Diary of a POD Person

Fun Tutorial: Easy Photo Grunge Effect

2008-05-23T08:12:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I found an interesting Photoshop tutorial on Digg that shows how to use self-compositing techniques and filters to create a grunge effect.

I tried it in GIMP, substituting the Unsharp Mask filter for the High Pass filter. I also used RGB Noise to add noise to the gradient layer (I unchecked the box marked 'Independent'). I didn't have any photos of engines to play with, just a rose picture (I think some rusty plumbing would be more interesting than a rose, but a rose is what I had handy). Here's what I got:

Rose photo before:

Rose photo after doing the grunge effect:

Update May 28, 2008

My dh downloaded the high pass sharpen filter from the Gimp plugin registry; I will re-do when I get a chance.

Here it is, the grunge effect on the rose using the high-pass filter (and a bit different gradient):

And by the way, I love the high pass filter! I can see using it in a lot of projects.

Easy Photo Grunge Effect | digg story

I Started Zazzle-ing Again

2008-05-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

When I first tried designing for print-on-demand sites early last year, I started with Zazzle. The site just seemed easier to use than CafePress. I soon found some severe limitations, however, the most notable being that I could not delete my images myself (you could have them deleted if you emailed a special request). Also, the markup was set at 10% across the board. Things change quite rapidly these days, and Zazzle now allows you to set your own markup and delete images.

What's really neat about Zazzle is you can allow users to customize your designs. For some reason this really excites me. A few years ago I was intrigued by the idea of making stamps - a small piece of art that others can use to make their own art. Unfortunately, I found that making rubber stamps is a messy, weird-chemical-intensive process. Zazzle offers the same sort of opportunity to make design building blocks that you can cast out into the world and then sit back and watch how the memes evolve.

My most recent Zazzle contribution you can't really call art. It's the universal no symbol, also called the universal prohibition symbol - a red circle with a diagonal line, often used for regulatory signs such as 'no parking' or 'no smoking', now on t-shirts, stickers, buttons, magnets, mugs, and key chains. You can add whatever text you like behind (or in front) of the symbol. Some possibilities: war, fear, toxic waste, junk food, tests, whining, poverty, cat farts, greed... the possibilities are endless. Just click and add your text!

Special Characters: Using Unicode Character Codes in Gimp and Inkscape

2008-05-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

Special characters can be accessed in the same way in both Gimp and Inkscape using hexadecimal unicode character codes.

First open up a text box by choosing the text tool and clicking in the image window. Then press Ctrl+Shift+U, type in the code, and hit Enter.

A unicode character table is available on J.R Graphics' web site. Particularly interesting ranges for special characters are 2600 .. 26FF miscellaneous symbols and 2700 .. 27BF dingbats.

DejaVu fonts include all the characters in the miscellaneous symbols and dingbats ranges. Linux Libertine is an OFL font which has many interesting special characters, including hearts, musical notes, the rod of Asclepius, and zodiac symbols.

What Time is Love? Heart Clock Face Design

2008-04-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

citrine 2007

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License with an additional restriction:
do not re-distribute in electronic format.
Commercial use for print media is allowed.

Here's another free clock face design. This one has hearts rotated about the center; the hearts are different sizes according to their position: small for minutes, medium for hours, and large at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions. They are also different colors: red, pink, and purple. Too girly? Use the 'Select By Color' tool in the Gimp toolbox menu and change 'em! Or just change all the hearts to one color as described here.

To download the full 2700 x 2700 pixel .png file, click on the thumbnail image above. The design fits the CafePress wall clock at 300 dpi, and can be used as a template. Add numbers, text, a photo, whatever you want, just keep the important stuff inside the ring of hearts.

Related Posts:
- Classic Roman Clock Face
- Modified Roman Clock Face
- Minimalist Clock Face
- How to Make a Clock Face / Radial Design with Inkscape
- Gimp Quick Tip: Color Change

[My apologies to KLF fans for the post title.]

