Desktops

[heliona]

Hello everyone, again!

Some of you have checked out kyizi's new Stargate layout for her LJ and liked it might want to take a look at my desktops. (As far as I've figured out, you should just be able to "right-click, save target as" on them, but let me know if you've snerched.) She gave me her layout to play with and see what desktops I could come up with. She also gave me some screencaps, but since there wasn't much room on the USB drive, I only got the ones she took for her icons and various others from Nightstalkers. Because of this, the desktop is a little limited. There are two versions, because I couldn't decide on the background colour.








I've also done a Sark desktop that I'm very proud of. I got the idea for the theme just as I was out the shower (it just randomly came to me!) and the layout was basically inspired partly by _projectgalem's Harry/Hermione desktop (at least, I think it was hers! If it wasn't, then it's stevie_jane's. Once you see my desktop, you'll know which one I'm talking about!) and by my current desktop taken from DA's website (I've changed it from Elijah Wood). Okay, I've just realised that I'm lying, my current desktop didn't come from DA's site (but the guest desktops have been updated and there are some very pretty ones there) it came from one of you posting it!






It's weird, kyizi and I were reminiscing about Photoshop, and I was remembering when I didn't know what to do with layers, and the only thing I used Photoshop was for doing cool effects on photos. I ignored layers totally. Then notasalmon came along and showed me what to do. Now I'm making desktops which have lots of layers. (I think my new Sark one is the most impressive - it's got about 25 layers, plus colour overlays and other such stuff!)

And the time I'm spending in Photoshop is getting more productive - it didn't actually take me that long to do my Sark layout. It would have taken me days to do it not long ago. Saying that, the Jonas desktop took over 2 hours! And I've only added 3 photos and some text! Argh! Although, I had to do some fancy stuff to get the symbol for Earth, since kyizi hadn't given it to me! Admittedly, Photoshop wasn't behaving itself when I tried putting frames around the smaller photos, but I didn't expect it to take over 2 hours, otherwise I wouldn't have started at midnight!

Anyway, I'm off to see what's happening outside my own little life! *g*

Comments

[nimoloth.livejournal.com]

Layers are a gift from the gods! By the way, how did you do borders around the pictures? I haven't figured out how to do a transparent box, edges only, if it's even possible. I either just draw 4 lines (or 2 and dplicate) or do two boxes, one inside the other (or maybe a layer mask). It's something I've wanted to do more than once when fixing up graphs and pictres for reports!

[kyizi.livejournal.com]

The easiest way to get just normal boxes around a photo is to copy the photo, open new but change the size by adding 4 pixels to the height and width, fill the background black (or whatever colour you want the border to be) then plaste the picture. It automatically centers. Faltten image and you have box around it.

Hope that didn't sound like double dutch! ;)

[heliona.livejournal.com]

Okay, here it goes:

1: Ctrl+A and then Ctrl+C the image you want to put a border around.

2: Make a new psd by doing Ctrl+N (because you've copied, the new psd will default to being the same size as the original image). Make sure that it's transparent.

3: Fill the bottom layer with whatever colour you want your border to be.

4: Make another new psd, this time changing the size so that it's a few pixels smaller than your earlier ones.

5: Fill it with a completely different colour.

6: Then select all (Ctrl+A) and copy (Ctrl+C) your second new image.

7: Go to your first new image and paste (Ctrl+V) into it. (It should automatically centre it).

8: Flatten that image. You should have a coloured box with a border around it.

9:Unlock the layer.

10: Get your lasso tool (it looks like a magic wand) and select the inner colour.

11: Go to "Edit" and select "clear."

12: Then all you have to do is drag or copy what's left into your original image.

That's how I do it, and how other people I know do it. I know it sounds complicated, but actually it isn't!

[kyizi.livejournal.com]

Although, I had to do some fancy stuff to get the symbol for Earth, since kyizi hadn't given it to me!

YOU NEVER ASKED FOR IT! ;)

But since I am asking, can I get the whole Stargate writing thing.

[heliona.livejournal.com]

But since I am asking, can I get the whole Stargate writing thing.

Huh? I don't have the whole Stargate writing thing!

And I know ask for the symbol, but that's because I didn't know I would need it!

[kyizi.livejournal.com]

No, I mean the Stargate bit with the symbol as the a. You used it in the manip

[heliona.livejournal.com]

Oh right, well, that was just using fonts. I think I flattened it so you should be able to get the whole thing. How I got the blue bit around the symbol was so complicated as well! But yeah, that shouldn't be a problem.

[kyizi.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks

[loriel-eris.livejournal.com]

It's weird, kyizi and I were reminiscing about Photoshop, and I was remembering when I didn't know what to do with layers,

Not reminiscing as I still can't fathom Photoshop...