Take a look at the image above of the text and the reflection underneath. It is very quick and easy to create. Watch the tutorial below as I take you through all the steps of creating this effect.  Enjoy !

In this article I’ve decided to finally write about something that has been bothering me for quite a while now.

Take a look at any article anywhere on my blog and you’ll notice that under every single one of my posts there is a little rectangular advert that I designed about how I use the  Thesis Theme for my blog. I also mention that I am not an advanced coder. But …….

I Do Actually Understand Basic Coding

While all the claims that the Thesis Theme is easy to use (which it is) are true what I did not mention is that I do actually understand basic HTML and CSS and am able to write basic static code for websites. I wanted to make that clear, firstly because ads like this can sometimes be misleading and make it look like anyone can quickly get set up and running within days.

I did get my blog up and running within days but the learning curve was huge. I sat on my own with a fat manual, visited countless websites and joined forums to get help over a period of months to get it absolutely the way I wanted. Finally I did manage to grasp a good understanding of how to get a blog up and running very quickly. I think when people write about how easy certain things are to do what they are referring to sometimes is how easy they find it now. In other words if a complete newbie was to sit at a computer and attempt to get a blog up and running ofcourse it is going to be difficult. 

It still is not necessary to understand everything that I have managed to understand but if you want to get fussy about the exact look and feel of your blog then I would highly recommend learning Dreamweaver, Photoshop and also getting to grips with basic coding. i.e. HTML and CSS. I probably will not be going into any coding tutorials on my blog because there are so many resources out there already that are doing a much better job of it than I would if I attempted it. (as I said I’m not an advanced coder !!)

I Do Use Dreamweaver Software

There are a few tutorials on my blog about Photoshop but none about Dreamweaver because I will only ever use it to add a few codes to my blog and not use it to design big websites from scratch.

For this reason I’m unlikely to do any tutorials about it. Why? Well there are very good resources on the internet anyway so and I think it is better for me to recommend products, service or website that will help you. If I create a Dreamweaver tutorial I am going to be faced with questions about more indepth subjects related to Dreamweaver while I this should be expected anyway my intention is not to go down a road I am not 100% passionate about. With Dreamweaver I only use it for tasks that I am most likely to be carrying out for my own projects. Why am I telling you all this?

Finding Good Resources

I’m slowly gearing my blog towards providing tips, techniques and tricks that I use to create web pages, graphics and logos but more importantly the resources that will help you to get your blog or website the way you want it.

My first recommended resource, where I learnt most of my basic coding from, is a free site called http://www.w3schools.com/ although personally I’d still rather use Dreamweaver.

Yes I said it : Photoshop Actions can make you money but let me just make something very clear. I am not suggesting that you can open up the Actions tab in Photoshop and sit staring at your computer while money pours into your bank account. It’s not going to happen. It requires hard work and if you don not like hard work please don’t waste your time downloading my free report.

Take a look at these designs below with particular attention to detail. Believe it or not each one of these took under 10 minutes to complete. Designing them from scratch would be a total nightmare especially when clients are waiting.

That is where Photoshop Actions come in very handy. They increase productivity by allowing designers to be more efficient where repeat design processes are required like these product cover designs. Photoshop Actions can make you money if you understand exactly how to utilise them by cutting down on the time it takes to design high quality covers like the ones below. If you can get back to your clients within hours having designed a whole set of product eCovers you are likely to be recommended, bringing in regular business for you.

Watch The Videos Below

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Anyway watch the videos above and CLICK HERE to grab your free report where I show you how you can get hold of a complete set of Photoshop Actions and get your designs completed faster than having to do every stage plus a whole load of other stuff to your email every week.

Here is a beautiful effect you can try in Photoshop. It’s a simple framed image with a very subtle drop shadow complimented with an additional, manually created, warped drop shadow at the bottom. The tools I used were the ‘Rectangle Tool’ with the ‘Shape Layers’ selected,  ’Drop Shadow’ and ‘Stroke’ under the ‘Layer Styles’. I then imported the image and fitted it into the ready made frame without having to cut the image to fit the frame allowing the image to remain editable.

The main technique used here was the Clipping Mask and the Warp Mode Tool.  The clipping mask allows fit any image within any shape that you have created. In this case the image was of the Eiffel Tower and the shape was the square frame.

Take a look at exactly how I create this effect in Photoshop.

This video was produced using Adobe After Effects. It is a compilation of my wife and daughter. The soundtrack to this was used from Youtubes own collection of ‘Audio Swap’ soundtracks. The audio swap is a great collection of music and soundtracks that can be placed over your Youtube videos withou worrying about copyright.