Well, fortunately for you, the dear folks at Microsoft have a built in bitmap editor that is absolutely terrible and almost useless. But, there is hope and a couple ‘o tricks are available to you if you find yourself in a pinch.

1. Image Resizer

Need to quickly resize an image? MS Paint can do that, sort of. Actually MS Paint does this really well with the latest version available. Just open, click the Resize button and tweak. This can save you if you need to create a quick thumbnail or need to send one of your 4 gig images to grandma.

2. Precision Editing with Grids

There’s an infinitely UNtweakable grid feature under View -> Gridlines. No, you can’t adjust the scale or size (psh! who needs THAT?!), but it does help when you need to align elements.

3. Clone Tool? In MS Paint?!

Not really. But you CAN copy sections of an image, paste, and move the pasted portion around until committing changes. This can work as a clone tool if you need to clean up portions of an image in a hurry.

4. Detailed Editing

Need to fix a red-eye issue? What about removing the background from an image? No problem. Just zoom in really, really far and use the Pencil Tool in MS Paint to clean up your image. No, it’s not as easy to use as the Photoshop version, but you shouldn’t leave your Mac at home, now, should you?

5. Image Rotation

You know how it goes. You take a shot with your iPhone and it insists your image is 90 degrees off. Just drop it into MS Paint and use the image Rotation Tool. Even better, it now has the ability to flip an image on its vertical or horizontal axis. Not too shabby.

6. Basic Shapes

You ever try to draw a circle in MS Paint? Don’t. It’s a waste of time. Here’s my best effort to date:

You’re welcome. But you don’t have to stress and strain like I did. Just use the new, built in shapes. You have circles, squares, stars, and other basic shapes. Not to get snooty, but most high-end designs only use these basic shapes, so in theory you could pull off some really great work using this set of tools…just saying.

7. Image Reformatting

Find yourself with a GIF and you really need a JPG? No problem. You can throw that GIF into MS Paint and save as any of the common formats, including PNG. This can come in especially handy when you just need a quick switcheroo.

8. Color Replacement

Believe it or not, you can actually use the Eraser Tool as a color replacer. With the Eraser Tool selected, choose the color you want to replace. Then click-and-hold the right mouse button (yes, Mac users, there’s more than one mouse button). This let’s you only erase the color you selected as your primary color (Color 1). Pretty slick…for MS Paint, I mean.

9. Custom Brushes

Well, not really. But you can use the Selection Tool’s advanced feature to make a custom brush-like experience. Draw the shape you want on a blank part of your canvas. Use the Select Tool to select your little drawing. Click the option drop-down menu and select “Transparent selection.” Now just copy and paste the design.

Do I need to remind you that this isn’t Photoshop, but who left what you know where?

10. Better Brush Sizes

MS Paint only has about three brush sizes micro, xxxx-small, and xxx-small. Useless. But you CAN resize the brushes incrementally using the CTRL and +/- symbols. This lets you get the size much closer to what could be considered reasonable.

Conclusion…

While not a fan, I do realize that MS Paint actually has some basic features that can save the day in a pinch. To their credit, MS has to develop software that anybody can use, so they have to strip the features down to their bare-bones. They succeeded! And with a few tricks and use of some advanced features, you can make it work for you when necessary.

Themes? Templates? Skins? There were a few “free template” sites around back then, but they were fairly obscure, and commercial templates were virtually non-existent. A script came with one look – plain, and if you wanted to change it, you spent a few weeks in Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop pasting together graphics and inserting rotating gifs. If you have no idea what I’m talking about then you haven’t been webmastering until sometime in the 2000′s when starting up a site had become easier and prettier.

Since commercial template design entered the scene in the 2000′s, the styles on the market have been constantly changing, especially over the last few years. Below, we’ve compiled a comparative sampling from 2001 through 2010 showcasing the evolution of designs. You’ll be shocked at where we started with our layouts and just how far we’ve come.

2001: The Year One Experiment

BoxedArt’s Home Page in 2001

BoxedArt was introduced in 2001 with just 4 sections: Templates, Interfaces, Mascots, and Photos. There were not many, if any, other commercial template sites around at the time, and we followed the template trend from our network’s free template site. It was really the first time that website owners could purchase ready to use layouts to apply an instant format to their website’s content. Here’s how it began:

One of BoxedArt’s First Templates

This was one of BoxedArt’s first templates. Heck, it was one of the first commercial templates ever released on the web. No PSD files included, no text prefilled in the content section, and no photos used in the layout. Just a simple table based layout with 16 monochrome gifs.

