Choosing Well-Designed and Functional Free Blog Templates for Your Website

May 3rd, 2012 by Admin | No Comments | Filed in Tutorial
Graphic Design Tutorial

Free blog templates are like dresses, except your blog is the one to don one on. The more beautiful the template is, the better the blog will look. The same goes if it’s more expensive. Yet like in fashion, expensive doesn’t necessarily mean pretty. You wouldn’t wear haute couture everyday now, would you? Sometimes even cheaper dresses or, in this case, templates will create a well-designed blog. You only have to choose which design will work best for your blog.

Search process 

Before you can start designing your blog, you have to first find these free blog templates. If you have money to spare, and lots of money, for that matter, you can opt for a professional designer. If you don’t, however, there is nothing absolutely wrong with a free design. In fact, many people find it even more advantageous to incorporate free templates initially to help them manage their marketing funds well. 

If you want free blog templates that are designed by professionals, you can do so with a simple search. You could find almost anything in the internet. Many professional graphic designers, in order to attract more clients, offer free designs. You can certainly take advantage of these if you want well-designed templates. They don’t, however, guarantee uniqueness. 

Other blogs, even your own blog host, also carry a wide collection of free template designs. There is no hassle in using these templates since they have already been optimized for use of your certain blog. There are also other users who create templates and post them on their own website. There are also other websites that allow submission from other users. You could virtually spot these templates all across the web. 

Picking a design 

Once you spot a good source of templates, take some time sifting through their collection. Choosing a good design can be frustrating since the numbers of submitted templates could go from a mere hundreds to thousands. You can, however, choose a source that categorizes its templates. This is certainly an excellent way to make the search process easier. 

Learning template design 

There are plenty of well-designed free blog templates. But if you find nothing that suits your taste, you could learn to make one on your own. Learning template design or CSS is easy. You only need a basic know-how in HTML to get started. And tutorials in creating blog templates and designing them are certainly easily accessible online. You only have to invest a good amount of time in research and in applying what you’ve learned. 

Mark Michael Ferrer 
Free Blog Templates

Tags: , , , , , ,

good photoshop effects best photoshop tutorials good tutorials adobe photoshop good photoshop brushes free photoshop basics free photoshop help free p

April 28th, 2012 by Admin | No Comments | Filed in Tutorial
Graphic Design Tutorial

How to Use Photoshop Actions in Photoshop Elements

Some Photoshop Actions can be used in Photoshop Elements, but they are accessed in a different way depending on the version of Photoshop Elements. Here you’ll find tools to help you use Photoshop actions within Photoshop Elements, links to help you find Elements-compatible actions, and tips for Photoshop users who want to create actions that will work in Photoshop Elements.

How to Use Photoshop Brushes, Styles, Shapes and Other Content in Elements

There are hundreds of Web sites offering free Photoshop brushes, layer style effects, actions, shapes, patterns, gradients, and color swatch sets. All this free content can also be used in Photoshop Elements. Here’s what to do with these files to get them working in Elements, along with links to where you can find these free goodies.

How to Simulate Photoshop’s Layer Mask Function in Photoshop Elements

blogging, blogger,blogspot,make money from blog

Learn how to simulate the layer mask function in Photoshop within Photoshop Elements.

Creating and Using Custom Brushes in Photoshop Elements

Learn how to create a custom brush in Photoshop Elements, save it to your brushes palette, and then use that brush to create a border.

Free Course: Organize your Photos with Photoshop Elements

blogging, blogger,blogspot,make money from blog

This is the index of lessons for the free online class “Organize your Photos with Photoshop Elements.”

Prevent Photoshop Elements from Snapping to the Edges of Documents

Does it annoy you how Photoshop Elements likes to “snap” to the document edges when using the crop tool, selection tools and so on? Learn how you can disable this snapping behavior.

Straighten a Crooked Photo

blogging, blogger,blogspot,make money from blog

Here are step-by step instructions for straightening a crooked photo or scan in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, plus a way to correct perspective at the same time.

Quick Type Selection in Photoshop Elements

A shortcut to the Type Tool.

Rename Files With Adobe Photoshop Elements

How to rename a series of files with the file browser in Photoshop 7 and up or Photoshop Elements 2 and up.

Move Text Without Leaving The Type Tool in Photoshop Elements

How to move text without leaving the type tool.

Visually Choose Fonts in Photoshop Elements

How to cycle through the fonts list and hide text highlighting.

Fill Tool Shortcuts in Photoshop Elements

Save time with these fill tool shortcuts.

