yes, please show.

You missed it. He had a bunch of great screenshots but pulled them i assume until its ready for release.

I agree with making categories. I spent all of 20 minutes taking this from an idea to a contest this time so hopefully next time is better :).

I started playing with fireworks about 9 or 10 years ago. It wasnt until the last 3 or 4 that i started getting any good at it. In 2007 we created a new GUI for the company i work for and thats when it went from "eh.. okay" to "wow that looks pretty good".

Starting my blog guijaboard is what got me motivated to practice more. I did the RTI template leather and it looked pretty good then i did the "black glass" button set that gets downloaded 20+ times per month since i uploaded it in 2008. Then i did the dark knight for CJ with a navigation menu i had been working on since late 2007 and it looked even better than all the others then i made tactical and i think its the best i have done so far.

The best advice i can give you is to look for tutorials and layered files that you can pick apart and learn how its done. You already have the whole thing layed out so your well over 50% done. So if you just design your GUI around that layout it should be pretty painless. But IMO your GUI looks good right now. The only reason i would bother is if you are a tweaker and just want to add something new to your HA hobby. I got interested in graphic editors after i started learning HTML and CSS. I put up a little website and needed a logo.

Honestly I would be happy with starting out learning how to create custom sized backgrounds with shading to make them 3-D like. As it is now, many of my backgrounds end up looking flat. I can use other people's backgrounds (and do manytimes), but sometimes the simply are not the right size.

I realize that is a pretty basic step in graphic creation - so it cannot be that difficult. I've even looked at some "How To" guides on the net, but many of them assume a user already knows how to do the "simple" stuff. I need the Graphics 101 version, or perhaps the precurser course to Graphics 101. :-)

With backgrounds its always better to start with something bigger then you need vs smaller then you need. That way you have 2 options. #1. Is to crop a section of the image to the size you need it. #2. Scale the image to the size you need it. Here are some screenshots to explain.





Cropping lets you take a piece of the full size image. Very handy for eliminating logos and text you dont want to see or for capturing just a portion of a photo.

Scaling lets you keep the entire image. This usually works fine unless you are scaling waaaay down from the original image. And even then you only notice imperfection on hard lines in the image.

Im most graphics editors you can adjust the size of something manually using your mouse or you can type in exactly what you want. For an image like the one in my example its usually not important that you keep it scaled equally. Meaning you can go from a 4:3 image to a 16:9 image and no one will be able to tell the difference. But with photos and things other than random patterns you have to try and keep it equal. So 800X600 can easily be 400X300 but not 600X200.

This is from fireworks. I cant say for sure but i assume there is a similar feature in every graphics editor.

 I got my tshirt today.  I can't wait to wear it to work tomorrow.  I think it will be my new karaoke night tshirt :)

You gotta get this one to complete the set.

Stamp - sorry for the confusion. What I meant by backgrounds are the smaller backgrounds that my buttons might appear on, or perhaps the backgrounds for my popups (like the CD preview screens). These popups are better looking when then have some shading and 3-D look to appear as if they are floating over the regular screen.

Thanks!

I call them Device Canvas or Popup. Device canvas is the main area where a device menu will appear. A popup is where a series of buttons would appear. The popup can be fixed or made visible by pressing a button. See the examples below.

With my GUI the device canvas is always the same size and located in the same area. This keeps the page layout consistent and is nice when you like to have everything on subpages in a Crestron project. Its the rectangle (in this example) in the background. The idea is to keep a devices menu inside this area.



This is an example of using a fixed button to bring up a popup. It is translucent in this example.



This is an example of a fixed popup. Its technically not popping up but i decided to call it that vs dialogue box or rectangle. The terminology isnt really important i guess. I had to come up with names for things when working on projects with other people because you get tired of hearing "can you make the box bigger" WHAT BOX? LOL.



Ok finally to your question.. The easiest thing to do is to simple drop a shadow or glow under a shape. If you want to get fancy you can add some translucency to the shape. If you want to get even fancier you can add more effects to the shape.

Box 1 and 2 are from my Tactical template. Box 1 is solid Box 2 is translucent. They are identical except for the translucency. If you look at box 1 you can see i added some shading here and there and a glow under it to make it appear like its floating.

Box 3 and 4 are white and black plain shapes with the transparency set to 50%. They both have a glow effect added to them. These are probably the easiest to make.

Box 5 has some simple effects but it looks really good. It has a slight gradient with the bottom being darker. A light blue trim and a glow effect. I also added in some feathered ovals at the top and bottom to give it a little more depth. YOu can see all the shapes involved in making it below it.



Look around in your graphics editor for something that will drop a shadow or a glow under an object. Thats probably the easiest first step.

Got mine today too. I was impressed with the quality - it is a decent shirt! I guess I was expecting a lighter weight fabric. (No offense intended to 39centstamp).

To be honest i have never even seen the shirts :). I set up an account at cafepress.com and uploaded an image. Then you pick from their list of stock items and create a store.

I have never sold an item from the guijaboard or wiremunky store. I just use them to send people t-shirts. I have sent quite a few newborns "onesies". Its part of my marketing strategy to get these kids hooked on my company while they are young :).

That is brilliant. Too bad the pay off is 20+ years in the future.... :)

I am a patient munky.

Or was that a monkey patient?



LOL... Thanks for that onsie by they way, it fits her now, so expect those photos soon!

Can they make me a shirt that just says, "I know karate" in plain, black text across the front...I've always wanted a shirt like that.