Make Your Cards Shine With Stunning Photo Edits
It’s easy to walk into a store and buy a thank you card or birthday greeting, but there’s nothing quite like a heartfelt, personalized card to show your loved ones how you feel. BeFunky’s online Card Maker allows you to create beautifully designed cards for free. With plenty of card templates to choose from, the Card Maker is one of the simplest ways to create memorable thank you cards, holiday greetings, birthday cards, and marketing postcards. Each template is fully customizable so each one of your cards has that handmade touch.
Not only does the Card Maker allow you to DIY a beautiful card in a few minutes with free templates, stock photos, graphics, and textures, but you’ll also have access to the Photo Editor’s full suite of tools. Rapidly access staple photo editing tools along with unique filters, touch up tools, and Artsy effects without ever leaving the Card Maker.
With the combined power of the Card Maker and Photo Editor, it’s easier than ever to elevate your designs to new creative heights. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how you can seamlessly edit imagery right within the Card Maker to create personalized and engaging cards for any occasion.
How to Make Your Cards Stand Out With the Photo Editor
Editing photos in-platform is particularly useful when your card features one or two prominent photos. In this tutorial, we’ll be creating a birthday card that celebrates the recipient with a portrait. Basic edits will help refine the original photo, while combining a few of the Photo Editor’s effects will make the portrait completely unique. To get started, just open up the Card Maker.
Step 1: Choose a Card Template
In the Card Maker, you’ll have a large selection of card templates to choose from. These are organized by topic for easy browsing. Here we can navigate to Birthdays and choose a free birthday card template from there.
To make the best use of the Photo Editor, be sure to select a template that prominently features an image.
Step 2: Add Your Photo
Upload your photo of choice to the Image Manager. Click and drag it onto the canvas to replace the placeholder image.
Once it’s in place and cropped to your liking, click on the photo again and select Edit Image to seamlessly enter the Photo Editor.
Step 3: Adjust and Enhance
The Photo Editor features a full suite of photo editing tools, filters, and effects. A good place to start is adjusting basics like Color or Exposure, where you can adjust the brightness, contrast, shadows and highlights to bring balance to your image. Alternatively (or additionally), you can use tools like the Image Enhancer or Beautify to instantly enhance your photo using carefully crafted algorithms.
Step 4: Add Effects
At this stage, if you’re happy with the small refinements you’ve made to your image, you can head back to the Card Maker. But if you want to get even more creative with it, you can check out the Effects tab for even more tools. Different effects can dramatically alter the mood of your card. Here we’re going to start with a slight Chromatic Aberration (found in the Cinematic effects), which creates a bit more depth and interest in the photo and makes it feel a little more whimsical:
The addition of a simple Lens Flare brings out the joy and lightness already visible in the original photo.
The image is looking great already, but an Artsy effect can help put it over the top. Use a filter like Watercolor GFX 3 to create a hand-painted background like we’ve done here, or apply an Artsy effect to the whole image. There are tons of different options to choose from – you can turn your photo into a pencil sketch, a comic book panel, an oil painting, or a piece of video game art, to name a few – so don’t be afraid to explore your options.
Step 5: Finalize Your Design Save
Once you’re satisfied with your photo edits, click Done Editing Image in the top left corner. You'll automatically return to the Card Maker workspace where you can make final adjustments to your text, color palette, and layout if needed. This is also the stage where you can also add additional graphics.
Step 6: Save It!
Once you’re done, just click Save at the top of the page. If you’re planning to print this card physically, be sure to save as a print-quality PDF; otherwise, a high-quality PNG works for most digital needs like emailing, messaging, or posting to social media.
And there you have it! A personalized birthday card that you can create online or from your phone in just a few minutes. The edits and effects used for the photo, as well as small changes made to the color palette, have softened the bold template while still infusing the card with lightness and vibrancy. It’s the perfect card to match our recipient’s personality!
Editing Inspiration for Your Next Card Design
The Photo Editor is perfect for creating personalized birthday cards online. But it also comes in handy for other imagery-heavy cards such as travel postcards, thank you cards, and holiday cards. Here are three additional ways you can use the Photo Editor tools to further enhance your card designs.
1. Elevate Thank You Cards
The Portrait Enhancer can be used to instantly perfect the photos you use for your wedding thank you cards. This AI-powered tool smooths and brightens skin, brightens eyes, whitens teeth, and enhances portraits for contrast and color overall. Whether you’re sending out a couple shot or group photo, the Portrait Enhancer is sure to make any subject glow.
2. Create Unique Holiday Cards
Sending out similar holiday greeting cards year after year can get dull. Change things up by using an Artsy Effect for your next holiday card. With dozens of styles and mediums to choose from, including Crayon, Oil Painting, Graphic Novel, and more, you’re sure to find something that catches your friends’ and family’s eye! Here we’ve used Vintage Comic GFX for a mid-century Christmas card look.
3. Design Eye-Catching Event Invites
The Photo Editor’s Pop Art effects can be used to turn a run-of-the-mill party invite into a memorable work of art. With the right design and combination of effects, your invitees may be tempted to hang onto their invite as a keepsake!
Create Beautiful Cards for Every Occasion With BeFunky
Making and sending cards, especially for annual events and holidays, can start to feel rote and stale after a while. But no matter what their specific purpose is, cards are about creativity and connection. You should have fun while making them, and your recipients should light up when they see them! With the Card Maker’s templates combined with the Photo Editor’s many tools and effects, it’s simpler than ever to create cards that are heartfelt, memorable, and beautiful. Bring back the magic of personalized cards today in the Card Maker!
