you do not need to be a Photoshop master (or hire one) to get the ball rolling. Tools such as Canva, Visme, and Prezi are perfect for beginners who don’t know much about design. These tools come with pre-built templates, color palettes, and fonts that make putting together custom graphics easier. They also have the option to create/import your own color palettes and fonts.

    2. Increased Interactivity

    From twelve seconds in 2000 to only eight seconds in 2015, human attention span has drastically dropped over the years. In a world where your audience’s attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish (nine seconds), how do you keep them interested? The answer: interactive content.

    With built-in interactivity, your readers get a chance to engage with your content in new and innovative ways. If you are looking to add some, here are a few good options.

    Videos

    Embedding videos in your content has always been one of the easiest ways to boost audience interaction. The rise of visual content in the last few years (TikTok anyone?) has only intensified consumers’ thirst for moving images. As a consequence, up to 86% of businesses already use videos for marketing in some form in 2022 and it’s a good idea for your blog to be among them.

    While just including videos in your content already makes your blog posts more interactive, you can even go a step further and add interactivity to the videos themselves. This can be in the form of hotspots and time triggers, such as popups and CTAs, that prompt viewers to move their pointer to certain areas of the video in order reach a particular time stamp. Vimeo is a video platform that can do this out of the box.

    However, it is also possible make YouTube videos more interactive, for example in the style of a choose-your-own-adventure approach.

    GIFs

    If you want to add a sprinkle of fun and interactivity to your blog, GIFs are another way to go. These animated images can add a spark of color and humor to your content and make it less boring.

    Shocked Will Ferrell GIF by Anchorman Movie - Find & Share on GIPHY

    If you want to dip your toe into this, websites such as Giphy are a great place to find GIFs. Once you’ve chosen one, inserting it into your content is fairly simple – either use autoembeds (like in the image above) or add it via an image block.

    Quizzes

    Have you seen those Buzzfeed quizzes about all sorts of weird topics?

    blogging trends 2023: buzzfeed quiz example

    Say what you will about Buzzfeed but their formula seems to be working. And you can use it for yourself as well. Adding short exams to your content is yet another way to make it more interactive. It does not just engage your readers — it also lets them test out their knowledge!

    If you want to do the same on your blog, WordPress plugins such as Quiz And Survey Master or Quiz Maker can come in handy. With these plugins, you can create quizzes for different topics, categories, and pages.

    3. Originality

    It’s easy for websites in a niche to become echo chambers that repackage the same information over and over again. In such a landscape, being original can immediately make you stand out. Originality does not just add freshness to your blog, it also establishes your thought leadership and displays your commitment to your readers.

    There are different ways to make your content original. You can talk about a unique topic, provide an uncommon perspective, or do your own research. In fact, the third option is the easiest way to level up your blog — with authentic research, chances of success rise by up to 41%.

    blogging original research statistics
    Image source:
    Orbit Media

    However, we get it — not everyone has the bandwidth to conduct original research. If you want a quick way to boost your content’s originality, another way is interviewing Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). This allows you to enrich your content with the latest information in the industry and add a unique flavor to it.

    There are several tools available to reach out to SMEs. Examples include Help A Reporter Out (HARO), Help a B2B Writer, Terkel, and Qwoted. You can also reach out to people in your industry and conduct your own surveys using Google Forms and Typeform. Lastly, another easy way to talk to an expert is to tweet about your queries with the hashtag #JournoRequest on Twitter.

    4. Focus on Content Experience

    One of the bigger blogging trends in 2023 is the shift from consuming content to experiencing it.  Running a successful blog no longer means simply delivering accurate information to your readers. You also have to consider other factors to make the content more appealing.

    But how can you enhance the overall content experience? By focusing on core web vitals and improving your overall content ecosystem.

    Core Web Vitals

    blogging trends 2023: content experience and core web vitals

    Imagine clicking on a blog post to read it and encountering countless issues with the page. It’s taking forever to load, every click and scroll takes minutes to process, and the page is constantly shifting and jumping.

    With reader attention span at an all-time low, this nightmare can quickly make your audience lose interest. To counter this, Google introduced core web vitals in 2020. These are measurements of key aspects of page speed and user experience that also influence search ranking.

    If you want to learn more about this topic, check our article on how to improve core web vitals.

    Your Content Ecosystem

    Your content is not detached from the ecosystem that it is part of. Even if your writing is brilliant, if you present it in an environment that sends readers running for the hills screaming, it won’t perform well.

    web design mistakes cluttered design example

    Besides lack of core web vitals above, what are examples of a bad content ecosystem?

    • Masses of popups or other interruptions and distractions (multi-step cookie notices anyone?)
    • Autoplaying videos or audio (seriously, who still does this in 2023!?)
    • Low contrast or other web design problems
    • Bad website or information architecture that leaves visitors clueless about what to do

    In short, the goal is to make sure that each piece of content is part of a larger puzzle that makes sense. To create such an ecosystem, it helps to be clear on your audience’s journey. That means possible entry points and how to push readers further. Aside from that, look into building content clusters.

    5. Cross-Channel Promotion

    Simply churning out blog posts was once enough to be successful on the web — but that’s no longer the case. These days, you also need to invest your efforts in other marketing channels like SEO, email marketing, and social media.

    Therefore, one of the blogging trends that will be dominant in 2023 is cross-channel promotion. This marketing strategy integrates all your marketing channels and unifies their plans, data, and goals across the board.

    This is different from multi-channel marketing, which also uses several channels to attract customers. However, here, each channel works independently. In contrast to that, cross-channel promotion uses all channels to push out the same message at the same time.

    cross channel vs multi channel marketing
    Image source:
    LocaiQ

    How can you do that?

    The first thing you need is a Customer Data Platform. CDPs can help unify, consolidate, and organize consumer data from all your channels in one place. Some good candidates to check out are Bloomreach, Insider, and Segment.

    After that, you can carry out micro-segmentation and group your audience according to different demographic details, characteristics, and buying behaviors. This can help you hyper-personalize your content and marketing channels to meet prospects where they are in their journey.

    For example, you can open emails with a reader’s name, adjust the mailing frequency to their preferences, craft content that targets their needs, and otherwise cater to what your audience is looking for. In an environment as saturated as the online space, this kind of personalization is a good way to stand out.

    Hop on These 2023 Blogging Trends Right Away!

    Even an established medium like blogging still sees trends come and go. Being aware of the developments above allows you to decide which ones you want to partake in and which you want to ignore.

    As you can see, many of the trends above heavily focus on user experience. Therefore, if you want to follow any trend this year, let it be figuring out how to better serve your audience with the content you provide. This goes both for what you write about and how you present it.

    If that is your main takeaway, you can make sure you end up with a better blog at the end of 2023 than you started with.

    With 2023 upon us, what blogging trends do you consider most important? How are you planning to improve your own blog this year? Let us know in the comments below!

    The post Top 5 Blogging Trends of 2023 You Definitely Shouldn’t Ignore appeared first on Torque.