Photopea

Online Sketch file converter

There are a lot of online photo editors available, what makes Photopea stand out is the ability to open up different graphic formats - especially Sketch format.

I discovered Photopea when I found some Sketch templates from Facebook developer site. Since I already invested in Affinity Designer and Omnigraffle, I didn't want to have purchase another Graphic application.

Description from the Website

https://www.photopea.com/

Note about Sketch to PSD Conversion

You are limited on when you can convert Sketch files to PSD. Certain times during the day you may encounter this message:

To get money for our development, Sketch to PSD conversion can be used only during the first 30 minutes of each hour.

The conversion is pretty good, in my test I found that it creates a near copy of the original Sketch document. I was able to open the PSD file in Affinity Designer with no problems.

Another option is to just use Photopea as the editor instead of exporting the Sketch document.

Word Cloud

Lots of choices on Word Clouds.

Sometimes when blogging it isn't easy to come up with a good graphic to go with an article. That's when using Word Cloud can help - highlight some of the most common words in a story in a nice attractive graphic. It catches everyone attention and makes the article stand out a bit more.

https://www.jasondavies.com/wordcloud/

There are several different services but I found that ... jasondavies.com/wordcloud/ to have a nice simple way to create a good looking Word Cloud. to have a nice simple way to create a good looking Word Cloud. There are all sorts of design options and a chance to customize the layout and colors to your needs.

Honorable Mentions

• TagCrowd.com
• https://www.wordclouds.com/

What's nice about jasondavies.com version of Word Cloud is that you can have different cloud shapes, so the graphic stands out even more. The other thing that's nice is that each word is a different color.

Couple of Examples

George Washington farewell Address

Standard Disclaimer of a 5K Race

YouiDraw

Online Vector Tool to make cool graphics

YouiDraw is a cool online vector tool. There's plenty of template designs to inspire you and get you started. The food thing is that its HTML5 base - not Flash. So you can use Chrome or Chromebook to create your designs.

Website Description

https://www.youidraw.com/

Free for Basic Use

The basic plan allows you to create your own graphics and save the graphic to your computer or in the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive etc..)

There is a Monthly Plan which cost $9.99/mo and gives you SVG / PDF File Export, No Watermark, and allows you to use the graphics for Commercial use.

Good Place to Learn Vectors

I think this is a great tool for people learning about vector graphics- especially kids. This is better than having them play with Affinity Designer or Illustrator because they won't mess up any application settings.

Affinity Designer

I think, in the long run, your better off buying Affinity Designer. YouiDraw is good for those times when you need a graphic design but doesn't have any tools installed on the computer. (Internet Cafe or Sharing a computer. )

Certainly worth checking out YouiDraw, doesn't cost anything to see how it works.

Sample Designs done in YouiDraw

Snappa

Create Awesome YouTube Channel graphics

YouTube is all the rage right now. If you own a YouTube Channel you know how important it is to have an updated graphic header. It's critical to have a cool looking header so that people will know that your serious about the videos that you have on your channel.

Fortunately you don't need to be an expert in graphic design, Snappa helps make YouTube headers in a snap!

Website Description

https://snappa.com/create/youtube-channel-art

Snappa isn't just for YouTube, you can use it to create designs for all your favorite social media networks. The good thing about using Snappa is that you don't have to worry about the current design standards. They are up to date on the latest sizes - no more second guessing if it's the right size..

MockPhone

Simple way to show your design on any smartphone

There are lots of choices when it comes to using mockups to showcase your design. The nice this about MockUPhone is there's a lot of device options including TV screens.

Website Description

https://mockuphone.com/#ios

Five Things I learned Using MockUPhone

• You have to use an image, there's no pointing to an existing URL for the image to rendered by the device.
• In order to get the final image you have to put in a valid email and then download the file from the email link
• The mockup images are in PNG format with transparent backgrounds.
• MockUPhone have a lot of designs and will tell you the best format to use.
• You get a preview of one of the layouts, to see if you want a final version.

Glitter Text

Create cool glitter effects with your text

GigaGlitters.com is a cool way to add some glitter to text. Simply put in some text and select the style that you want and then share the GIF file. You can use various GIF tools to combine the text.

Description from their site

http://www.gigaglitters.com/

Some tips/tricks

• Text can only be 15 characters long.
• There are 176 different glitter colors/styles to select from. You get a preview of all the styles.
• There are 101 different fonts to pick from. The only problem is that you don't get a nice popup to show the different font styles, you pick it based on the name.
• If your unsure, or in a rush, select the 'random' button and a style/font will be selected with your text. Keep clicking randomly until you find the perfect match!
• Once you find the perfect match, you can drag and drop the style to your desktop, or use the various code text provided.

Example Images

Background Image Generator

Create seamless background images for web and graphics

Background Image Generator by SiteOrigin is a good resource if your looking for a basic seamless image. Make your images POP by using a simple pattern image generator.

This is not only good on websites, you can also use this as background in graphic designs.

There are 296 pattern and 42 Blend Modes. Giving lots of different ways to create different style and color patterns.

Website Description

http://bg.siteorigin.com/

Samples Using OmniGraffle

engfto.com Text Effects

You can create some pretty cool effects using engfto.com

engfto.com is a great website to animate your text images. There are all sorts of creative effect to make your text POP. For starters, on the homepage, there are 43 general styles to pick from. Within each style, you have the flexibility to change all sorts of options.

If you want to brighten up a chatroom or a social media comment, this is the place to get it done.

Tip: You have a lot of flexibility to change the way the graphic design. I would suggest spending time using the site. While the default options are pretty cool, you can certainly spice things up to your needs with just a simple change here and there.

Website Description

http://engfto.com/

There is no cost to use this site and many images are available as animated GIF or HTML5 effects.

Sample Effects

Here are just some of the cool effects that I was able to generate:

Embossed Label

Cool way to display a simple message

Embrossed Labels is a quick way to generate labels online. You can use the graphic for any purpose.

This is a unique way to communicate a message on a Blog or Social Media.

Description from the Website

Embossedlabels

Sample Design Ideas

These labels are perfect for displaying short text in the graphic form. You can combine labels with interesting graphics layouts.

QR Code

Great Way to get people to get connected to your WiFi

QR Code Monkey is a fast easy way to generate QR codes. People can scan the code to get more information about a product or to visit your website.

Website Product Description

https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/

Cool Use of a QR code

Do you have company over your house that wants to get on your WiFi? Want to keep your WiFi access point secret?

Easy, simply create a mini-poster with the QR code for people to scan. Hang the poster where people can see it. When they scan the QR code it automatically connects that device to the WiFi access point with the WiFi password.

How cool is that!

Now you can have some complex password and not have to worry about someone incorrectly typing the password.

Simply scan the QR code and they are online. Works well with laptops that have a camera too. Apple iOS users can use the camera app

This is a good idea for doctor offices, gymnastics waiting areas, bars etc. Just about any place that wants to promote Free WiFi..

Now people can get online without typing in some highly encrypted password.