Placeit.com is a fantastic resource for students who need templates, mockups, and other graphic designs and/or tools for school-related projects. Unfortunately, users are required to purchase a subscription plan if they want access to everything the website has to offer. While subscriptions cost less than $15 a month, most students are living on limited funds and need to save wherever possible. This is why many are curious whether Placeit offers a student discount.

There is currently no student discount available on Placeit to reduce subscription costs. However, the website frequently offers sales to make its products more budget friendly. Discount codes meant strictly for students are often available in August and September for the “back to school” season.

In this article, we will discuss how students can use Placeit’s exceptional products at little to no cost. We’ll also discuss whether it is worthwhile for students to invested their limited funds in a monthly or yearly Placeit subscription.

Does Placeit Offer Free Trials and Content?

It’s understandable that students and other individuals who are interested in what Placeit has to offer would prefer to test its features before paying for a subscription plan. One way that countless companies allow you to do this is through a free trial period, but is Placeit one of them?

Unfortunately, Placeit does not currently offer free trials. This is largely due to the fact that the company frequently offers discount and coupon codes, as well as free templates, mockups, and more that uncertain individuals can test out before deciding if a monthly or annual subscription is worthwhile for them.

If you’d like to try some of Placeit’s free templates, you can follow the link here. You’ll find an array of graphic designs, social media templates, and editable products, amongst other options within this library that you can alter and download free of charge. Of course, the library is fairly limited compared to what you have access to with a subscription, but it’s a great starting point, nonetheless.

A less commonly known way that Placeit users can obtain free access to the website’s content is by attempting to cancel their subscription. Yes, the catch here is that you have to already pay for a Placeit subscription to be eligible for this option, but sometimes if you try to cancel your subscription, Placeit will offer you a promotion in a final attempt to keep your support.

One of these promotion options is a free month, so if you decided to pay for one month and aren’t sure if you want to continue, you could see if you can get this free month from Placeit before finally deciding to end your subscription.

How Can Students Lower Their Placeit Costs?

While there isn’t an official student discount to help lower the cost of Placeit items, there are other options that anyone can use to their advantage.

The most common and effective way that Placeit users can get a discount on Placeit is by using a coupon code. Placeit offers year-round coupon codes to content creators to share with potential users, like this coupon for 15% off any plan, which is the most reliable way to get a discount.

Another way you can save big on Placeit costs is by opting for their annual subscription plan over their monthly subscription plan. As a student it’s understandable that a monthly payment of $14.95 is much more affordable than a single payment of $89.65, but if you do the math, this one-time annual payment actually saves you a lot of money overall. By the end of the year, you’ll save twice as much in subscription fees.

Of course, this also comes down to whether you think you’ll use Placeit enough throughout the year to justify paying for an annual subscription.

Is a PlaceIt Subscription Worth It For Students?

After seeing the prices of a Placeit subscription and its limited number of free templates, its safe to say that many students will heavily weigh the website’s pros and cons to determine if its worth the cost. They might even compare it to competitors like Canva.

A Placeit subscription is worthwhile for any student who needs to create the following items on a regular basis and prioritize a high quality, impactful result using minimal effort:

• mock-ups
• logos
• design templates
• animated videos

By “regularly,” we mean that students will most likely need to use Placeit’s resources multiple times a month, if not weekly, to justify its cost. Especially since it has free options available that students can use on the rare occasion without paying monthly fees.

Compared to Canva, a popular competitor, Placeit is the preferrable choice for students who also prioritize extensive customization options and want access to the largest library of mockup designs offered by any design site (Placeit has over 90,000 templates compared to Canva’s 10,000).

That being said, if you’re a student who truly can’t afford a monthly Placeit subscription, then Canva is the place for you. The majority of this website’s templates are freely accessible. The only costs associated with Canva are for premium features, if you choose to use them.

Canva also offers templates that are bit less niche than Placeit. Many of Placeit’s templates tailor towards gaming, business products, and logos, whereas Canva offers types of templates students will more commonly use, such as resumes, posters, and presentations.  

Final Thoughts

Placeit might not have a student discount, but there are numerous alternative methods students can use to reduce their purchase prices and monthly subscription costs, like using a content creators year-round 15% off coupon code.

Of course, there is also the question of whether this investment is worthwhile compared to the free templates that students can access on Canva that might be more appropriate to their needs. In the end, this comes down to the individual regarding what types of templates they require and how often they intend to use these resources.

Illustrator is an Adobe product that helps graphic designers with vector editing and creating. This handy tool is useful to have around, but some designers and artists prefer to use different versions of it.

Yes, you can have multiple versions of Illustrator installed. While Adobe provides limited support for past versions of Illustrator, users of the software are welcome to keep past versions if they choose.

There may actually be some benefits to having multiple versions on Illustrator installed. If you are interested in how to do this, read on below to find out more about what it entails.

Can You Have Multiple Versions of Illustrator Installed?

Adobe Illustrator was first released in 1987, and has since provided users with the tools to create and edit vector graphics. This helps with achieving high-quality results that can be scaled without losing polish. Different versions offer variations in the user experience.

The most recent version of Illustrator for desktop is 27.0, released in October 2022. This indicates the popularity of the program, with many users having a favorite version of it. Adobe allows the use of multiple versions of Illustrator for those who prefer that access.

Can I Have Two Versions of Illustrator?

You can have up to two versions of Illustrator installed at once. Using the latest two full versions of the program will also give you access to support from Adobe. Juggling between two different versions can open up a wide range of tools for your vector graphics.