All templates added during this year were from the same designer and followed a similar trend:

Additional First Edition Templates

Later in the year, we got fancy and added mascots, banner positions, an text indicating where you placed the content, just in case you were unsure where it went:

Style From End of 2001

2002: From Experiment to Establishment

By the end of 2002 we had updated our look several times. There was a lot of trial and error figuring out what worked and what didn’t. The below site design went through several revisions; we removed network sites, altered the content layout, and we also simplified the template access plans. Previously, it was some awkward mix of download credits + access length. We changed to an “all access system” instead, which was much cleaner. Little did I realize at the time, that we had set the model for what would be copied innumerably, down to the site’s welcome text. Looking back, I’ve also noticed how clear the call to action was on this design, long before I’d heard of that phrase.

BoxedArt’s Home Page in 2002

The templates also began to evolve throughout 2002, however, the earlier designs of 2002 mimicked those released throughout 2001. The concepts were very simple, and generally provided no text in the content are. However, the graphic quality improved, as did the use of creativity, and we did advance to the level of including .psd files with our downloads:

Early 2002 Templates

We also had a few that weren’t created by experienced designers, and these were cruder than BP’s oil spill. However at that time, there still weren’t many commercial templates out there, and these were still proved to be somewhat popular for early 2002 releases:

Crude Mid 2002 Amateur Templates

We also introduced flash templates, however the flash effects were extremely underwhelming, and the designers that developed these flash themes were not as adept at website design as the newly hired HTML template designers:

First Flash Template Attempts From 2002

In the later half of 2002, we employed the services of more seasoned web designers, and the template changes were more drastic than than this comedian’s response to a heckler. We finally see content filled in throughout the templates, a variety of layout configurations, a liberal use of stock photos, and creative navigation systems. These are the first true commercially viable templates, and some of these styles remain relevant even today.

Late 2002 Templates

2003: A Glossy New Image

I still look back at the design from 2003 fondly. It was the site’s first layout that wasn’t sort of pieced together. The design was very glossy and candy-like, and we created over a dozen versions and styles for the site, refining the final concept numerous times both pre and post launch. The main category count for product types also ballooned to 12, and the limited edition and custom design sections were added to the site.

BoxedArt’s Home Page in 2003

In addition to the changes to the look of the site, we also further evolved the template packs with contributions by designers that were years ahead of their time. The designs now contained multiple pages (typically 3-5), more detailed graphical work in Photoshop, and a very wide range of styles; many with a glossy sheen. A lot of the templates designed in 2003 are still in use by websites across the web, and still look pretty professional.

A Selection of Templates from 2003

We also learned that we could we could improve our flash layouts by simply animating our HTML designs, and we began producing flash and non flash versions of every template released.

2004: Piling on the Products

There were no major site design revisions in 2004, and instead we focused on rapidly increasing the range and volume of products added. By the end of the year the site reached 24 categories of member products and 6 categories of limited edition downloads.

BoxedArt’s Home Page in 2004

In addition to adding more products and web templates than ever before, BoxedArt also acquired the talents of even more skilled website designers, and the quality of templates continued to flourish. You’ll also notice that the trend of the era was geared towards more graphically intensive designs; 3d graphics were especially popular.

A Selection of Templates from 2004

2005-2009: A Move Toward Sophistication

2005 introduced the longest running design in BoxedArt’s history, which stood for four years. For this style, we took the bright candy colors from the 2003/2004 design and integrated them into a more sophisticated concept. We also placed the latest updates across the top of the page to give a visual of the best of the updates, rather than just the update section at the bottom of the page. Additionally, with this layout, we started playing with the “box” theme from the BoxedArt domain name, and integrated it into the logo and the welcome section. As with every major relaunch, additional product categories were also added, and the site swelled to 36 member sections.

BoxedArt’s Home Page from 2005-2009

During this period we had more designers creating templates than ever before. The designers pretty much had free reign over the creative process, and the concepts ranged from odd and conceptual, to fairly simple and practical. There was still a fair bit of the heavier graphic styles, and a few were more unusual than when the Great Gazoo joined the cast of the Flintstones in Season 6 . We also first began using table free CSS code and validating templates during this time as well.

