We all know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but images count when it comes to your marketing and social media activities. Facebook posts with photos get 53% more Likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs. Here are our favourite design tools to help you create visually engaging, high quality images on a budget.

Free stock photos

It’s always best to use authentic, real images of your supporters and service users however this is not always possible. Here are three sites where you can find free, high-res photos to use as you wish.

1. Unsplash

Completely free, high-res images that you can copy, edit, modify and use without asking permission or attributing the photographers.

2. Compfight 

Compfight is an image search engine that looks up images posted on Flickr. Be sure to use lots of keywords to find the relevant images and search under the Creative Commons licence ( this is when you may use an image for free, however there may be conditions such as attributing the photographer.).

3. MorgueFile

Searchable, high-res images that are completely free to modify, copy and distribute.

So you’ve found a great image that suits your copy, how do you create a compelling design?

Free design tools

4. Canva 

Canva is a design tool that makes it easy for anyone to create graphics – from Facebook posts, to an invitation to Twitter Headers. The templates come with the correct dimensions however there is an option to create custom dimensions. They also have a huge image library, many of which are free to use (those that are not free are only $1). Get acquainted with Canva through their free online design school.

5. Hubspot

If you’re looking specifically for social media design templates, download Hubspot’s 60 customisable templates. You will need PowerPoint to be able to edit them.

6. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a really easy to use photo editor tool which allows you to touch up images, add text, overlays and create collages of photos from an event.

What are your favourite design tools? Share them with us in the comments.

Related reads:

How to create great social media content on a budget

Five free multimedia tools to help engage supporters