Multiple versions of Illustrator can be installed, but using two allows you to explore the best of your favorites. You can either opt for the latest two versions to make sure you get dedicated support for them, or opt between the newest and an older one of your choosing.

How to Install Multiple Versions of Illustrator

While you can have multiple versions of Illustrator installed, you may not be aware of how to have more than one on your computer.

Following these steps will help you have two separate versions of Illustrator instead of downgrading or upgrading one.

1. Open the Creative Cloud App

When you install Adobe products on your computer, you will automatically have access to the Creative Cloud app. This is where you’ll see all your installed Adobe software under ‘All Apps’. You can also filter them by category.

The Creative Cloud app will show you the available updates for your Adobe programs, and it will also show you the versions you have installed. If you want to have multiple versions of Illustrator, first open the Creative Cloud to see what you have available.

When you are in the Creative Cloud app, make sure to go to the ‘Apps’ section and scroll down to the very bottom of the list. You should enable the ‘show older apps’ setting to check all versions you have installed.

If you don’t see the version of Illustrator you want there, you should go to its installation page on the Adobe website. You can Google the version of Illustrator you want, or go to the product page and customize your options there.

2. Check This Option When Installing New Versions

When you want to install new versions of Illustrator, make sure to pay attention to the installer. This will come with its own options, that you can access by clicking on the Alt or Option key.

In the options menu for the installer, uncheck the ‘remove older versions’ box. This will prevent the versions of Illustrator you already have from being automatically upgraded. Once you do this, you will be able to have multiple versions of Illustrator installed.

You can always double check on the versions you have installed after adding a new one to your collection.

3. Download Newer Versions via Creative Cloud

If you want to have quicker access to the newer versions of Illustrator, bear in mind that you can install the two newest options from the Creative Cloud app. This will save you some time and ensure you have full Adobe support for your versions of Illustrator.

When you use the Creative Cloud app to install other versions of Adobe Illustrator, here’s what to do:

1. Scroll to the app you want to get, in this case Illustrator.
2. Click on the ‘more options’ icon, usually represented by three dots.
3. Click on ‘other versions’.
4. You will see a list of available versions of Illustrator
5. Click on ‘install’ next to your preferred version. This is where you can also uninstall versions of Illustrator you no longer need.

4. Make Sure to Preserve Previous Versions with Creative Cloud

When you use the Creative Cloud app to install different versions of Illustrator, there are some ways to ensure your previous versions won’t be replaced. You should open your Creative Cloud app then click on the account icon, which you’ll find on the right at the top.

Click on ‘preferences’, followed by ‘apps’. Enable the auto-update option to make sure that all your Adobe programs are operating optimally without hassle. You will then see a list of all your apps.

Go to Illustrator and click on ‘advanced options’. You will see a drop-down list that includes ‘import previous settings and preferences’ and ‘remove older versions’. Make sure to uncheck ‘remove older versions’.

The most recent two versions of Illustrator can both receive updates, and using this method will keep them current without removing either of them.

Can You Have Two Versions of Adobe on Your Computer?

When you purchase Adobe products, you will be linking them to your Adobe license. This will authorize these products for use on your computer. The Adobe license allows you to have up to two versions of the company’s products installed.

While you will be able to authorize your Adobe license on two separate computers, you will only be able to use it on one at a time. Make sure to keep your Illustrator versions on the main computer you use.

Conclusion

You can have multiple versions of Illustrator installed on your computer if you’d like. This is especially useful if you want a broader enjoyment of this vector graphics editing software without narrowing it down to one version.

Placeit.net has significantly impacted the print-on-demand industry during the past few years. Placeit has become one of the top mockup file-generation companies on the web. Using placeit with printful provides its challenges; however, you need to know to use placeit with printful and keep your Zen in focus.

Placeit is used with printful in creating mockup files to help market print-on-demand products. Placeit is not a print-on-demand company, but a mockup generation software designed to aid store owners.

Printful allows for several integrations into the platform. Most provide an easy connection between a marketplace and the printful back office that a seller can access. These integrations include a lot of options except for placeit.net. Using placeit with printful is done by successively using both programs to get the files into printful.

Pro Tip: Placeit also offers an additional 15% off any plan with this coupon.

How do You Connect Placeit with Printful?

No API connection allows a person to connect placeit with the printful mockup generator tool. These two tools are separate, and although printful recommends using Placeit.net they do not offer an integration. The only way is to manually download the design files from placeit.net and then upload them into printful.

Follow these steps to use placeit mockups on printful.

1. Create or upload your design on placeit.net
2. Choose the best template for your design or create your own mockups
3. Download the mockup files from placeit.net
4. Upload the mockup files to printful

Connecting Placeit.net with Shopify or Big Commerce

When drafting this article, there is no app in either platform’s store to connect placeit.net with these seller platform services. Therefore, the method above is used; instead of uploading to the “mockup” files, one would upload the mockup images to the product images files and assign the correct variables to the variants.

Can Placeit.net be connected to Etsy, eBay, or Amazon Marketplaces?

Placeit.net does not offer integrations for any marketplace or platform. The site offers so many templates for various projects that it would be impractical to integrate with each platform. Instead, Placeit.net focuses more on providing lifestyle mockups, videos, advertisements, and even social media platform posts.

The best way to use placeit.net is to find the perfect mockup template and download that template. Then upload the template featuring the product to the product images tabs on these marketplaces. As a result, the product files display the best work, and the image files are also optimized for quality. Placeit.net provides downloadable mockup templates in various file formats to upload to a marketplace.

