Once again, I was asked to review the website and share my thoughts with all of you. So, I will be your examiner, that way you don’t waste your time on the website or app is not good. What did they ask me to review? Good question! This time I was asked to look at websites that offer professional poster making services. I will be the judge! In my work, I was asked to design many things, including posters. Even my children asked me to help them make posters or leaflets (small posters). So I pulled out a chair and went straight in to find out if this website could be something we can all use. Now, sit down and let me explain to you what all this is about. As you know, I want to break it down.
Table of Contents
What is DesignCap?
Always a good question to start with before trying any online website design. DesignCap is a free online custom poster maker. Yes, this is a free online tool that you can use to make some really cool posters for your band, church, Scout Jamboree or any other event that you want to promote with posters. The people behind DesignCap have almost “… 10 years of experience in graphic design and software development …”. They have hundreds of poster templates for you to choose from, which in my opinion are very helpful when you can’t think of where to start. So that highlights what they are. If you want to learn more about them, you can read this About DesignCap page.
How does DesignCap Work?
This will be a brief overview of how it works (this is not a How-to article). Once you are on their site, it is very easy to get started. Right in front of you is a large orange button labeled, “Create a Free Poster”.
By clicking the button you will be transported to the creation page. Here, they have explained it in a format that is easy to follow. On the left, you have several options to choose from.
Templates – There are many of these to choose from and have the added bonus of being able to customize them as you wish.
photographs – I found this section to be one of the best features. You can add your own photos from your computer. A must if you want to make something of your own. Another part that I like about this section is the ability to import your Facebook images.
Texts – They give you many styles to choose from, allowing you to add titles, sub-headings and body text.
Clip-Art – With 93,000 different Clip-Art styles to choose from, you will definitely find the right art. They are broken down into categories, or you can use the search feature to find the right one.
Background – The background part that I found very flexible. If you don’t find the background color you like, they give you the option to choose your own color using the HTML Color Picker.
There are a few other small features, but I want you to find some of these features yourself. After you finish tinkering with all these options, you will be able to save them, print them, or share them. Now, remember, this is a free service, so to be able to save, print or share, you must share the Website on your social media, blog or website (a small price to pay). This should give you enough information to understand how it works.
How flexible is DesignCap?
Overall, I find the flexibility of this site pretty good. After working with many design programs, this site really is at the top of my list. The choice of being able to upload my own image is what sells me for this. Plus, you can choose a template and delete what you want and add what you want. Like any site of this type, there are some limitations, but overall, the site performs well. So, the score for the site’s flexibility section is “A”.
Pros and Cons
With any review/overview, you have to show Pros and Cons. Here are my pros and cons for this site:
Pros :
- You can upload your own photos
- Template customization
- Background color flexibility
Weaknesses :
- Must share with social media, or websites, every time you want to save, print, or share
- Does not let you adjust poster size
TIP: On the matter of adjusting the poster size, I find that when you choose Print, and it offers you a print preview, you can see under more settings and change the scale options to 50 from 100. This resizes the poster to an 8.5 x 11 paper size. At least that’s how it works on my system.
Conclusion
A solid choice for the do-it-yourselfer. Very easy to use and worth the time needed to make a finished product. Look at their website at DesignCap and see what they have to offer.
