http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussions/feed.rss Wed, 22 Feb 12 19:50:39 -0600 All Discussions - TikiTemplates en-CA http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/46/twitter-sign-ins Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:33:14 -0500 Ryan 46@/discussions
Just setup Vanilla to allow you to login with your Twitter account instead of going through and setting up an account directly on the forum.

Checked it with the Twitter account for this site and it worked without a hitch. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/45/i-cant-download Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:25:59 -0500 Ryan 45@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/40/another-10x20-senior-template Sun, 01 May 2011 14:57:19 -0500 Ryan 40@/discussions
And the good news of this template is that it marks the last template that needed to be moved over from the previous blog format of this site. Guess that means that it's now time for me to get together and kick out some more :-)]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/42/why-creative-commons Tue, 03 May 2011 12:38:20 -0500 Ryan 42@/discussions
However, looking at it as a potential buyer I didn't see the draw in buying a package of 20, or 50, or 100 themes when all I wanted was one. Sure, as the designer that made sense. But selling each individually made more sense, to me at least, from a buyer's view.

What I did was setup a site where templates could be bought for somewhere between $1 and $5. As it turned out though, I did badly and definitely didn't make enough to make up for the time I spent. After a little over a year and less than $20 net income I decided to close up the site and move on.

But what to do with the dozens of template files I had created. I didn't want to just delete the files if for no other reason than it seemed like an incredible waste of time. What made the most sense was to convert the site over to a general blog where the templates could be downloaded freely. Fortunately the ads on the site just enough to keep the site up and running. It certainly isn't a money maker, but not having to go into the red for this site makes it easier to justify keeping it up and running.

After a year or so as a blog though I realized I wasn't updating as often as I wanted, and the way I had setup the site didn't allow for me to do anything other than post templates. I had ideas for tutorials and other articles, but the blog layout just wasn't done with that in mind. The new goal became a forum where I could post anything I wanted, also with the advantage of allowing others to post and share their designs.

So here we are... a new forum. I've got dozens of templates that need to be uploaded and they'll make their way online over the next few weeks. With any luck, by the time you're reading this they'll all be online and ready to download.

At the end of this rambling mess, I would rather give away what I've done for free than to just delete 'em. At least this way they'll get some use.
]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/44/tych-panel-easily-create-diptychs-and-triptychs Fri, 20 May 2011 10:51:34 -0500 Ryan 44@/discussions
http://lumens.se/tychpanel/]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/43/free-watercolor-textures Sat, 14 May 2011 17:04:11 -0500 Ryan 43@/discussions Twitter feed this morning. Too good not to share.

http://www.designkindle.com/2011/05/13/watercolor-textures-vol-1/

It's a set of 10 high resolution watercolor textures all saved as JPGs.

Now I've just got to figure out something fun to do with them.]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/41/adobe-cs5.5-worth-waiting Tue, 03 May 2011 12:14:42 -0500 Ryan 41@/discussions
Couple months ago I finally talked myself in to upgrading to CS5. Ultimately I want Photoshop and Illustrator for the templating stuff I do for this site, but also Dreamweaver and Flash for my day job and for web design work I do on the side.

Guess it's only a few more weeks. I've held off upgrading through CS3 and CS4 already, so what's a few more weeks?]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/1/welcome-to-the-new-tikitemplates.com Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:19:33 -0500 Ryan 1@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/39/a-couple-of-simple-baby-announcements Sun, 01 May 2011 14:55:25 -0500 Ryan 39@/discussions
Both come as a Photoshop PSD file.]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/38/16x20-stained-glass-template Sun, 01 May 2011 14:50:55 -0500 Ryan 38@/discussions PhotoArtsForum.com.

It's a 16x20 file with 16 openings for images along with a wide area across the bottom for your name. Each of the 16 openings has a masked adjustment layer so you can play with the colors on each piece. The image I used on the sample was not that great of a shot by itself. But adding a bit of Photoshop magic and it looks so good that there's a 16x20 inch print framed in my entry way. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/37/fabric-pastels Sun, 01 May 2011 14:46:50 -0500 Ryan 37@/discussions
If you're interested, I've also put a tutorial online on how I made this one.