Can Placeit.net be Used for Print On-Demand?

Several mockup generation tools and techniques focus on different niches, but placeit.net has really narrowed down the right tools for many industries. Placeit’s focus is not on the product side of the industry but on the marketing side industry. Placeit provides a service by creating templates that sellers can use to generate a self-reflection for potential buyers.

Want a tutorial on how to use Placeit for Print On-Demand, here’s a free YouTube video showing how to make print on-demand t-shirt designs using Placeit.

The method works in numerous ways, but the focus is on the developed template designed for a specific audience. Therefore, the product is not relevant to the functioning of the mockup file, only the essence of the situation the models are in, videos that capture the emotion, images, and other creative tools designed solely to highlight the best features of any given product.

The product itself, or the design, is the focus of the individual seller or creator; the magic for companies such as placeit or Canva is displaying that unique creative talent to the world. In that sense, placeit.net is the perfect tool for creating mockup files for multiple businesses. Many businesses already use placeit to create mockup photos of some of their best products.

Placeit and print on demand are like two peas in a P.O.D.

Placeit is the place for print on demand except when looking for service providers. Placeit is a design-focused company and does not produce products other than the templates one can use. Therefore, a person would need to search for a print-on-demand provider to work with placeit.

Placeit provides lifestyle mockups for a variety of products, such as:

• Wall art
• Tumblers
• T-shirts
• Leggings
• Videos
• Coffee Mugs
• Apparel

Using my Own Designs with Printful

Printful has a listing tool already available; if a store is connected to that listing tool, one does not need to upload the print file directly to the printful. Instead, the store owner can bypass this step and upload the mockup file directly to the store or marketplace. Most sellers prefer this option over an instantaneous connection as it allows them more control over the customer experience.

Printful provides the steps needed to upload mockup files to their website for any connected stores. Simply put, delete the listing from the marketplace, make the changes in printful, and relist the item. Printful recommends changing the mockups around various times throughout the year, such as holidays or dedicated events.

Including some of these mockups in a product portfolio when creating them allows a store owner to have them ready when the time comes around. This method unquestionably saves time and energy for the store owner.

How Does Canva Stack Up Against Placeit?

Canva and placeit are similar because they provide a space for design work. However, the two companies are vastly different in what designs are created. Placeit provides product and video templates to specifically showcase print-on-demand products. While Canva is focused more on graphic design options for a general audience.

Placeit and Canva can both be used to create mockup files. At the same time, placeit has a lot of template options already available; Canva will require some more remarkable skill as one has more control over the contents of the design template. So, in theory, Canva is good for design creation, while placeit is good for both design creation and mockup generation.

Using Placeit with Printful Gives More Options

Using other templates from other mockup generators is similar; the main difference between all providers is the experience and items available to the seller. For example, Printful provides mockups that benefit almost any store owner. However, the aftermarket mockup generators give more options and a better-quality tool than printful.

The content creator or artist often copyrights art, covers, and other pieces to keep others from stealing their work. Placeit designs are meant to be edited and sold to others, so what does that mean for the copyrights?

The content sold on Placeit.net is not copyrighted, in fact everything downloaded from Placeit.net is copyright-free and come with a commercial usage license.

There are many things you need to know when purchasing or selling any work on Placeit regarding copyrighting. Here is everything you need to know about the content on this website.

Are All Placeit Designs Copyrighted?

No, the material you find on Placeit is not copyrighted, it is all copyright-free. This is because the content on this website is sold from templates and customized with changes.

If Placeit were to copyright protect their material, it would become quite messy for all parties involved, including Placeit, so it is much easier to offer a copyright-free product. Here are some crucial facts to know when it comes to Placeit content:

1. Easier to transfer artwork and other products
2. The product is “As Is”
3. Watermark deters plagiarism
4. Copyrighted material will be taken down
5. Placeit has a single license
6. You are responsible for your content

Knowing these facts will help you navigate this website and similar websites.

1. Easier To Transfer Artwork And Other Products

When the artist or content creator has copyrighted their work, they must sign it to the buyer. This process can be quite cumbersome because contracts would have to be created and signed by each party.

When the work is copyright free, there is no need for contracts or details. As a buyer, you can keep the product without fearing the artist will ask for more money later or having the copyrights revert back to the artist.

2. Product Is “As Is”

The product is as is, meaning you will not get any variations or major edits. There are some small details you can edit, especially when it comes to cover designs.

Selling the product as is makes transferring ownership easier, just like having the product copyright-free. Adding any specifications can cause the transfer of ownership more complex, and Placeit makes this process easier.

3. Watermark Deters Plagiarism

Every piece of artwork, cover design, and other content has a watermark on it to deter people from plagiarizing the work. Being copyright-free means pursuing someone legally. If they try to steal the product, it won’t be easy.

The watermark on the content helps with this, so you don’t have to worry about your product being stolen or buying a product that other people are using. 

4. Copyrighted Material Will Be Taken Down

Copyrighted material will be removed from the sight because it’s a copyright-free site. If you copyright your material, it will be taken down. If they find it copyrighted, it will be taken down.

Buyers have a subscription with Placeit to buy products easily without all the paperwork. They don’t want copyrighted material that could be used against them later on. The only exceptions are if someone uploads stolen work.

5. Placeit Has A Single License

Placeit has a commercial single license on any of its templates and products on its website. This provides more time for creating designs rather than the licenses that may come with it. There are fewer details to make things complicated.

