How To Use Adobe Spark To Make Stunning Social Media Graphics
Today, there can be no denying that every business should be including graphics and images as part of their social media strategy. Images are not only better able to grab the attention of your community but they get more shares and engagement as well.
But what if you lack the skills of a graphic designer or the budget to hire one?
There has been a recent surge in new software tools and apps to help businesses overcome this challenge. In this article I am going to show you how anyone (regardless of design ability) can create professional looking graphics using the desktop tool and mobile app Adobe Spark quickly and easily.
Note that that Adobe Spark does require you to create an account or login with your Facebook, Google or Adobe ID and is available as a free & paid app.
In this article I am going to show you how to create your own social media graphics using Adobe Spark that are professional looking and perfectly sized for whatever social media platform you are posting on.
Creating Social Media Graphics With Adobe Spark
Using Adobe Spark on a desktop
It is easy to create visual content on your desktop with Adobe Spark.
From the home page you can jump right into selecting a template or work on a recent project.
Click the View all link to see the full list of project templates available. The different categories of projects available include:
- Popular
- Stand out on social
- Grow your business
- Teach and study
- Champion your cause
- Promote your brand
- Organize an event
- Make it personal
Under each category you will find numerous templates in the form of either a graphic, a video or web page. Some of the example templates you will find include:
- social graphic
- photo journal web
- slide show video
- Instagram ad graphic
- promo video
- statistic graphic
- campaign video
While spark allows you to create short videos and webpages as well as graphics, for the purpose of this tutorial we will only be focusing in on its graphic abilities.
Projects
If you want to work on a recent project, just click on that project on the homepage to enter the editing mode. You can also click on Projects in the left navigation bar to see your full list of projects.
Add folders to keep your projects organized. You can do this by clicking the file icon with a plus found on the right side of the page.
Drag and drop any projects you want to add to a specific folder.
Once you are in a folder, hover the project you wish to work on and click edit.
If you wish to share the project, click the invite icon in the bottom left corner. This will open a box where you can add the email address of the person you want to collaborate with and a message. Get all the specifics on collaborating here.
To access the rest of the options available for a project, click the three dots in the top, right corner. The options include:
- Share
- Duplicate
- Move
- Rename
- Download
- Delete
Under the share option you can Invite collaborators, or you can publish your project. Currently the options include:
- sharing on Facebook
- sharing on Twitter
- sharing in a classroom
- emailing the project
- or copying a link to the graphic
My Brand
You can also access the My Brand page from the home menu if you are a Premium Adobe Spark user or a creative cloud subscriber.
Add your branding
If you are a Premium Adobe Spark user or are a creative cloud subscriber, you can add your company’s branding into Spark and easily create branded graphics.
Click on My Brand from the navigation bar on the left side of the home page. This will open up your brand page.
Spark will then walk you through the set-up process. Note that you can only have one brand saved in Spark at a time.
Start by uploading your logo. For best results, use a high-quality version of your logo with no background color.
Next you will add your primary brand color. Add your HEX or RGB number or select the color from the color panel.
Then add your heading font style. Click Next.
Adobe Spark will begin generating your theme-based templates.
Finally add your brand’s name.
After you have clicked the Make brand magic! button, you will be taken to your completed brand page. From this brand page you update or make changes to your branding.
If you have multiple versions of your logo, you can include there here. Click your logo, then click the box with the plus sign.
Add additional brand colors by clicking your primary color and then clicking the plus sign under More.
You will want to provide at least one text font as well as your Header font. If you are sure what font to use, you can click the Suggested font pairings. To add additional fonts, click the box with the plus sign.
When you have finished adding or editing all of your branding, Spark will suggest a variety of templates you can use as well as the ability to create your own.
Creating graphics
Start by selecting the template you want to use.
Give your project a name by clicking the edit pencil beside My Post in the top left corner.
