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| Need a jump start on Web and graphic design? Written by Matt Valanoski So you've seen my work and now have been obsessing over the fact of getting involved with graphics and web design, huh? ;-) Well honestly, it's not as difficult as you think. This brief tutorial will give you a head start on working with graphics and learning basic HTML coding. Let's first cover graphics. Now to actually go places in graphic design, you're going to need a more powerful application then Paint. [although you'd be surprised how much can be done in that] If you have money to spend, all arrows point to Adobe Photoshop. This is clearly the most powerful program out for editing/creating graphics. Now for those who can't spring the dough, look into Jasc Paintshop Pro. Not as expensive as APS, but still delivers high quality graphics. Now what if you're poor like me? Well you can go with doing it the "wrong" way, but the RIAA is on KaZaa downloaders. Gimp is your next answer. I'm quite sure it's free, but you can always do a google search to make sure. So now you have your software...now what? Well it's best to start messing around with various tools giving yourself and idea of what type of power they hold. It will take you some time before you become an expert on the majority of the tools, so don't toss your laptop against the wall just yet. Tutorials are easily the best means of getting familiar with tools, and also give you the knowledge of how to create various textures and default images. A little tip of advice, if you got lucky enough to snag photoshop, you then now how you can literally create an infinite amount of textures using filters. When you start out, it's actually best to do this to get an idea of how to enchance your images in the future but do not rely on them as your sole source of creativity as it's easy to spot out and shows your skills...which would be none. Now, you've just created you're first image...what to do? Save it! If you notice Photoshop's long list of extentions it can be frustratins deciding on what one to use. The most used would have to be .jpg [.jpeg] and .gif. The extention .jpg is good for images alone, and .gif is good for transparency and animation. You'll get used to it after awhile, trust me. ;-) Now you've successfully created a viewable graphic. Find yourself a host [Image Magician], create an account, and now you're on your way. |