filtering color for grays

Time Out

2007-07-21T09:12:44Z

Not a graphics post + a dash of spam. If you haven't heard from me either via my site, emails, comments, replies, wherever... it's likely because:

1. I'm away for work (have been since right after the texture challenge reveal post). Which also means no graphic updates from me for at least another 2-3 weeks, because I won't have access to Photoshop or my computer (which means any graphics stuff) until then.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is currently attached to me wherever I go and it's taking priority in whatever free time I may have at the moment (as is probably the case for many of you, I assume). :p If any of you are reading or doing posts on it, feel free to drop me links to them. I'm immensely curious about what others think of the book so far.

Be back here with stuff as soon as I can! There are a couple of important emails from you guys that I will get back to ASAP though. You'll hear from me very soon.

The Reveal: Color Textures Fun Challenge

2007-07-07T08:04:28Z

Color Textures Fun Challenge revealing time! Lots of wonderful textures and colors... it's so much fun to look at what you guys came up with. :D To all you icon makers, you get 29 different sets of textures (submitted by 17 people) to play with all at once. It's like Christmas. ;)

Originally, I was going to sort these by color but then it turned out not to be very practical since the colors went all over the place. Hee! All the better, I say. A couple of people, I think, also may have misunderstood the terms of challenge, so a few sets came out having a range of more than one color. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough on that point... but I'm including them in the list anyway since they were already made and, well, how can I not? They're goodies! :p

Enjoy, and don't forget to comment on their respective posts! I'm sure they'd love to hear what you think.

--------------------------------------------------
NOTE: While a few sets turned out a little off course with more than one color mixed into the textures, I'm listing them in the color the maker intended them to be. I've included one teaser per entry on the list below- go to their post for the entire thing please.

ORANGE: 10 icon-sized & 1 large
by millepetit

BLUE: 15 icon-sized, RED: 15 icon-sized
by x2x_graphics

OCEAN BLUE: 10 icon-sized, FOREST GREEN: 25 icon-sized & 1 large
by ice_cubed

GREEN: 12 icon-sized & 1 large
by emrgngbutrfly

ORANGE: 10 icon-sized
by phinjay

ORANGE: 15 icon-sized & 1 large
by retrographic

BLUE: 40 icon-sized *posted @ GJ
by justforeverme

YELLOW: 15 icon-sized
by magical9mystery

GREEN: 12 icon-sized & 1 large, PINK: 12 icon-sized & 1 large
by ownthesunshine

SEA COLOR/TURQUOISE: 12 icon-sized
PINK: 12 icon-sized
GREEN: 12 icon-sized
RED: 24 icon-sized
by pensnest

PURPLE: 31 icon-sized
RED: 30 icon-sized
GREEN: 28 icon-sized
by masquerade_arts

PINK & BLUE: 16 icon-sized, BRONZE: 20 icon-sized, TEAL: 12 icon-sized, GRAY: 16 icon-sized
by magnetboyicons

RED: 14 icon-sized
by annaoni

RED: 10 icon-sized, BLUE: 10 icon-sized
by pe1804

PINK: 10 icon-sized
by elf_coloring

GREEN: 48 icon-sized
by samuraiblues

PEACH: 25 icon-sized & 3 large *textures shown in preview format only
by lookslikerain

--------------------------------------------------
Thank you so much to everyone who joined in on the challenge. I hope you guys had fun with it. :) Btw, I noticed that many of you thought this was a contest and that there would be a voting of some sort. It isn't, since this was all done in great fun only and a competition was never the point. Plus I didn't want to discourage any potential first-timers to texture making by turning this into a contest. :p

HOWEVER, if you guys are interested in doing something similar to this again, then I'm definitely all for hosting resource challenges from time to time- perhaps even an actual contest with voting here or there if that's what you guys would want to see sometimes. Poll time, me thinks!

View Poll: #1016931

Naruto: 30 Icons

2007-07-04T18:38:56Z

I had wanted to try something different, so I set up some odd specifications and limitations for making this particular batch of icons. Basically, I gave myself 4 rules. If I were to use textures, it has to be from this set (I randomly picked an old one of mine). No text allowed, including tiny ones. I'd use only the Naruto manga chapter b/w covers for the icons. And finally, I can't rotate any of the pictures, do multiple/duplicate cropping of the pictures, or combine any of them either. *_* Sooo, this is the style I ended up with. I wish I could say they turned out better than I hoped, but at least it was a somewhat interesting experience.

*Last 2 icons are just old ones thrown in with this lot and not part of the aforementioned "personal challenge" exercise.

06. 27. 10.

Naruto: 30 Total
01	02	03	04	05
06	07	08	09	10
11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

Decorative Brushes: Dashed Shapes

2007-07-01T17:41:53Z

Remember my Fun Scribbles & Decorations set? These were made pretty much right after that one, except I was iffy about posting them back then because of the huge crazy dashed lines fad thing... which may seem weird to some that I didn't want to post them when it was popular and instead chose to post them now that the fad has long died down. :p Anyhow, these are all in varying sizes... many of which are large enough for banners, headers, etc. Have fun with it!

