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Pyek — Artistic Journal Skins for Beginners: Pt I
Published: 2012-04-22 21:57:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 13729; Favourites: 862; Downloads: 146
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Description
Edit 13/12: Revised and updated-looking tut says almost the same exact things as it did before! Now with woodland creatures!
Thanks so much to everyone who has commented on and favorited these tuts. It really means the world when I know it's all been useful to someone.
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My goal is to explain in laymen terms what I learned trying to wriggle my way through CSS when I first started. I am not by any means an expert on the subject of dA journal skins.
That said, if you want a tutorial on fancy CSS, this isn't the tutorial for you. These tutorials will focus more on using a simple background image to make an artistic-looking journal, and just shifting basic essential CSS around to suit--nothing very advanced. It is, as it says, for beginners who are, in fact, beginning. c:
I hope someone will find this useful. Please comment if anything is unclear or you have additional questions or comments.
Complimentary Tutorials...
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Do you like the journal skin example used in this Tutorial? Or just want to see it in action? See it here , or install it to your journal here .
Related content
Comments: 111
Help..? I'm not sure how to get the size correct. :I
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I'll help if I can! c:
What are you having trouble sizing, the image itself? What program are you using?
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I'm trying to get it to be the size of a regular journal skin, but also a bit larger so I can add drawings to the top. Also, I'm using Paint Tool Sai and when (if) I can do this skin, I'm gonna add transparency in photoshop elements 8.
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If you already have your image drawn, or you're using a pre-existing image, just make your new canvas the correct size (let's say 600px wide) and paste or drag what you're using inside and resize it accordingly on the canvas. If you would rather change the canvas your image is already on, go to "Canvas" > "Change Size" in the top drop-down menus in SAI. Type in the pixel dimensions you need. Then click "ctrl+T" to resize the image to fit in the new dimensions.
I would decide which drawing is going on top first and draw out the entire journal skin first. Then cut it, like is shown in the tut. If you start that way, then there is no guess work on how much space to leave at the top.
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Thank you! This will be really helpful once I get a premium membership! XD
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Yay, you're welcome! I'd love to see what you create when you do!
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I'm going to try this out, I was looking for ages or a good tut. Thank you!
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omg I cannot wait for this journal to be able to be used. :'U
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Easy to follow tutorial, I think I might have to give it a go 
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thank you so much for posting! this is very informative and easy to understand
but unfortunately i kinda caught a snag ^^" i was wondering if perhaps you could help me?
ive tripled checked the coding, but the only thing that is showing up are the links
can you perhaps tell me where i might have gone wrong?
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Hello! I'm glad you found this easy to unstand. Of course, I'll be happy to help. Why don't you note me the CSS. It'll make it easier for me to see where the problem is. c:
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Cool! I'll look at it right now and let you know if I find anything.
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Really helpful
But when are you planning to put up Part 3?
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thanks!
It keeps getting pushed off because I only feel like painting lately... :'D It will happen soon though!
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Your drawing of Toothless is adorable, by the way.
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I'm so glad, it's my pleasure! Happy to have helped.
Happy coding!
Thank you~
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This is a great tutorial for a simple journal skin! Very simple to follow. Thank you for taking the time to make this!
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And thank you for taking the time to comment! c:
I really appreciate it.
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This looks really good I'm going to try this thanks
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I've been looking for a tutorial on how to create my own journal skins. This one is very easy to understand. Thank you for your tutorial~!
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Thank you, i'm glad to know it's helped. c:
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Thank you, I'm so glad you think so!
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How long should the journal skin be?
You mention the width but I don't see the length (though I may be blind 
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The length is relative to your design. If your design has a top and bottom image like this one, then those two pieces will be a custom length depending on how large or tall your images are. The center piece can be any height so long as it repeats. I typically make it about 250-350px tall, but not for any particular reason. I wouldn't make it much larger though because if you want to post a short journal, you don't necessarily want tons of blank space left over. c:
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I was mostly wonder for if you wanted to have a pattern that repeats like lets say polka dots or candy and you want it to be on all 3 parts but you don't want it to be cut off anywhere
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Polka dots are a pattern that wouldn't be too difficult to have repeating. You just have to make sure you place your 'cut lines' in a place that makes the dots vertically repeatable. Candy should be the same so long as the pattern is repetitive already, so that it blends when it's duplicated. You could use a tile image, like this one: [link] (I know it's ice cream, but pretend it's candy ; P). See how if you were to duplicate the image and place one directly beneath the other? They would blend seamlessly.
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Not too sure I know how to do that in a way that it would blend and repeat perfectly :S
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Thanks! I always wondered how people did this!
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Oooh, this is a fantastic tutorial!! I've been looking for a simple, yet functional, tutorial on journal skins, and this is perfect. Thank you for making this!
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I'm so glad you find it suiting~! :3
Thank you for commenting <3
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Mmhm! I have just chopped up my skin and now I need to upload them to somewhere. I'll probably use my scraps then delete later >u>
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If you delete them the image in your journal skin will probably break. It needs to be hosted online somewhere to continue working. I always just use photobucket. I upload each image to a private album and use the direct link from there.
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O: Oh! Okay! I guess I have to go make an account over there! ^^"
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Is this compatible with GIMP? I don't have Photoshop. ;;
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I'm not familiar with GIMP, but it's the same concept no matter what program you're using. You still need the 3 parts, and for the center to be repeatable. PS isn't required, it's just what I use. c:
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