Are you always on the look out for great graphics?

Especially at Christmas time?

Today I have some Free Printable Graphics for you… and a terrific tutorial!

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared any printable graphics with you, so I decided to take some time and create a few graphics in PicMonkey.

And then, I thought I’d show you…

How to Create Your Own Christmas Graphics in PicMonkey

This isn’t going to be a full-blown tutorial with screen shots and such.   But it will be a very detailed tutorial for the novice or newbie.

It was easy for me to create this graphic and the others that follow.  

Christmas ornaments in red and green at AnExtraordinaryDay.net

*this post contains affiliate links*

Here are the steps for creating your own graphic in PicMonkey:

  • For the ornament graphics, I selected “design” and chose an “8×10 canvas.”
  • The next thing you’ll need to do is choose a “canvas color.”  Just hit “apply” and you’ll get basic white which works for lots of graphics.
  • Then on the left, scroll down to the “snowflake” and click.  There at the top you’ll see “Santa Land.”  Click to open.
  • Next, scroll down to “ornaments.”
  • In order to use the same ornament I’m using, you’ll need PicMonkey Royale.  It’s seriously worth it.  You can do tweaks and edits with the free version.  But, having full access to all the graphics and fonts, alone is worth it.  Not to mention all the extra photo editing options that are available in PicMonkey Royale
  • Click on the blue ornament on the bottom row.
  • If you want to change the color of your ornament as I did, click on the blue box in the “overlay” box that flew on to your screen.
  • Choose a color by clicking one of the small color boxes.
  • To leave your ornament with a white design like I did here, you don’t have to do anything else with the “overlay” box.  Just click out of the box and it will disappear.
  • Next you’ll want to enlarge your ornament.  You can do that by clicking on it.  The frame will appear and you can place your mouse pointer at the bottom right hand corner and click and drag it until you get the size you’d like.
  • If you want multiple ornaments, right click on the ornament and choose “duplicate overlay.”
  • Repeat the process for as many ornaments as you’d like.
  • Next, you need to place your ornaments where you’d like them on your canvas.  Simply left click on the ornament and drag it into position.
  • You might be noticing that you cannot see the top of the ornament as it appears in my graphic.  That is why I added the green you see in the background.  The green sets off the white and gives it definition.
  • To add the green background, click on the “butterfly” icon on the left.
  • At the top you’ll see “Geometric.”  Click on it.
  • Then click on the solid round geometric.
  • Again, the “overlay” box came up.  Just the same as before, you can now select the color of your solid circle.
  • Next, you’ll want to size your solid circle.  Again, click on it, the frame will appear.  Left click and hold as you draw the bottom corner down and your circle will be enlarged.
  • When you are happy with the size of your solid circle, right click and choose “duplicate overlay.”  If you are copying my design, you’ll want to repeat the process again so you have three solid colored circles.
  • Don’t freak out because the solid circles are covering your ornaments.  You’ll want them to go behind the ornament… so right click on the solid circle again, and choose “send back” or “send backward.”  For our purposes here either is okay.  Keep in mind for future projects that “send back” will send it behind all your layers when you have multiple layers.  “Send backward” will just place it behind the top layer.
  • Now all you need to do is place your solid colored circles where you like them by left clicking and dragging.

That’s it!  You just created a fun 8×10 graphic.

What can you do with this graphic?  

  • Print it and use it to wrap a small box.
  • Print it on cardstock and cut to make gift tags.
  • Print it and place it in an 8×10 frame for a little fun color in a vignette.
  • Print it and place it in an 8×10 frame and place a favorite holiday photo in front of it.
  • Print it and place it in a frame with no glass and using stick tack or other temporary adhesive, stick an ornament on it for display.

Or… you could get all fancy like I did here and add another layer to the graphic with words for a fun Christmas printable.

 

Charles Dickens Christmas Quote FREE Printable at AnExtraordinaryDay.net

Download your FREE 8×10 Christmas Printable here.

 

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”–Charles Dickens

 

You’re probably wondering why this graphic looks different than the first one above.  What did I do?

Instead of using multiple circles, I used just one and increased the size to fill the whole space.  (Note: if you were going to do this from the beginning, it would be better to choose the left rectangular shape which can be stretched to fit your graphic.)

The green stays in the background as I described previously.