6. You Are Responsible For Your Content

With everything being copyright-free, in the end, you are responsible for your content, whether it is something you bought or something you created. So you need to ensure that everything is backed up and safe, so you don’t lose it.

There are many ways you can keep your account and content safe from being lost. These steps include the following:

• Storing a copy on a flash drive or computer
• Ensure you take internet safety seriously
• Do a two-step verification on your account
• Keep your devices protected with virus protection
• Don’t fall for scams or phishing schemes

These steps will reduce the risk of losing your content. It makes it harder for scammers and hackers to get ahold of your content.

Outro

Copyrighting artwork and other content is common within the digital art world. It protects artists and creators from people stealing their work, but due to Placeit’s business model, everything created on Placeit is copyright-free and comes with commercial usage rights. You, as a buyer, don’t have to worry about any hidden requirements in a contract that sometimes come with copyrighted work.

You and many others have been in a position where you are still figuring yourself out. You want to be a graphic designer, and you may want to go back to school for it or work freelance. Searching through school majors, you notice the liberal arts section where it says ‘graphic design’ and you wonder whether this is a valid category and whether it should even be considered as such.

Yes, graphic design is considered a liberal art. Under the liberal arts category, one of the subcategories is creative arts, where graphic design falls. However, people often wonder if someone interested in graphic design even needs a degree to have a successful career.

Throughout this article, we will learn about if graphic design is considered a liberal art, whether you need a degree to become a graphic designer, the various benefits, and how to become a successful graphic designer.

Is Graphic Design Considered Liberal Arts?

Yes, graphic design is considered liberal arts.

Within the liberal arts degree, various categories range from literature to creative arts, which is where graphic design is categorized under. As long as the degree you want to obtain is artistic, yes, it is considered liberal arts.

If you do ample or small amounts of research online, you will notice that there are also graphic designers who work freelance. If you want to become a graphic designer and work freelance, when first working towards this career, you may wonder whether you’ll need a degree in graphic design or if you can learn and develop the skills of your own accord.

Through the continuation of this article, you will quickly learn whether you need a degree to be a graphic designer.

Do You Need a Degree to be a Graphic Designer?

No, you do not need a degree to become a freelance graphic designer.

However, you will need a degree if you want a stable income and a 9-5 job in graphic design. For a degree at the primary level, you will need an associate degree. Still, to ensure more opportunities in finding a job, you will need a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

Whether you obtain a degree or work freelance, there are significant benefits to being a graphic designer. Let’s continue reading to learn about graphic designers’ benefits.

What Are the Benefits of Being a Graphic Designer?

The responsibility of becoming a graphic designer is heavy, but there are many benefits to having a career in one. Let’s continue to read further to learn more about the five benefits of being a graphic designer.

Choice of a 9-5 Or Freelancing

You have the choice to become a freelance graphic designer or work a 9-5 job. You can choose whether or not you want to build up your clientele, showcasing your talents personally. A benefit to either route is that you can network, build relationships with others, and build your portfolio. Either way, the goal is to work towards having a stable income.

The Ability to Become Creative Every Day

You can become creative every day. Every day you will have a clientele load, whether freelance or working with a team, the artistic expression is exhibited. The job of a graphic designer is to transform a client’s ideas or dreams into reality. Because of this, the job of a graphic designer never gets boring.

You Are Helping Others Develop Their Careers

You are helping others develop their careers or brands further. An essential aspect of having a successful career and brand is the ability to market themselves, making them stand out from their competition. Creating websites and gaining a following on social media is what a graphic designer is supposed to help the business owner with.

You Can Work With Others

Working with others will help you get your creative juices flowing by bouncing ideas off each other. If you are working with a team, it will differentiate every time. You can range from working with a smaller group of graphic designers to working with a large group. This is beneficial in preventing you from becoming a one-dimensional graphic designer.

Becoming More Social

You will become more social if you work with a group of graphic designers. Becoming a graphic designer is a job that requires socializing with teammates and clients. Over time, socializing with others will prevent you from having a difficult time speaking with others.

To reap the benefits of becoming a graphic designer, you will need to learn how to become a successful graphic designer. Naturally, success is a subjective term defined differently by everyone, but overall becoming established is helpful in learning. As we continue to read this article, we will learn about various tips for becoming a successful graphic designer.

How to Become a Successful Graphic Designer?

For many working towards becoming successful graphic designers, it can be overwhelmingly intimidating and challenging, so helpful tips are great when given. However, the work towards becoming one is gratifying.

To become a successful graphic designer, you would need to follow various tips that include:

1. Continue furthering your education.
2. Network in-person and on social media.
3. Build up your portfolio.
4. Decide whether you want to have a specific niche or experiment with everything.
5. Determine and experiment with various graphic design software to determine your best fit.
6. Market your graphic design business.

Let’s continue reading to learn more about six graphic designer career tips for you to become more successful.

6 Graphic Designer Career Tips 

To have a successful career, you need to have what you define as “success.” Becoming a successful graphic designer is challenging, and it is helpful to some to go by various tips to help them in their career. Let’s continue to read further about six graphic designer career tips.

Active Learning

Active learning and furthering your education are essential within any niche you want to accomplish. Continue to further your education in graphic design. Things are progressing further, so there is plenty to learn and keep up to date with. You can continue to actively learn by taking online courses, watching videos surrounding graphic design, or furthering your education at university.