Classic Roman Clock Face Template

2008-04-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Modified Roman Clock Face Template

2008-04-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

citrine 2007

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License with an additional restriction:
do not re-distribute in electronic format.
Commercial use for print media is allowed.

Here's another free clock face design which can serve as a CafePress clock template; click the thumbnail image above to download the full 2700 x 2700 pixel .png file. This round design has Roman numerals which are rotated and includes hour and minute marks. Note the use of 'IV' instead of the traditional 'IIII'. The design is black on a transparent background; changing the design color is relatively easy.

Update 04/15/2008:
Originally, I titled this post 'Classic Roman Clock Face', but I found out today that this isn't the traditional design for a Roman clock face! Look carefully and see if you notice the difference...

The number four is 'IV' on this design, but traditionally on clock faces the number four is written IIII in Roman numerals! So check back here for a true classic design (should have it up tomorrow). I'll keep this one up too, just in case some people prefer IV to IIII.

Related Posts:
- Classic Roman Clock Face
- How to Make a Clock Face / Radial Design with Inkscape
- Free Cafe Press Clock Faces
- Gimp Quick Tip: Color Change

[If you found this article helpful, please bookmark it using a social bookmarking service by clicking one of the icons below.]

Gimp Quick Tip: Color Change

2008-04-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

Suppose you have an object or set of objects surrounded by transparency (for example, a clock face design or a heart shape); it is easy to change colors by simply using 'transparency lock' as shown below.

Open the Layers Dialog by clicking Dialogs > Layers (or Ctrl+L). If you have more than one layer, select the layer containing the objects you wish to change by clicking on its icon in the Layers Dialog. To keep the transparent areas in the layer transparent, click on the check box labelled 'lock' (if you can't find it, click on the screenshot image above for the full view and note the green arrow).

Then click on the Foreground / Background color icon in the toolbox menu to bring up the color selection dialog and choose a color that pleases you to be your foreground color. Next, go to the image window menu and click on Edit > Fill with FG Color (or Ctrl+,). If you zoom in tight, you'll see that anti-aliasing is preserved.

[If you found this article helpful, please bookmark it using a social bookmarking service by clicking one of the icons below.]

How to Make a Heart in Inkscape

2008-04-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

[coming soon... screenshots and more details]

Making a Heart in Inkscape
In Inkscape, an easy way to create a symmetric heart (or any bilaterally symmetric figure) is to draw a path with two segments. Then clone the path, select the clone, and flip it horizontally. Then use Shift-D to select the original path and edit it to make a curvy heart; all the editing will be mirrored in the path's clone. You can easily remove 'kinks' by selecting the middle node and then clicking 'make selected node smooth'. Zoom in tight and check to see that the top and bottom nodes of both halves are aligned properly; I find using a rounded cap end for the stroke style looks best (Object > Fill and Stroke). You should now have a nice outline of a heart; you can stop at this point and import the vector file into Gimp and add a fill, if desired.

If you want a nicely filled heart in Inkscape, you will need the heart to be one continuous path and not just a path and its clone. You might think that Path > Object to Path would be the way to to that, but it isn't. Raziel posted a comment (someone actually posted a comment!) suggesting the use of Edit > Clone > Unlink Clone (Shift+Alt+D); works great! To join the halves together. select both objects and go to Path > Combine, or click Ctrl+K (also suggested by Raziel; it works better than Path > Union in this case). Now you have one whole heart.

[If you found this article helpful, please bookmark it using a social bookmarking service by clicking one of the icons below.]

How to Make a Heart in Gimp

2008-02-15T06:58:00.000-08:00

Below are instructions for making a symmetric heart shape (or any bilaterally symmetric figure)in Gimp; I also have a brief set of instructions for making a symmetric heart shape in Inkscape which I hope to expand in future.

