How to Make a Meme | Digital Trends

How to make a meme · Know your memes: It's a good idea to look at memes that have gone viral already, especially the latest ones. · Keep a ... TrendingDeals: 27-inchMonitorCyberMonday AirPodsProCyberMonday LenovoGamingLaptopCyberMonday SonyTVCyberMondayDeals SurfaceLaptop4CyberMonday HPLaptopCyberMondayDeals AppleWatchSEDeal It’ssafetosaythatmemeshavetakenovertheinternet,andtheycontinuetoevolveeachday.Fromsimplepictureswithlittleeditingtoelaboratephotoshoppedimages,memescomeinallshapesandsizes.  Butcreatingyourownmemecanfeelintimidating,especiallyifyoudon’tfeelconfidentinyourcomputerskills.Andsowe’vecreatedaneasyinstructionguidetohelpyoumaketheperfectmemetosharewithfamilyandfriends. Step1:Doyourresearch Knowyourmemes: It’sagoodideatolookatmemesthathavegoneviralalready,especiallythelatestones.Thesecanprovideinspiration—maybethere’sacertainmemethemethat’spopularatthemoment,forinstance—ortellyouifsomebody’salreadytriedyouridea.ThebestresourceforcatchingupwiththelatestmemesandtrendsisKnowYourMeme—awebsitededicatedtokeepingtrackofanyandeverymemeyoucomeacross. Theaboveimage,forexample,hasbeenre-appropriatedintomeme-domonmultiple occasions. Keepawatchfuleyeontrends:Keepingcurrentwithnews,popculture,andothermemescanbeabigsourceofinspiration.Instagram,Twitter,Reddit,andFacebookaregreatforspottingtrends.Entertainmenttopicsareusuallyawin.Takenoteofwhatmakesyoulaughthemostandwhatgetsthemostresponses. ArecentmemetomaketheroundsisoneknownastheSlapsRoofofCarmeme. Chooseasubjectyoucanrelateto: Ifyou’renotasportsfan,youmighthaveahardtimesellingasports-themedmeme.Cuteanimalsarealwaysagreatgo-towhenyouaretappedoutofideas,butifyoureallywanttopushtheenvelope,chooseapublicfigureyoucaneasilyimitate.Ifyou’dliketouseapersonalexperienceasthecenterofyourmeme,chooseonethat’seasytorelateto. Decideonamedium: Theeasiestmediumtouseisaphoto,butifyoucanbe funnyorcapturesomethingfunnyoncamera,youmightwanttoventureintovideo. Step2:Composeyourcontent Collectyourmaterials — Beforegoinganyfurther,thisisthepointwhereyoudecideifyou’regoingtocomeupwithyourownstufforrecyclethingsyou’vefoundonline.Ifyou’redoingaphotomemeandyouwanttouseexistingcontent,grabtheappropriatescreensfromthevideosyouwanttouse.Youcanalsosurfthewebforimagesyou’dliketouseaspegs,orhitupImgur’smemegenerator. Keepitshortandsimple — Keepinmindthattheattentionspanofthetypicalinternetuserisprettyshort,soyouwanttomakeanimmediateimpression.Comeupwithacatchphrasethatusessimpleandmemorablelanguage. Findtherightexpressiontoconvey — Makesureyourvisualsmatchthesentimentyou’retryingtoportray. Step3:Find thenecessarytools Ifyou’recreating aphotomeme,itmightbewisetogetPhotoshop.Youcanalsolookupmeme-generatorsiteslikeImgflip’smemegenerator,whichletyouuploadyourownphototouseasthebackground.Lastly,youcaninstallphotoappsdirectlyonyourphonethatallowyoutoaddtexttoyourimages. Step4:Createit Onceyouhaveyourphoto—itdoesn’tmatterifyoutookit,screen-grabbedit,orfounditonline—youcanuseanyoftheservicesbelow. ImgurMemeGenerator (web-based) Whenyougettothememegenerator,you’llneedtoeithersignintoyourImguraccountorcreateone.ThenclickonUploadNewBackground.Next,eitherdragyourimagesintotheboxatthetopofthepop-upwindow,clickontheBrowsebuttontouploadanimagefromyourcomputer,orpasteanimageorURLinthetextboxhouseddirectlybeneaththeBrowse