Make your own web 2.0 icons for FREE!

Posted 7 March, 2010 in Tutorials

This is not a tutorial, but a quick guide and tip on making easy web 2.0 icons and buttons using Photoshop for free. If you don’t have Photoshop, I would recommend downloading GIMP which is nearly as god and free.

There is no clear cut style or design for web 2.0 but the term kind means something that look fresh, clean and new.

It can be glassy, textured, even flat, but most of all clean.

To get an icon clean it needs space and proportions.

The icons I am talking about here are based around an image representation on top of a coloured field that can be of any shape but most often rectangular or circular.

So what you are going to need are the basic image shapes and a background to place it on. (more…)

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Plastic wrap enlarged bitmaps

Posted 20 May, 2009 in Free Graphics, Tutorials, Wallpaper

Enlarging bitmaps is not a good idea, but there are ways to quickly fix them and one of those ways is to use the Photoshop filter, Plastic Wrap. It evens out those jagged edjes very well, and can create a nice effect. Here are some examples of bitmaps enlarged by up to 10 times then given a plastic wrap. (more…)

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Vector shapes in Photoshop

Posted 13 May, 2009 in Free Graphics, Tutorials

A quick few samples showing how shapes created in a vector package can be used creatively in Photoshop. This is not a proper tutorial, but samples just for inspiration. (more…)

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Flash Plastic Text Effect Tutorial

Posted 26 April, 2009 in Flash, Tutorials

In this tutorial we are going to look at how to cerate a plastic, glossy, glassy look for your text in Flash. I am using Flash CS3 and also using some of the Flash filter effects. (more…)

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Flash Curling Paper Tutorial

Posted 26 April, 2009 in Flash, Tutorials

flash-paper18

In this tutorial we will be looking at how to create a paper curl in Flash. We will also be adding some texture to the paper using a bitmap. (more…)

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Flash Vector Illustration Tutorial

Posted 26 April, 2009 in Flash, Illustrations, Tutorials

barack-obama

This is a tutorial on taking a sketch and creating a flash vector illustration with it. The subject in this case will be the American president, Barack Obama. (more…)

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Affiliates for Artists

Posted 9 February, 2008 in Tutorials

I have written before on how to make money with you graphical designs and illustrations, now I have been playing around with affiliates on a couple of my sites.

I sell pop art paintings that I do in my spare time and although the site generates a healthy number of sales, or at least enough to keep my busy, I have found that putting ads and affiliate links on the site has not hurt my pop art sales and at the same time generates a little extra income.

I currently use allposters.com as they can provide for the UK, Europe and USA. Many people who are looking for artwork and designs will come across artist’s and designer’s websites even though they may have just been looking for something to put on the wall, or a gift for someone.

So far I am quite pleased with allposters.com, not due to the sales as it is too early to tell how good it is, but due to the easy of setting it up. Creating an account was simple. After that, you are given a whole host of options, from banners you can place on your site, to search boxes and even a mini store on your website.

I will get back to you on the sales point when I have given it more time.

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Super Stripe Blending Tutorial

Posted 3 July, 2007 in Tutorials

Blending two images using stripes can be a rather cool way of blending images. The achieve the above image follow the steps laid out below. This tutorial is for Photoshop.

1. Get two images. I have used Superman and Spiderman.

2. Create a new layer for image 1. In this case, Superman and create a gradient fill from top to bottom, from back to white using the Gradient tool set to Linear Gradient.

3. Filter > Distort > Wave. Set Generators to 999. Wavelength Min and Max to 4. Scale 100%. Type: Square. Repeat Edge Pixels. You should get the following:

4. Now set the Layer Style Blend Mode… Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options. Set Blend Mode to Multiply.

5. Using the Magic Wand Tool with settings Tolerance 1, no Anti-aliased and no Contiguous, select one of the black stripes. This should select all the black stripes.

6. Now Shift+Ctrl+i to invert the selection and press Shift+Ctrl+c to copy the image. This should copy everything other than the black stripes.

7. Now paste it over the Spiderman image!

Finished.

As a bonus feature, you might want to save the stripes mask as it is very useful to have around for other images.

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Flash or HTML Websites?

Posted 29 June, 2007 in Flash, Tutorials

Not for the first time and undoubtedly not for the last time either, I was asked if a site should be all Flash or HTML.

Now this depends, is what I say. This particular site had already been created all in flash. They sell gifts online and the site is basically an e-commerce store. They had been up and running for about a year and where getting little or no organic hits to the site. The site was 1 page, with a clever bit of flash running the catalogue of products. (more…)

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Web 2.0 Stripes in Photoshop

Posted 25 June, 2007 in Tutorials

This tutorial is meant as a simple way to make stripes in Photoshop. It assumes a basic understanding of Photoshop. Included are various samples of stripes at the bottom of the tutorial, for your use subject to the free (cc) licence.

1. Start with a 200 x 200 pixel box.

2. Set foreground colour to Black and background to white.

3. Using the gradient tool set to Reflected Gradient, drag a gradient from the middle of the image to the top. Use the shift key to get it straight. (For special effects, try an oblique or angled gradient)