We have a few more steps…

  • Because you don’t want your ornaments moving around now that you’ve placed them, go to the gray bar at the top of your screen and click on the icon that looks like a mortar board with an arrow to the right and click on it.  By doing this, you permanently marry all the objects to the background.
  • Next, you’ll want to add an additional overlay.  Click on the “butterfly” and then choose the top left rectangle and click on it.
  • The overlay box will appear again and you can choose your color.  I chose white.
  • Next you’ll want to left click on the rectangle.  Holding the left click down, use your cursor to size the rectangle as you desire.
  • You’ll want to marry or combine all the image elements again, by clicking on the mortar board and downward arrow icon in the gray box at the top, again.  This will make it much easier for you as you work with your text.  (You may or may not choose to do this in the future… but it will make today’s project easier if you do.)
  • Now you’ll want to add your words.  Usually I will Google for quotes or sayings and copy them from the site and then paste them into the text box of PicMonkey.
  • To add text, click on the “Tt” icon on the left.
  • Then click on the “Add Text” box.
  • You’ll want to click on the text box and drag to increase the size to match the size of the white box you just created.
  • Place your cursor in the box and click.  Watch to see that you get a little vertical line to the left inside the box.  When that is there, you can either type or paste your text into the box.
  • Next click out of the text box.
  • Then with your cursor choose a font style you like.  For this I choose “League Gothic” because the type is fairly condensed and will take less space.
  • Next click on the text box.  Another help box will float up with text colors and a sizing bar.
  • Now you’ll want to highlight your text by clicking on the text frame with your quote.  (It will turn blue.)  With your cursor go to the “color” portion of the “Text” help box and drag your cursor until you find the color you’d like.  When you find it, “unclick” and your text will be the color you wish.
  • I centered my text for this graphic.  To do that, click on the text bar and then set your cursor on the “center text” icon on the “Text” help box.
  • To size your text, slide your cursor over to the size bar in the “Text” help box until you are pleased.
  • At this point you can be finished.
  • For the printable graphic above, I elected to use a fancy font for the word “Christmas.”
  • To do that, you’ll need to slide your cursor over the word(s) you want in a different font to highlight and then slide over to the text bar on the left (which should still be up) and choose your font.  Here I used “Mission Script” which is from PicMonkey Royale
  • In this case, I also increased the size of the font for Christmas to make it stand out even more.  You’ll want to highlight it with your cursor and then using the sizing slider in the “Text” help box, drag the bar to get your desired size.
  • I attributed my quote and chose to use a smaller sized font for that.  Again, all I did was highlight and then reduce the size with the sizing bar in the “Text” help box.
  • Once you’re happy with everything, you’ll want to save your work of art.
  • To save it, move your cursor to the gray box at the top and click “Save.”
  • Give it a title and THEN because this is a graphic, not a photograph, you’ll want to click on the arrow next to the right which says, “.jpg” and choose “.png.”  That will give you a cleaner image quality for printing, etc.  I try to remember to do that for all graphics that do not include photographs.   And all photographs should be “.jpg.”

 

This was a very detailed tutorial.  And though I didn’t give you any screen shots, you should be able to put this post in one tab of your browser and PicMonkey: crazy-awesome photo editing in another tab and be good to go.

If you give it a try… please let me know.

 

And now for fun… I have two more printables for you.

It’s actually just one graphic that I made a slight adaption to without too much extra effort, to create two different but similar versions.

 

5x7 free printable quote about snow at AnExtraordinaryDay.net

Download your FREE 5×7 Snow flurries Printable here.

 

Snow flurries began to fall - Free Printable Quote - AnExtraordinaryDay.net

Download your FREE 5×7 Snow globe Printable here.

 

“Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people’s legs like house cats.
It was magical, this snow globe world.” 
― Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

 

For these printables, I used “Winterscapes” (Royale) and “Snowfall” under the Winterland theme and my font selections were “Janda Stylish Script” (Royale) and “Amatic Small Caps.”

 

All my photo editing and graphics and printables are done on PicMonkey: crazy-awesome photo editing.  I LOVE it (him!).

He’s so cute and cuddly and smart.  Smart’s important to me, especially when I want to produce great looking photos and graphics.

Are you using PicMonkey?  If not, you should and get the upgrade to Royale right from the start.  If you don’t like it… I can’t imagine not… you can quit and any time.  I like that.

The big question is… “Can you use PicMonkey without Royale?”  The answer is yes, and I’ve done that, but seriously, you’ll be hitting your head often because you’ll want to do something that only PicMonkey Royale allows you to do.   And besides… who wants to walk around with a sore head all the time. 😉

For the scoop on why you should upgrade to PicMonkey Royale, click here.  Don’t miss it!!

Whether you read the scoop or not… it is a good deal. You will love it!    I didn’t tell you that because the Monkey will give me some mula for writing this post.  (Though he will if you upgrade to Royale through my links.)  Nope.  It’s because you’ll want to give it for Christmas gifts to all the photographers in your life who need a little photo editing help to make their good photos really great.  It’s even great for creating awesome flyers for your group.  And if you don’t have the Monkey and his Royale effects… well what are you waiting for? [big cheesy grin] Click the graphic below to upgrade NOW!

NEWS FLASH!  Sign up now and get a 30-Day FREE Trial!!

 

Thank you for stopping by today!

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Best wishes for an Extraordinary season of Christmas!
Diane

P.S.  I recently put together a fabulous gift guide for the hostess and entertainer.  It’s filled with thoughtful and practical gifts at various price points.  (I’d love them all!!)  And it’s okay to gift yourself, too! 😉

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Comments

  1. i did it. fun. thanks for sharing

    • Diane says

      Carrie, you created your own graphic with the tutorial? Fabulous!! I’m so happy you did and had fun with it.
      Thanks for letting me know, too!! 🙂

      All the best for a blessed Christmas!

  2. That’s a beautiful graphic, Diane! I’ve never worked with pic monkey before, I think is time to give it a try. Thanks for the tut!

    • Diane says

      Cristina…I do hope you’ll give it a try. I’ve really enjoyed using PicMonkey. 🙂 If you need help… just holler! 😉
      Out of curiosity…what is it you use right now?

  3. I love this, thanks for much for all the great, detailed info!

    • Diane says

      Thanks Rocio!
      All the best for an extraordinary day!

  4. I love PicMonkey! This is a great tutorial! Featuring you tomorrow. XO, Aimee – ItsOverflowing.com

    • Diane says

      Aimee.. you just made my day!!!!
      Thank you so much! It means so much! [[hugs]]

  5. This is a great tutorial Diane! I use Picmonkey, but haven’t bitten the bullet yet to get the upgrade. One of these days I probably will. I especially love the second one with the falling snow. So pretty! Thank you for sharing at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a merry Christmas season!

    Blessings, Deborah

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