Currently browsing: Adobe Photoshop

Palin/Biden button

Several people have asked about the Palin/Biden button in my sidebar. The original layout was courtesy of my Cotillion sister, CalTech Girl. I smoothed out the fonts a bit and played with the layout. A couple of y’all have asked me to do some customizations and I thought, “Sure … Why not let everyone have one?”

Well … more like a “Why not let everyone have the ability to make their own!”

I’ve upload the PSD file here. I made this in Adobe Photoshop CS3 but previous versions should be able to open it. It should be pretty self-evident as to what to change for the button background and page background colors:

Screenshot:

Click to enlarge

The layer labeled “rounded” is the button itself. Simply select the layer and set to the color you want (hit Alt+Delete to fill).

The “Pg Background Color” layer colors the parts under the rounded corners to match your site. If desired, you could simply delete this layer and save as a transparent GIF or PNG.

Enjoy!

The magic word

I was reading today’s For Better of for Worse, and found myself relating to it:

I know what you’re saying — “Oh hush, you’re not ‘old’!”

Maybe not, but today’s edition appealed to me as a designer. It said the magic word … “Photoshop.” By now, most everyone has heard of Adobe Photoshop and knows what it can do — in the right hands, of course. Hell, even my mother-in-law knows about Photoshop. She can’t do a whole lot with a computer, or a cellphone, or most of today’s technological devices, but she knows what Photoshop IS and what good it can do for her! She’s asked me on several occasions if I’d “touch up” some of her pictures; she’s photogenic (IMO) and her pictures always come out wonderful, so there’s usually not a whole lot for me to do to them.

Personally I don’t think she ever needs any touching up, but it makes ~her~ feel better, so in that case I’m always happy to oblige!

So yes “Photoshop” is a magic word for me … with it, I can do almost anything. When I’m itching for a new WordPress themes design — Photoshop. When I need a website layout for a new site — Photoshop. Someone’s birthday is coming up, and I want to make them a card — Photoshop. It’s time to wrap Christmas gifts, and oops, I forgot to pick up gift tags — Photoshop, Photoshop, Photoshop! (you get the idea)

Not only is it useful, it can honestly provide me with hours of fun … I love manipulating photos to create something funny. A while back, I made a fake diploma for one of my bosses a few months back — I was quite proud of it!

I know, I’m a geek.

Sure, not everyone is going to hear “Photoshop” and be instantly overcome with feelings of mystical magic and childlike wonder like I do. For example, Jessie’s magic word is “Google.” To her, Google knows all and can find anything she wants — from songs, to pictures, to even games and movie information. She loves Google. If you ask her about it, she’ll be all too happy to let you know what it has done for her!

I think we all have a magic word — what’s yours?