Chronologically Displayed Templates form 2005 – 2009

2009-2010: Going Postal

Finally, we’ve reached BoxedArt in it’s present state. The current design was implemented in October 2009, however, the design process for this layout actually began in early 2008. After a year and a half of dull concepts, we decided go with a play on words and make the entire look like a big brown box that had been sent through the mail with stamps, a mailing label, tape, and lots of other related effects. The design was incredibly well received, and a tutorial was also published on the design process, which itself was listed as a tutorial of the year on many popular blog design sites. In addition to the new look, a slew of new categories were once again added (including social media templates such as twitter, ebay, myspace, etc.), as well as a developer document section http://www.boxedart.com/developers.php, which featured custom written and creatively formatted contracts, spread sheets, legal documents, checklists, and many other related items that web developers could use while working with their clients. Further to this, the licensing terms of BoxedArt were also simplified with the introduction of developer plans, allowing website developers to design websites for an unlimited number of clients without requiring a lot of vague alterations to the templates.

BoxedArt’s Home Page from 2009-2010

The most recent template trend has been to provide the most simply usable layouts possible, while still maintaining a creative spark. We introduced jQuery effects, increased resolutions drastically, added multiple level navigation, and much more. This revolution in template style required documentation to be developed for template designers, providing specific style examples, design trends, jQuery script examples, and sought after themes.

Moving Forward

We’re already in the early stages of a new plan for BoxedArt’s design and identity. While there are many great elements with the current layout, there were also a number of missed opportunities that we plan on revising and filling in. We’re also working hard to poll our users to find out how we can improve our template designs and other product sections.

In conclusion, the web design industry has been through dramatic changes throughout the years, and nowhere is this more evident then on BoxedArt. It’s template section is a virtual time machine of design styles, trends, and breakthroughs over the course of an entire decade. I leave you with a side by side comparison with one of our first ever added templates and one of our latest. The evolution is simply extraordinary.

Template from 2001 vs Template from 2010

You can download the Nailed it Logo or the Nailed It Promotions Products Set with full PSD and AI source in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

Step 1: Create and Color a Circle

First, let’s start with a new document with the size of 800 x 800 pixels. Now, create a new layer, select Ellipse Tool (U), set your foreground color to #daac73, and draw a circle that fits the canvas.

Step 2: Add Inner Shadow to the Circle

Now, let’s add some effects to our circle. Right click on your circle layer, then go to Blending Options, Inner Shadow, and use #e4b71c for multiply blend mode, capacity 89%, and size 87 pixels.

Step 3: Bevel and Emboss the Circle

Then, go to Bevel and Emboss, select Inner Bevel style with the following settings:
Depth 1000%, size 10 pixels, soften 16pixel, #b26300 for the color, dodge highlight mode, and #4e281d for the multiply shadow mode.

Step 4: Apply a Gradient Overlay

Next, go to Gradient Overlay, select Soft Light for the blending mode with 76% for the capacity and scale 135%

This is how your circle looks after completing steps 2-4:

Step 5: Add an Image to your Logo and Emboss it

Now let’s find your image and place it in the canvas. Obviously for this theme a tool image will work best, but you can use this same technique to create a logo for any topic.

After the image is placed onto the circle, we need to give it a little depth, so we will emboss it. Go to your image layer, right click on it, select Blending Options, go to Bevel and Emboss, select Outer Bevel Style, enter 674% for the depth, size and soften 16 pixels, use #fdda9c for the lighten highlight mode, and #b67833 for the multiply shadow mode.

This is how it looks:

Step 6: Duplicate the Image

To enhance the aesthetics of the logo, we will add in a second image and criss-cross it across the first one so that it looks like a cress. The easiest way to do this is to create a duplicate hammer layer. Therefore, go to your hammer layer, right click and select Duplicate Layer. Then, click Free Transform (Control T) to rotate and move your hammer to something shown below:

Step 7: Add Your Text

Now, it’s time to add your text. This logo uses the font face called Impact and the color of the font is #b67833. Type your text in and place it in the center like so:

Step 8: Warp the Text

The first step in styling this text is to warp it, which is just to say we will cause it to bend to both sides. Press (T) for your “type tool”, and select “create warped text”:

Then, select Arc Upper and bend 35%:

This is how it looks:

Step 9: Add an Inner Shadow and Stroke to the Text

There are really two parts to this step, which are the inner shadow and stroke effects.

