Motivational quotes. Some roll their eyes whenever they see them, while others lap them up with gusto, sharing those particularly poignant posts with their friends and followers to express their own thoughts, feelings, or beliefs.

Used properly, they’re also a great way to grow your Instagram account, attracting more likes, shares, and follows and, ultimately, giving you a bigger audience to promote your private practice.

In this step-by-step tutorial, I’ll show you an easy way to make Instagram quote pics on Canva, but before we do, let’s dive into why you’d want to do so in the first place.

Why Make Quote Pictures for Your Instagram Account?

Before we dive in, let’s make sure that we’re all on the same page when we talk about Instagram quote pics.

You know the type of content I’m talking about, right?

Quote pics are those mages that often contain an inspirational, motivational, or otherwise thought-provoking quote, presented in an attractive way, usually with a visually-appealing image or background.

Some people hate quote posts, but many more love them, which is why they’re such a fantastic way to grow your Instagram account, boost your engagement, and promote your private practice.

Of course, quote choice matters here.

When you share a quote that really speaks to a user, they’re more likely to share it with their own followers.

When you share a quote that is over-used, too cliched, or simply not relevant to your audience, then at best, your content will be ignored, while, at worst, you could annoy your followers to such a degree that they unfollow you.

One tactic I’ve seen many new therapists employ is saving quotes from other people and sharing them on their own profiles.

I’m not passing any moral judgment on this. The people who make Instagram quote pics want their content to be shared far and wide as it draws attention to their brand.

However, this ultimately does nothing to grow your business.

For this reason, I recommend therapists who want to use this kind of content learn how to make Instagram quote pics on Canva with their own branding.

Add your logo, website, business name, or Instagram handle to your quote, and every time someone shares your content with their followers, you’re getting more eyeballs on your own brand.

Do this consistently and effectively, and the end result can be more followers, more traffic to your website, and, yes, more clients.

Without further ado, let me show you just how easy it is to make motivational quotes on Canva in just a few simple steps.

How to Make Instagram Quote Pics on Canva: Step-by-Step Tutorial

Head to Canva.com to make your mental health Instagram posts
Step 1: Head to Canva and either sign-up or log-in

Before we begin, there are two things you’ll need. The first is an Instagram profile. If you don’t already have one, here’s my tutorial on how to create a therapy practice Instagram account.

The second is Canva, a free online tool that makes professional-quality graphic design easy and accessible for those with no prior design experience.

If you’re signing up for Canva for the first time today, I recommend taking advantage of the 30-day free trial of Canva Pro. This will give you access to more templates, graphics, and other useful tools for creating your quote posts.

Just remember to cancel your trial before the 30 days are up if you decide not to pay for Canva Pro.

Once you have both of those in place, it’s time to get work by following these steps:

1. Choose ‘Instagram Post (Square)’

How to Make Instagram Quote pics on Canva: 1 - Select 'Instagram Post (Square)' from the drop-down menu
Step 2: Select ‘Instagram Post (Square)’ from the drop-down menu

Once you’re logged into your account, go to the search bar on the home page and type in Instagram Post, then select Instagram Post (Square).

The reason we’re going to use a square post rather than a portrait is that they consistently prove to perform better.

The social media platform offers three image sizes:

  1. Square
  2. Portrait
  3. Landscape.

Of the three, square images tend to get the highest levels of engagement.

Access the Instagram posts template library
Step 3: Access the post templates

So, pick the square option to bring up the enormous selection of pre-designed post templates.

2. Select Quotes from the Filter Options

Use Canva filters to find your ideal template
Step 4: Use Canva filters to find your ideal template

There are over 400,000 Instagram post templates on Canva.

Let’s face it:

Scrolling through all those to find the perfect one is going to take you bloody ages.

So make life easier on yourself by using the filter options found on the left-hand side of the template library.

First, go down to theme and select Quote. You can narrow your options down further by combining that with other themes such as Mental Health, Motivational, or Inspirational.

Use Style filters to find posts that match your branding
Step 5: Use Style filters to find posts that match your branding

You can then use other filters such as Style to find those templates that best reflect the kind of brand image you want to convey, whether that’s a modern, contemporary style, something feminine, or a template that injects a lot of colour into your follower’s Instagram feeds.

Open up a preview of your Instagram quote post template.
Step 6: Open a preview of your post

To keep things simple, I pick a basic Instagram quote template and click on it to view a larger preview.

This looks good to me. As long as your preferred template looks good to you, go ahead and click Customize This Template.

