I use Power Point because I'm on a Mac, and I no longer have Paint. If I were on a PC I think Paint is really easy to use and (back when I had a PC) it's free.
Power Point works well but it's a bit more cumbersome.
I use images from the internet and images that I upload from my camera.
Do you know how to crop, resize, layer and recolor? It's really easy after you learn it.

they have online tools you can use like olioboards i think is one.

personally i use my old school photo editing software from 1998 because i am ONE with it. :) but you could use a fancy tool, powerpoint, even microsoft word!

i start with a paint swatch i get from the paint mfr website and just paste it as my background and then just paste images of everything else right on top. i never make it easy on myself and usually end up altering pieces so it's easier if you're using a photo software to do that. i think the key to a good mood board is putting the right amount of each element proportionally on the board.

the board is the easy part - if you've made your decisions already or most of them you're good to go!

It sounds complicated. I sometimes use my laptop but I am usually on my iPad. I will have to check to see if there is an app for olioboard. I don't have powerpoint.

There's actually an iPad app called Moodboard. I haven't used it so I can't tell you anything about it, but it seems to have relatively high ratings.

Alternatively, you could create a Pinterest.com board. It's not quite as good because you can't overlap, crop or change the color of items, but it could work as a temporary repository of your finds.

Edited to Add: There's a Moodboard Lite version that is free. You could try that one first to see if you like the app before paying for the complete version.

This post was edited by Fun2BHere on Sat, May 10, 14 at 13:56

Hi fun, thanks for posting about moodboard. I actually downloaded the free version last night. I played around with it a bit then gave up. This morning, with a clearer mind, I tackled it again with no success. I don't know if there was a corrupted download but I don't seem to be able to do anything with it except to get a color for the background. I am going to keep playing around with it. Thanks again.

Another vote for olioboard. I'm still learning, but even from the beginning, I was able to get a decent result.

Here is a link that might be useful: Olioboard

Holly-kay, I plan to download Moodboard Lite to play with. Post any tips you discover or even if you give up completely. Thanks.

Right now, I do mood boards on my PC using Paint, but I, too, would love to have an app to use with my iPad.

I think Pixlr.com is a fabulous resource. Pixlr.com Editor is a lot like Photoshop. Except it's free and it does work on mobile devices, tablets.

Like Photoshop, one of the key secrets to making it easy to work with is the Layers. For example, you'd paste each inspiration photo/element/item on its own layer. So you can manipulate each element independent from all the others - e.g. resize your inspiration sofa but the lamp you pasted on another layer is unaffected. You can Edit>Transform>Scale each item.

Draw a square and fill it with whatever color you want to create a background. And more.

There is a learning curve but I don't think it's ridiculous. There is a learning curve with ALL of the resources for example I didn't think Olioboard was particularly user-friendly.

Pixlr, unlike the mood-board-specific programs, does lots of things as far as editing, creating, manipulating images. So, any investment of learning how to use it adds up and increases your overall image editing skillset. A worthwhile endeavor IMHO.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out Pixlr

I'll let you know if I discover anything helpful Fun2B.

Thank you for the suggestion Funcolors. It would be so helpful to me to be able to see the elements that I have chosen so far in a group. I played around with the free olioboard trial but it seemed that I had to use items from their select group of stores. I do agree that increasing my skills inthat area would be time well spent. I am going to check Pixlr.

Holly-Kay, There is always the oldfashioned but easy posterboard and gluestick.
Print what you like from pictures, add actual fabric samples, actual wallpaper samples, tile samples etc, paste em up and then take a photo of it to post here.
Not as sexy as a computer generated mood board, but maybe more effective in that you have actual real colors, not colors distorted by monitor.

I use real collages like that when deciding what to sew for wardrobe sewing. I paste up pics of patterns or pin on pattern envelopes with my actual fabric swatches.

I use Moodboard Lite on my IPad. I downloaded the free version but it was harder to use than Lite. It took me about 15 min to figure it out and I have little techie skill. I even use it for client presentations. It's fun, easy, and cheap.

I tried a bunch of these today and Paint was the easiest by far. I can save my mood board to a jpeg and copy to my iPad if I want to be able to look at it when out shopping for other items for the room.

Thanks Chispa, I downloaded the paid version of moodboard. It is definitely easier than the non paid but I still don't have a mood board.

Holly,
I couldn't get anything going with the free moodboard. With paint I was able to produce a nice mood board in about 15 minutes.

I have a PC at my desk, but use an iPad for travelling and when I go furniture/décor, etc shopping. I take photos of anything I find interesting for future reference. I found this App -> PhotoTransfer App (ERC Lab), which you install in the iPad and PC and it allows you to easily transfer photos from PC/iPad through the home wireless network.

Thanks Chispa!