iWebDevel » Design

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx: Best and most beautiful theme ever IMO!

Dragos — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:28:32 +0000

I never like to spend time on finding themes for my system, because I know how addictive and easy is to waste time with it. Though, I can’t stand working on a system with an ugly, and old-fashioned GUI style. So yesterday I have decided it is time to change the old Human theme with something more interesting, pleasant and calm.

So that’s how I found Wasp! Wasp is a great-looking theme that is neither dark nor light. No, not gray

From the author:

* Wasp is the first theme (as far as i know) that has had a script to take care of OpenOffice.org apps.

* Wasp takes care of most used apps with adhoc configurations: no strange behaviour like dark toolbar where it shouldn’t be, no redundant borders, no compromise on general setting just because of a strange behaviour in one app.

* Wasp is not dark and is not light: dark is beauty where it can be applied, so Wasp is dark where it is beauty.

* Don’t like orange/brown colors? just use GNOME Appearance and choose all colors you want, Wasp is totally recolorable.

Wasp has even its own installer, own GDM theme and works extremely fast on my system. Wasp is a simple yet gorgeous theme that I am very sure you will like.

Wasp theme preview. Lucid Lynx

Get Wasp theme for Lucid Lynx and Karmic Koala from Gnome-Look

Best Virtual OS software: VirtualBox 3.0.4

Dragos — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:37:14 +0000

VirtualBox Logo

When you need to quickly run a program which is not supported on your current operating system, most likely you’ll want to install a virtual operating system. Virtual operating system can run simultaneously with other operating systems, so you can easily/efficiently to your work quickly. Let’s say you’re a true Linux adept and need to quickly edit an image, but Photoshop is just not supported on Linux distributions. Yes, I know there is GIMP, but let’s face it, GIMP still hasn’t some features that Photoshop has. So what you’ll do now is: 1. Restart your computer and boot into a Windows OS,so you can use Photoshop from there; or 2. Quickly start your virtual Windows OS, do whatever you need and close it, but without the need to reboot your machine and so on..

It’s obvious that the second variant is better in this case. So now we need to chose a good virtual OS software. My choice is definitely VirtualBox.

VirtualBox is quick, has a great user interface, is stable, and has good integration between the host OS and the virtual OS.

To get VirtualBox go to their official website and choose your right installation for your system.By the way, it’s free!

http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Rare icons: AOL Logo/Big Icon PNG

Dragos — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:03:22 +0000

It was pretty hard to me to find AOL’s logo/icon in PNG format (with transparency). However I found it, but in JPG format. So I had to remove the white background and make the edges smooth. Here’s what I got:

Big AOL Logo/Icon in PNG

Hope you need it sometime.

JavaScript: GIFless animation. Animate images,logos with jQuery

Dragos — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:29:29 +0000

After playing some time with position relative and absolute, I’ve noticed one a great aspect of the png image format (probably gif images are also good, but since we are trying to create a GIFless animation, I won’t use any gif images in this tutorial).

So here’s a a PNG (transparent text), with the name of this website:

Transparent Logo

The trick of animating images, without the need of using the GIF image format features, are as follow:

We have an image with transparent text written on it. To animate the transparent text, we need to place a background image below the actual image and move this background image, in order to create a so called “animation”. To be more precise, the image we want to be animated should have a higher z-index than the background image below it (it’s like working with layers in Photoshop). In order to animate the background image we need some javascript work to be done. Of course, as a big fan of jQuery, I’ve used jQuery to do all the animation stuff.

Here’s the script I’ve come up with:

(function($){
            $.fn.enliven = function(options) {
                var defaults = {
                    bgImage: '',
                    duration:3000
                };
                var options = $.extend(defaults, options);
                var imH=this.attr("height"),
                imW=this.attr("width");
                this.wrap('

');
                this.css("position","absolute");
                $('#'+this.attr("className")+'Cont').append('

');
                var
                maxLeft=($('.lbg'+this.attr("className")).attr('clientWidth')-this.attr('width'))/2,
                maxTop=($('.lbg'+this.attr("className")).attr('clientHeight')-this.attr('height'))/2;
                function getrand() {
                    var nr=Math.floor(Math.random()*2);
                    return nr==0?-1:1;
                }
                function randimate(obj) {
                    var ph=Math.floor(imH*20/100),pw=Math.floor(imW*20/100);
                    newLeft=$(".lbg"+obj.attr("className")).attr("offsetLeft")+Math.floor(Math.random()*pw)*getrand();
                    newTop=$(".lbg"+obj.attr("className")).attr("offsetTop")+Math.floor(Math.random()*ph)*getrand();
                    if(newLeft>0) newLeft=0;
                    else if(newLeft<-maxLeft)                         newLeft=-maxLeft+1;                     if(newTop>0) newTop=0;
                    else if(newTop<-maxTop)
                        newTop=-maxTop+1;
                    $('.lbg'+obj.attr("className")).animate({left:newLeft+"px",top:newTop+"px"},defaults.duration,"linear",function(){ randimate(obj); });
                }
                return this.each(function(){
                    randimate($(this));
                });
            };
        })(jQuery);