button.Onceyoudothat,Imgurautomaticallyuploadsyourimageandbringsyoutotheeditingpage. Onceyourphotoisready,itwillappearonImgur’seditingpage,whereyoucantypeinthetextthatwillaccompanyyourimage.Here,youcandoallsortsofthings,likemovethetextandresizeit.BesuretonameyourmemebeforeclickingMakeThisMeme! Yournextpagegivesyouabunchofoptionsonwhattodowiththememeyoujustcreated.Ifyouwanttokeepitforlater,justright-clicktheimageandsaveittoyourcomputer.Youcanalsocopythelinksoyoucanshareitlater.IfyoudonotwanttosavetheimageonImgur,takenoteoftheDeletePostlink,becauseitwillonlyappearonce.Otherwise,youcanaddittoyourImguraccount. Congrats,you’vejustmadeamemethroughImgur! MemeGeneratorFree(iOS/Android) Ifyou’remostcreativewhenyou’reontherun,thenconsiderZomboDroid’sMemeGeneratorFree,currentlyavailableforbothiOSandAndroid.Downloadtheappandclickthephotoiconintheupper-rightcorneriniOSandinthebottom-rightcorneronAndroid.Doingsowillallowyoutoaccessyourownphotos,thoughMemeGeneratoralsohasatonofstockimagerytochoosefrom!Select thephotoyouwantandtheappshouldautomaticallytakeyoutothenextstep. screenshot You’llthenbepromptedtochoosethelayoutofyourmemeandthequalityofit.Forlayout,youcanchoosebetweenClassicandModern.Classicjustlayersyourtextontopofyourimageinthetraditionalonelineontopandonelineonthebottom.Modernjustputsyourtextaboveyourpicture.Forquality,youcanchoosebetweenNormalandHigh(NormalproducesfasterresultsthanHighbutmayhavealowerpicturequality).Onceyou’vemadeyourchoices,selectOK. screenshot Onthenextscreen,youcanaddyourtext,youcanaddstickersandemojis,andevenaddeffects.Onceyou’redoneediting,youcaneitherselecttheSaveicontosaveyourimageorselecttheShareicontoshareit. YoucanshareittosocialmediaappslikeInstagram,Twitter,orevensendittoanemailaddress.Oreventextit.It’sthatsimplewithMemeGeneratorFree! Now,howaboutmakingavideomeme?Althoughnotassuccinctinnatureasstillmemes,videomemeshaveaplaceintheworldtoo.Belowareafewresourcesyoucanrelyontocapture,create,andsharevideomemeswithoutneedingtoknowhowtouseexpensive,complicatedprogramslikeAdobe’sAfterEffectsandApple’sFinalCutPro. Instagram Afterlaunchingtheapp,tap ontheInstagramplussigniconinthecenterofthebottommenubar,thentapStory.TostartshootingyourStoryorshortvideo,pressandholdthewhitecircleinthecenter.Whenfinishedwithaclip,letgo,andyoucanthenaddthingsliketext,stickers,orothereffects.Whenyou’rereadytoshareyourStoryvideo,justtaptheYourStoryicononthebottomleftcorner.YourInstagramStoryvideowilldisappearfromtheappafter24hours,unlessyousaveitoraddittoyourprofile. Snapchat Snapchatinrecentyearshasbecomeapopularsolutiontosharingshortvideoswithfriends.Afterlaunchingtheappandgettingyoursubjectintheshot,you’llwanttopressandholdthelargecircle,whichstartstherecordingprocess. Youcanrecordasingletakevideowithoutatimeconstraint.Afterit’sfinished,youcanaddavarietyofemoji,text,andspecialeffectstomakeyourvideostandout,justasyouwouldwithastillimage. Youcanalsosaveaclip—justfindthedownarrowsymbolinthebottomleftcornerofyourscreenafteryou’verecordedyourclip.Wesuggestpostingittoyourstoryorsendingittoyourfriends,soallyourfollowerscanseeyourmasterpieceforthenext24hours.Whenyousaveavideo,youhavethemorepermanentoptiontopostitonsiteslikeReddit,YouTube,Facebook,andTwitter. Step5:Shareit Themagicandhilarityofamemeareonlyrealizedwhenshared.That’swhythereareaccountsdedicatedtosharingmemesthatpostdozensdailyonsocialmediaplatformslikeInstagram.FacebookandTwitter.Youcanpostamemetoyoursocialmediapageorsharethemindirectmessagingwithfriendsforagoodlaugh. 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