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Have you ever wondered how you create a seamless pattern in Photoshop? It’s easy and it’s fun. Let me show you how…

Step 1 - Create a Color Fill

First of all create a vector illustration in Illustrator CS2. It might be just a simple dot or circle. Copy this object. Go to Photoshop and create a new document of 300 by 300 pixels. Select the Rectangle Selection Tool from the Toolbox and drag a squared selection (hold down shift) in the center of the document. Leave enough space around the square. Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer in the Layer’s Palette and select Solid Color. Select a color you like and click OK.

Step 2 - Paste your Illustrator object

Paste your Illustrator object. Select Smart Object in the Paste options. In the View menu, make sure that Smart Guides are active (Show > Smart Guides). Snap and Snap to Layers should also be checked.

Step 3 - Place your object over the border

Drag your object over the border of the Color Fill. If you see the Smart Guide and feel the object ’snapping’, release the object.

Step 4 - Drag a 2nd object on the other side of the border

Duplicate the layer (drag the layer in the Layer’s Palette onto the Create New Layer icon). Now drag the object over the bottom border of the Color Fill holding down the shift key. Again, when you feel the Snap effect release your mouse. (more…)

 
              Thanks to Joe Lanman for permission to use this Photo.

I am a freelance web designer and have been for some 6 months now.  While I was doing very well, there were some days when I was making upwards of $300 just from a couple of templates, but for the past month or so the only money I have been making is through web design and coding contracts rather than selling templates which were far easier to make money on. I wanted to see whether it was simply the season or whether it was actually the way that the web design market was going, so I started up a thread on the DigitalPoint forum, which is the biggest webmaster forum for selling templates, web design contracts and the like. You can find the thread by clicking here.

We came to the conclusion in this thread that because so many people were joining the web design industry and more particularly joining through DigitalPoint, that it had pushed down prices massively and now template buyers are put off by purchasing quality templates at the price that they are worth.

The problem is that the forum gets cluttered up with newbie designers selling crap templates for a couple of dollars, whilst the top quality designs worth $100s end up down the pages where buyers don’t look.  Then, to make it even worse, the template doesn’t sell or you end up selling it for $20 or something ridiculous like that.

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This is definitely not the kind of content I’m generally interested in, but the UFC 79 website for the Nemesis match tomorrow night is impressive.

The idea of creating a mini-site for an event (also streamed live online) is interesting.  The exemplary design execution in Flash succeeds in delivering a rough and engaging experience.  Click on the image above to check out this great site…

Martina Savagno
Creator of Adverblog
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger

*Martina Savagno is an interactive marketer who chronicles the latest ideas and trends throughout the interactive media landscape. We thank Martina for giving us this opportunity to share her professional insights and industry analyses. For more information on the life and work of Martina Savagno, please visit her Adverblog, where contemporary advertising is covered from an insider’s perspective. Thanks Martina!

             Thanks to wiretapstudios for permission to use this Photo.

Fans of the Pink Floyd will surely appreciate the site Bloc has just put live to promote “Oh By The Way”, the limited edition box set launched to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band.

The work with Flash is pretty cool when it comes to animation and design, but the site lacks an emotional side I would have expected to find given the story of the band. (more…)

                 Thanks to kingtaco for permission to use this Photo.

Today I thought I’d share some of the useful resources and blog posts that PHP programmers at any level should take a look at. There’s something for everyone here, from the humble beginner to the programmer whizzkid. 

For PHP Beginners 

Tizag’s PHP Tutorial is an excellent place to read through PHP information if you’re unsure about what it’s about and what it can do for you. If you currently build webpages with basic HTML, this is worth a read through to see how PHP can make your life a lot easier (and cooler). 

Zend Developer Zone: PHP 101 is a fantastic starting point for those just getting their feet wet with PHP. The extensive list of tutorials is aimed at beginners and breaks down the various aspects of getting to grips with programming in PHP into bitesize chunks. (more…)