Gimp is a great image editor, but it is primarily geared to photo editing, not drawing. For drawing, I much prefer Inskcape. To make a heart shape in Gimp, you may find it easier to just use a font with a heart symbol (U+2665, U+2661, U+2764), or a get a heart brush. Of course, if you want to use either a font or a brush for commercial purposes, you have to be sure you have the rights to do so (Linux Libertine is an OFL font which has many interesting symbols, including hearts). Another approach might be to scan a paper cutout of a heart.

Making a Heart in Gimp
Open a new file by going to File > New. My preferences are set so that my new files have a transparent background layer, so I will fill with white so I can better see the path I'm drawing by selecting Edit > Fill with BG Color from the image window menu.

Create a new layer with transparency on which to draw the heart by choosing Layer > New Layer, and make sure the Transparency option is selected.

Next create a vertical guide line by left clicking on the image window's left margin; keeping the mouse down, drag the guide to the center of the image.

From the toolbox window, select the Path Tool by clicking on it. Once that is done, the Path Tool options will appear at the bottom of the toolbox window. You'll notice there are three modes: Design, Edit and Move. In Design mode, you can click in the image window, then move the mouse and click again to create a path segment.

To make a half heart, start with a point (called a node or anchor) on the vertical guide, then add another node out to the left, and another lower down on the vertical guide. To close the path you will need to switch to Edit mode by holding down the CTRL key while clicking back at the starting point. You should now have a path that is shaped like an obtuse triangle with its longest side on the vertical guide line.

Next, bow the top left segment out by clicking and dragging it out. You'll notice the node handles appear, these can be dragged around to make adjustments. Then add a concave curve to the lower left segment.

Once you have what looks to be a nice half-heart shape, you can click 'Selection from Path' from the toolbox menu. Then fill the selection by selecting from the image window menu Edit > Fill with FG Color. This will produce a half-heart shape that is antialiased. If you don't want antialiasing, first choose 'Stroke Path' which will give you a pop-up dialog. Click on Line Style, and make sure the box for Antialiasing is unchecked. Then choose 'Selection from Path' and proceed as above to fill in the shape.

To make the other half, go to the image window menu and select Layer > Duplicate Layer. From the toolbox menu, select the Flip Tool. Move your mouse back over the image window and click to get the layer to flip horizontally.

Once flipped, go back to the toolbox menu and click on the Move Tool, then click and drag in the image window until the right half of the heart is aligned with the left half. Open up the Layers Dialog by clicking Dialogs > Layers, or Ctrl+L.

Convert the floating section to a layer by clicking on the plus icon in the lower left of the Layers Dialog. Join the two halves together by clicking on Layer > Merge Down in the image window menu two times (if you look at the Layers Dialog you'll notice an empty layer in between the two half-heart layers). Now you can get rid of the background layer, if you wish, by dragging the Background layer into the trash.

This leaves you with a heart shape surrounded by a transparent area. Here's a quick tip on how to change the color of an object surrounded by a transparent area.

Probably No Hits 'Til Next Valentines Day
I doubt I'll be seeing a jump in my meager blog statistics because of this article since the interest in making hearts will likely die down until February of next year, when people will be making Valentine's Day designs again. But at least next time I'll be ready!

Canada Mac n Cheese

2007-12-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

citrine © 2007

This food art design features Canada's national symbol, the maple leaf, drawn in ketchup on a plate of macaroni and cheese. Yum! I'm an ex-pat Canadian, I love kd (aka mac n cheese), and for some reason I like taking photos of food, so maybe this design isn't quite so out-of-the-blue. I'm getting hungry so I think I'll break for lunch.

To purchase this design on t-shirts, buttons, and more, visit RTPgifts.com.

digg story

Happy Cyber Monday!

2007-11-26T06:06:00.000-08:00

Today is the day when the online holiday shopping rush is supposed to begin. I've seen a surge in sales already and if I can get just a few more sales by the end of the month, I will get my first volume bonus. So keep your fingers crossed for me... or if you really want to help, buy something at RTPgifts.com!

