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Find the New & Improved Prompt List Template Here!

Frankly, I personally don't like the idea of coming up with my own prompt list for [insert name of a popular month-specific challenge here], but a lot of people do. Especially around this time of year (September/October). Including an IRL friend of mine.

In trying to help said friend out, I went looking to see if any templates or generators had already been created to make said prompt lists. Maybe I just totally missed something, but I was pretty surprised to find that in my search, I could find plenty of places to generate the prompts themselves, but I wasn't really seeing anything to make a visually appealing list out of them.

So I did it myself!

And as you can see from the preview image, I made a few different filetypes so hopefully, it's accessible to as many people as possible; if you hit the download button up top (the fourth icon from the left, directly below the preview image, it's a downward pointing arrow), in the .ZIP file I've included a .psd/Photoshop file, a .clip/ClipStudio Paint file, and a more simple .png file that should be useable where the .PSD and .clip files are not. (I'll explain these more in a minute.)

My rules for the template (all three versions) are pretty simple:
1. Please DO NOT remove the "Created by MysticSparkleWings" Mark
2. Please DO NOT re-upload or redistribute the blank template without my explicit written permission

Other than that, just have fun with it.  Linking back to me is appreciated, but not required as long as you follow the rules!

Now, don't misunderstand me--I'm fully aware that lots of people make prompt lists like this; This very template was modeled after the official Inktober prompt list format, as it's one of the more simple and straightforward designs. So though I have my normal resource rules above, I'm not going to go around assuming every prompt list that looks vaguely like this used my template and demanding people take them down. That would be ridiculous, among other adjectives. And besides, I don't have that kind of time at my disposal anyway...because seriously, that's a lot of prompt lists.

It's just, y'know, I spent the 10-15 minutes to make the base template and then the hour or so messing around to figure out which file types would best and the most versatile. If someone does decide to use the template I made, it would be nice to have that tiny bit of credit.

Speaking of which, let's talk about the multiple file types available; .PSD (Photoshop), .Clip (ClipStudio Paint), and a more simple .PNG (standard image file). I did this because I discovered for the first time that text layers are not universal across various programs.

Photoshop is my default, but something told me to try opening the template up in another program to see how easy or difficult it would be to use when I discovered the text layers...weren't text layers anymore, they were normal graphic layers. And once I learned that, I super did not like the idea of people basically having to use Photoshop to be able to use the template without jumping through a bunch of extra hoops.

I ended up trying ClipStudio (something of a major PS competitor), Krita, Medibang, and my old not-good friend Gimp. (All three are free alternative options; I have very minor prior experience with the first two. Gimp I was stuck with using for a brief stint between PS trials several years ago and I was thoroughly not impressed considering how much the internet had led me to believe, "It's just like Photoshop but free!") And I also discovered that among them, only ClipStudio has a text tool anywhere close to as intuitive and straightforward and Photoshop's.

I still don't really like that my "alternative" for people that don't or can't use Photoshop is yet another paid program (CSP is a one-time payment of $50, though it does sometimes go on sale for $25...Though either option is still better than a minimum of $10 monthly subscription service), but at the very least, ClipStudio does have a free trial option, and their's is 30 days instead of 7, unlike PS, which I am never letting them off the hook for changing.

Accessibility in mind, I did go out of my way to make a much more basic but MS Paint compatible version of the template--The .png file. I figure if it can work in there, it can work in just about any art program--which includes completely FREE programs--even though it does take more work because you have to insert most of the text yourself. I even made sure the text that is there is pixeled so that it doesn't make weird lines with the paint bucket tool. It's not quite the same as a nice layered file with adjustable text, but it's something and it should be accessible for everyone.

Perhaps one day we'll have a beginner-friendly, free-or-close-to-it, all-inclusive art program that can translate text and other various layers types seamlessly, but until then the multiple filetypes is the best I can do.

With that said, that's really all I have to say on the matter. I may never properly use this prompt list myself, but at least now a template exists for those who might want it.

Template © me, MysticSparkleWings

Where to find me & my artwork:
My Website | My Book | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram |  Other Fun Links

Description

Find the New & Improved Prompt List Template Here!

