I am not in any way a Photoshop or Illustrator expert, and because of that I don't want to pay full price for the programs. Instead, I found some awesome programs to use instead of the Adobe ones. They still take a little bit to learn, but since they are inexpensive or free of charge, you feel bad if you don't use it.
1) Microsoft Word/Excel
Do you actually know how much you can do with Word or Excel? Did you know there are classes out there specifically for Word and Excel because there is so much you can do with it?!?! I was able to create beautiful address labels from my own computer by simply using Mail Merge and an image. Aren't they pretty?
On a side note: Did you know you can code with Excel? I didn't even know until one of my internships in college. I immediately set out and learned how to do it. Its so easy! Now, I use it for work and for personal things too. I've created budgets and other spreadsheets by using them. Its so simple! Maybe I'll create something and post it for you guys some day!
2) Google Drive
I use Google Drive to save all of my work/codes/crafting ideas. As a consultant, I don't get to carry my personal laptop with me while traveling, and so I end up writing a lot of the blogs on the road. Google Drive allows me to save everything in a cloud, and access it from anywhere! I think Dropbox is also great too, but since I used a Google account to create this blog, I thought I should stick with what I have for now. I am also able to share files via Google Drive on a blog post. Its a really useful tool!
3) Gimp
Gimp is amazing. Its free Photoshop, and thankfully there are so many tutorials out there on how to use it. I'm learning something new every day. I've used it on my previous blog template to modify my logo, create my signature, and to help create certain images for blogging. I will say it is difficult to get the hang of, but thankfully there are so many sites out there to help! Click here to download Gimp or here to look at some tutorials.
4) PicMonkey
I have recently discovered the fantastic world of PicMonkey. I never knew you could do so much with the program. Of course I had heard of it before, but I just thought it was like Picnik. Boy, was I wrong. For around $5 a month, you can get a photo editor and a simple version of Photoshop. I have done most of my blog design using this tool. You can have a free month free?
5) Pixlr
I haven't actually tried this software yet. I've heard great things about it, but from what I can tell its a photo editing online software. I signed up for it and at a glance it looks like Photoshop or PicMonkey.
I hope this helps out any future bloggers or bloggers stuck in the same situation as me. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
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