Archive for Desktop
· August 7, 2008 at 5:16 am · Desktop
Tags: best-of, effects, graphics, help, paint.net, tips, tutorials
I have been playing a lot more with Paint.NET lately, trying to get back in tune with my more creative side. One thing I never realized was there are a lot of great tutorials out there for it, but it is hard to find the best ones. Here are the top ten best Paint.NET tutorials I have run across so far.
Scotch Tape - Create a transparent segment of scotch tape
Glossy/Glass Buttons - Create Web 2.0-like glassy buttons
Toy Car - Turn a real car into a toy car
Make a Chain - How to render individual links, then link them together to form a chain
How to make a Lightsaber - Use lighting and blur effects to render a Lightsaber in
Transparent Background - Make the background of an image transparent
Cutting out Images the Easy Way! v2 - Great method for cutting images out of pictures
LiteBrite(TM) Effect - Transform your pictures into coloured peg-board style images
Lets Make a Software Box - Transform flat images into 3D boxes
Drop Shadows - Add depth to your artwork with drop shadows
It is amazing how advanced Paint.NET has gotten over the years. Also, if your used to the graphic editor layout - it is really easy to pick up and use too. Know of any other great tutorials?
· August 4, 2008 at 4:00 am · Desktop, Personal
Tags: colorful, colors, customize, download, folders, free, gtd, organize, Vista
Remember a few posts past, when I asked if anybody had a solution for Windows Vista color coded folders? I had this on Windows XP with the help of programs like Folderico. That is when I decided it might be better off creating my own colorful Vista folder icon pack so I could just do this myself - no extra program needed!
Download the Vista Colorful Folder Pack! (.zip)
All of the icons are in the .ico format, and supports the following sizes:
256 x 256, 128 x 128, 64 x 64, 48 x 48, 32 x 32, 24 x 24, 16 x 16
Why color code your folders? Having color coded folders for certain documents is more than just about “making things pretty”. It is also very helpful when it comes to getting things done. Let’s say you use the green folder for your bills, green is the color of money - hence it makes you jump right to it instead of having to hunt through all those yellow folders.
Depending on how popular these are, I might release more colored folders in the future. Feel free to use them however you like. If you pass it around to a friend, might also mention where you got it and ask them to subscribe to my RSS feed for more!
· August 2, 2008 at 7:44 am · Desktop, Personal
Tags: Desktop, download, hot, ico, icons, kanellis, maria, Vista, WWE
Playing around with creating desktop icons for my Windows Vista PC, I was using this picture as a kind of test to see what I could do. Looked good to me (come on, it is Maria after all), so I thought I would release it out to all of you. Can you tell which icon stands out more?
It is in the .ico format, and supports the following sizes:
256 x 256, 128 x 128, 64 x 64, 48 x 48, 32 x 32, 24 x 24, 16 x 16
Download the Maria Kanellis Desktop Icon (.zip)
Download it and feel free to do whatever you want with it. If you pass it around, just make sure you give me a link back, or better yet just subscribe to my RSS feed and we will call it even.
· August 1, 2008 at 6:56 am · Desktop, Resources
Tags: copy, customize, edit, free, ico, icons, paint.net, plugin, Resources
I had an idea to customize a few of my default Vista icons, but had no way of doing so. I had the icon files, but no way to edit them. So after doing some browsing around I did come up with a solution to my icon editing woes.
First Step? Get Paint.NET!
First step was to pickup Paint.NET. This is an awesome free image editor with all the bells and whistles of your hundred-dollar programs.
Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.
Grab the Paint.NET ICO Plugin
Well worth having, just as a backup image editor if nothing else. Since Paint.net does not have .ico support built in by default, I picked up this plugin from Evan’s Web Site. To use it, all you need to do is unzip and then put it in the “FileTypes” folder in the Paint.NET directory.
Startup Paint.NET and try dragging and dropping an .ico icon onto the canvas. Thanks to this neat plugin, it will open just as any other image would open. With saving as an .ico, I had a few errors at times but doing it again or changing the name of the file seems to have helped.
So there is a totally free way to edit and create custom desktop icons for your next design project or desktop redecoration.
· July 29, 2008 at 6:05 am · Desktop
Tags: customize, hardwood, lights, wallpaper, widescreen
Usually the more creative wallpaper is what gets me going, but for some reason this vanilla version of a hardwood flood with lights is very appealing to me. Well, the fact that I didn’t need Home Depot to get it laid down across my desktop is a green checkmark in the win column.
If your looking for a simple work space, this wallpaper selection should do the trick for you. Check it out over at DeviantArt, where you can also pick up the 1680×1050 and 2560×1600 versions.
· July 23, 2008 at 5:28 am · Desktop
Tags: high speeds, photography, road, sky, wallpaper
I like to think I am one to find some pretty nifty wallpaper, so I figured why not share my finds with the world? Since I usually change around once a week figured this would make as good of a feature as any for this blog - so the first one I have to share with you is Estrada 21.
This wallpaper provides a cool blurred motion effect you would think would be distracting, but really it isn’t. Also the bold colors help to not take away from anything else on the desktop so you don’t have to worry about not being able to see an icon or two because they get blurred into the background.
Available in every size imaginable, the Estrada 21 wallpaper is definitely a keeper.
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