Preview: (44 brushes total)

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

Image Pack or Photoshop Elements 1 .abr file: Go here to grab them
(the .abr file should work on all PS Elements versions and I think PS6+)

Looking for Older Sets? If you're just now browsing my journal for the first time, please note that all my resource posts before Sept.2006 are likely broken due to change of links and organization overhaul in order to combat hotlinking issues. And since I haven't had time to fix them, please go directly to Colorfilter.net to grab them instead. All my resources will always be available there as well. Thank you.

NOTE: For those participating in the COLOR TEXTURES FUN CHALLENGE, the submission deadline has been extended for 3 extra days due to several people being pressed for time. The new deadline is now on Friday, July 6th at 11pm. This will be the only extension, so get it in by then! :)

General Brushes: A Flaky Influence

2007-06-30T12:01:35Z

I've dug up another old brush set that I thought I had already uploaded... but apparently not! Likely more suitable for creating textured effects and I'm still not too sure how much interest there is over here for these kinds of brushes. But as always, I hope at least some of you will find them useful.

Preview: (7 brushes total)

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

Image Pack or Photoshop Elements 1 .abr file: Go here to grab them
(the .abr file should work on all PS Elements versions and I think PS6+)

Looking for Older Sets? If you're just now browsing my journal for the first time, please note that all my resource posts before Sept.2006 are likely broken due to change of links and organization overhaul in order to combat hotlinking issues. And since I haven't had time to fix them, please go directly to Colorfilter.net to grab them instead. All my resources will always be available there as well. Thank you.

Note to Donators: My email inbox is a nightmare right now due to my lack of internet time the past few months, so donators (new and old alike) who have not yet received donators' access at Colorfilter.net, please do remember to register as a member at the site and email me your username, email address, and paypal email address so that I can activate your access ASAP. I'm so sorry for all the trouble; I just want to be sure I'm not missing any of you as I'm hoping to update the donators' section soon. Thank you!

Reminder: Color Textures Challenge Deadline

2007-06-30T09:52:39Z

Just wanted to do a quick reminder that the Color Textures Fun Challenge deadline is creeping up on July 3rd! Please remember to comment on that post (NOT this one) with your submission for those who were interested in participating. :)

If you guys are pressed on time, let me know. I may extend the deadline a little if enough people need it. Happy texture making!

Takeshi Kaneshiro: 10 Icons

2007-06-22T18:47:46Z

Another old requested icon batch. It feels really strange to be posting Takeshi Kaneshiro icons. ._. He's a friend I knew from high school, so Takeshi's definitely one person I always felt entirely too odd about iconing. After a whole lot of smirking while making them last year, I finally gave up at 10 uninspired icons. :p

04. 05. 08.

Takeshi Kaneshiro: 10 Total
01	02	03	04
05	06	07	08
09	10	x	x

Set 20 of Plain Texture Series - Basics

2007-06-22T00:51:32Z

So I was up all night stressing and rushing to do my work in order to meet a deadline for my job... which gave me such a headache I decided to take a break and come on LJ to browse around a little... where I then discovered that LJ has decided to tempt and frustrate me with their evil announcement on Permanent Account sales. Then after eyeing it with a concentrated frown for 15 minutes, I realized it was only adding onto my wonderful headache. What did I do? I went and put together a texture set for you all. Aren't I brilliant? (My boss isn't going to think so, that's for sure.) :p

19 Total; Semi-Preview:

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

Image Pack: Go here to grab them

Looking for Older Sets? If you're just now browsing my journal for the first time, please note that all my resource posts before Sept.2006 are likely broken due to change of links and organization overhaul in order to combat hotlinking issues. And since I haven't had time to fix them, please go directly to Colorfilter.net to grab them instead. All my resources will always be available there as well. Thank you.

Challenge! Color Textures Fun

2007-06-18T21:20:50Z

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now and I really hope many of you will decide to join in. There are tons of icon challenges out there but never really any resource challenges after all. So I hereby present you...

Color Textures Fun!

The challenge, if you choose to participate, is to make a set of "color" themed textures and go wild with them. Since this is the first time I'm doing this, I thought we'd start with an easy theme (can you tell I plan to do more of this if it's successful?).

Here's how it goes:

Pick a color. Make a set of at least 10 different textures with shades/tones of that color, but the more the merrier of course. You can make the textures in any way you want, as long as it's predominantly in the color you chose. Be creative and go nuts! BUT you must make them... don't just scan something then crop it and call it a texture. (Minimum texture size: 100x100 - you can go larger if you like)

Once finished, upload your set, post them, and comment on this post with a link to your textures (include your journal's name, your color, and the amount of textures in your set).