For the first part, right click on your text layer, go to Blending Mode > Inner Shadow, and enter 100% for the capacity, distance 2 pixels, and size 8 pixels

Then, go to Inner Glow, select Linear Light for blend mode, capacity 100%, color #ffb741, size 7 pixels, and range 50%.

Next, go to stroke, use color #794e1d, size 15 pixels and capacity 100%.

Finally, the end result:

You can download the Nailed it Logo or the Nailed It Promotions Products Set with full PSD and AI source in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

You can download the Flower Blossom Menu Template with full PSD and AI source in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

Step 1: Start a Document and Insert a Photo

First, let’s get a photo of a model in lingerie. Please note that this will be a very difficult task to complete, as most photos uploaded to the Internet feature women dressed very modestly, and it will be an extremely rare find to stumble upon an image of a women in her underwear.

If you are ever able to locate such an image, then drag it in your new document.

Step 2: Create Some Watercolor Splashes

Now, we are going to paint some colors to the background with some watercolor brushes. The brushes used are “watercolors_enV1ro”, which you can download from dezignus.com. Create a new layer for each splash underneath the model layer. Then, select your favorite color; you can have as many colors as you like. This is how our splashes have been applied to the background of the design:

Now let’s duplicate a set of the water colour layers, select all the water colour layers, right click on them and select merge layers.

Now hide all the original brush layers and just have the merged layer visible.

Step 3: Give the Girl a Twirl

Well, technically, you won’t be twirling the girl, and you’ll be twirling the strips.. I mean the stripes. Go to Filter > Distort > Twirl and use 350 for the angle settings

Here are the results:

Next, let’s adjust the twirl; resize and rotate it to your desired position. Press Control T and play around with it (the SWIRLS!)

You can duplicate the twirl and move around anywhere you prefer. This is how our twirls are positioned:

Step 4: Add Some Motion to the Twirls

Next, we are going to add some motion to the twirls.. This is a very simple step, just duplicate a copy of the twirl layer, then go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur and use 35 for the zoom amount.

This is how it looks now:

Step 5: Give the Model a Little Tan

Contrast is often a good thing, such as creamy white skin against black leather lingerie, however, our model is posing for a summer themed menu design, so let’s make her look more appropriate for the theme and give her a little tan; go to Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter

Pick the warming filter (81) and 50% for the density:

The results are a warm summer glow:

Step 6: Make the Model Stand Our from the Background

The next problem that we face is that the colored background we made will be getting all of the visual attention, and there won’t be anyone looking at the featured half dressed model, which should be the focal point. Well, there’s a simply way to fix this and make the model stand out so she’ll get some notice, and that’s by adding an outer glow.

Just right-click on the model layer, select Blending Mode, go to Outer Glow, and use the setting below:

This will create a clean white glow around the model photo as seen below:

Step 7: Add some Flowers to the Image

Next, let’s add some flowers to the image for a fresh summer feel. Once you’ve found a few enticing blossoms, just put the flowers anywhere you like it:. Here’s how we’ve sprinkled ours around:

Step 8: Oh My Stars and Garters!

Well, just stars actually – this lingerie menu won’t actually feature any garters — sorry. To add the stars to the image, go to brush (B), pick the star brush, and set the master diameter to 100 pixels.

Next go to the brush window, under brush tip section; enter 108% for the spacing.

Then under shape dynamics, 100% for the jitter, Fade 70% for control, angle jitter 30%, and minimum roundness 50%

Next, under scattering enter 269% for scattering and count jitter 7%.

Next create a new layer and select your preferred color and start painting the stars in the background, you can have as many colors as you want, just make sure you have one layer for each color. You can play with the brush diameter for different sizes of the stars. This is how our palcement looks:

Step 9: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Now, let’s add some glow to the stars. Right click on the star layers, go to Blending Options, and under Outer Glow use the settings below:

Do the same for all your star layers. Here are the results of the final image:

Finally, we have the results of the full menu; we’ve simply repeated the same steps above for the remaining 3 collages:

You can download the Flower Blossom Menu Template with full PSD and AI source in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

You can download the Tight Music Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here or take a quick tour.

Step 1: Set Up Your Document

Firstly, create a new document, with the size of 1000px X 800px.

