How It's Made...
Camera Thumbnail: Most of the images used on this web site are a combination of pictures captured with my camera or images drawn or created using different types of image software. For the most part I used Paint Shop Pro 7 Anniversary Edition to crop and re-size the pictures and then applied various "effects" filters to get the desired look. |
 Olympus E-500 Thumbnail. |
Use this link for a detailed description on how to make this thumbnail or one similar for yourself. |
||
Watermark Style Backgrounds: I was introduced to combining background images with the flat background colour to give the page a more interesting appearance, (see the top of this page for an example). I worked out a technique using Paint Shop Pro 7 Anniversary Edition that enabled me to create an image from an existing picture that resembled a watermark that could be tiled in as a background with the flat background colour. |
 Watermark Style Background. |
Use this link for a description on how I made the watermark style background image using Paint Shop Pro 7 Anniversary Edition. |
||
The "SZ" Button: Another image program that I used a lot was Xara X1. This creates vector images that can be easily manipulated and has some really good effects filters that are applied using a slider bar rather than filling out dialogue boxes. This is a particularly good method because you get to see your creation happening in real time. The only drawback is having to "export" to change the file format from .xar to either .gif, .jpg, or .png, as web browsers do no support the .xar file extension as yet. |
 The SZ Button Thumbnail. |
Use this thumbnail link to find out how to make a "mouse-over and click" or similar style button. |
||
The "SZ" Spinning Logo: Using Xara X1, Paint Shop Pro 7 (Anniversary edition) and Animation shop 3, (which is included in Paint Shop Pro 7) you can create a GIF animation to produce the effect shown here in the Spinning SZ logo. One of the drawbacks with Animation shop is the "Save" feature. When you have finished creating your masterpiece it wants to "optimize" (compress) your work and there is no option to stop this that I have found! |
 The SZ Spinning Logo Thumbnail. |
Click on the SZ spinning logo for a description of how it was made. |
||
Navigation Buttons: The Windows style navigation buttons generated by the, (< type="button" />) code look pretty in Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 but unfortunately it does no allow a link to open a "New" browser window or "Blank" page as it is also called. To overcome this I have cheated by making my own "look-alike" buttons using images to create a rollover function using my old favourite image editing program, Paint Shop Pro 7. |
 Navigation Button Thumbnail. |
Use the Rollover and click Navigation Button thumbnail to link to details of how to make this or similar buttons. |
||
Sample Button Images: To complement the Navigation Button elements I have added a page with sample square Rollover buttons. From this page there is access to a zipped folder containing all the example elements that can be downloaded and toyed with however you feel fit. |
|
Use these small Rollover and click thumbnails to link to sample sets of button images. |
Web space provided by