Network with Others

Network with others. Develop relationships with other mind-like, well-known graphic designers in-person at events and through social media. Social media makes it simpler to connect with others and develop relationships with them. Showcase your talents on social media, and make sure you link your website or any other place to showcase your graphic design portfolio.

Build Up Your Portfolio

Build up your portfolio. To become a successful graphic designer, you need to have some graphic designs under your belt for others, i.e., potential clients, to see. To appropriately build up your portfolio, start early. You can have a digital portfolio and a physical one, or one or the other. But, overall, have it ready for potential clients to see. 

Have a Specific Niche Or Experiment with Everything

There are different types of graphic design. Find a niche you are willing to become an expert on or experiment with everything and become an expert on more than one niche. Having a specific niche gives you the chance to excel, but experimenting with every type of graphic design gives you leverage to increase your likelihood of increasing your clientele.

Experiment and Determine Your Preferred Software

Experiment with the various software for your graphic design and determine your preferred software. After you’ve used websites, such as placeit.net, to design your graphic design, research the various photoshop software and compare and contrast what works and doesn’t work for you. This will help you narrow down your go-to software for your client’s orders.

Market Your Business

Market your graphic design business if you plan to work as a freelancer. Create a website, create ads, and increase your social media presence to gain traction for yourself and your business. Make sure that if you develop these various ads and websites, they stand out from the competition but still hold to who you are and your brand.

Closing

Now that you know graphic design is a liberal art, you will have the tools to determine whether you want to pursue an educational career to obtain your graphic design degree. You’ve also learned about the various benefits of being a graphic designer and how to become a successful graphic designer.

If you are using images or see pictures you would like to use that have watermarks, you may wonder if you are allowed to remove the watermark from them.

In short, it is absolutely illegal to remove a watermark from any picture. This falls under the US Copyright Act, section 1202. A watermark can’t be removed without the explicit consent of the owner.

That is the basic answer to this question, but below we will give you a little more insight into watermarks and the laws that protect them.

Is It Illegal to Remove a Watermark from a Picture

Copyright laws, in general, can be quite daunting to search through, and many people have mistakenly used copyrighted material. There are hefty fines and penalties for breaking these laws.

As far as watermarks go and the legality of removing them and the language of the Copyright Act itself, are relatively straightforward. This means that under no circumstance is it legal to remove a watermark without the direct consent of the person who owns the picture rights.

Why Is It Illegal to Remove Watermarks

Besides the fact the Copyright Act exists, it’s morally and ethically wrong to steal someone’s work. Artists work hard to capture beautiful images to either showcase or sell. Theft of photos happens more often to smaller artists and not big corporations.

What is happening is people may see the image you removed the watermark from and with no link back to them, get zero recognition for the hard work they put in to deliver that image, regardless if it’s actual pictures taken or digital art.

Penalties

There are severe consequences to breaking copyright laws and that should make anyone take a second to think about their actions. Is it really worth having to pay thousands in fines or do jail time?

Not only do you need to be concerned about the government coming after you for criminal charges, but you can be sued civilly as well. What this means is you can have criminal charges leveraged against you and be sued by the artist or company.

There is no set amount for how much a person can sue you for in this scenario, but you are looking at very hefty lawsuits and if you lose, court fees are tacked onto that as well.

Imprisonment

One of the penalties for copyright infringement can include up to 5 years in prison. This also isn’t simply going to jail, more often than not it is charged as a federal crime. The federal government can charge it as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the situation.

Removing a watermark and using it may end up leaning more toward the felony charge. You may also think you won’t get charged or caught, but the truth is you can simply be the unlucky person that does get caught.

Fines

Each violation can be charged up to $250,000 PER violation.

And again, the likelihood of being hit with such a massive fine is not super likely. However, it is significantly cheaper to simply purchase the rights to an image than it is to be hit with any amount of fine from the government.

How to Use a Watermarked Image

You can’t legally remove the watermark and use the image however you want. There are a couple of solutions here if you genuinely love the image!

Pay the Artist

This is the easiest and most straightforward way to get what you want. Reach out to the copyright holder and ask them if you can purchase a watermark-free version of the image. Remember, they are not obligated to sell the rights if they do not want to.

Keep in mind, you do need to inform them it is for commercial use if you plan to sell the image on any type of merch or print. Commercial use fees are significantly more expensive, but if you are caught the artist may sue for the income you earned on selling copies of their work.

Ask the Artist

If you don’t plan on showcasing the picture anywhere, some artists will allow you to have the photo without a watermark. You need to get their consent for it and they’ll send you the file.

Keep in mind, you can’t suddenly change your mind and try to use it publicly to make money off of it because you can be sued.

Conclusion

Copyright comes with some pretty strict guidelines on how to maneuver the sometimes very confusing field. However, never remove a watermark without the copyright holder’s permission or you may land yourself in hot water.

Just because an image is publicly posted somewhere, that does not mean it is free to use however people would like.

As an author, designing a book cover is just as important as writing the story itself because it’s what introduces people to your work first. If you’ve seen all those amazing pictures on Pinterest, you may be curious to know if you can use those for your own cover.

It is generally not possible to design a book cover on Pinterest. In order to commercially use a photo, you need to have permission from the copyright holder or have the right to use it by purchasing a license.

Now, there is a lot of information when it comes to book covers, images, and copyrights. I’m going to help you understand how to use those inspirational Pinterest boards to your advantage so you can create the book cover of your dreams.

How do I Make a Book Cover on Pinterest

Pinterest doesn’t have any software to make the book cover itself. Paint, Photoshop, and Gimp are your best bets. However, Pinterest can help you find your inspiration and maybe even some images that you can track down the commercial use rights for.

