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Dan’s image process

#1.) Take screenshots with Awesome Screenshot

What you can use it for:

  • Save pages, ads, and other pieces for your swipe file.
  • Keep visual notes for yourself.

How to do it:

  1. Go to AwesomeScreenshot.com and install the Chrome plugin. 
  2. Go to Twitter.
  3. Click the Awesome Screenshot plugin icon.
  4. Take a screenshot of one of your tweets. 
  5. Post it here.     

Assignment: Post a screenshot of one of your tweets

twitter-screenshot.png.60c91d523fb0a81c4098ed38762991ec.png

#2.) Set up a free Canva account

 

What you can use it for:

  • Create all the marketing material you need for your business. 
  • Become a visual content machine (without learning fancy editing skills).

How to do it:

  • Go to Canva.com. 
  • Create an account.
  • Post here when you’ve set it up.

Assignment: Post here when you’ve signed up. 

#3.) How to Make Before and After Images

 

What you can use it for:

  • Visual storytelling.
  • How to’s, case studies, and other formats.  

How to do it:

  • Click this Canva link.
  • Make a copy.
  • Add borders to the images. 
  • Add text (“before” and “after”).
  • Add an arrow.

Assignment: Post it here.

#4.) How to Make Images with Callouts

What you can use it for:

  • Create all the marketing material you need for your business. 
  • Become a visual content machine (without learning fancy editing skills).

How to do it:

  • Click this Canva link.
  • Make a copy. 
  • Replace the red text with your own callouts.
  • Download the finished version.
  • Post it here. 

Assignment: Post it here.

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Creating Images Using Free Tools

Hey everyone! 

In the forum, you’ve probably seen Neville, Lesley, Mitch, and me post a lot of “quick” images, mockups, and visual tweaks to images in your copy and from various websites. 

Neville and Lesley use a lot of Photoshop - it’s probably the best all-around tool out there, it’s very powerful, and it’s well worth learning at some point. 

But….it’s got a learning curve. It’s a little bit daunting for beginners to use. 

Personally, I use a couple of simpler tools to create similar effects. They’re mostly free (or very cheap) and pretty easy to use. 

In this series you’ll learn:

  1. How to use 3 simple + free tools to create website mockups. 
  2. How to create Before + After images for free (and how to present them to clients + customers).
  3. How to create simple A vs B drawings on an iPad.

You’ll be able to use these skills to:

  • improve your copy on your website, ads, emails, and anywhere else.
  • communicate better (and more visually) with your team. 
  • showcase your best work in a way that’s shareable, convincing, and memorable. 

#1.) How to use 3 simple + free tools to create website mockups.

Resources used in the video:

Neville’s javascript editing tool (free) - Tool used to edit text directly on a webpage.
Awesome Screenshot Chrome Extension (free) - Tool used to take screenshots.
Canva (free) - Tool to edit your images and create mockups.
Alt-E Solar - This is the website we used in the example.

#2.) How to create Before and After images for free (and how to present them to clients + customers).

Resources used in the video:

Templates mentioned in the video:

before-after-templates.png

before-after-templates-2.png

If you have a free Canva account you should be able to get access to both versions in a single template. Just make a copy for yourself to get a version you can edit. 

 

doc-template.pngproblem-template.png

 Just hit File → Make a Copy to get a version that you can edit yourself.

#3.) How to create simple A vs B drawings on an iPad

Resources used in the video:

  • Procreate ($10) - if you have an iPad, this $10 app is incredibly powerful and worth trying out. It’s got many of the same features as Photoshop and more mainstream image editing platforms.
     

Templates and images created in the video:

procreate1.png.8097c4c3e14e652da78f670ce9f6d7bf.png

Here’s a blank template you can use for any A vs B image (Canva link). 

 

procreate2.png.12803b21402186c9402c9a955d383e22.png

Here’s the image we drew in the video.

Share your images in the forum! 

The best way to level up your image editing skills is to practice and play around with the various tools and platforms. 

If you post your images in the forum, we can give you direct feedback and help you quickly improve what you’re working on. 

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Making Longterm Images

To make sure your images will last the long haul, I explain when to use .PNG images instead of .JPG images. We also discuss the importance of watermarking your images to prevent theft.

So this is a JPG image, notice there's no transparency:

story-arcs-quest-accomplished.jpg.275486716726ef52d1feda289795545b.jpg

This is a PNG image with transparency, notice it takes on the color of whatever background it's on:

question-confused-hmmm.png.00218821a746bc63522e6ce93ce6fe01.png

...so if I put this same image in a yellow box, see what happens:

question-confused-hmmm.png.00218821a746bc63522e6ce93ce6fe01.png

 

Creating Stickmen

This is how Dan creates his stickmen.

Lesley creates stickmen using Adobe Illustrator.

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