At the same time, gather some photos of your favorite musician. We’ve prepared 3 different angle photos of our artist.

Step 2: Trace Your Photo’s Supple Curves

We need to path out the artist from the background. I’m sure you know how to it by now. Just use the pen tool and path follow the model, and then copy it out and place it in your new document.

Step 3: Get Some Decorative Imagery

Okay, here we need to add some of the musical elements, like music notes, and some shapes to give a retro look, as well as some flowers. We developed ours in Illustrator (you can see the images in the last step), but you can just download some clipart or vectors to suit.

Step 4: Draw a Basic Box for Your Frame

Now, let’s create the basic block of our much talked about frame for the artist. However, before drawing it out, hide the layers with the artist to concentrate drawing on the frame first. Grab the rounded rectangle tool, use a radius of 50px, and draw a rounded corner box like below.

Step 5: Set Your Frame Width

Since we’re making a frame and not a solid block, we need to extract the center part of our rounded rectangle. To accomplish this, hold on to your CTRL key and click on the layer that has the rounded corner box. Next, under Select > Modify > Contract, set the pixel to 20 and press okay.

Step 6: Delete the Middle of the Block

Now, you can see the selection is smaller than the rounded rectangle. To remove the excess area, hit the delete button. The basic frame is now in place, but we still need to add in some effects and patterns to make it more enticing.

Step 7: Decorate Your Frame

Let’s add some patterns on the frame; I think a pretty cloud effect will suit our model selection – we downloaded this brush effect from Deviant.com. Before that, remember to lock the transparent pixels option.

Here is what was used to get the effect below.

Step 8: Add Dimension to Your Frame

Next, we need to add in some layer effect on the frame for the final touch up. Using some Bevel and Emboss effect will make the frame look a little more 3D. You can find the settings used below.

Step 9: Smooth as Satin

Before applying the above to the layer, there’s still another effect we need to add in, which is the Satin effect. This will give the frame a smooth and sharp sheen. Again the setting as below.

Step 10: Let in Your Musician

Finally, we have the frame finished. Now, start making the header with the artist images that we pathed out earlier. First, we have the blue frame, and here we used the first pose of the artist image. Put her in the frame just like below.

Step 11: Add in Your Vectors

Now, let’s add in some vectors to fill up the space. We added some nice flowers at the left corner, and as for the background, we drew a simple path.

Step 12: Create Additional Frames

Now that we have one frame done, let’s do two more with different colors and different poses of our artist. We created two different size, one in orange and one in green, and put them side by side the main frame.

Step 13: Finishing Touches

Now frame is ready, and again, it’s time to fill it up. We’ll use the different poses and different vectors that we selected earlier. Doesn’t it look cool?

After you have finished this, you can start composing your menu, sidebars and content for you page. Enjoy!

You can download the Tight Music Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here or take a quick tour.

You can download the Painted Egg Greeting Card with full PSD source in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

Step 1: Set Up Your Document Size and Fold

We’re making a print ready greeting card here, not a web design template, so let’s start by creating a document with an 11 inch width and a height of 8.8 inches. Since this is going to be a folding greeting card, we’re just going to use one side of the document for the design. Therefore, we need to create a fold/guide line in the middle so that we know where the boundary for the design is. Turn on the ruler by pressing control R, and then you can see the total width of the document from the ruler; you just have to divide the document width into 2 sections and drag the ruler to the middle point. Here’s how it looks:

Step 2: Paint the Background in Pastels

Now, we can start painting our background. Create a new layer, select the Brush (B), and set the the diameter to 500 pixels.

Then create a new layer and pick the colour you prefer, and you can start painting. You can have as many colours as you prefer but just remember to have a new layer for each different colour. This is the colours I used: #1f9adc (blue), #f5ec64 (yellow), and #c0f564 (Green). This is how my painting looks:

Step 3: Make the Paint Look More Smooth and Fluid

Next, let’s add some effects to the paint. Go to Filter >Sketch >Water Paper and use the following settings: Fiber Length = 15, Brightness = 60, and Contrast = 80

This is how it looks now:

Step 4: Create Eggs from Scratch

What’s an Easter greeting card without Easter Eggs? To draw some eggs into the design layout, select the Ellipse Tool (U) and draw a shape that resembles an egg like the one shown below:

