The 4 Best (Free) Tools to Add Text to Stock Photos
When it comes to photo editing, a lot has changed
A few years ago, customizing an image with text meant hiring a graphic designer or, at the very least, investing your time and money in photo-editing software. Today you can add text to images in a matter of minutes with no software upgrade, no expensive expert, and no headaches.As social media sharing has intensified, a wide range of online applications for image editing—including adding text—have popped up. We tested four of the most popular apps.
What we looked for in text-adding apps
We looked for solutions with these qualities:- Easy to use
- A variety of fonts available
- High-quality finished product
- Online and web-based
- Cost effective (that includes free apps to add text to images!)
1 DesignWizard
Real image editing magic, DesignWizard
is a very pro-like, online image editor developed by WaveBreak Media, a
stock video and photography production company that knows all there is
to know about image manipulation. Their tool offers basic editing
capabilities from cropping and resizing to filters, text overlays and
shapes. They even have a video editing feature! You can register, create
designs and save, download and share them for free, but they also offer
a premium version with extra storage and exclusive content.The editor comes equipped with multiple templates and preset sizes for social media, a library full of professional photos, a variety of fonts to choose from and a set of filters and effects you can apply to your images. You can also upload your own elements, and they're all highly customizable. The user interface is very straightforward and they also have great tutorials that walk you through their features didactically.
Adding text to images is very easily done here. You either choose a template and customise the text, or use the text button to drag a text field wherever you want it, further selecting a font, font size, colour, and more advanced settings. Here is an image we created with DesignWizard, in less than a minute:
Our take: DesignWizard is perfect to quickly edit images to use in social media, and it's an even more ideal resource if you want to do so in one stop: as they provide high-quality images, templates and fonts (some of the best are locked for premium, paid users, but there are plenty of cool free elements), you can simply open up this tool and create a new visual from scratch in no time and without importing any files. We just love it!
Cost: Free for up to 15 MB of storage for your designs, and you pay $1 per premium image/template (but you have access to all editing features!)
Premium tiers are $9.99 and $16.95 per month respectively, with each tier granting larger storage space and more premium content.
2
BeFunky
This
really is funky—great fonts, lots of ideas, and so easy to use you’ll
want to add text to images all day long. Like Canva, BeFunky offers
tutorials that will inspire you to use not only its text-adding
functions but also its tools, including lipstick, exposure and rainbows.
BeFunky caters to the “maker” crowd with DIY poster tutorials, arts and
crafts ideas and greeting card templates (you can use these to save a
lot of money on wedding invitations!). You’ll find a wide assortment of
fonts (our favorites are VeggieBurger and Let’s Trace) that you can
customize with the colors, outlines, opacity and sizes of your choice.We added text to this image in less than three minutes:
Our take: Fun interface and very easy to use. When it comes to adding to text images, BeFunky is as intuitive as it gets. Here’s a plus: the “history” tab takes “undo” and “redo” to a whole new level, letting you keep track of what you’ve done with your image and, at any time, undo the action.
Cost: The basics are free to use and there is plenty to keep you busy. If you’d like more frames, effects, stickers and templates, the premium plan is $4.95/month or $25.95/year.
3
PicMonkey
A silly name for a serious app. PicMonkey offers a variety of ways to edit your image, including: basic edits like cropping, adding effects (we love the Polaroid Film effect to give your image a vintage feel), frames to place around your image, textures—here’s where you can add “bokeh” texture, clouds or paint to any image—and themes for holidays and other special occasions.
When you edit with PicMonkey, you can easily add text to images, and adjust the size (up to a font size of 288), color (you choose, on a color spectrum), and font. PicMonkey’s fonts include any font that you can access from your computer, plus custom fonts—our favorites are Tall Dark and Handsome, Alter Ego and Laughing Gull. The fonts are artsy and interesting, and there are some that you won’t find anywhere else.
We used the free version PicMonkey to add text to this image and the process was seamless:
In addition to editing, with PicMonkey you can touch up selfies and standard “headshots” to perfection for your online profile. For a dating website or a professional networking site, you can soften tiny lines, add a bit of color, whiten your teeth… it’s like getting a free makeover without going to the spa.
Our take: This is a fabulous app that lets you get really creative with images and the text you add. It takes some time to explore all that the app has to offer, so give yourself some room for trial and error as you get to know the ins and outs of this one. One final note: if you’re using high-res images, you may need to resize them, because PicMonkey works best with 16 megapixels or less.
Cost: You can use the basic features (including adding text to images) free. For access to all the fonts, you’ll need a “Royale” account, which is free for the first 30 days and $4.99/month or $33/year after that.
When you’re ready to take an image to the next level, you might want to add a few words of your own—your message, the date of your next big gig, or the text of your latest ad campaign. You can add anything you’d like to stock images (as long as it’s not defamatory) and use the customized image on your website, in print advertising and on social media.
4
Pablo
From
the folks at Buffer comes Pablo, a free image editor that makes adding
text to images easy. With Pablo, you can upload an image, add text and
share via Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest. Pablo will customize the size
of your image for each of the social networks it supports and you can
use Buffer to schedule your postings, all for free.(You can also save the image to use on your website or in your marketing materials.)
We made this with a high-resolution image and Pablo:
Our take: Pablo is a perfect addition to Buffer, allowing you to add text to images and schedule for posting across social media platforms. At this point, the fonts are limited to about a dozen choices, and the size of the font is limited to pre-sets of small, medium and large.
Cost: Free.
Canva
Canva
walks you through a series of user-friendly tutorials that will leave
you feeling like a designer in no time flat. When you’re ready to make
something great with the images you’ve discovered, the best place to
start is with Canva’s tutorials
on branding, color, choosing and pairing fonts, photo filters,
backgrounds and shapes. What you’ll learn will help you marry your
photos to text for a happily ever after.Here’s how we used Canva to add a quote to an image:
Our take: Canva’s motto is “empowering the world to design” and we think that’s exactly what it’s meant to do. If you are looking for a Photoshop alternative, Canva is a great place to start.
Cost: Canva’s basic platform is free. Additional features are available in the “Canva for Work” package, which you can try for free for 30 days; after the free trial, Canva for Work is $12.95/month or $119.40/year.