Graphics Tools

Heavy Metal: Metal and Chrome Effects - Part 2
New Riders Publishing
September 6, 2001
In this installment we look at how the Star Wars logo was created. This is an excerpt from the book Photoshop 6 Down and Dirty Tricks by New Riders Publishing. Yes, this is the very same book that's been among the best-selling Photoshop 6 books since its release.

Heavy Metal: Metal and Chrome Effects
New Riders Publishing
August 16, 2001
This is an excerpt from the book Photoshop 6 Down and Dirty Tricks by New Riders Publishing. Yes, this is the very same book that's been among the best-selling Photoshop 6 books since its release. This first installment covers metal and chrome effects and arched cutout type.

Getting the Most From Your Effects
Linda Cole
February 12, 2001
Third party filter fever getting you down? Learn how to use the built-in effects of Paint Shop Pro to find a cure!

From Flat to 3D by Linda Cole
Three D geometric shapes are not all that difficult to create with a 2D program, they just take a little practice. Join us and learn how to create 3D geometric shapes in PSP7 through the use of shadows and proper shading, with a little help from the deformation tool.

3D Text with PSP 7 by Linda Cole
Let's face it. At some time or another we all have a need for a 3D effect, but not all of us have a 3D program handy. Join us and explore the possibilities and methods for creating 3D text with Paint Shop Pro 7.

Paint Shop Pro 7

This section covers tutorials for Paint Shop Pro 7. It is designed to initiate newcomers to the program as well as help seasoned users to further their knowledge of the software.

An Introduction to Photoshop by Selena Sol and Kenji Tachibana
A three half day course for the novice to intermediate Photoshop user. Day one and two cover tools and definitions with the focus changing from definitions to the actual process by day three. Instructions are given for creating a 3D logo, shape with shadows, cast and drop shadow, buttons, relief arrows and beveled frame using such tools as Layers, Channels, Masks, Filters, Gradients and more.

An Introduction to Paint Shop Pro 5 by Linda Cole
Designed to initiate the newcomer to the program as well as orient the seasoned Paint Shop Pro user with the new interface and features. This tutorial follows a similar plan to the Photoshop tutorial.

Lighthouse on the Web - Graphics Tools
Reviews of Web graphics tools from Microsoft, Corel and others, plus a unique collection of links to other on-line reviews. The Lighthouse on the Web site also includes design discussion and advice, especially on the creation of text-intensive pages.

The WWW Signboard Factory
"Have you ever wondered how you could make a beautiful CG signboard for your WWW pages?The WWW signboard factory can help you. The WWW signboard factory is the first online Easy-Order CG design system in cyber space. Just fill in the order form below and click the order button. You will get the preview image in minutes."

Amazing Instant Online Animated Banner Maker
"Create your own custom animated banners right here. No fancy plug-ins or hard thinking required."

The Banner Generator
You can use The Banner Generator to create title banners for web pages, hyperlinked buttons, or banner ads. Simply fill out and submit The Banner Generator Form. After you submit the form, it will take about five to ten seconds for your banner to be generated.

GIF Wizard
Shrink your GIF file size up to 90% with GIF Wizard: This online utility will help you reduce the file size of your GIF files so that they load faster and take up less space in your homepage directory.

ImageMagick
ImageMagick also has command line programs that perform these functions: Convert an image from one format to another; Resize, rotate, sharpen, color reduce, or add special effects to an image; Create a framed thumbnail of an image; Create a transparent image suitable for use on the Web; Turn a group of images into a GIF animation sequence; Create a composite image by combining several separate images; Segment an image based on the color histogram; Describe the format and characteristics of an image; Retrieve, list, or print files from a remote network site. You can try these and many more functions over the Internet from the Imaging Machine .

Adobe Photoshop
Already an indispensable tool for print graphics, Photoshop bridges the gap between traditional print and Web publishing, providing the most robust features for the creation of high-quality graphics for both environments. The Actions feature in Photoshop 4.0 not only streamlines graphic artists' design process, but it also allows users involved in Web image processing to easily perform batch file conversions and downsampling, saving valuable time. Version 4.0 includes support for transparent, interlaced GIF files, and adds support for the following new Web file formats: Portable Network Graphics (PNG); Progressive JPEG; Portable Document Format (PDF).

Fractal Design
Fractal Design is famous for providing cutting-edge creative tools. Express your vision in ways you never believed possible, from 2D to 3D, from paint to draw, from animation to VRML. Fractal Design Painter 4 is the world's leading paint program. With more than 150 unique brushes, Painter's rich set of painting tools and special effects empowers your creativity. Painter 4 now mixes raster and vector artwork, offers exciting web features and supports collaborative painting across a network.

Paint Shop Pro
is a great shareware program; it's one of the easiest and most powerful image viewing, editing and converting programs you may ever use. With support for over 30 image formats, and several drawing and painting tools, this may be the only graphics program you will ever need! Now, Paint Shop Pro version 5.0 is available for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. The new version has an all new Windows 95 look and many new features and enhancements. The new enhancements and features include dockable tool bars, enhanced selection options, built in special effects filters, RGB color separation, support for new image formats (Progressive JPG, Mac PICT and PNG with transparency), enhanced resampling, enhanced masking options and much more!

Macromedia Fireworks
is the first production tool to provide a unified environment for creating, optimizing and producing high-quality graphics for the Web. Engineered from the ground up to address the needs of professional Web designers, the new tool incorporates such advanced features as a visual export preview, complete control over compression and color palettes, automatic generation of button states and JavaScript rollovers, as well as text and effects which are editable all the time. Fireworks allows designers to create the most compact graphics and GIF animations in the fewest steps.