The Photoshop PSD file is included. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/36/red-splotch Sun, 01 May 2011 14:30:57 -0500 Ryan 36@/discussions
The download includes a layered Photoshop PSD file. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/35/corkboard-template Sun, 01 May 2011 14:29:05 -0500 Ryan 35@/discussions
The download includes a layered Photoshop PSD file.

And just a heads up - this one's a pretty big file. It's about 30 megs. Textures like the corkboard don't compress down very well. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/34/drop-shadow-photoshop-templates Sun, 01 May 2011 14:23:43 -0500 Ryan 34@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/33/8x10-painted-template Sun, 01 May 2011 14:12:50 -0500 Ryan 33@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/32/another-10x20-template-this-time-on-black Sun, 01 May 2011 14:11:44 -0500 Ryan 32@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/31/10x20-white-template-for-your-seniors Sun, 01 May 2011 14:10:39 -0500 Ryan 31@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/30/bit-of-a-floral-kick Sun, 01 May 2011 14:09:20 -0500 Ryan 30@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/29/black-8x10-with-white-chalk-borders Sun, 01 May 2011 14:07:21 -0500 Ryan 29@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/28/11x14-with-room-for-3-verticals Sun, 01 May 2011 14:06:23 -0500 Ryan 28@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/27/9-square-grid-template Sun, 01 May 2011 14:05:27 -0500 Ryan 27@/discussions
There is room for text at the bottom. The text "Becky" does not actually appear on the file. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/26/blue-green-and-yellow Sun, 01 May 2011 14:04:08 -0500 Ryan 26@/discussions
The text in the example is not on the actual file. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/25/big-set-of-basic-black-and-white-templates Sun, 01 May 2011 14:00:29 -0500 Ryan 25@/discussions
All templates are 11x14 inch at 300dpi. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/24/valentines-day-swoosh-in-4x6-and-5x7 Sun, 01 May 2011 13:58:10 -0500 Ryan 24@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/23/black-florals-on-pink Sun, 01 May 2011 13:54:40 -0500 Ryan 23@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/22/pink-swatches Sun, 01 May 2011 13:51:57 -0500 Ryan 22@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/21/with-an-easter-duck Sun, 01 May 2011 13:50:38 -0500 Ryan 21@/discussions http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/20/merry-christmas-and-seasons-greetings-blue-and-gray Sun, 01 May 2011 13:49:05 -0500 Ryan 20@/discussions
The 4x7 has the image on the left with "Merry Christmas" on the left. The 5x7 has "Seasons Greetings" across the top with a larger image opening. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/19/another-black-chalk-senior-template Sun, 01 May 2011 10:07:28 -0500 Ryan 19@/discussions
The "Ashley" text on the sample below isn't actually on the template you'll download. It's just there as an example. ]]> http://www.tikitemplates.com/discussion/18/tutorial-creating-a-splotchy-scrapbooking-page Sun, 01 May 2011 08:15:48 -0500 Ryan 18@/discussions
The goal
I wanted something with a fabric texture overlaid on splotchy, pastel colors. Rather than try to explain, here's what the final shot looks like.



Starting Up
First step is to get the canvas setup. For this one it's a 10x10 inch image at 300 dpi.


I found the colors on http://kuler.adobe.com by searching for pastels. These colors were the 2nd or 3rd that came up.


Drawing the splotches
The background was just sort of a random filling of color. I took the airbrush tool set to about 300 pixels and filled in the different colors. And I didn't worry too much about leaving white space. That would be taken care of in the next step.


After getting the look I was looking for I blurred the splotches.




That layer then had its opacity dropped to about 50%.

A wide white bar across the middle will leave room for an image. Originally I was going to leave an opening for a 4x5 inch, but went wider after looking at the design. The opening is 6 inches tall, leaving room for a margin around the image along with a border.


I then created a 0.25x0.25 inch pattern to mimic a ribbon. The pattern was used on the top and bottom edges of the white bar.


Next up was the fabric texture. I found one I like at LostAndTaken.com.

The original texture was about 8.5x11 so I resized it to 10x10. It was also too dark so a little levels adjustment along with desaturating and it was ready. Copied it on a new layer above what I had already done and switched the layer type to multiply. Opacity to about 20% and it was ready.



All that's left is the opening for an image. The image layer is set to have an outer glow so it looks like it's sitting a bit off the fabric.



And we're left with this.





Download It?
A zip file for this template is attached to the end of this post.]]>