A Trick for Visualizing Detail Work in Photoshop Elements

When zoomed in for detail work, it may be difficult to visualize your results at actual size. You can open a second window for the same document and set each window to a different Zoom level.

A Trick for Finding the Cursor

I often cannot see the cursor whenever I am in a grayish area of the image. Here’s a trick for quickly finding it.

Cycle Through Blend Modes with the Keyboard in Photoshop Elements

Try all the blend modes quickly with these shortcuts.

Refining Your Selections in Photoshop Elements

Use Add and Subtract Modes for Refining Selections

How to Toggle Between Precise Cursors and Standard Cursors

And, what to do when your cursor inexplicably changes.

Remove Red-Eye with the Sponge Tool in Photoshop Elements

This is a slight variation on red eye removal tips you may have seen elsewhere, but its very quick and very effective.

Working with Layers

Learn about working with loayers by combining two different images in Photoshop Elements.

Photo GalleryView the coolest Pictures, Share your Favorite Moment Now! www.Bigadda.com

Free Graphics Software Newsletter!Sign Up

Advertisement

Software Ads

Content Network Tutorials Adobe Flex Tutorial Web Designing Tutorial Photoshop Video Tutorials Free Tutorials

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Free Webpage Design: 10 Tools and Resources for the DIY Businessperson

April 14th, 2012 by Admin | 39 Comments | Filed in Tutorial
Graphic Design Tutorial

These days, it is not necessary to pay for website creation. If you don’t choose spend thousands of dollars on a premium designer, there are plenty of tools out there to do it on your own. Small businesses and personal bloggers have all the tools they need to make a website for free, and while many designers make beautiful sites these days, it maybe be beyond the needs of the average small company or hobbyist.

Here are some of my favorite free webpage design tools and resources.

1. Free Publishing Software: WordPress.org

WordPress has revolutionized web design and most of the advice is based on this program. There are other options available, but in my opinion WordPress offers the most value. Not to mention that great hosting providers, like HostGator, have made it a simple matter to upload the software to your cPanel with the click of a button.

2. Free Website Themes: http://newwpthemes.com

WordPress offers some basic free themes with their software, but I personally get all mine from this website. They are still free but a world ahead of the standard templates. Get a little experience working in the admin area, and no one will be able to tell you didn’t go with a premium theme.

3. Free Graphic Software: Gimp

This tool is brilliant. Download it at gimp.org. They even have an extensive list of websites with thousands of images you can use or customize. Just be sure you check the rights on them, but many are free for any use. I’ll warn you that there is a steep learning curve in graphics design, but if you Google around a little bit, you will find some fabulous tutorials out there. Spend a week or two learning the basics and you’ll be designing great logos and headers in no time.

4. Free Photos: Flikr

They have plenty of images you can use on your site, even if you are commercial. The advanced search options allow you to easily search through the photos which allow commercial use. Just take some time to get to know how the search function works and how to double check the rights of each photo.

5. Free Advertising:

List your business with Google Yellow Pages and put ads on Craigslist. You should also learn some SEO to take advantage of natural search engine traffic. And get this—some webmasters are now getting massive results by handing out free fliers in the streets that offer something of value to their customers that requires a sign-up onsite.

6. Free email: Gmail

A lot of people give Gmail and other free email providers a bad rap, but I have had email accounts with many different providers, including paid services, and I swear by Gmail. You couldn’t twist my arm hard enough to choose a different one. Get to know Google Docs and some other Google features as well, and you’ll find they can go a long way in streamlining your online business efforts.

7. Free WordPress Headers: ThemeHeadrs.com.

This site has a lot of nice header designs. I usually just open them up in Microsoft Publisher or Gimp and add some wordart; however, they do customizations for apiece.

8. Free Monetization: Commission Junction Awesome.

Unlike some commission directories, they only support reputable companies, and there are some very high-paying programs available. Just sign up for an account and search in their system for advertising banners that fit your niche.

9. Free Theme Generator: www.yvoschaap.com/wpthemegen/

This WordPress tool is awesome if you aren’t happy with the limitations of a preset theme. It does have a learning curve and will be a little awkward to use at first, but if you take some time to play with the different features and experiment on what each does, you can get pretty good. Uploading a custom header is a must if you want it to look professional.

1o. Free Advice: The Warrior Forum

If you want to get serious about internet marketing and webpage design strategies, the Warrior Forum is a wealth of information. I really can’t say enough about this place. There is a very positive, helpful atmosphere on the forum, and members get access to a list of free eBooks about internet marketing and free webpage design advice.

Tags: , , , , ,