Infographic building is a skill that some of us just don’t have. If you have the time, you could learn to use Adobe After Effects or, if you have the budget, hire someone who is a pro. But if you’re like us and had to dive in with no experience, here are a few tools that can help you create professional looking infographics.
1) Powtoon
Powtoon is an animated infographics web tool that will help you create videos like the one Megan Smith, Missouri School of Journalism student, made about ADHD. There is a free version where you have to include Powtoon branding, but there are also multiple levels of paid accounts. It’s user friendly in many ways, with simple features to add titles, music, voiceovers and customize your scenes and characters.
2) Google Charts
Want to make some charts for free? Google Charts has tons of options with the ability to make them interactive. A small amount of coding knowledge may be needed to get them into your article without breaking the code, but it’s nothing insurmountable for the average user.
3) Piktochart
My favorite tool to make flat yet beautiful infographics for your readers to experience is Piktochart. It’s intuitive, visual and easy to navigate. You can make a beautiful flat graphics quickly and easily.
4) Visme
Visme is a great resource for those looking to expand their infographics across multiple platforms. With the ability to choose your social media tool and create graphics just for that platform, Visme is an awesome option for those who want to create social-specific content.
5) Animaker
Animaker is an engaging tool for making infographic videos. It feels more casual, but it’s fun to explore, featuring characters that range from monsters to people. You can create everything from a birthday greeting to an online advertisement or an Instagram video. It even includes an option for vertical video for those who want to make content that is viewable on a vertical platform like Snapchat.
Main image CC-licensed by Unsplash via rawpixel. Other images are screenshots of the tools.
This article was originally published by the Reynolds Journalism Institute. It was republished on IJNet with permission.
Kat Duncan is the senior video editor for the RJI Innovation & Futures Lab. She produces the video series Innovation in Focus, which explores emerging methods, tech and tools for journalists. She also creates and edits video projects for RJI and the Missouri School of Journalism, where she teaches photo and video journalism.