Sharing Photos on Social Media

Being a graphic designer, I often ‘create’ my photos using a variety of mediums, not many are simply photos I have taken on a whim. Some are of course, let me reassure you that not all my pictures are fake. But I do like to get creative, particularly when I am listening to an Audible book or reading on my Kindle, which can be a bit boring photographic wise. 

One great tool I use is The 3D Book Cover Creator at Diybookcovers. When I am reading on my Kindle or listening on my phone, I will often use this to create a ‘real’ book for my photos. Books are represented in hardback, paperback, Kindle or phone format and even have composite versions so you can have a little bundle of book formats if you wish. It is very simple to use and produces a realistic book. I tend to use the templates which show the edge with the pages rather than the spine as not many book images show the spines and it becomes tiresome having to actually create the spines first. You will see what I mean if you give it a go. I save the images as png files so that they have a transparent background and I can then pop them into a photo and make them look like they belong there. I have had some fun with this, creating interesting visual effects and adding in shadows etc. I use a collage creator on my phone which is easy and quick, but I also create them using Adobe inDesign because, as I said, I’m a graphic designer. As to photos, if I don’t have my own picture of what I want, I use a wonderful website called Unsplash. Photographs are uploaded by photographers and are free to use. I try to remember to credit the photographer when I use their work, but it isn’t a requirement of the site, just appreciated. There is a huge variety of photographs available and I am particularly happy with the effects that I can get using the flat lay technique. So next time I post a new blog or on Litsy, check out my photos and see if you can tell whether they are ‘real’ or ‘created’.