How to make image templates in Photoshop for Pinterest

As a blogger and creative entrepreneur, I often have to create new images for my blog, for product mockups, or for social media sites. This is why I love making image templates. The advantages are many, and the most important for me is that I save precious time. Instead of starting from scratch every time you need an image, you can open your template and add text and maybe a photo. It only takes a few minutes once you have settled on a design.

Here are a few features that help me create images in Photoshop:

Watch how I make image templates in Photoshop

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Watch the video on Youtube.

Layout and size

The first thing you have to do is settle on size and layout. For my blog, I like to use 800 x 1200px images; 800px wide because that is the width of my blog, and vertical images because they are more likely to be pinned. This isn’t the only size I use, I also have templates for my Etsy listings and social media sites.

Color swatches

View the Swatches window by going to Windows/Swatches. After emptying the standard swatch, you can add the color scheme you’ve chosen for your blog. You can save it from the drop-down menu at the right side of the panel.

Besides my blog’s colors, I also save the palettes I use for my clients, my premade themes, and even the items I have in my clip-art shop. It’s a very easy way to keep track of all the colors you use.

Working with layers and folders

One of the first things you learn if you take a Photoshop class: you should never work on the original layer. And layers are not only helpful for photo editing, they are also good for creating images for your blog.

You can access the Layers panel from Windows/Layers. At the bottom, you can find a small menu that lets you create new layers, folders, and adjust the images. At the top, you have blending modes and opacity.

My templates are divided into three folders:

• background: here I keep all the backgrounds I use; you can easily make a background invisible by clicking on the eye icon on the left side of the layer
• middle: this is where I keep all the graphic elements like lines or the PSD icon you can see in the featured image
• text: as the name says, this one is for the text files; I use two fonts, and the image template helps me remember their names

Tip: If your background image is too dark, you can lighten it by decreasing the opacity.

Read more: Working with layers in Photoshop

Using rulers and guides

I love using rulers and image guides. I like to create guides for the center of the canvas or like in the image above, to help me align the text.

You can access the rulers from View/Rulers or by pressing Ctrl+R. To build a guide, you just have to click on the horizontal or vertical ruler and drag it to the position you want. If you have Snap checked (View/Snap), the guide will snap into place when it’s in the middle of your canvas. You can also feel the same thing happening with your text or images.

Consistent typography

If you love typography as much as I do, you are probably tempted to change fonts every time you make a new image. This is not the best idea if you want to create a consistent look for your blog. You can choose one or two fonts and play with size, style, or sharpness.

Saving your template

You should save your template as PSD. This way you can edit it as many times as you want. If the images you create are for web use, your should use the ‘Save for web’ option.

Once you have your first template ready, it’s very easy to update. You can add text, new backgrounds, and graphic elements, and you can even modify its size from Image/Canvas Size. It will modify the size of your canvas without altering your graphics. As you templates will eventually change, you can save them over the old ones.

If you don’t have Photoshop, there many free alternatives out there.

Do you use image templates for your blog or business?

Download 3 free blog image templates from the library

These blog image templates are an easy way to create eye-catching and consistent blog post graphics. You can update them with your own photos and fonts, and even create new styles once you are more familiar with them.

The blog post graphics require Adobe Photoshop CS5 or newer and basic Photoshop skills.

Sign up for the newsletter and you will receive access to the library. Besides the image templates, you will find blog planners and other printables.

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