Start by choosing your design. There is a navigation bar on the right side that offers a variety of options such as:
- add (text, photo, icon, logo)
- template
- design
- colors
- layout
- resize
Click on Design in the right navigation bar. There are numerous variations you can choose from on the right side.
Next click on Layout to easily change how your graphic is laid out.
Once you have the layout you want, you can modify the colors of your graphic. Click Colors from the right menu.
Choose from your brand colors if you have uploaded your brand or select from one of the other numerous color pallets available. Simply click an area and then click the color to make the change.
Click on the text box to open up the option available to modify your text. This opens up a new navigation bar on the right with option such as:
- type (font, justification, size, letterspacing, line spacing, opacity, order)
- color
- shape
- effects
- style
Add or modify your text as appropriate using the many options available. Again, if you added branding, these options will be available at the top.
Use multiple text boxes if the text within them will differ in some manner or if you want to be able to rearrange how they are positioned. Click on one of the text boxes to individually edit, reposition or delete it.
Once you are finished creating your graphic you can download it by clicking Download in the top right corner of the screen. Choose if you want to download the graphic as a PNG, JPG or PDF and click Start download.
If you wish to directly publish the graphic or share it, click the Share button also in the top right corner. You can choose to invite someone or publishing it.
Optimize the graphic for other platforms by clicking Resize in the right navigation menu and pick from the options available. You can then download or share the new versions as well.
Use the Adobe Spark apps on your mobile device
Adobe has broken down Spark in to three different apps – Spark Post, Spark Video and Spark Page. Spark Posts allows you to create graphics, Spark Video makes short videos and Spark Page is where you go to create webpages.
For this article we will focus on Adobe Spark Post.
Under Templates (in the bottom navigation) you have access to numerous categories of templates (in the top navigation). Each category contains countless examples you can choose from. The different categories include:
- Brand
- Featured
- Premium
- Animation
- Collage
- Seasonal
- Lifestyle
- Business
- School
- Travel
- Food
- Craft
You can choose your category by tapping on one of the template categories listed in the top navigation.
Two of the categories are only available to paying members, the Premium and the Brand categories.
You can easily see all of your completed and in-progress projects by tapping on My Posts in the bottom navigation.
To create a social media graphic with Spark post, start by selecting a template to modify. Tap Remix this template.
You are then provided with a number of options to get you started including:
- add
- colors
- animation
- layout
- brand
- resize
To change your background, tap the background area you wish to modify. You will be given the option to Replace or Delete. If you tap replace you are given the option to replace it using:
- solid colors
- patterns
- photo library
- videos
- camera
- search free photos
- Adobe Stock
- Lightroom
- Creative Cloud
If you select the color option and are a premium member, all of your brand options are shown first.
Once you have your background taken care of you can add, edit or modify the text. Tap on the text you wish to modify.
There are again numerous ways to change or enhance your text such as:
- edit (edit text, delete, duplicate, secondary style, select multiple)
- font
- color
- shape
- effect
- size
- adjust
- align
- spacing
- opacity
- order
- style
Spark Post makes it easy for you to manipulate the layout or general design of your graphic as well as adding a border to it in the Layout section.
Additionally, you can add a variety of other interesting elements to your Spark post under the Add section including photos, videos, icons, stickers or a logo.
Adobe even includes the ability to add several different styles of animated text to the graphic.
You can make a different version of your graphic for each platform, that is the optimal size using the Resize ability.
Once your graphic is complete you can share or publish it using the different options provided including sharing it on social media platforms, in an instant message, saving the image to your device, copying a link to it or emailing it.
Do this by tapping the green share icon located in the top right corner of the screen.
Become your own graphic designer with Adobe Post Spark
Today people expect companies, regardless of their size or marketing budget, to produce professional, compelling graphics. While not every company has the budget to afford a professional graphic designer, design tools such as Adobe Spark ensures that smaller companies don’t need to.
With a small monthly subscription fee, you can quickly and easily create branded, professional looking graphics that will help your brand stand out and get noticed in the social streams of your ideal clients.
