Technology Tip
Dave Pelland has extensive experience covering the business use of technology, networking and communications tools by companies of all sizes. Dave's editorial and corporate experience includes more than 10 years editing an electronic technology and communications industry newsletter for a global professional services firm.

Basic Image Editing for Social Media Posts

Basic Image Editing for Social Media Posts

As images play a larger role in social media marketing, small business owners are adopting a variety of tools to help them create and distribute compelling images easily.

With more images flooding our social feeds, your company’s pictures and graphics need to grab attention and convey your message quickly and effectively. That requires taking or purchasing interesting photos and adding compelling text to get your message across, highlighting your brand, and increasing engagement with the audiences you want to reach.

While any post is unlikely to create a direct sale, each one can be part of an ongoing campaign to increase the number of people who engage with your company and your brand.

Start with Quality Images

Since the image will be the centerpiece of your social media graphic, it’s important to make sure the photo you choose is compelling. Although that idea may vary among different social platforms or demographic audiences, a few things to keep in mind include:

  • Make sure the image is clear, easily recognizable and focused on the subject
  • Avoid blurry or grainy images that can distract from your message
  • Your image should be bright enough so you can see the main element easily
  • There should be room around the main element for any text you may want to add
  • If you edit your photo, avoid over-editing the image so it becomes distracting

Pay special attention to your image’s background. A cluttered background can make the main element of your image hard to recognize, and the overall message harder to understand. A background that’s out of focus is a common way to make sure the attention remains on the main element of the image.

And while the image quality is important, that doesn’t mean you have to invest a lot of money in a professional camera, lenses, and lighting setups to create images for your social media campaigns.

Your smartphone camera is more than good enough for capturing the image quality you want. In most cases, natural light in your work area or office will be bright enough. If you want to supplement your natural light, an external ring light (a round light that lets you mount a camera in the middle) or work lights offer inexpensive tools for improving your image brightness and quality.

Editing Apps

Once you’ve shot your image, there’s a wide range of editing apps that can streamline the process of making your image look as good as it can be, or to highlight your message. Most apps let you make basic adjustments such as improving the brightness or contrast, and some include filters with pre-defined settings that apply specific looks to your images.

Some tools, such as Adobe Spark and Canva, include an array of backgrounds and social media templates, customized for the popular platforms, that allow you to drag and drop your images into place and to add formatted text easily.

As you consider different editing apps, be sure the app you choose is relatively easy to use, and lets you create images and graphics without struggling or needing design expertise. Look for templates that will give you a head start in creating images or provide ideas about the images and messages you should be sharing.


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