Remember, it is very important you don’t use an image without the rights or written permission because this can end up in your book being pulled from websites and you can end up being sued for using the photos and profiting off of them.

Inspiration

Pinterest is amazing for finding things that inspire you so you can visualize your cover, or just putting together images that really hit on the aesthetic of the story you want to tell. Once you have the images you really like, you can find similar ones on stock photo websites.

These will require you to pay for rights to use the image, which is normal for this industry. There are tons of websites that sell images and if you don’t like basic stock sites, you can also find specialized websites that will sell commercial use licenses for custom photos they have taken.

There are incredible photographers that can make some really beautiful images for you to put on your cover and a lot of them don’t charge nearly as much as big stock photo websites. A lot of these photos can be found on Pinterest, just make sure you go to their website or social media.

Pinterest can be used in numerous ways that don’t revolve around actually using the photos you find but can be used to look at other covers people have made and get an idea of what you would like and what sells in the market you are trying to hit.

Using the Images

While you can’t just take images off of Pinterest to use for commercial purposes, many of these photos link back to the creator of them and a lot of them do have the option to purchase rights or maybe even lead you to more of the works you love.

Now, if you happen to reach out and they are not wanting their work to be used for a book, take the inspiration and make an aesthetic board on Pinterest and find similar works that you actually can use.

While searching on Pinterest, you can also look up free use and find photos that photographers/artists have put up on the internet for people to use and edit without having to pay for rights or ask permission.

However, make sure you double check it is free to use. If it is, then you are in the clear to put it on the cover of your book and use it. These free-use images are honestly used a lot on covers but they can be incredible with some tweaking. It’s fairly simple to turn a regular image into a fantastic book cover.

Pinterest has a plethora of images and inspiration for you to pull from and it is honestly such an invaluable resource for authors and book designers. There is so much creativity on there that you should absolutely take full advantage of it, even if you don’t end up using images from it.

Legalities of Using Pinterest

So, as we’ve covered before, using images commercially requires permission or purchasing the rights. A lot of new authors may not be aware that using these photos without permission can result in huge legal issues.

You should know that if you are caught using them without permission the owner can file a copyright claim and Amazon or any other publisher will pull your book down and potentially ban you from publishing with them again.

You also have to worry about the monetary consequences of it. You can be sued for everything you’ve made on the book and then some. If it’s an honest mistake, some may be willing to let it go as long as you pay for the rights or find a new cover. But the risk of being sued is still very real.

These are the two big ones but you may also have to worry about damaging your own reputation because of it. If you aren’t sure if something is free-use then the best idea is to seek out the creator of the image or simply move on to something else that has less risk carried with it.

A better option is to hire someone to make the cover for you and send them your Pinterest board for elements that you would like to see. Professional cover designers are very aware of the copyright risks that are present.

Conclusion

As you can see there is a lot that goes into using images for book covers and a lot of legal lines you need to watch out for. Pinterest is used best for inspiration or even finding photographers whose work you really enjoy.

And the big takeaway is to be aware of what you are using and make sure you have explicit consent to use it commercially because if not you can damage your wallet and your reputation, which is something that can be very hard to bounce back from.

When it comes to providing digital creators with unprecedented access to mutable content, there is arguably no platform better than Placeit parent company Envato. For $16.50 per month, artists get access to a vast library of media unmatched by most platforms. But is Envato really worth the money?

Envato is more than worth it for artists who use the platform regularly. Its vast content library will help designers find the perfect piece for their project while saving on royalty fees.

With that said, Envato may not necessarily be a slam dunk for everyone. You need to carefully determine how an Envato subscription fits into your business. Keep reading for everything you need to know about deciding on an Envato subscription!

Is Envato Worth the Money?

Yes, Envato is undoubtedly worth the money for digital artists.

An artist is only as good as his or her tools, and Envato provides an unprecedented array of tools for digital creators. 

For a modest $16.50 per month, Envato subscribers get access to:

• An immense collection of royalty free stock photos
• A library of royalty free audio and audio templates
• Themes and templates for websites
• Royalty free videos and video templates
• 3D print models
• And much more!

You wouldn’t try to paint a portrait without brushes. Likewise, you shouldn’t try to create digital art without Envato.

How to Determine if Envato Is Worth the Money

Okay, so we feel pretty strongly that Envato is well worth the money. However, it is understandable that $16.50 a month, while modest, will be a little tougher to swallow for some artists than others. With this in mind, let’s take a close look at exactly how to break down if Envato is worth the money.

Look at What Royalties Would Cost on a Case By Case Basis

There are some royalty free platforms out there that don’t require a subscription. For example, Unsplash and Pexels are a couple of examples of such places for royalty free stock photos.

While this seems convenient, there are a couple of issues with these types of platforms. First of all, the content is extremely limited. The chances of you finding the ideal piece for your project is next to none. In addition, these platforms are so heavily used, that you will likely see the same stock free images floating around in multiple projects across the web, hurting limiting how original you can make your designs.

As a result, if you want to find the perfect piece for your project, you will likely have to pay royalties to avoid copyright infringements. There are many ways royalties are structured. Some owners charge a one-time fee, while others charge a smaller recurring fee for each reproduction. 

Either way, the cost of paying royalties may have you wishing you had paid for Envato’s vast library of content. 

