Diva By Design #1: Blogger Design... Free Design Programs

Blogging isn't easy. It's time consuming, not to mention keeping your blog design updated, hosting and paying for your domain name can all add up not leaving a great deal of funds for books themselves. But designing your blog doesn't need to be expensive. In a series of posts, I'll share with you what I know and how to jazz up your blog on a budget. I'll also offer a freebie for those who need a little help along the way. I'm by no means an expert or experienced even, but I love to create and the sense of achievement when you've accomplished something yourself.

Don't forget to scroll down for your freebie to download.

So you already have a blog, but need to jazz it up. Where do you start with programs?


You don't need to spend hundreds on a graphics program like Photoshop, let's face it, you probably won't use it all that often and personally I found it too complicated and time consuming. I use three programs, which are all free to download.


Photoscape is a free photo editing software where you can touch up images, but also use images with transparent backgrounds and combine to make a header, social media icons, even create your own GIF images. I've used it for a few years now and wouldn't be without it.


Paint is a free and easy to use program that allows you to recolour, remove backgrounds and edit images. Perfect for beginners who want to ease themselves into fonts, colours and basic design.


In conjunction with Paint, I also use Inkscape, which really is probably one of the most similar free options rather than Photoshop. It allows you to play with fonts, create your own images and beautiful graphics for your blog. All three options are free and with a basic interface and online tutorials, you'll be creating graphics like a professional in no time.


One of the tools that book bloggers need are social media icons. Click to download an icon pack. Available in a variety of colours and includes popular social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads and more. There's 11 icons per set which also includes a blank icon, should you wish to create your own. Use, share and enjoy.

Ash


Baby Pink


Black


Blue

Brown

Green

Grey

Lemon


Lilac


Maroon


Peach


Hot Pink


Purple


Red


Sky Blue


Watermelon


In the next Diva By Design, we're talking fonts. Free commercial use fonts, font combinations, how to use install fonts on your computer and use Google Fonts on your blog.

39 comments

  1. BOOKMARKED!!

    Kelly, you're amazing! Thanks for this. I'm clueless when it comes to these things. The only software that I'm familiar with is Photoscape. Other than that, Nada! And yay!! FREEBIES :D

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    1. Thanks Paula, hopefully you were able to download the other two, they're great programs!

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  2. This is so useful and interesting! THANK YOU KELLY! i'm pretty decent when it comes to basic software, everything else just flies over my head. THANK YOU FOR THIS!
    Lily @ Lilysbookblog

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    1. I'm actually the same Lily. Photoshop was just too fiddly for me and finding an alternative was heaven sent. I love that these programs really are basic, but if it's just for creating your own blog graphics, they're perfect and best of all free.

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  3. Now I understand this struggle. For my blog, I personally tweaked the CSS just to get the look that I wanted, (but I'm planning to change it by the summer :D) I actually need new ideas for the design for the blog and I can't wait to see your mini-lessons! :D

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    1. Thanks Jules. I think most of us keep tweaking, even after we get that look that we're after. I know I tend to tweak until my design looks completely different again. For me, it helps to keep me blogging to be able to give myself a makeover every now and then.

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  4. OOOOH I need to check out those three now. I pretty much just use PicMonkey for designing banners and stuff, but there's not a LOT you can do with it. THanks for the freebie <3

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    1. I've actually never used Pic Monkey, but heard that if you need a quick graphic, it's super easy to use. I might check that one out too. Thanks for the recommendation poppet.

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  5. This is damn amazing. I've been needing some of these for so long and I love that you're the one giving the advice, since you're an awesome designer yourself!

    Alex @ The Book's Buzz

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    1. Thanks Alex. I'm not a designer as such, just like to do things myself. Nothing beats that sense of achievement, and besides, I'm super fussy and couldn't put a designer through that. They'd be up for murder soon enough.

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  6. Since I'm a designer and I use it on a regular basis, I've made the decision to invest in Photoshop. However, to those who aren't in the design industry, it's vital to have free alternatives. The three you've mentioned seem to work very nicely, and I have no doubt a lot of people will have IOUs after downloading them! ;)

    Fabulous post Kelly, and I can't wait to see what your post is for next week!

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    1. Photoshop is awesome for professional designers like yourself Zoe, but for the everyday blogger who just wants to add a bit of style to their blog, it's just so expensive isn't it. Thank goodness for the free alternatives.

      And if anyone IS looking for a blog design on a budget, Zoe is fabulous!

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  7. I'll keep all of these in mind! ALSO I'M LOVING THIS NEW FEATURE. Excited for the fonts next month :)

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    1. Thanks poppet. This coming week is all about fonts and how to install new fonts on your blog. Also, how to create your own font.

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  8. I've got Photoshop, and I absolutely love it! The learning curve took some time, but it paid off. I just hate how long it takes to load on my laptop, so if I want to crop an image, I just use Pixlr online.

    And also, this is such a great freebie! I am loving that watermelon one.

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    1. Thanks Shannelle. I had the same issue with Photoshop on my laptop as well, just to load it would take ages. I found with the free alternatives, I open them separately, depending on what I need to do and they all load super quick. I've since removed Photoshop and really have no need for it now.