3. Open Your Template in the Canva Editor

Open up your Instagram post in the Canva editor
Step 9: Open your template in the Canva editor

Clicking this button opens your chosen template in the Canva Editor, and it’s here where we get to start having fun.

Canva elements
Step 10: Use the editing menu to the left hand of the screen to select different elements.

On the left side menu, you’ll find all the design elements (such as graphics, stickers, photos, etc.), while further customization options appear in the white menu bar across the top of the screen when you begin to customize a part of your design.

Let me show you what I mean as we go through and edit our template.

4. Change Your Text

First things first, let’s start by adding the quote itself.

For this, I’m going to use one of my favourite quotes from Carl Rogers:

I get defeated sometimes, I get hurt sometimes, but I’m learning that these experiences are not fatal.

Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person: Characteristics of a Helping Relationship, Page 69

Isn’t that a wonderful reminder that we can all bounce back from those times when life isn’t going great?

Those words alone may be enough to help someone reflect o their current situation and look at it from a different perspective, so let’s add them to the Instagram quote post.

Highlight the text when learning how to make a mental health Instagram post on Canva.
Step 11: Highlight the text

To do that, first, select the existing text in your template, then replace it with your own quote by either typing or pasting it in.

How to make a mental health Instagram post on Canva - resize your text
Step 11: Replace and resize your text

If you want to resize your new quote, you can do so by using the purple outline around your text box.

Grab any white dots in the corners of this outline, or use the two white buttons at the side, then drag them around until your quote looks just how you want it.

If you want to reposition it, place your cursor anywhere on the purple lines not covered by a white dot until the crosshairs icon appears. You can then use this to drag your quote around the screen until it’s in a perfect position.

Change the font on your Instagram quote pic
Step 12: Change the font

If you’re unhappy with the font, you can change that by tapping the drop-down menu that you’ll find at the left-hand side of the white menu bar across the top of your editor, as illustrated above.

Just scroll down the huge array of font options (note: Canva Pro users get more options than free users) and try on different ones until you find the one you like.

Change the color of your Instagram text.
Step 13: Change the text colour

You can also tap the letter A with the coloured line underneath it to access the Text Color options if you want your quote to stand out in a different colour.

Attributing your Instagram quote
Step 14: Add your attribution

You can use the same tools I’ve just shown you to finish editing the text on your Instagram quote pic and attribute your quote to the right person.

5. Add a New Image

As lovely as this stock photo of a person standing in for Dr Lillian Pratt may be, it isn’t quite right for this particular Instagram post.

So let’s change it.

Select the image you want to edit
Step 15: Click the image

To do this, first, click on the image to make the purple border appear. This tells you that the image is selected and can be edited or replaced.

Upload an image and add it to your Instagram quote pic
Step 16: Upload an image and add it to your Instagram quote pic

There are two ways you can add new photos to your quote post. The first is to upload an image from your device by clicking Uploads from the left-hand menu, then tapping the purple Upload files button.

Select the image you want to use from your device and upload it. To add it to your post, click on the image you just uploaded, and hold your mouse down while dragging it across to your template.

To give you an example, I already had this photo of our mate, Carl, in my Uploads folder, so I just tap it, drag it, and then drop it into place.

It looks pretty good, but I want something a little more inspiring. So, let me show you the second way to add photos to your Instagram quote.

Add photos from Canva's stock photo library
Step 17: Add photos from Canva’s stock photo library

You can also use a variety of stock photos by clicking the Photos tab in the left-hand menu and then using the search function to look for images relevant to your post.

Use filters to help you find the image you want.
Step 17: Use filters to help you find the image you want.

If you’re struggling to find a good picture, click the little slider icon in the top corner to bring up some filters to help you narrow your choices.

In this example, I wanted an image with a lot of blue in it to fit with the blue/green branding I’m going for with my practice. So, I used the filters to search for blue-based images and added a shot of a bloke climbing a mountain.

6. Change Your Background

Change your instagram quote pic background
Step 18: Change Your Background

As your Instagram quote pic starts to come together, you may want to give a little extra pep by changing the background.

To do that, select Elements, followed by Graphics. You can then use the search function to find different kinds of backgrounds.

Here, I used a simple blue background with a transparent gradient.

When you’ve found the background you want, drag it into your post until it fills the desired section of your post.

Reposition your background layer
Step 19: Reposition your background layer

If your background looks more like a foreground (it covers other elements of your design), tap Position in the right-hand corner of your top menu, then select To Back.

Depending on your background colour, you may have to alter your text colours and other design elements to ensure everything is clear and easy to read.

