I’m not a graphic designer, but I’ve found some online tools that make it easy to get professional results without expensive software. For important things like book covers—for fiction, especially—I’d suggest hiring a pro, but for quick promo banners, Facebook or blog posts, or tweets, here are some fun options.

All of them offer tutorials. I think they’re worth the few minutes it takes to get you oriented to each site.

PicMonkey

I’ve been using PicMonkey for about a year now to create my web, Facebook, and Twitter banners. I also used it to create the book cover for Productivity Tools for Writers and an excerpt booklet for my Kiss & Thrill blog members.

The free version offers access to royalty-free fonts, overlays, and design elements. The paid upgrade gives you access to everything.

Booklet cover made with PicMonkey

Pros

+ Allows for a custom or pre-sized canvas

+ Choose from collage layouts

+ Fairly short learning curve

+ You can use your own images

+ Save/export designs in multiple formats and quality levels

Cons

– Can’t reopen design to edit once you close your project

– Can’t align a group of objects/no snap-to grid

– Can’t select multiple objects to move or modify

– Navigation is sometimes confusing

– Doesn’t save uploaded images for future use

Best for: Quickly adding text or overlays to an image and working totally freeform. Also good for creating collages with your own images.

Canva

Canva is similar to PicMonkey, but has an easier-to-navigate interface, and includes lots of templates and royalty-free images. You can create a free design (like the one at the top of this post, or below), or use premium elements for $1 each. You only pay when you “publish” (save or share) the final design.

Canva comes with a number of templates for banners, ads, book covers, and more.

Simple ad designed with Canva

Pros:

+ Saves your projects for future editing (great for maintaining a branded look and when you need to tweak an existing design)

+ Includes grids to help you align objects

+ Allows you to export or share to multiple formats and platforms

+ Has custom and pre-szied canvases

+ Provides ready-made layouts and designs

+ You can use your own images

+ Short learning curve

Cons:

– Occasionally glitchy when trying to add photos to layouts or align objects (I believe this is a beta version)

– Not all of the templates provide access to the same options (images or layouts)

Best for: Nearly every type of graphic design project, especially those you might want to reuse. Banners and ad designs are quick and easy.

QuotesCover

QuotesCover is a specialized graphics site for quickly creating meme-worthy quote images. You don’t even have to know the quote you want. Just browse by topic or search by keywords. The text comes out pre-styled, but you can choose from a variety of layouts and fonts, and you can use asterisks to mark words that you want to emphasize.

Image created at QuotesCover.com

Pros:

+ Quick and easy to use

+ Look up a quote or add your own

+ Automated layouts means you don’t have to know anything about typography or design

+ Free

+ Download project in PNG or JPG formats, or share to Facebook

+ Allows for custom backgrounds

+ Multiple canvas sizes

Cons:

– Can’t choose layout or font from a list or grid, must click Previous or Next to go through without visual cues

– Can’t edit past projects

– Limited design control

Best for: Quickly creating a professional looking quote-based image or banner.

I’m sure there are many other cool online graphics sites out there. What’s your favorite?