There will be no claims. Anyone is free to pick a color of their liking, and all skill levels are welcome as well... so for all those who don't usually make textures, now's your chance to give it a try! You can also participate in as many colors as you like, but each of your set must be different and not just a variation in color from each other.

Challenge will end in 2 weeks on ~~Tuesday, July 3rd~~ EXTENDED to Friday, July 6th at 11pm ~~unless there's a need for an extension, in which case, I'll post about it~~. I will then put together a list of all the textures sorted by color for everyone to look at, enjoy, use, etc. I'm hoping it'll be a useful resource reference as well. :)

All comments will be screened by default first to keep the submissions under wraps until the "texture reveals" at the end.

EDIT 06/22/2007 - Submission Process: A few of you brought up some questions and good points on submission, so I thought I'd set up a more specific guideline for the submission process:

Post the individual textures you made in your journal like you would a set of icons. You can also offer a link to your zipped pack if you like, but it'd be nice to have individual textures laid out for this challenge so everyone can browse and see what you did (which is the point) rather than having only the preview to look at.

Reply to this post with a link to the post with said textures, along with your journal name and number of textures (and/or sets) you made for the challenge.

I'll make a master list of links to all the submissions, sorted by color and likely with one or two samples of your textures to go along with it. This way, the post can serve as a showcase and also as a useful reference post for those wanting to look for textures in a specific color. Because of that, please make sure this particular post of yours isn't friends/members-locked.

To Note: Due to the nature of our challenge, please try to refrain from cross-posting your textures post until after the end of the challenge. It defeats the whole purpose of a "reveal" if your entry has already been seen by thousands of others in communities and such. Likewise, it'd be great if you could wait until the last 2 days of deadline to actually post your textures even if you've finished them earlier (in order to minimize exposure)... but that's just an idea. I don't want to make things more complicated by forcing submission dates on anyone (at least not for this challenge). Another idea is to "backdate" your entry first so that it's at least partially hidden, and then after the reveal, you can change the date so that it'll show up on your friends' list, etc.

Let me know if you guys still have any questions.

Please pimp this post far and wide! :D

ETA 07/07/07: Challenge is now over. Check out the awesome entries HERE!

Set 19 of Plain Texture Series - Floral Imprints II

2007-06-17T11:47:56Z

Still working on sorting out older resources whenever I have time before I start on newer stuff, so the upcoming updates (including this one) will mainly consist of stuff I've done roughly a year ago or longer. :p So if you see smaller sets from me than usual, that's also why. I just want to get them out to you guys rather than spend time making more of something that's so old. I hope you'll enjoy these!

14 Total; Semi-Preview:

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

Image Pack or Photoshop CS .pat: GRAB THEM HERE

Note: If you're just now browsing my journal for the first time, please note that all my resource posts before Sept.2006 are likely broken due to change of links and organization overhaul. And since I haven't had time to fix them, please go directly to Colorfilter.net to grab them instead. All my resources will always be available there as well. Thank you.

Butterflies: 16 Icons

2007-06-16T01:26:36Z

Once upon a time, I promised several people I'd make butterfly icons. And I did... almost a year ago. I never did post them because I kept thinking I'd make more, but the next thing I know, it's been 11 months and I still haven't made any more. -_- So now I'm thinking it might be a good idea to be less ambitious and just post whatever I have (which are very old and outdated icons). It's just as well, since I think I may have forgotten how to make icons. Please enjoy these if you can. And btw, the broken icon links in my older posts have all finally been fixed; sorry about that!

If you've been wondering what happened to me and my updates, I posted a little life update under the icons cut as well. :p

04. 16. 11.

Butterflies: 16 Total
01	02	03	04
05	06	07	08
09	10	11	12
13	14	15	16

[x] Please credit in keywords if taking. Don't redistribute anywhere.
[x] Comments always appreciated.
[x] There are no bases here. Do not edit anything.
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask.

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted here. Are you all still out there? (wait, wait... I think I hear echoes!) Remember my last post in November saying something about a really tiring trip for work? Please repeat, repeat, and then repeat again. -_- I had a change of jobs and this one requires me to be on the move quite a bit, so I don't get the chance to really be on the computer as much as I used to... especially not my own computer, which usually means no graphic work. When I do get on my own computer, I often end up doing work for either my job or my freelance projects. :\

But I haven't abandoned you guys! I really miss fiddling with icons and resources- you know I've always said it keeps me sane. I'm one of those people who always need a creative outlet/hobby of some sort, so you definitely haven't seen the last of me! I've been posting my fics (mostly Naruto) at inkcanvas more since I can sometimes scribble in a notebook while I'm traveling, but I'm going to try and get my graphics stuff out again as well. I may not get to update as often as I used to, but I'm going to try and be more active again.

Btw, I still have a bunch of old textures, brushes, patterns, and gradients that I was supposed to sort out into sets. They will get done. Believe meeeh. ;_;

I miss you all and hope you guys have been doing well (have you?).