7. Add Other Graphic Elements

Step 20: Access the Elements tab

Staying with the Elements tab for a moment, this section of Canva also offers an abundance of different graphics, icons, stickers,and other cool stuff that you can add to your design.

Search for graphics
Step 21: Search for graphics

To really make my Carl Rogers quote stand out, I’m going to use a quote mark graphic and add it to my design.

Add relevant graphics to your Instagram quote pic
Step 22: Add relevant graphics

This is as easy as using the search function under Elements, selecting Graphics, and playing around with the different options until I get the perfect one.

8. Add Your Branding

So far, so good, but it’s important to remember that you’re making an Instagram quote pic to promote your business.

At the moment, we haven’t done anything to help with that. Sure, we’ll be posting this on our own Instagram account, but if -as we’d hope- this picture gets shared and shared again, people are eventually going to lose track of where it came from, meaning zero benefit to us.

So, let’s change that.

Add some branding
Step 23: Add Your Branding

To do so, find some space in your design. On the template I’ve used for this tutorial, it’s here at the top in the red bar.

Then using the text editing tools I showed you earlier, enter the name of your practice. Alternatively, you might want to use your Instagram handle or, as I’ve done here, your web address.

Change the colors to match your branding
Step 23: Change the Colours to Match Your Branding

Don’t forget to change the colors and font styles to match your branding.

Add your logo to your design
Step 24: Add Your Logo

You may also benefit from adding your logo. If you don’t have one yet, here’s how to make a therapy practice logo on Canva.

A Finished Instagram Quote Pic for a Therapy Practice
Step 26: A Finished Instagram Quote Pic for a Therapy Practice

With all that completed, you can give yourself a pat on the back, a round of applause, or even a bloody good glass of wine, because you’ve earned it. You’ve successfully created your first Instagram quote post, and you’re ready to share it with your followers.

Here’s how to do that:

9. Download and Share

Before you do anything else, it’s a good idea to first rename your design so that it’s easier to find when you need it.

Rename your Instagram design
Step 27: Rename Your Design

Here, I’ve used a simple title structure that I’ll use for all my designs Type of Design – Who the Quote is By – What it Discusses.

Click Share on Canva
Step 28: Click ‘Share’

From there, click the Share button in the top right-hand corner. This gives you a number of options.

Download your design
Step 29: Download Your Design

If you want to download the design to your device and post it to Instagram manually, that’s as straightforward as choosing the Download option, keeping .PNG selected as the file format, and then hitting the big purple Download button.

Make an Instagram quote pic and share it directly on Instagram
Step 30: Share DIrectly on Instagram

Alternatively, you can sync your Instagram and Canva accounts and use the latter’s Share on Social feature to post your new design directly to your Instagram profile.

I’ll be creating a new tutorial on how to do that within the next few weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions About Making Instagram Quote Pics on Canva

Can I create Instagram quote posts on Canva using the mobile app or only on the desktop version?

You most certainly can make Instagram quote posts on Canva mobile and desktop.

Both the Android and iOS apps include most of the same features as Canva for desktop, so you can create your Instagram content anywhere at any time, even while you’re crashing on the sofa and watching TV.

What is the best size for an Instagram quote post?

The ideal size for an Instagram quote is 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels. Keeping your images to this size ensures that your quote picture will look perfect on Instagram with no cropping, distortion, or pixelation.

When using Canva, you can select the Instagram Post (Square) option, already set at 1080 x 1080.

Can you make Instagram stories on Canva?

Absolutely. Canva has a wide range of Instagram story templates. These are sized at 1080 by 1920 pixels, the perfect size for stories.

To use them, search for Instagram Story on the homepage and select the right templates. You can then customize that template however you like and publish it straight to your Instagram account.

How to Make an Instagram Quote Pic on Canva: A Few Final Things to Remember

Instagram quote pics may be a great way to boost engagement and grow your practice, but unless you strike gold and consistently get many likes and shares on every quote, it pays not to overdo it.

Instead, consider mixing things up from time to time, combining quote pics with other types of Instagram content, such as helpful tips, behind-the-scenes glimpses into your life as a therapist, and personal insights.

When you do post quotes, aim for originality. Given their popularity, so many well-known quotes have been done to death on social media, so you’ll probably have better results by sharing something new and insightful.

Pay attention to books, blogs, and articles you read for powerful statements that may resonate with your audience. You can even share quotes from your work if you feel it will strike the right chord with followers.

Finally, remember to attribute your quote to the right person correctly. If the source of your quote is active on social media, be sure to tag them. That person may share your beautiful Canva design featuring their words with their audience, and you can only imagine what kind of boost that could give your business.

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