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Creating an infographic

Infographic tools

 

There are many tools available to help you create an infographic. If you have the design skills, you can create an infographic from scratch. But don’t worry if you don’t have graphic design skills – there are some great tools available for free which allow you to use templates to quickly and easily create high quality infographics.

 

 

Canva allows you to make beautiful and easy to digest infographics. Canva has an extensive range of templates and thousands of illustrations which you can use.

Canva also allows you to create a team and collaborate on your infographic design in real-time, making it a great tool for group assessment. Change colours, add graphics, leave comments, and resolve suggestions all within the Canva editor.

Cost: Free to create infographics. Some of the images within Canva are free to use and others must be paid for.

Attribution: The free content technically does not need to be attributed but you still should do so. If you have imported content into Canva, you should attribute that as appropriate as well.


Finding images and graphics

 

While the infographic tools listed above all contain a selection of images and graphics for you to use, you may need to look further afield to find something just right for your topic.

If you are artistic or have graphic design skills you may even like to create your own images. But if not, there are loads of great, high quality images and icons you can find online that are considered Public Domain. This means that the creator is happy for you to use them without paying for them or asking their permission. Attribution is not needed, but it’s still good to credit the creator by including their details.

 

Here are some reliable websites to search for free images:

  • Pixabay - photos, illustrations, vector graphics
  • Undraw - illustrations, easily change colour scheme prior to downloading 
  • Freerange – photos, illustrations
  • Freepik – photos, vector graphics
  • Stocksnap – high resolution photos
  • Unsplash - high resolution photos

We've chosen an example illustration from Undraw to show the quality of some of these resources.

 

Tip

For more options, explore the Creative Commons search for content you can reuse.


Using and attributing content

 

It's ok to use small portions of content for research or study, without requiring permission or a licence. You need to attribute or reference the content you use to create your infographic so that it's clear where your ideas and images came from.

Some images, such as those listed above, do not require attribution but it's still a good idea to cite your image sources along with all your other sources at the bottom of your infographic or in your reference list.

If you want to know whether you can use something or not, check out the module on Copyright for your Studies.