Top 5 Best Design Tools to Create Social Media Design

Creating attention-grabbing and engaging content is surefire for getting on people's radar on social media. The correct design tools make that easy but still allow novices or those without much graphic design knowledge to create professional-looking designs without really needing extensive expertise. Here is the ultimate guide to the five best tools to craft impressive social media designs-no matter whether you are making attention-grabbing social media posts, media graphics, or full-fledged posters for social media.

Table of Contents

• Canva
• Adobe Express
• Crello
• Snappa
• Fotor

Also Read: 7 Best Color Combinations for Your Next Design

1. Canva

Best suited for: Beginners to Advanced Users

The tool is very popular in social media, offering users a fun and easy drag-and-drop interface to learn, while power users appreciate the diversity of available assets and the flexibility in design. Templates can be found for almost every type of post-Instagram Stories through YouTube thumbnails-making it versatile for adapting to any brand or content style.

Key Features:

• Templates Galore: Canva provides an exhaustive library of pre-designed templates on every social media platform-Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more-making it a piece of cake to customize or build creative social media posts.


• Graphics and Icons: Choose from thousands of graphics, icons, and illustrations that can enhance your designs and make them visually rich.


• Photo Library and Editing: The photo library has free and paid images for you to insert directly into the design. The editing options allow you to change the color and brightness levels and even add filters for an elegant look.


• Custom Fonts and Text: It allows for custom fonts and text styles in order to depict the personality of your brand or emphasize a particular message.


• Resize Option: Resize the designs to any of the chosen platforms with a single click and, thus will save more time whenever you post a similar message on different channels.


• Collaboration: Real-time collaboration is possible with team members in Canva, which makes it pretty great for teams who work on projects.

Use Case: Create a well-crafted social media poster or eye-catching post in just minutes thanks to Canva's comprehensive range of templates. This suits those who would like to fully control the elements of design without necessarily requiring advanced design knowledge.

Pros:

• Highly user-friendly for the beginner
• Extensive range of templates and elements
• Supports collaboration
• Free with optional premium plan for more assets

Cons:

• Some of the features are locked behind a paywall
• Can be limiting for the advanced designer who needs more customization

2. Adobe Express

Best for: Professional poster designs with the signature look of Adobe

Adobe Express is a professional-grade design experience brought to anyone who does not have time or skills using advanced software such as Photoshop. This is the perfect tool for users looking to create visually compelling social media designs in short periods, utilizing customizable templates designed specifically for the purpose of usage on social media.

Key Features:

• Professional Templates: Clean, well-structured templates that perform nicely with businesses and personal brands are what Adobe Express brings along. Social media posts, ads, flyers, and more are included.


• Conveniently Accessible Editor: With its handy editor, you can freely add and customize your text, images, and icons without worrying about anything.


• Integrated Adobe Fonts: Your designs will have a unique touch to them if you access the comprehensive Adobe font library.


• Animations: Use simple animations inside the image or text to carry some life and fun in your posts.


• Quick Resize: Users can easily change the dimension of their designs in order to fit the specific dimensions required by different social media platforms.


• Brand Consistency: Saving brand colors, logos, and templates will maintain a cohesive look throughout their entire social media content.

Benefits:

• Quality templates
• User-friendly without requiring any background knowledge in design
• Comes integrated with Adobe Fonts and icons to bring a professional touch
• The free plan comes with optional upgrading to the premium plan to get more options

Disadvantages:

• Not so animated compared to other tools
• Has fewer options available for editing as the free version does not come with Photoshop and Illustrator capabilities.

Also Read: Color Palette Generator - Create Beautiful Color Palette

3. Crello

Suitable for: Animated and visually appealing media graphics

Crello, formerly known as VistaCreate, is designed to help users create engaging animated social media content. With a library of thousands of animated templates and other design elements, Crello is ideal for users looking for a way to bring posts to life without necessarily having the skills or experience to put together elaborate animations.

Key Features:

• Animated Templates: Crello has thousands of animated templates designed for creating interactive social media posts and videos.


• Stock Photo and Video Library: It offers a large, free library of stock photos and videos for users to easily find good-quality media related to any theme.


• Changeable Elements: You can change dimensions, color, and transparency of any element in a design with Crello, giving you more flexibility and control over your final output.


• Layered Editing: Layer text, graphics, and images for that look of true design without bogging down the users.


• Team Collaboration: As Canva, Crello lets team members work together on the design. Ideal for a content team or small business.


• Multi-Format: More than 20 social media formats are supported by Crello.

Pros:

• Huge animated template library
• Multi-format compatibility
• Free, but with a premium upgrade if you want more features

Cons:

• Too much for absolute novices
• Fewer sophisticated editing features compared with Adobe products

4. Snappa

Best for: Simple, quick social media post design

Snappa is great for the user who needs to generate attention-grabbing social media posts real quick. Snappa is an intuitive tool that allows users to create social media graphics through a streamlined no-frills editor. Great for beginners and those wanting to make simple posts without all the fuss around it.

Core Features:

• Social Media Templates: Snappa provides pre-set, ready-to-go templates especially sized for each of the major social media platforms.


• One-Click Resize: With the feature of design sizes available for alignment with any particular social media's needs on just one click, easy repurposing with the same design can be achieved.


• Stock Photos: Free high-resolution images which can be used in any design for commercial purposes, from a large collection


• Text and Shape Overlay: Add an adjustable element of shapes and text overlay and everything else that may make the designs explode to your point.


• User-Friendly Interface: Snappa's drag-and-drop functionality and simple layout make it easy for users to learn fast.

Pros:

• Easy to use for quick, quality designs
• Library of free images and templates
• Resizing option

Cons:

• Limited features for complex design needs
• Some designs can appear basic or unpolished compared to professional tools

5. Fotor

Best for: Quick, attractive photo-based social media posts

Fotor is a photo-based online photo editor that offers users a set of tools to apply beautiful effects to their images before adding them into social media-ready graphics. Though slightly limited in layout design compared to the other tools, it's perfect for photo-focused posts.

Features of Fotor:

• Photo Effects: Apply a wide range of filters and effects to make photos stand out.


• Basic Design Templates: Fotor's templates work for Instagram Stories, Facebook posts, and other simple social media layouts.


• Text Editing: Add text to your photo graphics, making sure it is styled appropriately for sharing online.


• Beauty Retouching: Great for social media influencers and those with a beauty-focused Instagram channel as there is skin smoothing and blemish removal tools.


• Photo Collage: Create collages by inserting multiple images into a single graphic.

Pros:

• Easy photo editing and filter application
• Perfect for photo-based posts
• Basic templates for social media use

Cons:

• Limited variety of templates and customization options
• Focused more on photos than on graphics and illustrations

Conclusion

Utilizing these design tools is incredibly valuable for marketers, social media managers, or anyone hoping to create eye-catching social media posts. Whether you are looking to create quick photos with added text, animations, or dynamic social media content, the tools here have it all. Start with one, master it, and get creative - you'll be surprised at what you can make with these accessible design tools.

Also Read: Color Theory in Graphic Design Beginner’s Guide