Assess Where You Are at in Your Creative Journey

If you are just getting started as a digital creator, you may be able to get away with using basic stock photos, clipart, video clips, and other basic content. So an Envato subscription may not be necessary as you get your feet wet.

However, if you are more experienced and want to broaden your creative horizons, you will want to upgrade the content at your disposal through an Envato subscription. 

What Percent of Your Business Revenue Does It Represent?

Another important factor to look at when deciding on a subscription is how much revenue you actually generate as a digital creator. If you are selling less than $100 of art per month, it may be a stretch to call an Envato subscription worth it. On the other hand, if you have a thriving side hustle or full-time income from design, Envato should be viewed as a cost of doing business. 

What Other Subscriptions Are You Paying For?

Anybody who looks at their streaming video budget knows the feeling: there are times when you simply have to make the decision to cut something from the monthly budget.

If you have other digital content subscriptions and are paying for multiple editing platforms, you may have to ultimately decide on scaling back somewhere.

How Much Do You Actually Use It?

There is something known as “projection bias” that haunts subscribers to every type of service. They fantasize about all of the cool benefits they get from a subscription and don’t see how they can live without it.

But the reality is, they don’t ever come close to using it enough to pay for the recurring cost. Anyone who bought a gym membership on New Year’s knows the struggle.

Therefore, be honest with how much you actually use Envato. If utilized to the max, the $16.50 per month is a steal. However, if you only use it sporadically, it may be a luxury you can do without. 

The Bottom Line: Is Envato Worth the Money?

Envato is worth the money for most digital creators. Its vast content library provides the tools necessary for completing unique, original work. However, there may be some cases where Envato may not make sense, so use the detailed breakdown above to come to the most informed purchase decision possible!

Adobe XD is a cutting edge application and web platform by Adobe that enables users to design apps, websites, and user interfaces with ease.

Developed as a creative tool for designers, illustrators, photographers and other creative professionals, here’s why Adobe XD is a fantastic way to develop UI, from concepts and wireframes to high fidelity prototypes.

Adobe XD Is Easy to Use

Adobe XD is designed to make designing user interfaces fast and simple. You don’t need any coding knowledge to use it. Just drag and drop elements onto the canvas to create interactive prototypes.

The workspace features clear and visible icons with a minimalistic design that makes it easy to spot where you’ve dragged your cursor on the workspace. You can also access useful tools such as grids and layers from within your designs.

These features make it easy to make adjustments to your designs without exiting the workspace. Anyone from beginner to master will find themselves comfortable with XD.

You Can Try Adobe XD for Free

The free version of Adobe XD includes everything you need to make fantastic designs.

Adobe operates under a subscription service, so you won’t have to pay extra when you’re not using it if you want access to the full version.

If you happen to be taking certification courses to learn UI development, or if you are employed by an agency or company that uses Adobe creative suite, odds are you will be able to access the paid version without having to pay out of pocket anyways.

Adobe XD Is Fast

You can prototype your designs in just minutes. Adobe XD is a cloud service, so it won’t put a strain on your PC, meaning you can make quality designs without having to worry about being held back by your hardware.

The service runs smoothly and snappy. You’ll be able to quickly change artboards and customize elements within them, and by using features like Assets, you can change one element and apply those changes automatically to every asset in your design.

Adobe XD Makes Collaborative Projects Easy

Share your work with others using the cloud-based collaborative feature. Your team members can comment on your design and give feedback. You have many different options when it comes to sharing.

You can either share your designs as they are, share them as a presentation for when you want to showcase them, or share the code directly so that developers can begin working on your designs.

Adobe XD Has a Responsive Design

XD automatically adjusts to fit different screen sizes, including mobile devices.

With XD you have the option of designing in several different art boards that are fit to various screen sizes, including:

• Multiple different phones, tablet, and desktop sizes and resolutions.
• With the mobile app you can view how your designs will look on a real phone in real time.

Responsive design is critical nowadays to any project, so having these tools at your disposal will make your UI design jobs stand toe to toe with modern trends.

Adobe XD Is Customizable

You can customize the look and feel of your app’s interface by changing its color scheme, font, and background images. This is why XD is great for UI design. You have the ability to design mock ups in both low Fidelity and high Fidelity.

You can design wireframes and then you can convert those drafts into stunning, mock ups. You can also add interaction designs to make your mockups and prototypes that look and feel like the final product.

Adobe XD Compliments Mobile First Design

Designing apps for mobile first means starting with the smallest screens and working your way up. That way, your app looks good no matter where users view it.

With XD you have the ability to design a mobile, mock up and then reuse its assets and interactions into a web sized version while viewing the two side-by-side to ensure that branding and quality is consistent across both

Adobe XD Has UI Kits and Assets

Not every design has to be made from scratch.

With XD you’ll have access to a massive community of libraries and assets made from fellow designers with the purpose of giving you. The tools needed to make your designs stand out.

This can include:

• Fonts
• Colors
• Shapes
• Buttons
• Anything you can imagine

Finding the right assets and libraries will save you a massive amount of time and help your designs look amazing, and you can even share your own designs for the world to use.

Adobe XD Has Certifications

You can learn while you design. Adobe XD is at the center of many certifications and programs that will help you learn to be a successful UX and UI designer.

Some of the perks of the certification courses are that you will have access to the full version of Adobe XD and a community that will help you learn and grow.

This is great if you are a beginner who wants to learn more about UI design and if you find that you don’t like the process, you could always get high quality designs made from an online service that will save you the trouble entirely.