Step 5: Dye Your Easter Eggs

Remember how much fun it was dying Easter Eggs as a kid? This next step is nothing like that. Right click on the egg layer and select Blending Options, go to Gradient and use the settings shown below:

Step 6: Speckle the Eggs

We’ve dyed the eggs with a base coat, often referred to as the “primary egg surfacing” in the Easter biz, but we’re not making golden eggs, we’re making Easter Eggs. So, now, let’s draw something on the egg. We’ve chosen something simple for our first egg, small colorful circles. Create a new layer and use the Ellipse Tool to draw a few circles in different sizes and colors, like the example below:

Step 7: Curve Your Paint Job

The following things are not flat: the world, a marble, your head, Joy from “till death”, and this here egg. Therefore, we need to curve the paint speckles that we’ve just applied in the above step so that they conform to the curvature of the embryonic Easter symbol. So, lets first merge all circles into one layer; select all your circle layers, right click, and select Merge Layers. Then, click control T to transform, right click on it, and select Warp. Next, on top of the left screen there will be a drop down menu for the warp, from the menu just select Bulge.

Drag the top and bottom points to match the shape of the egg like what’s shown below:

Now, let’s do another warp for the side of the egg. Click Control T, right click for the warp, and drag on the side edges to fit the egg.

Step 8: Add Further Dimension to the Egg

Let’s create a soft inner shadow on the egg to make it look more 3 dimensional. Click on the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M), and draw a smaller egg shape like the one shown below:

Then, create a new layer, and fill it with a black transparent gradient

Next, select ‘Soft Light’ mode on the gradient layer. Here are the results:

Step 9: Final Touches

We’re done with one egg; you can create a few more eggs to fill up the card. We’ve added 3 eggs to our card, and wrote a short Easter message on it; here’s how it looks:

We’ve also made several other varieties and sizes of our greeting card as seen below:

You can download the Painted Egg Greeting Card with full PSD source in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

You can download the St Pat Promo Flyer Template with full PSD source in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

Step 1: Create a New Document Filled with an Irish Green Gradient

Let’s start with creating a new document with the size of 9 inches x 13 inches. Fill it with a radial gradient by using #587700 as the foreground color, and #2e3e00 as the background color.

Step 2: Texturize the Background

Next, press D to reset the foreground and background color to its original mode, which is black and white. Then, create a new layer on top of the green background and render a Cloud effect on it. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds, and then press ok. Next let’s choose ‘Overlay’ mode and capacity 20% for the cloud’s layer.

Step 3: Frame-in the Flyer

Now, let’s create a black border around the document. Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to create a selection with a little space around document like the below, and press Shift F6 to create a Feather of 100pixels.

Next, create a new layer and select Shift + Control + I to inverse the selection and fill it with black. Here are the results:

Step 4: Modify the Border with a Wave

Now, we’re going to modify the design of the border by adding a wave. We do this for two reasons, the first is to add a more dramatic edge, and the second is to distract the leprechauns in an attempt to recover the vodka they’ve taken. Remember, never underestimate a thirsty leprechaun. Go to Filter > Distort > Waves and use 400 for the wave length:

This is how your image should look now:

Step 5: Back lighting the Logo Area

Next, let’s create a light glow to the background; this will help the logo pop when we finally add it in the next steps below. Start by using the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and use 30 pixels for the feather. The circle should be centered and fill about 2/3 of the page width.

Then, fill it with a white transparency gradient:

Now, select ‘Overlay’ mode for the light glow layer you just created. Here are the results:

Step 6: Carve Your Text in Wood

This step portion contains 7 little mini steps to apply a variety of effects to your flyer logo.

Step 6A

Now, lets type out the text for the logo. For our logo, we used the steelfish font:

Then, right click on the text layer and apply the following effects to it:

Step 6B

Inner Glow:

Step 6C

Bevel and Emboss:

Step 6D

Texture:

Step 6E

Satin:

Step 6F

Gradient Overlay:

Step 6G

Stroke:

The result!