The code above works as a plugin of jQuery, so it should be included in the page, after the inclusion of jQuery. In order to animate an image, you should use this code:

$('image_selector').enliven({bgImage:"./path_to_background_image.png",duration:1000}); //duration is the time of one time background animation

Here’s a crazy example 1: http://iwebdevel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/logo.php
Here’s another non-crazy example 2: http://iwebdevel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/logo2.php

If you like the idea and want more features, drop me a line in a comment and I’ll try to improve the code and add more features

Photoshop: How to apply a pattern to a custom selection/layer

Dragos — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:31:19 +0000

In this tutorial we’re going to apply a pattern to a custom selection. I chose to apply the US flag to a custom selection made to fit the US territory on the map.

Here’s the map:

World map

Now, with the help of the Lasso Tool I made the custom selection to “fit” the US territory.

Custom selected the US territory

Probably you have noticed that the custom selection contains the surrounding oceans also. To eliminate the waters from the selection I use the Magic Wand tool. With the left Alt key pressed I removed the transparent pixels from the selections (these are the waters). So now I end up with this selection, which is much better:

Better selection

Now right click on the custom selection and select Layer via copy. A new layer will be created containing the custom shape (in my case the territory of the US).

Save selection as a new layer

Now right click on the new layer and select Blending Options.

Select Blending Options

Now click on Pattern overlay from the new window.

Select Pattern Overlay

Now select the Pattern picker.

Select Pattern Picker

Now select your preffered pattern. I chose the US flag pattern.

Select pattern

Now scale the pattern to best fit your layer.

Scale the pattern to fit your layer

Click Ok to dismiss the Blending Options window.

Save your settings

Now select both layers in order to merge them. Click on one of them, then by pressing the CTRL key, choose the second one.

Choose both layers

Now right click on any one of the two layers and select Merge Layers.

Merge layers

That’s it! For a better look I added the Drop shadow effect to the layer.

Here’s what I got:

Map with US emphasized

Photoshop: How to save/define a new pattern

Dragos — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:29:25 +0000

In order to save a new pattern you need to have the image opened in Photoshop (the image which will be defined as a new pattern).

In my case, the image represents the US flag. So I have the image opened in Photoshop:

Image opened in Photoshop

Now that we have the image opened in Photoshop, defining a new pattern becomes a very easy task. Next, click on Edit -> Define Pattern from the top menu.

Define new pattern

Now a new pop-up window will appear, asking for a name to assign to the new pattern. Name it as you wish, in my case I call it US flag . Then click OK.

Give a name to your new pattern

That’s it! Your new pattern has been saved and you can now apply it wherever you want.

Photoshop: Empty selection with smooth rounded edges

Dragos — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 17:42:05 +0000

In this tutorial we’ll try to create an empty rectangle selection and to add smooth edges to it.
There are several methods to accomplish this task, but only one of them worked best in my case.
This is what we are trying to create:

Empty rectangle with smooth edges

Now how to do it?

[ad]

Step 1: Select the rounded rectangle tool

Select rounded rectangle tool

Step 2: Select ‘Paths’

Select 'Paths'

Step 3: Draw a rectangle

Click and drag to draw a rectangle with your preferred size.

Draw a rectangle

Step 4: Make a selection from your rectangle path

Right click on your just drawn rectangle and select ‘Make selection’.

Make selection

Now a popup window will show up asking you for some values. Make sure that ‘Rendering’->’Feather radius: is set to 0 and ‘Rendering’->’Anti-aliased’ and ‘Operation’->’New Selection’ are checked. Click ok.

Step 5: Select the selection tool

Select 'selection tool'

Step 6: Stroke your selection

Now right click on your rectangle selection tool and select ‘Stroke’. In the popup window set your preferred values. I suggest you choose the location of the stroke to be ‘Inside’, because if you choose the other values your rectangle will slightly expand. Click ‘Ok’.

That’s all! You have just created an empty rectangle with smooth edges. This technique can be applied to any path shape, beginning with step 4.