Frankly, I personally don't like the idea of coming up with my own prompt list for [insert name of a popular month-specific challenge here], but a lot of people do. Especially around this time of year (September/October). Including an IRL friend of mine.

In trying to help said friend out, I went looking to see if any templates or generators had already been created to make said prompt lists. Maybe I just totally missed something, but I was pretty surprised to find that in my search, I could find plenty of places to generate the prompts themselves, but I wasn't really seeing anything to make a visually appealing list out of them.

So I did it myself!

And as you can see from the preview image, I made a few different filetypes so hopefully, it's accessible to as many people as possible; if you hit the download button up top (the fourth icon from the left, directly below the preview image, it's a downward pointing arrow), in the .ZIP file I've included a .psd/Photoshop file, a .clip/ClipStudio Paint file, and a more simple .png file that should be useable where the .PSD and .clip files are not. (I'll explain these more in a minute.)

My rules for the template (all three versions) are pretty simple:
1. Please DO NOT remove the "Created by MysticSparkleWings" Mark
2. Please DO NOT re-upload or redistribute the blank template without my explicit written permission

Other than that, just have fun with it.  Linking back to me is appreciated, but not required as long as you follow the rules!

Now, don't misunderstand me--I'm fully aware that lots of people make prompt lists like this; This very template was modeled after the official Inktober prompt list format, as it's one of the more simple and straightforward designs. So though I have my normal resource rules above, I'm not going to go around assuming every prompt list that looks vaguely like this used my template and demanding people take them down. That would be ridiculous, among other adjectives. And besides, I don't have that kind of time at my disposal anyway...because seriously, that's a lot of prompt lists.

It's just, y'know, I spent the 10-15 minutes to make the base template and then the hour or so messing around to figure out which file types would best and the most versatile. If someone does decide to use the template I made, it would be nice to have that tiny bit of credit.

Speaking of which, let's talk about the multiple file types available; .PSD (Photoshop), .Clip (ClipStudio Paint), and a more simple .PNG (standard image file). I did this because I discovered for the first time that text layers are not universal across various programs.

Photoshop is my default, but something told me to try opening the template up in another program to see how easy or difficult it would be to use when I discovered the text layers...weren't text layers anymore, they were normal graphic layers. And once I learned that, I super did not like the idea of people basically having to use Photoshop to be able to use the template without jumping through a bunch of extra hoops.

I ended up trying ClipStudio (something of a major PS competitor), Krita, Medibang, and my old not-good friend Gimp. (All three are free alternative options; I have very minor prior experience with the first two. Gimp I was stuck with using for a brief stint between PS trials several years ago and I was thoroughly not impressed considering how much the internet had led me to believe, "It's just like Photoshop but free!") And I also discovered that among them, only ClipStudio has a text tool anywhere close to as intuitive and straightforward and Photoshop's.

I still don't really like that my "alternative" for people that don't or can't use Photoshop is yet another paid program (CSP is a one-time payment of $50, though it does sometimes go on sale for $25...Though either option is still better than a minimum of $10 monthly subscription service), but at the very least, ClipStudio does have a free trial option, and their's is 30 days instead of 7, unlike PS, which I am never letting them off the hook for changing.

Accessibility in mind, I did go out of my way to make a much more basic but MS Paint compatible version of the template--The .png file. I figure if it can work in there, it can work in just about any art program--which includes completely FREE programs--even though it does take more work because you have to insert most of the text yourself. I even made sure the text that is there is pixeled so that it doesn't make weird lines with the paint bucket tool. It's not quite the same as a nice layered file with adjustable text, but it's something and it should be accessible for everyone.

Perhaps one day we'll have a beginner-friendly, free-or-close-to-it, all-inclusive art program that can translate text and other various layers types seamlessly, but until then the multiple filetypes is the best I can do.

With that said, that's really all I have to say on the matter. I may never properly use this prompt list myself, but at least now a template exists for those who might want it.

Template © me, MysticSparkleWings

Where to find me & my artwork:
My Website | My Book | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram |  Other Fun Links