If the above image doesn't load for you, here's the coupon info:

save $15 on a purchase of $50 or more
Valid November 20-28, 2007
use code FRFAM2007 at checkout

My Blogger Social Bookmark Code

2007-11-07T08:28:00.001-08:00

Update [May 14, 2008]:

I recently switched to text links, plus one digg button. If you want to see the bookmark icons as below, see my 'experiment' blog. Also, my Word of the Day blog has been discontinued (but the old posts remain).]

I currently have two Blogger blogs, this one, and my Word of the Day (WOTD) blog. I handle the social bookmarks differently on these blogs since on this blog I expect people to want to bookmark individual posts, while on the WOTD blog, the bookmarks are more likely to be for the blog site as a whole.

The Word of the Day Social Bookmarking Code
The WOTD bookmark links are just simple text links to de.licio.us, Google, and Yahoo!, added as an HTML/JavaScript Page Element positioned on top of the posts. They do not appear for each post. To insert these links, just go to Customize > Add Page Element, choose HTML/JavaScript and copy-paste the following:

The POD Person Social Bookmark Code
The bookmark code for this blog is more complex since the link icons appear at the bottom of each post, and information provided to the bookmarking services is post-specific. I have links for: del.icio.us, digg, Google, reddit, Squidoo, StumbleUpon, and Yahoo!

To create these post-specific social bookmarking links, you will need to edit your Blogger template HTML code. Click Customize, then Edit HTML. It is a very good idea to download a copy of your existing template, in case you want to revert to it later. Download a copy each time you make a major change to your template code.

Above the scrolling box with all your template code in it, you will see a small checkbox that says 'Expand Template Widgets'. Click on it.

My bookmarking icons are at the bottom of each post after the labels list; to position it there, add the bookmarking code just after the following template code:

Finding the above code is the hardest part of the whole process. Now just cut and paste in the following code:

The above formatting works better with some Blogger templates than others. It looks nice with Minima, Scribe, Harbor, and TicTac. It looks terrible on Moto.

PS - If you found this post helpful, please bookmark it with your favorite service!

Update [Nov. 8, 2007]:

If you just want text links, no icons (advantage: the page loads faster with no icons), take out the img tags and replace with text, as follows:

Update [Nov. 18, 2007]:
Re: ROTUS' query about the icons being jammed together on the Thisaway template
There are a number of ways to space out the icons. You could (1) add non-breaking spaces between the links, but the code looks messy; (2) globally change the amount of space around all images in your posts by adding a bit of code near the top of the template, or (3) increase the space around each individual icon image by altering the code in each image's img tag.

For method (2), look for the following template code; it's near the top under the grouping 'layout':

Then add in the following:

Depending on how much spacing you want, you can change the value of 'padding'; I think 4px looks nice, but for more space, just increase the number.

Now for Method (3): increasing the spacing by increasing the margin width of each icon. This has the advantage of not changing the width around any other images in your posts.

To do this, go back to the bookmarking code and change the value for 'margin:' in the img tags to something greater than 0; a value of 4 to 6 seems to look nice. For example, for the del.icio.us icon, change the 'margin:' value from 0px:

To 5px:

Free CafePress Clock Faces

2007-10-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

citrine 2007

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License with an additional restriction: do not re-distribute in electronic format. Commercial use for print media is allowed.

The above is a thumbnail image of a clock face, with hour and minute marks. If you click on the image, you will be able to download the full 2700 x 2700 pixel .png file with transparent background. The image has semi-transparent pixels.

The images can be used for CafePress clock designs; they fit the clock 9" x 9" template at 300 dpi, and the tick marks fit within the 'safety border'.

If you choose to use the files, please acknowledge me, citrine, and provide a link back to this page.

