We know what a challenge it is to create consistent content for social media and to add to the challenge, you have to come up with attractive, high-quality images that will appeal to multiple audiences.

SEMrush understands how difficult it can be to find and create enough images to keep your social media performance strong, and we wanted to help. So, we created the Image Editor feature which is now a part of the Social Media Poster. In this post, we will show you how to save time and get more results by using it.

What Is the New Image Editor?

The Social Media Poster tool allows you to schedule and publish content to profiles on a number of different platforms. It also allows you to upload any image of your choice and with the SEMrush’s image editor, you can now edit the photo within the posting tool.

You can do everything from adding a text overlay, using a filter or drawing onto any image. It is quick, easy, and requires almost no learning curve.

This tool is also fully equipped to make your social media image creation a much faster and simpler process. Not only can you make any visual changes needed, but there are also resizing capabilities that will quickly reshape or crop your images to fit the right dimensions for social sharing, including 4:3 and 16:9 formats.

Its full list of capabilities include:

Resizing/formatting the images.

Adding filters and color effects.

Editing brightness, contrast, saturation, and more.

Adjusting the focus of the image.

Adding a text overlay.

Adding stickers to the image.

Brush-drawing directly onto the image.

Adding image effects or frames.

In addition to creating images for social media posting, you can also create images intended to be cover photos, profile pictures, and ad images.

How to Use SEMrush’s Image Editor

SEMrush’s image editor is easy to use, and we are going to show you exactly how to create high-performing social media images with them in just a few minutes.

First, navigate to your Social Media Poster, and then click to create a new post. When drafting a post, you will see the option to add an image in the bottom left corner of the draft. Choose a basic, unedited image that you have on your computer and drag it to the drafting box to upload it.

Once your picture has been uploaded, you will see a small pencil icon when you hover over it. If you click on it, the image editor will be opened.

First, resize your image if needed; this will ensure you only need to design it once. Next, you can add overlay textures or features, adjust the filters and edit the image to help the colors really pop.

You can adjust the image, customizing things like text color and font, the drawing brush width, opacity of different filters, and more. You have full creative control here, allowing you to create beautiful, dynamic, attention-grabbing images that will help you on social media.

Once you’re happy with the image, hit “Save” in the top right-hand corner to finalize the design. The image will automatically be updated on the post you are drafting, and you can preview how the full post will look on the right.

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Social Media Image Sizes: What Ratios Should I Choose?

One time-consuming aspect of image creation for social media is ensuring each image is the right size for each platform. The image editor can help with that.

Within the image editor, there are clearly-labeled formatting options for the following:

Profile pictures

Profile cover photos

Ad content

Post dimensions — which works well for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

If you decide you want to use a different, specific ratio, consider the following:

Square images work well on Instagram, especially if you are using a multi-image post.

YouTube cover art should be 16x9.

16x9 works for some cover photos, including Twitter.

If you need your content to come out to specific pixel dimensions, you can customize this to reshape the image at the right number of pixels.

Social Media Image Best Practices

Our image editor gives you all the tools that you need to create strong images that will engage your audience and perform well on social media. That being said, it still helps to have a good understanding of social image best practices so that you can maximize your potential. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Keep the images relatively simple. Lots of white space is typically a plus, and keeps the image looking clean and organized makes it more aesthetically pleasing, giving you more results.

Images with text are a good option. Whether you are adding an inspirational quote, a statistic from a case study or even a translucent text announcement over a product picture, images with text can do well on all social media channels.

Only use images you have the rights to. If you are using photos that you don’t have the legal rights to use, even if you have edited them, both the owners and social media platforms can come after you. Stick to using images that you have created or check out free stock photo sites like Pixabay and Unsplash. Look for “free for commercial use” images, and you will be in the clear.

Always use high-quality background images. If you are using background images, make sure they look great. High-resolution and well-focused images are critical for success.

Conclusion

Images are an essential part of social media marketing. Without them, you could lose clicks, message recall, engagement, and even momentum in the algorithms that dictate whose content is seen in the feeds.

SEMrush’s image editor solves a crucial pain point plaguing a lot of businesses and social media marketers, giving them an efficient way to create a number of different images that are perfectly optimized for social media quickly. By taking this concern out of the way, marketers can spend more time focusing on what truly matters most: building relationships with the customers themselves.

Want to try out our Image Editor?