Graphic Design on Your iPad

Images have always been important to use in blog posts, web pages and in print to support the article or news item you are writing. But, if not using a photograph in a post, for example, when you are out of your office and 'in the field' can often be tricky, if you are on your iPad. 

An iPad is incredibly useful as an editor, blogger or journalist. It gives you 'mobility' because you are not lugging around a heavy laptop. You can set up an ipad quickly and get working within seconds of you opening it up. But, what an iPad lacks in weight and bulkiness is often power to create graphical content. 

Easy Graphics

Also, unless you are a graphic designer already, creating good graphics was often difficult to achieve. Recently, I started using Canva (http://www.canva.com) when I was in the office to create graphics for online articles. It is very good online application for creating graphics for use in print and online. And, it is very easy to use. 

If you use your own images the service is free. If you want to insert 'stock images' into your designs, you pay $1 (about 60 pence) for each one. There a functions to create items for Facebook pages and covers, blog graphics, invitations or business cards, for example. 

Also, with Canva, you can create custom graphics using your own dimensions and images, which you can then download for use in print or online.

In a matter of minutes, it is easy to have a nice looking graphic to make your article or blog post more interesting. 

Mobile Graphics

That is good if you are in the office, but it was not so easy to create graphics on an iPad using their online version. 

Now, Canva has brought out an iPad app version (https://appsto.re/gb/hfFF1.i) of its graphic design package. I had to use it for the first time to create an image in a hurry on my iPad for an online news item which was also going to be used in an email newsletter. 

The iPad version is just as easy to use on an iPad as it is online. The only problem I had was when trying to email the graphic I created to myself. It would not do it the first time I tried but, with a bit of persistence, it worked in the end. 

Overall, having an app like Canva on my iPad is going to make a big difference to being able to create more interesting graphics when out of the office at press events or conferences for example. 

Here is a screen shot if the user interface and some of the simple graphics I created for blog posts with it below.