Related Posts:
- Classic Roman Clock Face
- Modified Roman Clock Face Template
- Heart Clock Face Design
- How to Make a Clock Face /Radial Design with Inkscape
- Gimp Quick Tip: Color Change

Top 5 Bad Vegetarian Excuses

2007-10-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

citrine © 2007
I've tried vegetarianism off and on for about the last twenty years, without much success, unfortunately. I've used some silly excuses over the years for falling off the wagon, and some not so silly ones (it really is difficult to maintain a vegetarian diet when you are hypoglycemic).

The other day I came up with some truly ridiculous excuses that I hope I never stoop to using - though the cat probably would be quite offended if he knew I didn't 'accept' his presents. Nowadays I've just decided to be semi-vegetarian, which some might say is just a euphemism for 'bad vegetarian', but I'm trying my best.

To get this list on a t-shirt or mug, visit RTPgifts.com: Top 5 Bad Vegetarian Excuses

I Love Indian Food

2007-10-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

This past week I was inspired by my love of Indian cuisine to do a bunch of Indian food-themed designs. I'm not much of a cook, but I do know how to make a basic curry sauce and I've often said, "I'll curry anything". My curry is much better when I'm free to use as much spice as I want, and 'sticks and twigs' (whole cloves and cardamom pods and such), but the rest of the family doesn't approve.

citrine © 2007

I also love black tea, and spicy black tea even more so. Not the perfumy stuff so popular now, but traditional chai spiced tea like you get at an authentic Indian restaurant, or make yourself on the stove. I tried Stash's 'chai tea' once and it just tasted like the bags had been soaked in cinnamon oil.

citrine © 2007

As you can see, I've been playing with Inkscape again; I'm getting better at it. Below is a rangoli inspired design. I used the techniques outlined in my previous post, 'How to Make a Clock Face /Radial Design with Inkscape'. You can tell it started out as a clock design as it has twelve points; I hope the number twelve is okay symbolically. I read that the eight-pointed lotus is a traditional rangoli pattern. Also, I saw a number of Diwali designs / decorations that used nine points or nine candles, but I did not find an explanation of the significance of the number nine. If you know what it is, please leave a comment, I'd appreciate it.

citrine © 2007

To see the whole Indian themed collection, visit RTPgifts.com: Indian Food. There's 'I Love Indian Food', 'I Love Samosas', 'I Love Vindaloo', 'Vindaloo Me' (a play on the ever-popular 'beer me'), 'I Love Curry','I Love Idlis' and a plainer version of 'I Love Chai' (sans tea cup), all on t-shirts, mugs, aprons and more.

Stuff I'd Like to Buy ...

2007-10-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some products I'd like to purchase, if they existed. (Perhaps they do; if so, please leave a comment on where to find them.)

Cordless LED Strip Lighting
I saw LED strip lighting installed on top of kitchen cabinets on This Old House the other day. Of course, they put in the wiring and switches. I'd like the same thing, but I don't have the wherewithal to do the wiring. LED lighting supposedly uses very little energy, so how about battery or solar (charge up in day, use at night) LED strip lighting, with a sensor or timer to turn it on and off?

Disposable / Compost-able Cat Bed Liners
I've used both Swiffer and Method sweeper cloths for floor cleaning and dusting. Wouldn't it be great to have a really big one to use as a cat bed liner? I use towels, but I have to vacuum them before I wash them because I'm afraid of clogging the drain with cat fur. Of course, I would prefer a compost-able version.

Appliances with Adjustable Beeps
I'm tired of my appliances being so loud. Why can't there be volume settings for the beeps and buzzes on my microwave, dryer, oven timer, etc.? I can turn my dryer buzzer off, or have it on really loud; there's no compromise.

Entomology: because frass happens

2007-10-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

citrine © 2007

My design of the day is 'Entomology: because frass happens'. When insects are around, frass really does happen, both literally and figuratively. I know - I used to have a job counting bug poop. Seriously. And the above representation of caterpillar feces is pretty accurate, if my memory serves me.