P.S. Has my layout or polls been acting up at all? Just curious if anything has changed because my paid account ran out quite a while back... and now I'm paranoid about changing anything for the fear of messing up whatever that might be "preserved" from paid days. Edit: I can only access 6 userpics. I thought we get to keep / continue using them (or so I've heard)! ._. Mystery solved and I bought myself a month paid time to fix things. Thanks all!

2 Sets of Icon Brushes (Borders + Textured)

2006-11-08T08:41:40Z

For those of you who keep up with updates on Colorfilter.net, you probably already know that I was away for a week- hence the lack of updates. ;p I just got back last night from a business trip to Thailand (anyone from Thailand here?), so I'm only now catching up to your emails and comments. I'm super beat right now, but I couldn't resist adding some new stuff for you guys. :)

Preview #01: 14 brushes

Border Florals + Splatters: HERE for image pack or Photoshop Elements 1 .abr

Preview #02: 11 brushes

Textured Patches + Borders: HERE for image pack or Photoshop Elements 1 .abr

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

As always, I hope you'll enjoy these and find lots of use for them! :)

And yes, I haven't gotten around to fixing the old broken preview images, downloads, and some icon batches yet. I'll get to them soon, I promise. T_T

10 New Patterns

2006-10-29T11:59:39Z

Hi all! :) As promised, a few additional patterns from me. There was a whole lot more, but I guess that's the problem with posting old stuff- they tend to not look as good as I thought they did when I was making them. Then again, I have this bad habit of disliking everything I've made the day after. :\

Preview: 10 new tiling patterns

Grab the patterns here... No cut! Just a direct link to the patterns page on my site since you can now just get them individually. It's the first ten on the page. :)

2 Sets of General Textured Brushes

2006-10-27T15:53:33Z

I added new brush sets at Colorfilter.net yesterday and just now, so I'm posting them together here. They're both fairly small sets, but the sizes are larger so you can also use them for headers, banners, and layouts. Enjoy, I hope! :)

Preview #01: 8 brushes

Scratchy Crinkles Set: HERE for image pack or Photoshop Elements 1 .abr

Preview #02: 5 brushes

Swirling Clusters Set: HERE for image pack or Photoshop Elements 1 .abr

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

Thanks to everyone who commented to let me know whether the .abr worked with your Photoshop versions. I'll stick to using Photoshop Elements 1 for the .abr then, since it seems to work for all versions except for 5.5. Version 6.0 is still a mystery though. If anyone's using Photoshop 6, please let me know if the .abr will work for you. I'm trying to put together a compatibility chart. :)

Btw, I realize the previews, old downloads, and some icon batches are still not working on this journal. I'll try to get at least a few of them fixed in a bit. Next up should be patterns, gradients, icons, and then textures and brushes again. Well, basically everything isn't it? ;D

Icon Brushes - 16 Brush Strokes and Borders

2006-10-24T14:32:15Z

Another new (but very old) update from me. These were brushes I had randomly made from time to time for my own icons, and I thought it was time they go in a set for download. All fairly simple though. I was going to update with a load of brushes, but I decided to put only one up right now because I wanted to ask for some feedback and confirmation in terms of compatibility. Please take a look under the cut for info on this...

Preview:

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

Image Pack or Photoshop Elements 1.0 .abr: GRAB THEM HERE

After the poll I took some months ago in regards to what softwares and versions you guys use, I've been thinking of a way to make my brushes more compatible. Since I had a copy of Photoshop Elements 1.0, I decided to install it for the sole purpose of making the .abr. To my understanding, PSE1 is supposed to be literally compatible with all other versions of Photoshop, whether the full versions or the Elements...but I want to be sure (especially for versions 5 and 6). So I'd like to ask if you guys can just drop a comment to let me know if the .abr will work for you- and what version of PS you're using? This will help me greatly in deciding whether it's worth this extra hassle for me. :)

Also, if you're a PSP user, can you also just try changing it to .jbr to see if it works for you? I know some PS versions' .abr will work with some PSP versions when you just change extensions, but I'd like to have a bit more of an idea as to which ones work an which ones don't. Thank you very much! And of course, if you find that these will work with anything else, let me know as well. :)

I'll update with more brushes soon, when I'm able to confirm the compatibility issues so look out for them!

Irrelevant Note: To all the donators who have already registered at my site, your member status has been activated for donators access at the site. All those who didn't register yet, please don't forget to do so! Thanks. :)

5 Large Textures + 31 Icon Texture Cuts

2006-10-22T20:44:16Z

Ah, I can't believe how long ago these were made and yet I never got the chance to put it up until now. And that's about 6 months ago in case you're wondering. :p As always, I hope you'll like these!

Preview 1: 5 Large Textures

If you've browsed my site since the new version went up, you might've noticed a new category under the icon textures called "Large Texture Cuts". I often get requests for 100x100 versions of some of my large textures, so I thought it wouldn't really hurt to start offering crop and sizing variations of any large textures I make that might be suitable for icon usage too. So for those who simply don't want to deal with large textures, you can still grab the mini versions for icons if you like.