You Can Share Designs Made On Adobe XD In a Portfolio

Sharing your designs is a breeze, and this is very helpful if you are putting together a portfolio of UI designs.

Designs can be shared, and viewed in a fashion similar to a PowerPoint, where users can go through slides of images. They can also be viewed as individual images or as code.

The real perk is that they can be shared with interactions enabled so you could simply link your portfolio to a design and users can navigate it as if it were a fully functional app. Showing your designs off this way is a fantastic boost for UI designers because not only will your audience see what you were designed to look like, they can also see how it works.

Concluding Thoughts

So, in conclusion, Adobe XD is a fantastic tool for UI designers, whether they are just starting out or they have loads of experience in the field. XD provides many helpful tools in features that can help you share designs and create them from wireframe to mock up to high Fidelity prototype. Designing a UI has never been simpler.

Choosing a graphic design program can be a daunting task especially if you are inexperienced in the field. You have heard of CorelDraw and are wondering if it is difficult to use. It is important to find a design program that is easy to learn and use to efficiently accomplish your graphic design needs.

CorelDraw is not difficult to use, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. CorelDraw has designed a simple interface and tools for designers of all skill and experience levels. Seasoned designers find it difficult to learn new lingo and techniques but with practice, they say it’s a simple program.

For more information about CorelDraw and the level of skill required to master this program continue reading.

Is CorelDraw Difficult to Use? Find Out Here

As mentioned briefly above, CorelDraw is not a difficult application to use. The CorelDraw design suite is structured in a way that is easy to earn even if a person has no graphic design experience.

You may be wondering what features are so great about CorelDraw and what makes it an easy design tool to use. The list below will give further details on why CorelDraw is an easy program and what features designers like the best.

User-Friendly Interface

One of the most notable features of CorelDraw is its user-friendly interface. In case you are unsure of what we mean by an interface, it is simply a fancy way of saying how the screen is laid out; it also refers to how the tools and menus work so you can use them.

CorelDraw prides itself on making its tools and menus as easy to use and navigate as possible. This is one of the reasons why it is a great program for someone who is just getting their feet wet in the graphic design industry.

Because it is such an easy program to learn and use, CorelDraw is great for small businesses or non-profit organizations that may not have the budget to pay a full-time graphic designer or marketing specialist.

Live Sketch and Perspective Plane Tools

With the live sketch tool, you no longer need to draw your design on paper, scan it to the computer or device and then do your edits.

The live sketch tool allows you to create your drawing on the screen and edit it as you go. The live sketch tool uses the pencil tool combined with the brush tool. You can do everything you need with one easy-to-use tool.

If you make a line you don’t like, no problem, you can simply undo the previous mark or use an eraser tool to make small adjustments.

Another easy-to-use feature that adds a lot of value to this design suite is the ability to create three-dimensional drawings. The program gives you step-by-step instructions on how to use the Perspective Plane tool.

This comes in handy for people who do package design or other three-dimensional presentations where a realistic perspective is needed.

Edit Across Multiple Pages

Do you commonly work on designs or publications that consist of multiple-page spreads? If so you’ll be happy to know that CorelDraw now offers multi-page viewing so you can easily move elements from one page to another and compare them side-by-side if needed.

Export In Bulk

If you are working on a large project with multiple pages or files you can save time by exporting multiple assets into any file format you want. Now you don’t have to go through them individually and save each page and file.

Helpful Hints and Tutorials

One of the main reasons CorelDraw is so easy to use is that they offer multitudes of tips and tutorials to teach you exactly how to use each tool and feature of their programs.

These tips and tutorials are made so that designers of any skill level can understand them and grow to become great designers.

If there is a particular tool or technique you are struggling with, the CorelDraw program will have the material you need to learn how to master the skill and move on to bigger and better things.

CorelDraw Support

When it comes to getting the help you need, CorelDraw offers awesome customer support that can be accessed via email, chat, or telephone.

The most popular method of contact is the chat method as you have instant support within a few minutes and can get the help you need with any question.

How Long Does It Take to Master CorelDraw?

Learning a new skill can take time so you may be wondering how long it should take you to master using the CorelDraw suite. Most people regardless of experience or skill level can produce good designs within a few times of using the program.

However to become a true master of the program it can take between six and eight months if you practice daily, heed the hints and watch the tutorials. This is about average for any design program, even ones such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

The true determiner is how much time and effort you put into learning the program and what it can do. As with anything in life, the more you put into something the more you will get out of it.

Although we have covered the things that make CorelDraw easy to use and a great choice for inexperienced designers there are a couple of downsides to the program which will be discussed below.

The Downside to CorelDraw

CorelDraw has a lot of great tools and features; however, there are a few drawbacks to the program suite.

Some include:

1. This issue is not necessarily the fault of CorelDraw, but rather the fact that seasoned designers are not used to the format and style of the program.
2. The difference in tools and interface styles between Adobe programs and CorelDraw can be a big hindrance for professional graphic designers who are used to the industry standard.
3. Some designers claim that it can take a while to learn the new shortcut methods and that it is not the best program for encoding videos.
4. Although you have the ability to design things how you like, there are a lot of preset choices that can lead people to get lazy when it comes to creativity.

Now you know everything you should know about the difficulty of using CorelDraw.

CorelDraw Great For Designers Of Any Skill Level

As you can see there is very little to deter you from using the CorelDraw program suite because anyone can learn to create professional-looking designs in a short time and within less than a year can become a master. Devoting the necessary time to learn the program and how all of the tools and features work will help you to become a top-notch designer in no time.