To see this design on t-shirts, bumperstickers, mugs, and so on, visit RTPgifts.com - frass happens
.

How to Make a Clock Face / Radial Design with Inkscape

2007-10-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

My starting off point for learning how to make a radial design, specifically a clock face, with Inkscape was the information provided in Inkscape under Help > Tutorials > Tip and Tricks > 'Radial Placement with Tile Clones'. After messing around with Tile Clones for a bit I came up with some additional pieces of information which are integrated into the following step-by-step instructions.

1. Draw a Vertical Path
Select the Bezier Tool, click to make the top point, press and hold Ctrl (to keep it snapped to perpendicular), drag the mouse down, left click then right click to end the path.

2. Create Tiled Clones
Use the Select Tool to select the path you just drew. Then go to Edit > Clone > Create Tiled Clones.

In the first tab labeled 'Symmetry' choose P1. At the bottom of the tab, set Rows, columns: to 1 x 60 for minute marks, or 1 x 12 for hour marks.

[Note: If you want to know more about the notation system used for symmetries, read Designing Tessellations : The Secrets of Interlocking Patterns. It's a beautiful book about tesselated designs - the kind of tiled, interlocking designs found in M.C. Escher's artwork and patchwork quilts. The book's author, Jinny Beyer, is a master quilt-maker.]

Then go to the 'Shift' tab; set the Per Column Shift to -100 and leave the rest of the Shift values set to 0.

Next, click on the 'Rotation' tab. If you are making minute marks, the Per Row angle needs to be 6 degrees (6 x 60 = 360). If you are making hour marks, it should be 30 (30 x 12 = 360). Leave the other settings as they are.

The click on 'Create' to create the tiled clones. The result should look like this:

3. Edit the Primary Path
If for some reason the original path isn't still selected, use the Select Tool and click anywhere on the design. Then click Shift-D to select the primary clone. Choose the Node Tool to edit the path. Press Ctrl (snaps the angle to keep it straight) while selecting the bottom node and dragging it upward; all the clones will copy what is being done to the original. You should wind up with something like this:

That's pretty much it. If you want hour marks, simply repeat the process using the appropriate settings in the 'Shift' and 'Rotation' tabs of the Tile Clone dialog. To distinguish the hour marks from the minute marks, you can use a thicker line by setting a larger stroke width for the path.

Of course, you can get really fancy if you want to simply by continuing to edit the primary path. Below is a clock face using just 12 divisions; I added nodes to the original path.

You can also place objects in a radial pattern by first converting the original object to a path (Path > Object to Path) and then editing the path to add a 'lollipop handle'. (see update below for a better way to do this). Once the clones are made, you can edit the primary path and delete the lollipop handle. Below is an example of this technique using a star.

A 'lollipopped' star:

After cloning and editing:

Update May 30, 2008
There are a lot of different ways to do things, and I just found tutorial on YouTube which covers this topic; it is actually in two parts. For me the best tips were in part 2. Instead of adding a 'lollipop handle', you can change the center of rotation by double clicking on the object and moving the center of rotation itself, which is represented by the '+' sign. The other thing I learned was very basic: you can use the space bar to paste a copy of a selected object; this is called stamping. I prefer cloning for making radial designs, but the stamp trick is very handy. Check out both videos and see what you think -> Circular Array Tutorial, parts I & II.

~~~
Please leave a 'comment' if you need clarification or have a question.

Zazzle Offering Free Greeting Cards

2007-10-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Zazzle is offering 5 free cards until Nov. 8. More information can be found here -> Zazzle.com - 5 Free Holiday Cards.

Also, Zazzle offers discounts for purchases of 10 or more cards, with larger discounts the more you buy. What's especially nice is that the bulk pricing discounts apply even when you purchase different cards; you can get a 'variety pack'.

EtOH Oval Sticker

2007-10-09T09:01:00.001-07:00

citrine © 2007

Here's a new one - a simple euro-style oval sticker promoting ethanol as a fuel source. I know it's controversial right now; I'm hoping a good cellulosic process will become available soon and make ethanol a viable alternative to gasoline. In addition to the traditional black and white shown above, there's also a green and white version.

To purchase this sticker visit: RTPgifts.com: oval stickers.

Three Potential POD Pitfalls to Avoid

2007-10-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

Before you start designing for print-on-demand services such as CafePress or Zazzle, here are three problem areas of which you should be aware.

1. Copyright and Trademark Violations
If you browse around the CafePress marketplace you will see some copyright or trademark violations (which are also, by the way, violations of the CafePress terms-of-service). The people who put up these designs are risking getting sued. It is worth some time and effort to familiarize yourself with the basics, though it may not be possible to avoid making an honest mistake from time to time. Try to follow the Golden Rule.

If you come up with a catchy phrase or slogan and you want to put it on a t-shirt, the first thing to do is to search the US Patent and Trademark Database of registered trademarks, called TESS. If someone has registered it for use on clothing, you are out of luck. As an example, try searching TESS for "I'm the Big Sister"; this phrase is clearly registered by Adorable Originals for use on clothing.

Most people know enough not to use someone else's art without purchasing the rights to do so, but fonts are another matter. Many of the 'free' fonts you see for download are not 'free', and I would not use them unless I could track down the author and get permission. Also, some licenses don't allow commercial use, so read the font's license agreement carefully.

Here is CafePress' Content Usage Policy.

2. Design in CMYK, Upload in RGB
The printing process used by POD services uses colors in the CMYK color space, which tend to be muted compared to RGB colors. If you design in RGB, the colors in your design will be different on the printed product. The product may look awful, and your customer may be disappointed, return the item, and never use a POD service again.

The answer is to design in CMYK. If you have Adobe Photoshop, or another image editor that uses Adobe's proprietary CMYK software, you just choose CMYK. If you use Gimp, as I do, however, you have to use RGB mode and choose colors that are within the CMYK range. Fortunately for Gimp users, there is a great resource for learning about CMYK color space that provides a palette of colors that show little shift between RGB and CMYK: Tutor Tanith: Using the Right Colors: Understanding Color Space.

[Of course, if you use Photoshop and design in CMYK, you must convert to RGB before you upload to CafePress since that is the required format. Printing will still be in CMYK.]

3. Bigger Images are Better
You can shrink a .jpg or .png image, but you can't make it bigger without a loss of quality. CafePress templates are set to 200 dpi, which means that a 10" x 10" t-shirt template is 2,000 x 2,000 pixels. I aim for 300 dpi, which is 3,000 x 3,000 pixels, or 9 square megapixels. Some designers go even higher and use 16 square megapixels, in hopes that someday CafePress will increase the size of the printable area, but that's too much for my computer to handle. Again, Tutor Tanith has a great tutorial on image size & resolution: Understanding Image Resolution.

I Heart Ketchup

2007-10-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

©2007 citrine

This is my I Heart Ketchup / I Love Ketchup design, which is available on t-shirts, kids clothes, bibs, aprons, magnets, buttons - even a dog shirt! To purchase these items, visit RTPgifts.com: I Heart Ketchup.

