The best memes are funny, used at just the right time, and say just the right thing. It’s easy to just grab them from around the web, but sometimes the best ones are the ones you make, perfect for the moment. They can be painfully awkward, but they can also be very, very funny.
If you’re suddenly struck by comic inspiration, the good news is that these memes are really easy to build: you don’t need much in the way of artistic talent or graphic design skills, just a good idea (and good timing.)
Whether you’re on your computer or your phone, here are the apps and tools you need to start meme building.
Canva
Canva is packed with features but simple to use.
Canva via David Nield
Canva offers a wealth of useful graphic design tools for everyone from beginners to industry professionals, and there’s even a built-in a Meme Generator as well. Click Create a New Meme and you’re up and running, though you will have to register for a free account if you want to save and export your design.
You get a handy Templates tab if you want to adapt an existing meme, or you can switch to Uploads to pick an image of your own. Use the Text tool to drop some words on top of your selected picture: Canva gives you a host of different options when it comes to text font, effects, color and size, and this is one of the best options around for taking full control over how your meme looks. Canva is also available on Android and iOS.
Imgur
Imgur sticks to the basics but does them well.
Imgur via David Nield
Image sharing platform Imgur has a very handy meme maker as part of its portfolio of products. Open up the Meme Generator and you can then either load in an image of your own, or pick Select a default meme to pick out something from the Imgur library—some of the best meme images in history are available, and there’s a search function if you can’t see what you need right away.
After that, it’s just a question of clicking on the text and editing it to make your meme. You don’t get much in the way of formatting options unfortunately, but you can click and drag the corner of the text boxes to resize them, and drag them into new positions on top of the underlying picture. You can use it on the web and on Android and iOS.
Imgflip
The Imgflip interface is slightly clunky, but you get a lot of customization options.
Imgflip via David Nield
The Meme Generator at image sharing platform Imgflip might not be the most polished in terms of its user interface, but it definitely gets the job done: You don’t need to sign up for an account to create a meme, and it’s a good option to choose if you want to see some of the memes that are currently trending online to get some inspiration.
You can change just about every aspect of your meme as you build it, including the size and color of the text, and it’s really easy to drop extra stickers on top of your masterpiece as well. The available features even extend to a drawing tool, so if any scribbles or arrows are needed, Imgflip has you covered. There is a mobile app, but only for Android.
Livememe
Meme making doesn’t get much easier than it is with Livememe.
Livememe via David Nield
If you want step-by-step instructions to create your meme then Livememe is the way to go: As soon as you load it up you can pick a popular meme of the moment to adapt with your own text, or you can look for other trending pictures, or you can load in your own image.
You don’t get any options for changing the text or the layout of your finished meme—you just type in some text for the top, type in some text for the bottom, and that’s it—but Livememe takes care of the sizing and positioning for you. If you need to generate a meme as quickly as possible, this is definitely worth a look.
Photoshop
Photoshop is a best-in-class image editor—and it makes memes too.
Photoshop via David Nield
If you already pay for a Creative Cloud subscription from Adobe, then you can certainly use Photoshop to put together some memes—though we wouldn’t say the subscription price is particularly worth it if all you’re using the image editor for is making funny pictures for the internet, as you won’t touch most of the advanced features on offer.
With your meme image open, click the T text tool in the toolbox window, then click anywhere on the picture to start typing—use the options that appear at the top to set the text size, color, and so on. To add an outline to the text, select Layer, Layer Style, and Stroke, and make sure the Position is set to Outside the text.
Spark
Spark gives you plenty of meme options for free.
Spark via David Nield