Preview 2: 31 Texture Cuts

As previously mentioned, downloads will now have to be grabbed at the website due to hotlinking issues. :\ So here are the links to the specific pages (yes, I fully expect that comments here will drastically decline...lol):

For Large Textures: HERE - first 5 on the page
For 100x100 Texture Cuts: HERE

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

And on a super sidenote, the LJ syndication journal for my new blog at Colorfilter.net is now up at colorfilterblog (though the feeds appear to be quite slow in being updated). Feel free to add it if you like. It's really just where I'm probably going to be rambling off my opinions on random things related to the web, design, lj graphics, or just whatever strikes me dumb at the moment. You've been warned! :p ETA: It's a full article feed, which means there are no cuts on the syndicated journal. Just thought you might want to know that for those who gets annoyed by potentially long entries!

Colorfilter.net back up + some things to note

2006-10-22T00:00:21Z

I've just put Colorfilter.net back up with the new version + new layout and all that. :) Please let me know ASAP if something isn't working right for you or if you come across some kind of an error. I pretty much did everything over, so I'm really hoping I didn't screw something up somewhere! And I also hope you think this new layout is much easier on the eyes than my previous purple one. It's very simple though. ;p

I would also appreciate it if you could help me click on the blog link to see if that layout appears without error too? Thank you!

There are some things I want to make note of though- because with this new version, I'll also be changing the way I do some things at this journal.

1. All my download links and previews on the journal is still down because I haven't had the chance to go back and edit all the posts yet. For now, anyone who wants to browse the resources and grab downloads will have to do so via the site until I get the posts fixed.

2. Please note that while I'll still be posting graphics/resource updates here, the direct link to the file will no longer be posted along with it. I'll instead be linking to the specific page on my website where you can get them. I'm sorry for this extra step and if you find it to be a hassle. At last, I've been forced to do this in order to "tighten" up my .htaccess because hotlinking is still a fairly big problem for me. I hope you'll understand that it's something I have to do.

3. The donators' extra downloads are now also only available via the website instead of through friends filter list over here. I'll make a more detailed locked post on this a bit later...so look out for instructions on how to access them on my site. Or you can also visit the donators page at the site for info on that now.

There are actually a whole bunch of other stuff I had wanted to mention, but I think I'll save that for later when I update a new set. I'm completely beat right now after porting everything over to the new version at the site and my bed is looking pretty tempting. Will be back soon (and sorry for being so abrupt)! :p

And I just have to share this page with you, because I only just found out and I'm trying not to be too hacked off. You can click on the link of said "graphic owner" to view all the graphics she submitted. Not only did this person take a whole bunch of my zodiac icons to submit to that site, she even claimed ownership of them. She tried to alter the coloring on a few of them, but I wonder if she thinks that will make the icons hers. For those who have never seen the graphics in question- here it is. Pretty much the entire first batch was taken. Oh yay.

Small downtime coming up...

2006-10-21T10:26:58Z

I just want to quickly mention that if things go wonky either on this journal's downloads or at Colorfilter.net later today, it's because I'm in the middle of doing some changes which will require my website to go down while I set the new system up. During the actual "transition", none of the download links will work because I'm changing my entire site organization and I would like to ask those who have just found this journal to be patient with me. The downloads will return soon (within a few hours at the latest).

It shouldn't be down for that long- and after it goes up, I'll make another note of it. At that time, you'll begin to see some new resources updates. Sorry it was held off for so long. I only just recently got back from the funeral and a lot of drama, so I never got to finish some things I was planning for my site until now.

Will post again soon! Also, I just want to say thank you to all the wonderful comments, support, and kind emails you guys have left me in my absence. They all brought me a lot of smiles- and that was really much needed in my life these days. Thank you! /hugs

P.S. Is it just me or has LJ become really really slow lately?

Status Announcement...

2006-09-03T20:34:01Z

Hi everyone! Many of you have been commenting or emailing me about either problems/glitches with downloading files or asking why I haven't updated in such a long time- and since some possible changes or more glitches may occur during the next few days, I thought I should make a post about it.

Please take a moment to read this if: you've been having problems downloading files, you're wondering why I haven't been updating, you want to know what and when I'll update again, or you'd like to help (on things that can be helped). All divided into Q&A sections, so you can pick and choose what you want to read about. ;p

Where did Téa go? aka "AHH! WHY AREN'T YOU UPDATING?!!"
First, I'm sorry for not updating in so long. I think to say that a lot has been going on in my life during the last 3 months might actually be an understatement. I've recently had to deal with death of my grandmother (who's very very dear to me), a big load of family obligations going on that I won't get into, more RL job issues that is making me broke beyond belief, commission/freelance work, illnesses, major dental problems, and then there's even a freaking fire. Finally, there's also the issue with my hosting provider- more details under the downloading problems explanation.

