It Bears Repeating: You Don't Have to be an Artist to Use Clip Art Effectively

One of the complaints about clip art is that many people — desktop publishing beginners and pros included — tend to overuse it, use it inappropriately, or use the same old boring images over and over. However, there are easy ways to use the same image over and over without being boring.

These techniques require little to moderate skill using graphics programs. They are great if you have limited graphic design skills or for those times when you just need to throw something together fast — but you still want to avoid that "canned clip art" look.

If one piece of clip art is good — 2, 3, or 4 are even better, right? Could be. Try these illustrated repeating ideas. Take a single piece of art and make several duplicates.

• Repetition of an Image Reinforces Message
  Tie the number of copies of an image to the numbers in your text.

• Resize, Recolor, Reverse to Turn One Image Into Many
  Use duplicates of varying sizes, colors, and orientations to multiply the usefulness of a single clip art image.

• Make a Single Image Stand Out with Dramatic Contrast
  Use color to make a dramatic change to a single copy of your clip art.

The next time you find yourself lamenting your lack of clip art, lack of skill, or lack of time — repeat yourself. Find that single piece of clip art and make a statement by using it 2, 3, 4, or a dozen times.