February 02, 2003

Headed off at the pass

You know, one day I should really learn to use this copy of Photoshop 5 that I have owned for about four years now. I can't seem to figure out how to make a header that is transparent-background gif with a bevelled, embossed font, aaargh... I should have used Steve H.'s Naked Hippy Font, but it doesn't go with my new Killer Hobbit motif. Oh well. Perhaps if I ever learn to skin the site, I'll make a Stupid Naked Antiwar Protestor skin. Skin -- get it? Heh heh heh.

I really shouldn't drink so much coffee this late.

I really hope my new computer gets delivered tomorrow.

I just realized I used the wrong version of "too." Kill kill kill--!

Update: there, dammit.

Posted by Andrea Harris at February 2, 2003 11:16 PM
Comments

Naked hippies go with ANYTHING.

Thanks for the link!

Right now, I'm torturing African email con men again. I asked one if he knew how to cure a rectal prolapse.

Posted by: Steve H. at February 2, 2003 at 11:40 PM

I have photoshop and have never figured it out! I keep falling back on Paintshop to do my graphics.

I like your new "green" look.

Posted by: Ith at February 2, 2003 at 11:54 PM

It's growing on me (the green look, that is -- or maybe I'm just starting to get moldy...) I used to use Paintshop Pro all the time. I started when I only had Windows 3.1 (sound of oldster rocking back and forth in rocking chair...) But I stopped using it after I got Photoshop. I recently started using it again for a project for my boss. But I don't have it at home. It was strange getting used to their interface again.

Steve, I hope you get your problem solved soon. ;)

Posted by: Andrea Harris at February 3, 2003 at 12:00 AM

I like the new look. When are you gonna redo my crappy place? ;p

Posted by: Solonor at February 3, 2003 at 12:05 AM

I'll send you a copy of the .psd for my logo. It's fairly simple...

Posted by: Scott at February 3, 2003 at 12:12 AM

And what the hell is a "quatloo"? Is my old-fogey showing?

Posted by: Scott at February 3, 2003 at 12:16 AM

Thanks for the PSD, Scott! I'll take a look at it tomorrow and see if I can't apply it to my own little project. As for quatloos, I'll post an explanation. It's kind of obscure if you're not a scifi geek.

Solonor: well, what do you have in mind for your site? I did do one for my boss, so I have a little design "expertise." (Very little.)

Posted by: Andrea Harris at February 3, 2003 at 12:33 AM

Andrea: It only hurts when I jump rope.

Posted by: Steve H. at February 3, 2003 at 01:05 AM

Hey Andrea - if I'm not mistaken, Photoshop 5 will save a transparent image for you, or it does in the Mac version anyway. Look in the help section - it'll walk you through the whole process. You just have to have a transparent background; the rest of it is automated. I did it that way for a while, until I finally got it figured out. Lots easier in 7 though...

Posted by: Mike at February 3, 2003 at 07:30 AM

I'd be happy to help with the PSD questions and process of creating a transparent GIF file. My only word of caution is that bevels and shadows often don't look AS spiffy in GIF form due to compression and color reductions and often retain the halo effect no matter what. It's usually better, if those are the effects you want, to use the actual background color of the website as your background color for the image and save as a JPG (allows for more gradiations).

I'd be happy help, just let me know.

Posted by: Leigh-Anne at February 3, 2003 at 08:17 AM

ACK, I hate when I make typos. "...more gradation."

Posted by: Leigh-Anne at February 3, 2003 at 08:19 AM

I don't know, Andrea. Some days I like my simple, goofy design. Some days I hate it...especially when someone comes up with a really good new one like this. Good yob, missy!

Posted by: Solonor at February 3, 2003 at 08:33 AM

Eek! The Dreaded Doctype Error has infected your template, cutting off your content column at the bottom of your sidebar! Eek!

Posted by: *** Dave at February 3, 2003 at 07:06 PM

Oh, I know -- I forgot to put the special code I use in the index file. I will fix.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at February 3, 2003 at 07:28 PM

Okay, the usual code I use ( -- without spaces after and before the brackets) messed up my php, so I used this instead (without spaces after & before the brackets):

If you are curious, I got this code here. Apparently there is no perfect way of dealing with this IE bug, but quite a few workarounds.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at February 3, 2003 at 07:41 PM