One day I had another strange urge to photograph food and play with ketchup. I simply drew the heart on a plate with ketchup and took the pic. I isolated the ketchup heart using GIMP as my image editor. When I do this kind of thing, I first make sure my image is in PNG format; this is because (1) JPG is a 'lossy' format and the more times you save in JPG, the more data you lose. Also, reason (2) is that PNG allows for transparency; if you want transparent areas you first need to create an alpha channel by selecting Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel.

Isolating objects in an image can be a somewhat tedious task(*); I mainly use the Lasso tool to make selections and CTRL-K [update: recent versions of Gimp use the Delete key] to clear the selection area. It is possible to use the Magic Wand tool and carefully tweak the settings so you pick out just the background, but often this is more trouble than it's worth. In any case, if you want to design for dark colored shirts on CafePress, be careful with your Selection tool or Eraser settings. For designs on 'dark' fabric, you need to turn off Antialiasing and Feather Edges as both will create partially transparent pixels, which is great for edge smoothing, but bad for CafePress' printing technique on 'dark' fabrics. For more on designing for 'dark' colors see Tutor Tanith: Designing for Printing on Dark Apparel, and for the reason why I use quotes around 'dark' read this discussion from the CafePress forums.

* Note: I use Gimp 2.2.13, which is the version of Gimp released with the current ubuntu. However, there are newer versions, Gimp 2.3.3+, out there with some kind of fancy-schmancy SIOX selection tool which makes object isolation a lot easier... I don't have Gimp 2.3.3 because ... um because ... um... I think I better talk to my computer admin (aka my dh) about this.

[update: Last week we got the new ubuntu, which includes Gimp 2.4.0-rc3. The SIOX thing helps, but it's not perfect.]

Learning Photography the Hard Way

2007-10-05T06:21:00.001-07:00

citrine © 2007

One of these days, I will take a digital photography class. By the time I get around to doing so, however, I may have learned it all the hard way - by making many, many mistakes. My in-laws' house is filled with furniture and ornaments passed down through the generations. On a recent trip there I took a number of macro photos of interesting glass pieces. The image above is an abstract photo of a pink glass vase; I wish I could have a do-over. First, I need a bigger flash card, as 64M isn't enough for anyone (add high-capacity flash cards to your list of Christmas gift ideas). Next, I need to set the image size and quality parameters to maximum. If I want to make a greeting card, my file sizes are fine, but I need way more pixels for a poster. Also, always wash the dust off the glass. The dust wasn't visible to my naked eye, and possibly not in the image you see above, but zoom in and ack! dust flecks! I will probably have to wait several months for our next trip to Grandmommy's and my opportunity to do a mulligan.

As far as POD and selling art photos goes, it ain't easy. Some are successful, but my impression is that they are a minority. In general, text designs sell better. My approach is to use isolated images combined with text for t-shirts, mugs and the like, so for a t-shirt design, my images are a good size. CafePress template guidelines suggest a minimum DPI of 150, but for better quality I aim for 300 DPI, meaning a standard 10" x 10" t-shirt design should be at least 9 square megapixels. From a sales standpoint, I probably should not be concerned about not being able to make poster prints from my current stock of images, but my walls are bare and what more cheap (economical) and personal way to decorate than to use your own prints?

I Don't Just Procrastinate...

2007-10-03T11:21:00.001-07:00

citrine © 2007

This is my first vector illustration; I use Inkscape, of course, since it's free. My husband came up with the play on procrastinate / proCATstinate. I love cats and their eat-nap lifestyle.

To see this design on t-shirts, mugs and more, visit
RTPgifts.com: ProCATstinate

Why POD?

2007-10-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

The POD trend might be dying down a bit, and that is really too bad because for me, a stay at home mom, it is an ideal way to contribute to my family's income. As my high school geometry and physics teacher said, 'You're always a day late and a dollar short.' Even so, here's my CafePress store: RTPgifts.com. 'Better late than never' might be a hackneyed expression, but it's still valid.

'What is POD?' You May Ask
Print-on-Demand (POD) services allow you to have an image printed any number of items including t-shirts, mugs, bumperstickers, posters and mousepads. It's a great way to express yourself, create a personalized gift, or set up a business selling your designs to others for very little or no start-up cost. It's all done 'on demand' so the products are printed one at a time; this means they can be customized, truly one of a kind creations, and there's no inventory to maintain.

Learning the Hard Way
I've always enjoyed drawing and painting, photography and using graphic design software, but I have no professional graphics training. There are a lot of things I've learned in the process of setting up my shop, and I hope to share these lessons in this blog so that you, dear reader, can benefit from my experience.