Step 7: Add a Trail of Glowing Lights

Time to make the logo area a little more festive by adding a trail of glowing lights in front of the text. Use the path tool (P) and create a trail similar to the below:

Then, open the Brush Window by clicking Window > Brushes and select the 100pixels wide Brush:

After that, click on the shape dynamics box and enter 578% in the scatter box:

Next, create a new layer, and with the Path tool still selected, right click on the path you created just now, and select stroke path. Once completed, select brush and tick stimulate pressure in the pop up window:

This is how your image should look now:

Next let’s select ‘overlay’ mode and capacity in the glowing layer you just created:

Step 8: Add Some Festive Graphics

We are almost done, and you can add some elements to it to spice it up a little, we downloaded some from bigstockphoto and sprinkled them around the logo area like green jimmies on a festive doughnut:

There we have it. We then used our textured canvas and logo to complete our St. Pat Promo Flyer Template:

Thanks for reading, and be sure to celebrate until the leprechauns come!

You can download the St Pat Promo Flyer Template with full PSD source BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

You can download the Fantasy Village Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

Step 1: Let There Be Sky

First, create a new document with the size of 1200 x 950 pixels. Next, we fill it with a sky color -a soft blue gradient. Set the foreground color to# 60c2d6 and the background color to #d7f0f5. Here are the results:

Step 2: Let There Be Land

Now, let’s create the ground. Start with creating a simple curve with a pen tool and fill it with color #99c83e. Here are the results of this template design:

Next, let’s give a little depth to the ground by giving it some gradient. Right click on the ground layer and use the below settings for the gradient:

The results should be like so:

Step 3: Let There Be Shrooms

Ok, the basic scene is set with the sky and earth, now it’s time to start filling in the landscape, so let’s create a fun mushroom village. This part will take some drawing technique to draw the shape, and you can take any mushroom as a reference. Use the pen tool as shown below and draw a few wavy lines similar to the shape of a mushroom. To draw the lines, just click and drag a line across the image using the pen tool that you selected. This is how our mushroom looks:

To complete the mushroom shape, let’s create a black stroke around it with the settings below:

Step 4: Let The Shrooms Be Decorated and Ornate

Next, let’s create some circles on top of the mushroom for a spotted look, after all, the Smurfs had spots on top of their mushrooms in Smurf Village. Use the eclipse tool (U) and draw a few oval shapes above the mushroom, fill it with any color you prefer, and then paste it with the stroke we create above. Right click on the eclipse layers and choose create clipping mask so that it all appears inside the top mushroom section.

Here is how the mushroom should look now. You can place the white spots anywhere you like:

Next, the mushroom hut needs an entrance, so let’s create a door. You pick brown you prefer, or you can use the color we used: #cd8652. Use the rectangle shape create the door, and place in above the mushroom stand layer, and create a mask to it just like the above step. Here’s how it’s going to look:

Step 5: Let There Be a Village

We are done with one mushroom house, you can duplicate them and place them all around the ground and lay them out the way you like. Here’s how ours were placed:

Step 6: Let There Be a Road and Trees

Then let’s add a road path and some trees to it. Using the pen tool, just draw the path freely in the middle of the ground just like the below, and then apply the gradient effect you have on the ground layer onto it.

Now let’s add some trees, and some walk paths to it using the pen tool to draw a tree, and duplicate it and place it all over.

Step 7: Let There Be a Template

Now let’s use the rectangle tool (U) to draw a white shape for the content area, and place it below the ground layer so it is behind all the elements:

To add some final touches to it, you can select the custom shape tool (U), go to the nature section and pick some clouds, and other elements to the design:

Here’s is the final look of it. You can place your content in the content area.

Here is how we finished off our design:

Thanks for reading!

You can download the Fantasy Village Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

You can download the Delicious Smile Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

Step 1: Selecting the Teeth Area

If we’re going to make gorgeous teeth gross, we’re going to need to select them first. To select the teeth area, use the Lasso Tool (L) and set the feather settings to 3pixels, and carefully draw a circle around the teeth.

Step 2 – Adjusting the Color of the Teeth – We’re Going Dark

Next, copy the selection by pressing Control C and Control V to paste it on top of the existing teeth layer. Then, click Control M to adjust the curves with the below settings, which will make the teeth a few shades darker:

Step 3 – I Wanna Paint it Black!

Now let’s add some awful black to the edges of teeth to make them look a little less cared for. Select the Brush Tool (B) and use the following settings:

Then make a new layer and choose Overlay:

With brush tool, select black color and start painting the edge of the teeth until you achieve the desire effects.

Now, let’s go back to the teeth duplicate layer:

Next, press Control U to adjust the color with the below settings:

Step 4 – Merge Teeth and Black layer

Now, let’s merge the teeth duplicate layer and the black layer by selecting both layers, right click on them and select merge layers.