That said, I'll save you all from hearing me describe the mental/emotional/physical state I've been in...just know that it hasn't been easy, and I've had to put this journal on the backseat because of real and solid reasons. Please understand that. :\

When will you update again, and what goodies will you be posting?
The answer on when will depend on when my hosting issue is resolved (covered on the next part), but I'm hoping to update with a new set within the week...and then a massive update within the month and continuing from there onwards. By massive, I mean tons of new brushes, patterns, textures, and gradients. Basically everything. I have many of them already made, but just haven't had the chance to go through them and organize them into proper sets and formats. On top of the usual stuff, I'm also planning on starting to offer stock images and put up more tutorials. There's more in planning, but it's secret-secret so you'll know when it happens. :) However, as I've said...a lot of this will depend on my hosting issues, so the status may change again if I'm forced to. -_-;

I've been having problems downloading, viewing graphics here, or accessing your site at Colorfilter.net!
Ah, tis the hosting issue I keep mentioning up top. Basically, I've been having a lot of problems with my hosting provider- either my sites are going completely down a lot (which affects all downloads and icons you see in this journal too) or the sites are up but my host is apparently cutting off downloads randomly(?)- where when you try to download, it appears to be working...until it suddenly stalls and stops completely, that is. Sometimes you know it happened and sometimes you don't realize it because it says "Download Completed!" except it wasn't completed, so then you get an error when trying to unzip it. This isn't happening all the time, and I really don't know when it'd suddenly act up and happen to some poor visitor who's trying to download...but this would be the reason why some of you are having problems downloading files or opening the zips.

Even more hosting issues and my steps to solve it
On top of my hosting provider suddenly throwing me tons of down time and access problems after 3+ years of nice service, I've also been warned several times about how my sites are generating too much CPU usage for a shared server. They've asked me a few times to either reduce the usage, upgrade to at least a VPS or dedicated server, or my site gets shut down. My reaction? Let's see...

1. Reduce Usage- This means I'd have to take down portions of my sites and, of course, stop adding to it. That'll mean no more resources from me, among other things. Obviously, I don't want that!

2. Upgrade to VPS/dedicated- The most absolute basic plan for a VPS is $40/month. So we're talking at the very least $500/yr. including domain fees. Let's not even talk about dedicated servers because those cost at least $130/month, coming to almost $1600/yr. (yikes much?!) I'm currently paying about $270/yr. for hosting and domain and it's no secret that I'm already struggling with that as it is. There's no question that I would definitely not be able to afford VPS.

3. Sites shut down- I don't think I need to say I would prefer this not happening.

So in light of all the problems, I've been on a crazy hunt for a new hosting provider. I honestly don't know whether that's going to solve the CPU usage bit since I'd still only be able to afford a shared server hosting, but I'll just have to wait and see. At least it should solve the downtime and downloading glitches bit. As of now, I've just purchased a hosting plan with Dreamhost (who's also cheaper) and am in the process of moving things over. I'm not sure if they're capable of being a permanent home for Colorfilter.net or not, but for now, I'll deal with problems as they come I guess. I don't have any other choice. :\

How will the move affect downloads?
While DNS is still in the process of transferring to my new host, there might be glitches or downtime happening here or there (which is nothing new if I stay at my current host anyway). Just know that if all the graphics suddenly disappear in the next 2-3 days, this is likely why. If AFTER 2-3 days have gone by, and you're still having problems either on the Colorfilter.net site, downloading stuff off this journal, or seeing graphics and icons...please let me know ASAP. Moving sites to a different server/host is always a pain, so I'll need your help in telling me if something's wrong somewhere. :p Thank you!

After all that is done and Colorfilter.net sits nicely at my new host without problems or warnings of usage overload, I'll be able to start expanding the site a bit more- which also means the posting of new resources. I'm crossing my fingers and toes here. :p

I'd like to help. How can I help?
If you'd really like to help me, please consider donating. The donating info post is here. I think I'll skip on how that will really help me...because it'll only sound like I'm using sympathy as means to make people donate. Most of you probably already know how I don't like talking about this, especially after what happened last year when I asked for donations. So I'll just say that if you like my work and don't mind supporting it a little, I would greatly appreciate a donation to help keep it running.

As an alternate method of helping me- if any of you happen to be shopping for a hosting provider and would like to go with Dreamhost (my soon-to-be new host), please consider using one of the promotional codes I'm offering so that I can get a referral bonus to apply towards hosting and such. Available promotional codes are:

• COLORFILTER30 = This gives you $30 off on any plan you sign up with.
• COLORFILTER15P50 = This gives you either 15% off or a maximum of $50 off on any plan you sign up with.

All you have to do is enter either one of the codes in the referral/promo code section when you sign up with Dreamhost.

And that is all for my super long post about problems and such. Anyone still with me or have you all fallen asleep already? I wouldn't blame you if you did. :p Anyhow, if everything goes smoothly, you should hear from me again by next weekend...with a new actual resource update (large and icon textures)! Thank you for reading and for understanding. ._.

