3 Ways to Put the Graphic in Infographic: A SmallBiz How-To

A Small Business Digital Media Presentation of Vermont Small Business Marketing Associates

@VSBmarketing | www.VSBMA.com

Text, Graphics, Statistics

The idea behind the infographic is simple; combine text, graphics and statistics to harness engaging information delivery. For small business, however, executing an infographic can be a bit daunting when you don’t have a graphic designer on staff.

Discover here three tech options that can help you

put the graphic in infographics without hurting

your budget.

Example Infographic

Color Splashing

Color Splash is a fun editing option for giving photographs a bit of a twist. With color splash technology, you can make a regular picture into a black and white picture, and then brush color highlights back in.

Color Splashing

Fotor.com’s photo editing website offers a new color splash enhancement feature that is quick and easy. Access to the editor is free and does not require an account. All editing is performed directly within the website, so you do not have to download a program to your computer.

Color Splashing

Think about your infographic concepts and imagine real-world objects that could be representative of those concepts. Shoot those objects with your camera, and upload them to Fotor.com.

Color Splashing

Click a photo in the Fotor editor, and select the ‘Effects’ tool. Click the ‘Color Splash’ effect, and the Fotor editor will automatically change the image to black and white.

Original Black and White

Color Splashing

Select an appropriate brush size, and click and drag the brush over a part of the image to bring the color back out. Just brush over a part of the image that is colorful so it highlights one interesting aspect to capture the viewer’s attention.

Color Splashing

When you have highlighted part of the image, crop if necessary, click save, and you are done. The image will be saved to your desktop, where it is ready to be loaded into your infographic.

ArtPad by Art.com

You also can add a creative touch to your infographics by drawing representative concepts with Art.com’s ArtPad website. If drawing is not your best skill, that’s ok. Graphics do not have to be fancy – just representative. When you strive to draw a perfect representation of an object, you set yourself up for failure. Make it simple, don’t be your worst critic, and have fun.

ArtPad by Art.com

ArtPad is a very simple, realistic painting program housed within the Art.com website. The program features a basic canvas, a few paint brush sizes and a moderate color palate.

ArtPad by Art.com

Use the largest paint brush to swipe on a bright background color.

ArtPad by Art.com

Select a smaller brush size and darker paint color to draw the outline of an object that represents a concept for your infographic. If you want to add a little highlight, select another color, and brush it on. Be sparing in your brush strokes, and note that if you draw over a line, the program will give it a realistic bleed appearance. In some instances, this option can lend to the overall effect.

ArtPad by Art.com

When you are satisfied with your image, use the ‘Print Screen’ feature on your computer (CTRL+PrtSc) to capture the image. Open a photo editor program on your computer (e.g., ‘All Programs’ + ‘Accessories’ + ‘Paint’). When you paste the image you captured, you should see the art.com webpage with your painting appear in the photo editor.

ArtPad by Art.com

Crop the image to include just your painting, and save it to your desktop so it is ready to load to your infographic.

Add a Border

You also can give your image a little more flare by adding a border. Upload your image to the Fotor.com editor, mentioned previously, and add a border by selecting the ‘Frames’ feature. Save the image when you are done selecting a border.

Add a Border

As an alternative, you can insert the image into PowerPoint, if you own it, and give the image a border there. Once you have inserted the image into PowerPoint, make sure the image is selected, click the ‘Format’ tab, and use the ‘Picture Styles’ feature to select a border. When you have picked a border style that you like, capture your screen again (CTRL+PrtSc), and paste the screen capture into the photo editor. Crop and save to your desktop so it is ready to load into your infographic.

Inspire Pro

If you liked creating graphics in ArtPad, you can take your creativity to the next level with the Inspire Pro app for tablets that offers painting, drawing and sketching functionality. Inspire Pro can be downloaded as a free app from iTunes, and this edition has many advanced features that will keep you busy for a long time.

Inspire Pro

Inspire Pro offers three adjustable brush sizes and a complete color wheel. You can toggle the brush features between realistic paint and dry paint, and you can turn off realistic paint for a more precise and stylistic effect. Additionally, the program allows you to fill the background of the canvas with any color from the color wheel.

Inspire Pro

You can export completed drawings to yourself by e-mail and download them to your desktop. Once the image is saved to your desktop, it is ready to load to your infographic, or you can add a border, as discussed previously.

Happy Graphicing!

Creating infographics that help you speak to your target audience can be easy and fun when you take advantage of the many technologies available today and trust in yourself. Try different approaches until you find the one that works for you and your business. Stick with your own style so that your audience will begin to associate that style with your brand.

Remember to have fun,and that energy will translate

to your audience.

Visit VSBMA’s Small Business Digital Marketing How-To Center

at www.VSBMA.com for more social media and content marketing Tips ’n Tricks.