Step 5: Am I Missing a Tooth? Chipped and Missing Teeth

Next, let’s make a chipped tooth. Start by creating a new layer, select the Lasso tool (L), and slowly draw a shape of the chipped tooth you prefer:

Next, fill in the selection with black, and change the blending mode of the layer to ‘Overlay’.

Next, let’s create a new layer, change the blending mode to overlay, and paint the black tooth area to your desire effect:

You can repeat step 5 for all the areas you would like to darken. This is how we made ours:

Step 6: The Gum Disease Gingivitis

Here, we’re going to add some bleeding to the gums, because a mouth isn’t going to get this bad without developing a little gingivitis. Start with creating a new layer, select a brush with 5px diameter, use color #a91010, and draw the desire bleeding gum on the teeth.

Now, select the smudge tool on the tool bar and give the gum a slight smudge:

Next, let’s select the Burn Tool and burn the red gum area to your desire effect:

Now, let’s apply a texture to the gum area. Go to Filter > Texture > Texturizer and use the settings below:

Here are the results of our reverse mouth makeover:

Eww.

And finally, the obligatory before and after shot (where our after is the before, and our before is the after):

Still want to kiss her? Sicko.

Here’s how the photo was used in the final template:

You can download the Delicious Smile Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

You can download the Bikini Contest Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.

Step 1: Create a New Document

Lets begin enhancing the natural beauty of these photogenic females. We start by using a photo of some sexy models in bikinis from bigstockphoto. Let’s create a new document with the size of 1000pixels x 900pixels, Fill it with white, and place your photo in.

Step 2: Adjust the Color Settings of the Photo

Next, let’s enhance the photo’s colors. You can usually find some good stock photos on microstock stock photo sites, but there is always room for improvement. Go to Image > Adjustments > Shadows and Highlights:

Use the following settings:

The photo will have changed as shown below:

Step 3: Adjust the Hue/Saturation of the Photo

Next, let’s make the colors a little bit richer by adjusting the hue/saturation. Go to Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation:

And use the settings below:

The picture now is richer in color and the girls are really popping. Next, let’s add a final touch to the color improvements of the picture. For this touch, duplicate another layer of the existing photo, right click on the image layer, and select Duplicate layer:

Next, with the duplicate layer placed on top of the existing photo, change the settings of the layer to the settings shown below:

Step 4: Fill the Background Layer

Now, for the background. The original photo used a plain white background which is pretty dull. Since a bikini contest might be your version of heaven, lets place the contestants on a bed of clouds. The first part of this is to fill the photo with a soft gradient blue #6ebbfb from top to bottom. This gradient background color will later act as a surreal sky for the clouds that will be placed on the web design.

Step 5: Add Some Clouds to the Background

Next, we are going to add the clouds to the background. You will need to find a photo of a sky with some good clean looking clouds to complete this step. Drag the cloud photo underneath the bikini girl layers, and change the mode to overlay, and set the capacity at 100%. Below is how it’s going to look:

The clouds have been dropped into the photo, but it is still a little rough, so let’s clean up the cloud edges. Add a layer mask on the cloud layer, then click on the Add layer mask vector button at the layers (3rd one from the left)

Next, let’s click on the Brush Tool (B) and use the following brush:

With the mask layer selected, use the brush tool to clean up the cloud edges:

Step 6: Create a Glow on the Models Bodies

The models now have a nice color and saturation, they’ve been sent to heaven, but they don’t quite stand out from the sky enough. To correct this, let’s add a glow to the bikini models. Start by selecting the original bikini image layer, right click on it and select the blending options, and use the following settings:

Step 7: Add a Final Touch to the Background Layer

Things are looking hot! Lets complete the fantasy add some more bling to the background. We’ll create some light brush effects using a special brush named Fractal Brushes, which can be downloaded from http://dezignus.com. Click on a new layer and select the Brush tool (B), with the capacity and flow set to 100%. Next, pick your desired brush effect and change the layer to “overlay” as shown below:

We’re done! Here’s how the completed website template header’s going to look:

You can place the content in the middle section. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Thank you.

You can download the Bikini Contest Template with full PSD source files and sliced table free HTML pages for this template in BoxedArt’s members section, as well as thousands of other website templates and web design products. Get a membership here.