And remember, there might be problems arising in the next 2-3 days or so!

Tutorial 04: Light Textures on Black and White Icon

2006-06-17T21:38:30Z

Ahh, this is such a late response to the requests for a tutorial on the example icons of my Color Highlights light textures set! I'm so sorry about that- it seems I'm forever trying to catch up to a billion things. :\ Anyhow, this particular icon had generated the most interest for a tutorial...so I finally got around to it. Better late than never? ^^;

Base: Final:

Foreword: This tutorial was written using Photoshop CS, but it should be easily translated for use in other softwares/versions as well. It is geared towards beginners, so it might feel a bit redundant to some of you. I've also tried to explain the reasons for some of my choices since a lot of you seem to want that when we last talked about tutorials and such. :)

STEP 01. Getting Started with a Black and White Image

1.1 First, find a picture you want to use- it doesn’t matter if it’s in color or not. If it’s in color, you can Desaturate it by going to Image → Adjust → Desaturate or you can also switch the image mode by going to Image → Mode → Grayscale and then switching it right back to RGB mode again so that you can add color to it. They yield different results sometimes.

Anyhow, this is the base I’ll be starting out on:

As you can see, there are some stray text from the original picture, but we’ll worry about that later. For now, we leave it alone.

1.2 Sometimes you may feel that your grayscale image is a bit faded out for your taste. In that case, you can adjust the Brightness/Contrast by going to Image → Adjustments → Brightness/Contrast and giving it more definition. The amount you need to adjust will vary depending on the picture, so play around with it a bit. Here’s my result:

-- My setting was at -21 Brightness and +10 Contrast.

I purposely made it darker because it’ll make a difference when I add my texture later on (which will make it look more washed out).

STEP 02. Applying the Texture

2.1 To boost the base with a nice dash of color, let’s use this particular texture:

Set the layer blend mode to Screen and here’s the result so far:

Now that we have the color, all that’s left is a bit of cleaning up and adding finishing touches. Let’s move on!

STEP 03. Cleaning Up and Adding Text

3.1 Since I wanted to add some text and I also needed to get rid of the stray text on the top left corner of the image, I decided to use a basic Soft Round Brush to cover it up first. I chose the color black to make the coloring of the icon stand out more. So create a new layer and brush along the entire top portion until it looks about right- here’s the shape I drew:

And that gave me this:

3.2 After that’s all done, we can now add text. “Intrigue” was typed out in white with the font Baskerville Old Face at size 24pt and with Faux Bold selected. I also set the Tracking to 30 to widen the gaps between the letters and then I adjusted the Fill Opacity to 21%.

After that’s done, let’s add a bit of tiny text both on top and on the bottom of the word. For that, I used some of my ready-made tiny text from this set. And now I have this:

Some might decide that the icon is finished now, but I felt that it was still missing a bit of something...

STEP 04. The Final Touch

4.1 This part is pretty much optional, but I personally didn’t like how light the bottom part of the icon was when compared to the top. To solve that problem, I selected a Soft Round Brush again, except a much smaller one this time, and quickly drew across the bottom edge of the icon like this:

Which finally gave me the finished product:

And we’re done! Simple, right? I hope I managed to explain it in an understandable manner and that you found it helpful. :) Comments greatly appreciated and questions are welcome as well. I'd also love to see what you come up with!

Note: This tutorial is not meant to be copied exactly. Use it as reference, use it to learn what you can do- please don't use it to just reproduce some exact replica.

Icon Texture Mix Pack #001-065

2006-06-16T14:25:21Z

While cleaning out some old files, I realized that I have quite a few stray icon textures sitting around my computer, either from those that had never made it into my previous sets or those that I didn't get the chance to make enough for a complete set. I figured I'd put them together to make a mixed texture pack for you all, much like the old Thank You Set that I made last year. :) Since many of these were leftovers, you may see a few familiar looking styles from some of my old sets. As another thank you for being so wonderful (and also a very belated celebration of 3,000+ friends-of), I made several new textures to go along with it as well. I hope there's at least something in there that you'd like- lights, gradients, general plain textures, etc. :)

65 Total; Semi-Preview:

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

~~{ Grab the zipped .jpg of 65 total - 325KB }~~ EDIT: Go get them here now

Since there were so many, I didn't make a .pat file of it this time. I thought, this way, you can pick and choose which ones you like!

Help? Quest for Tutorials! As many of you know, I add a list of tutorials on to my memories that people have written on using any of my resources- which is very helpful, because I often point people with questions to that list. :) But because I haven't been online as much as I used to be, I have no idea what tutorials people are writing these days, if any. So I'd like to ask for your help- if there are any tutorials that you have ever written using any of my resources...or if you know of any tuts, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could drop me a link. I'm trying to organize them into a comprehensive list- and I'll probably be linking to them from my main site, as well as, from the memories section of this journal. Any help at all would be awesome. Thank you! :)

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As usual, my other icon textures/resources can be found by accessing my memories archive under downloads. Additional and all resources can always be found at Colorfilter.net. Thanks and enjoy! :)

// Help me by supporting this site? Please refer to this post for more info.

