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How To Create A Word Cloud at

Explains how to use Wordclouds.com, a relatively new free wordcloud generator. Wordclouds.com isn’t as powerful as my favorite word cloud generator, Tagxedo, but images generated at the site are free for both commercial and personal use and the site does not require Java or Silverlight. The developers say that the site should run on all modern browsers including those on phones and tablets.

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hoodsmom
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
465 views

How To Create A Word Cloud at

Explains how to use Wordclouds.com, a relatively new free wordcloud generator. Wordclouds.com isn’t as powerful as my favorite word cloud generator, Tagxedo, but images generated at the site are free for both commercial and personal use and the site does not require Java or Silverlight. The developers say that the site should run on all modern browsers including those on phones and tablets.

Uploaded by

hoodsmom
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Create a Word Cloud at wordclouds.

com

Wordclouds.com is a relatively new free wordcloud generator. It isnt as powerful as my favorite word cloud generator, Tagxedo, but images generated at
the site are free for both commercial and personal use and the site does not require Java or Silverlight. The developers say that the site should run on all
modern browsers including those on phones and tablets.

Navigate to
wordclouds.com/
A sample cloud and
the prompt, "Use our
Wizard to quickly
create your own
WordCloud!" will
appear. Read it if you
want to, then close.
If you have a specific
image size in mind,
select it right away
using the "Size"
button, because size
can influence the
layout of the cloud.

Add text. Note the


toolbar at the top of
the page. Click on
File > Paste/Type
text. Type or paste
(lots of) words into
the dialog box that
next appears and click
"Apply." The words
in the sample cloud
have been replaced by
your words. Words
you typed more often
will be larger.
(c) hoodsmom 2017
Add more words.
Click "Word list" on
the toolbar. Your
sample words will be
listed along with their
"weight" - how large
the word is is

Try typing in the


following as a new
row:
20 wikihow #ff0000
http://wikhow.com.
Click "Apply." A
large red ''wikihow''
should appear in your
word cloud. Clicking
the red ''wikhow'' will
bring up the WikiHow
website.

You must include a


number (weight) and
a word when you add
words.

The number
determines the size of
the words. If you want
a word to repeat, you
need to add a separate
line (weight and
repeat word) for each
instance of the
repeated word in the
cloud.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Change the shape.
Click on "Shape" in
the toolbar. The
shapes menu comes
up. The only shape
that isn't self-
explanatory is the one
on the top left with
four arrows pointing
to the corners.
Choosing that will
cause the word cloud
to fill the entire
window. Chose a new
shape and observe the
changes.

Try a "colorful"
shape. The rainbow-
colored square
provides a good
demonstration. Notice
how the word colors
match the shape's
colors.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Try uploading your
own shape (in png or
gif format). Click
Shape > Upload

You can download the


site's tree example for
practice. Right-click
"Example of a colored
mask image" and save
the file, called ''clr-
tree.gif'', to your
desktop. Leave the
top "Color options"
radio button checked.
Click "Select mask
file" to upload the
copy of ''clr-tree.gif''
you saved. Notice that
the cloud shape is that
of a tree, but the
colors are not green
and brown.

Repeat the upload of


the tree image, but
click the bottom
"Color options" radio
button before clicking
"Select mask file."
This time the words
will be green and
brown.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Try to fill the cloud.

Change the word size


by moving the big
slider on the toolbar
right or left.

Change the gaps


between words by
clicking the toolbar
buttons just to the right
of "Word list."

Cloud filling is also


affected by number of
words in your list, font
choice and sometimes
image size. If the
shape isn't filling,
increase the word size,
add more words and/or
try a different font.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Change the word
orientation. Click the
toolbar button with the
round arrow to bring
up choices.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Put the words outside
the shape. Click the
toolbar "Invert"
button, which has a
half-filled black and
white circle.

Change the font by


clicking "Font" on the
toolbar. The menu is
self-explanatory, but
you can have only one
font at a time in your
word cloud. Scroll to
the bottom of the
dropdown font menu
to test out the "Google
font" option. The
resulting dialog box
has a link to Google's
webfont repository
where you can find
even more font
choices.

Use the "Mask"


toolbar button to
toggle a lightly-tinted
shape of your cloud
on and off. Toggling
the "mask" on can
make it easier to
visualize the shape
when the cloud isn't
filling well.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Change cloud colors
by clicking the
"Theme" (color
scheme) toolbar button
and choosing a
different color scheme.
Refine your color
scheme by clicking the
"Colors" toolbar
button. All of the
small squares in the
"Colors" dialog box
are buttons. Click on
them to change the
cloud background
color or the tint of the
mask and to change
the colors of your
color scheme. You can
also add your own
background image via
this dialog box. Click
"Apply" when you are
satisfied with your
choices.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Use the toolbar "Randomize" button (first button, with the two round arrows) to change the cloud. The Randomize button affects only colors if word
directions are all the same - i.e., if you have a black on white cloud with only horizontal, only vertical, or only up(down)hill words, clicking "Randomize"
will not change anything.

Save your work. Select a size using the "Size" toolbar button before selecting a filetype (png, jpg, pdf or svg) from the "File" menu. You can also save your
work as a ".wcld" document which can be reloaded and edited using the File > Open command. The File menu also has options for generating sharing links.
File > "Edit result" transfers your image to the site's (fairly basic) image editor. Your creations are completely free for you to use in both personal and
commercial work.

==Tips==
To make a cloud with a transparent background, click the toolbar "Colors" button to change the background opacity to zero. Then save your image in .png
format
Wordclouds does a relatively poor job at filling clouds and does not generate repeat words to fill empty space. If your cloud isn't filling well, adding a
mask will make the shape easier to visualize. Tagxedo <https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Word-Cloud-at-Tagxedo.Com> does a much better job
filling a cloud and because it repeats words for you, doesnt require you to manually add lines of text if you want many instances of the same word.
Tagxedo requires Silverlight, but as of spring 2017, still runs on Internet Explorer, Firefox ESR (which will work until early 2018) and Firefox 51 or
lower. Firefox 52 and higher, Safari and Chrome do not have Silverlight support.

(c) hoodsmom 2017


Wordclouds allows only one font at a time. If you want multiple fonts in your cloud or want to use a font on your machine that isn't a Google webfont,
consider Tagxedo
Wordclouds does not save your work in a "history." If you like a particular image, save it to your computer immediately

(c) hoodsmom 2017

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