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  9. Love this new feature, Kelly Bear! I'm especially excited for your next post about fonts because I'm a huge font hoarder myself. ;) Personally, I use GIMP which is also a lovely free alternative to Photoshop, but there are some features that PS has that GIMP doesn't. And like Shannelle mentioned, Pixlr is also a great alternative for people who don't want to download the program. :)

    Thanks for sharing, lovely!

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    1. A girl after my own heart Aimee. I have hundreds, if not probably well over a thousand fonts. I collect them, love them and hardly ever use them. But at least I have them all just in case of a font emergency.

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  10. I love this new feature, thank you for taking out the time to help out other bloggers xD I've heard of inkscape before, but I haven't actually used it, I shall try it out soon. I still can't find the right design for my blog, I change it every other week lol. Picmonkey is also great for editing. Fantastic post!
    <3 Benish | Feminist Reflections

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    1. I'm exactly the same Benish, I'm never happy with my design and have had over eight makeovers in just over two years. I'm starting to get sick of this one now too. I love Inkscape, and there are heaps of video tutorials on how to use it as well. It's probably the easiest and most comprehensive free one that I've used.

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  11. Love this!! Tempted to use hose lilac buttons they'd match my blog so well :D

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    1. Feel free to use them all Becks, although it may be a little crowded on your blog if you follow my advice.

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  12. Wow - those icons look so beautiful! I tried, a while back, to make some social icons of my own (scouting for free ones proved fruitless) SO I'M REALLY GRATEFUL for the freebie! Thanks soooo much Kelly!!! :D

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    1. You're very welcome Mawa. I had the same issue when I first started blogging too, not being able to find matching icons. In the end, I made my own too.

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  13. Great idea!! You are a life saver! I spend hours changing my blog design. Sometimes it gets so frustrating, I get terrible headaches (mostly because I don't know what I'm doing). Thanks!!

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    1. Thanks Taylor. I'm by no means a professional, but with bloggers like yourself, hoping that I might have a few tips and tricks that can save you money and the stress of trying to find design elements for Blogger.

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  14. This new feature is genius, Kelly! Free social media icons are difficult to find, so I'm really impressed that you took the time to create some really awesome looking ones. I especially love the watermelon one!

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    1. Thanks Ana. The watermelon is my favourite colour too. It's lovely and soft.

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  15. YAY I LOVE THAT THIS EXISTS, THANK YOU, WONDERFUL DESIGNING DIVA. *ahem* I suck at design is all and I like all the help I can get. xD

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    1. Oh crap. Have a look at your blog banner, that YOU DREW YOURSELF! That's absolutely incredible. Really, YOU should be offering tips and advice.

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  16. I had no idea about these alternatives! (Well... besides Paint, lol) I actually already invested in Photoshop, and really don't know what I'd do without it! I even went ahead and took a class in college that was all about learning to use Photoshop, but it was fun and worth it. Now I feel like a pro, haha! But it is so good to have these alternatives. I used to use another program before Photoshop that as called GIMP - it's EXTRMEMELY similar to Photoshop! (www.gimp.org) Looking forward to more on this feature :)
    Rosie // Rosie Reads

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    1. Now that's dedication Rosie! You must be a real wiz with it by now.

      I've never tried GIMP, so might give it a go this weekend. No doubt I'll need to keep a tab open for tutorials. I'm really slow when it comes to learning anything new, I keep getting distracted, Have you thought about holding Photoshop tutorials yourself?

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  17. KELLY YOU ARE A SUPERSTAR AND SAVIOUR! You must know that!

    Back when I was on PC, I used to LOVE photoscape. But when I changed over to apple, I found out it wasn't available for macs and it broke my world (ok so I'm partial to dramatics). BUTTT reading this meant I gave it a quick google AND I REALISED THAT THEY RECENTLY DID A MAC VERSION AND EVERYTHING IS ALL GOOD AGAIN!

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    1. Thanks Jess. That's awesome! It's so handy just to have on hand and not have to go online to create just one small graphic. It's a real lifesaver isn't it.

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  18. I use picmonkey and pixlr but I am gonna have to give Photoscape a try because it is the first I am hearing about it and it looks easier to use than pixlr.I personally don't see why people love photoshop it is so confusing to me! lol I love these social media icons as well. may have snatch up the red ones.:D Thanks for such an educational post, Diva!

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    1. Thank you, I have Photoscape, but I never use it all the time. when downloaded, I had a little bit with her, learning opportunities, like until put in the basket.=) now I realized that I need to move back to the desktop and use it. I using FastStone Image Viewer and macphun hdr tools as main graphic editors.Generally this is a cool stuff for editing.

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  19. I usually use GIMP - a fantastic software for those looking for something similar to photoshop. Most of the time I use Serif DrawPlus, which is free for the Starter Edition. It doesn't do a bad job, but the starter edition IS quite limited. I might have to check out Photoscape myself in the future - thanks for a fabulous post, Kelly! :D

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  20. THIS IS SO BRILLIANT KELS! I do use Photoshop but it takes a year and a half to load it, and that's annoying especially when I just want to go in and tweak something minor. Thank you so much for all the icons, I've been looking for some awesome ones but haven't found the right colouring yet hehe. <3 <3 YOU ROCK

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  21. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome knowledge. I am so clueless about design and I really want to broaden my knowledge so I can do it myself one day without having to get people to do it for me. Laura is doing such a cool job for me now and I'm grateful for that! But of course nothing compares to that feeling when you can proudly say you did it yourself.

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