Set 07: Tiling Patterns - 8 Total

2006-06-14T18:22:52Z

Another small update of old stuff- a few tiling patterns that's been sitting in my computer for a while. I was going to wait until I have patterns in similar styles so that I could post them in various sets...but I'm losing track of all my old files so I'm lumping them together even if they don't match! ^^; I also have a little poll about patterns under the cut...and if you have time, I'd love it if you could fill it out for me. Thank you! :)

8 Total; Preview:

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

~~{ Grab the zipped patterns in .jpg + PS .pat - 8 total - 76KB }~~ EDIT: Please go directly HERE to grab individual patterns.

Poll: I have a gazillion of patterns sitting in my computer- however, I don't tend to post them because I keep thinking that most people are interested in patterns for mainly website backgrounds. Now, many of the patterns I make often lean towards the textile/fashion arena- which are sometimes too "flowery" or busy for a website background usage. They can, of course, still be used as textures or backgrounds of general designs, etc. but I haven't really posted them yet. So all in all, this leads to two questions:

View Poll: #747998

Thanks for filling out the poll for me! This will help give me an idea on what kinds of patterns I should put up, etc. :)

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As usual, my other resources can be found by accessing my memories archive under downloads. Additional and all resources can always be found at Colorfilter.net. Thanks and enjoy! :)

// Help me by supporting this site? Please refer to this post for more info.

Set 18: Plain Texture Series - Floral Imprints

2006-06-10T19:35:53Z

Remember my Pattern Imprints set? Several of you had always asked for more of those, and I finally got around to making another batch of it. Hopefully the interest still stands! I was going to make a larger batch than this, but I figured I'd see how it turns out before popping out more. :) This set was made with lighter colors, and it also contains even more of a floral theme than the other one...so if you like flowers, then give it a try. Oh, and I also remembered to add a PS .pat file this time! :D

23 Total; Semi-Preview:

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

~~{ Grab the zipped .jpg + PS .pat files here - 23 total - 714KB }~~ EDIT: Go get them here now

FOR USAGE EXAMPLES, you can get some idea from the aforementioned Pattern Imprints set since it was similarly inspired...but I'm guessing this one might be more versatile simply because the colors aren't as dark? I suppose that'd depend on how you make use of them though! ^^;

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As usual, my other icon textures/resources can be found by accessing my memories archive under downloads. Additional and all resources can always be found at Colorfilter.net. Thanks and enjoy! :)

// Help me by supporting this site? Please refer to this post for more info.

Set 17: Plain Texture Series - Collage

2006-05-27T14:54:07Z

Thank you all so much for the sweet words of welcoming back on my last resource post- it really made me very happy to see that you've stuck around with me even though I haven't posted for so long. <3 I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to most of the comments, but please know that they've totally made me smile. :) As you can see, I'm still not completely back on my usual frequent posting but I'm hoping to change that soon!

This set that I'm currently sharing is actually another old one again- I'm trying to clear my computer of all old stuff first. :p I do feel like I'm cheating a little since it's really just a simple collage of my large textures thrown together. I made them some months ago for a something specific that I was working on, but I hope you guys can find some use for them too!

18 Total; Semi-Preview:

[x] Please credit if using. Comments are so very loved.
[x] Never ever imply or claim these as yours.
[x] No redistributing or offering it up for download anywhere!
[x] Don't even think about hotlinking them.
[x] Feel free to friend this journal to keep posted. No need to ask. :)

~~{ Grab the zipped .jpg files here - 18 total. }~~ EDIT: Go get them here now

If I'm remembering correctly, I think a few of my old animanga icons from my most recent post were made using these as shown below but they're definitely not limited to just manga icons. :)

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As usual, my other icon textures/resources can be found by accessing my memories archive under downloads. Additional and all resources can always be found at Colorfilter.net. Thanks and enjoy! :)

// Help me by supporting this site? Please refer to this post for more info.

Naruto & Misc. Animanga: 24 + 7 Icons

2006-05-12T21:32:26Z

I'm trying to clear all the old stuff out of my computer before making anything new, so I dug out these ancient animanga icons- most of them are about 8 months old and on. Goodness, time flies. *_* Total of 31 icons, a lot of these were experimental- mostly to test out some of my own resources while a few were accumulated from challenges and such. I generally dislike multi-fandom posts, but I'd end up keeping these for life if I don't dump them now. :p Hope someone likes them!

24 - Naruto
03 - Inuyasha
02 - Gravitation
01 - Spirited Away
01 - Vision of Escaflowne

15. 01. 05.

Naruto: 24 Total
01	02	03	04
05	06	07	08
09	10	11	12
13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24

Miscellaneous Series: 7 Total
25	26	27	28
29	30	31	**