Face it creating rockstar visual material takes time. As a solopreneur who manages your brand’s socials, a content creator who’s playing catchup, or the small business owner with a dozen irons in the fire, design always manages to be one of those dozen tasks that eats up more hours than necessary. Silver lining? We live in the age of AI and it’s changing how we create.
And now, AI-enhanced graphic design software is making it look like less of a chore and more of a cakewalk to produce things. With a click or two, you can easily bring up anything from social media posts and flyers to video thumbnails and electronic billboards. Others do more than just create intelligent suggestions, streamlined processes, and visualizations based on even mundane inputs are theirs to offer.
So, if your worst fear is having a sleepless design assistant, keep reading. Let’s see how AI graphics software is saving time, increasing creativity, and allowing you and others like you to push content creation to the backburner (literally, almost).
Why Visual Content Matters More Than Ever
Before we dive into the tools, it’s helpful to know why visual content is more important than ever in these new digital times.
Humans scroll rapidly. We have milliseconds to determine what to read, click on, or scroll over. Strong visuals can stop the scroll, say your message in a straightforward manner, and generate brand awareness faster than text. Photos included in posts, in fact, produce 650% more engagement than text posts on social media.
Which is to say if you’re a website owner, coach, marketer, or blogger scraping content is no longer an option. It’s something you must do.
But what’s interesting is that just because you may require amazing visuals doesn’t always mean that you’re available hours to create them. And that’s where AI tools come in handy.
The Rise of AI Design Tools
From gimmick to game-changer, AI design tools have evolved. No longer relegated to plain templates or generic designs, Modern tools are aware of aesthetics, brand voice, and even your audience’s favorite designs. For a complete perspective, check out our AI Overview to understand how artificial intelligence is transforming multiple industries.
Here are just a few of the many tasks that can be done on autopilot by AI graphic design software:
- Produce original designs with your brand colors and copy
- Auto-remove backgrounds from images with a single click
- Suggest fonts and composition that fit your tone
- Shrink pictures to multiple platforms with ease
- Fix photos with intelligent filters or lighting corrections
- Convert text into graphics (yeah, really)
And all of which is timesaving and not small time. What used to take an hour in Photoshop now is accomplished in mere minutes. No design degree required.
Tools That Let You Design Like a Pro (Without Actually Being One)
Let’s get real. These are some easy-to-use AI graphic design software that are packed with features and ideal for anyone who wants to create content fast and reliably.
1. Canva’s Magic Studio
Canva is where non-designers hang out today, and with its AI feature, it’s that much more incredible. Magic Design types of tools are able to take your idea and turn it into a beautiful graphic in seconds. Simply input your content, choose your look, and Canva handles the rest. Want to remove a background? Click. Want to animate text? Done.
Their text program based on AI can even help with headlines and captions ideal for social media or slides when the words won’t quite materialize.
2. Adobe Express (formerly Spark)
Adobe-quality design with minimal effort is called for, and Adobe Express saves the day. Its AI feature helps with everything from auto-composing to resizing images across devices. It’s especially helpful for branded templates and quick video editing.
And, on top of all that, it also plays nice with the Creative Cloud universe so if you’re already subscribed to Photoshop or Illustrator, this app cuts things down by leaps and bounds.
3. RelayThat
This is a lifesaver when it comes to brand consistency. RelayThat features AI that generates dozens of permutations on your graphics while keeping your fonts, colors, and logos intact. It’s ideal for entrepreneurs or teams who wish to appear professional without needing to hire a designer for each post.
You upload your assets once, and RelayThat applies them automatically to all types of content ranging from ads to email headlines.
4. Fotor’s Collage Maker
Need to create multiple images into a single interesting graphic? A good collage maker can do the trick and Fotor’s AI-driven one makes it laughably simple. Simply upload your pictures, and the tool presents them as clean, proportionate designs with none of the work required from you.
That’s especially convenient for travel vloggers, product demonstrations, event recaps, or essentially anyone who wants to narrate a story in a series of photos.
Fotor’s AI also includes one-click retouching, background eraser, and art-style effect to add a special twist to your collages.
5. Designify
If product photography is your industry, then Designify is a hidden gem. Upload a product photo and watch it remove the background, correct lighting, and place it in professionally designed scenes all on its own.
For sellers on eBay, Etsy, Amazon, or Shopify, this can be a huge time saver when editing product images.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of AI Graphics Tools
Using AI tools doesn’t mean you’re taking shortcuts or sacrificing quality. It’s about working smarter. That said, here are some tips to make sure you’re getting the most out of them:
- Stay consistent: Upload your brand assets logos, fonts, color codes so your content looks cohesive across platforms.
- Don’t automate too much: AI is an assistant, not a crutch. Edit layouts and copy so it feels like you.
- Use templates sparingly: Start with a template but adjust. AI gives you the framework, you add the personality. Businesses are already exploring this balance, as discussed in Potential SEO Clients May Want To Discuss AI Search And Chatbots.
- Update frequently: New is always best. AI lets you quickly try out new styles or seasonal content.
- Batch your work: Create a week’s images in a single sitting. Most software also has basic duplication and resizing features.
When (and Why) to Let AI Take the Wheel
You don’t have to sacrifice creativity per se to let AI do some parts of your work. Really, feeding repetitive tasks to AI is what enables you to do more creative thinking.
For instance, imagine that you’re planning an awesome social media campaign. Instead of creating posts one by one, you can go ahead and ask an AI to generate a blank set of templates. Then you can spend your time coming up with the backstory for the campaign, answering some of the responses, or going through performance.
It is not about taking away the human aspect; rather, it is taking back the time and putting it to good use where it really matters.
Final Thoughts: It’s Not Cheating It’s Evolving
Maybe the human element in designing with AI tools has been intentionally withheld from you since it feels easy or maybe it does not feel useful! Think about it, perpahps AI design tools are one more step in digital creativity. Just as smartphones phased away the need for a point-and-shoot-camera, AI systems are fast and smart in replacing manual processes that take up time anymore.
And the icing on the cake? They’re not just for geniuses. You might be a creator struggling to keep up, a small business owner with little time to spare, or merely someone who desires improved graphics without the hassle AI graphic tools can help you get there.
So go ahead, pick up that collage maker, play around with arrangements, mess with templates, and start producing content that’s gonna appear to have taken an eternity when really it took minutes.
Because at the end of the day, the greatest tool is one that lets you keep coming back without burning out.