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Pyek — Artistic Journal Skins: for Beginners: Pt II

Published: 2012-04-23 05:05:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 12483; Favourites: 675; Downloads: 125
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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...

Part I: Preparing the Artwork

Applying your custom CSS to your dA journal



-------------------------------

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 .


-------------------------------


For easy Copy & Pasting, here is the CSS as seen in the tut above <3

Remember, some of your specs won't match up if you are using different images. Adjustments will be necessary.


.journalbox {
background:transparent;
border:none;
}

.journaltop {
background-color:transparent;
background-image:url( ____TOP____ );
background-repeat:no-repeat;
margin:0px auto 0px auto;
width:580px;
height:376px;
text-align:left;
font-size:0px;
}

.journaltop h2 {
padding:215px 0 0 220px;
width:480px;
color:#681507;
font-size:25px;
}

.journalbox h2 a {
color:#681507;
}

.journaltop span{
float:right;
margin:72px 33px 0px 0px;
color:#681507;
font-size:9px;
font-weight:normal;
}

.journaltop img {
display:none;
}

.journaltext {
background-color:transparent;
background-image:url( ____MIDDLE____ );
background-repeat:repeat-y;
margin:-10px auto -40px auto;
padding:10px 37px 0px 30px;
width:525px; 
text-align:left;
color:#681507;
font-size:14px;
}

.journaltext a {
color:#f25b1e;
font-weight:normal;
}

.journaltext a:hover {
color:#f2b91e;
}

.journalbottom {
background-color:transparent;
background-image:url( ____BOTTOM____ );
background-repeat:no-repeat;
margin:0 auto -200px auto;
padding:150px 0px 0px 12px;
width:580px;
height:280px;
text-align:center;
font-size:10px;
}

.journalbottom a {
color:#f25b1e;
padding:40px 0 0 0;
}

.journalbottom a:hover {
color:#f2b91e;
text-decoration:none;
}

Related content
Comments: 244

AppleFixture In reply to ??? [2013-06-02 17:03:48 +0000 UTC]

Where did you type the code? Like DA or some other website?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to AppleFixture [2013-06-02 19:25:37 +0000 UTC]

Maybe this will help! c:

[link]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AppleFixture [2013-06-01 00:35:27 +0000 UTC]

How can you like make buttons at the bottom instead of a footer? Like a button that leads you do refs, commision prices, etc. side by side?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to AppleFixture [2013-06-02 15:31:15 +0000 UTC]

In the footer area, you would just use images links instead of text links. So, make your buttons, upload them to an image hosting site, then in the footer, you would type something like this (minus the spaces):

< a href="link-URL"> < img src="button-URL"> < /a>

Putting the code to plug in your button image there instead of just doing a text-link makes the image the link instead.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AppleFixture In reply to Pyek [2013-06-02 17:04:19 +0000 UTC]

Okay thank you!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Valz138 [2013-05-19 15:49:22 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for this and PartI: you've been of great help!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

IcePhoenix202 [2013-05-19 02:33:44 +0000 UTC]

Are you doing part 3? This is an amazing tutorial!

though, how do you make it where you got links above the middle section with an icon (in this case it's a paw with a flame and it's at the top left. [link]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to IcePhoenix202 [2013-06-02 15:26:42 +0000 UTC]

That's when you'd use the Header area above where you entered in your CSS. Putting something in the header means it will appear in every journal post without having to re-enter it every time. The icons are just separate images uploaded to a site like photobucket or your sta.sh, just like the background images are uploaded.

In the header, you would put: < a href="link-URL"> Link text people will see goes here

You can get fancy with headers and footers with more CSS to design exactly where they sit and how they look etc, but that's the basic info.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Mayo-Senpai In reply to ??? [2013-05-04 09:43:17 +0000 UTC]

Ok so im making a journal skin for a friend and the top and bottom pictures aren't working, i have cheaked all the codes and now i really dont know what to do ^ ^' help!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ZhangJC In reply to ??? [2013-04-27 05:03:10 +0000 UTC]

What's the code to remove the journal history entry? Whenever we post a journal, this appears
" Journal Entry: Sat Apr 27, 2013, 1:02 PM " right below the title. Can we remove that? And what's the code for it?

Thanks

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Skitzen In reply to ??? [2013-04-19 01:37:04 +0000 UTC]

Great tutorial!
Sadly the journal I made is bugging.. There's a huge gap on the right beside the journal [link]
Anyway of fixing this? I followed the instructions carefully :/

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to Skitzen [2013-06-02 15:03:35 +0000 UTC]

That looks like a padding issue, it will likely just take some adjusting guess-and-check work in the .journaltext area until you get it just right where you want it.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

iAmAneleBiscarra [2013-04-18 14:47:04 +0000 UTC]

hi, here's what i've done using your code: [link]
i've also learned a few things along the way...thank you so much!!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

chao93 In reply to ??? [2013-04-18 06:46:15 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for making this tutorial, I was able to make a journal skin I'm proud of <3

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

iAmAneleBiscarra In reply to ??? [2013-04-16 12:41:10 +0000 UTC]

this is soooo helpful, it's really hard to look for tutorials for journals that are very detailed, thank you soo much!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Jaggerjo12 In reply to ??? [2013-04-12 01:00:15 +0000 UTC]

This is SO helpful! Much more understanding than most other tutorials on jornal skin making!
I do have one question though, would the URLs still work if I uploaded the three images here, on DA? Or does it have to be Photobucket or Flickr? :3

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to Jaggerjo12 [2013-06-02 15:00:38 +0000 UTC]

You can certainly upload them here, I often use sta.sh for my journal pieces. c: Anywhere that gives you a direct URL for the images is fine.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Mayo-Senpai In reply to ??? [2013-04-08 05:08:49 +0000 UTC]

Ahh thank you will be using this to make my own skin

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Xxcron In reply to ??? [2013-04-04 08:30:42 +0000 UTC]

hey, for some reason my skin isnt working at all. help please?

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

WaffleCake22 In reply to ??? [2013-03-21 01:41:44 +0000 UTC]

this is such a fail ;n; [link]
help me ;n;

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

TheHyperShinobi [2013-03-04 01:03:07 +0000 UTC]

Holy crap! I have been looking for a tutorial for weeks! directed me here and I'm glad she did. These tutorials and the last part will come in handy :3

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

issuldra In reply to ??? [2013-02-20 04:55:20 +0000 UTC]

OK SO IT TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH and I finally got a skin made!
[link]
Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to scoot the journal title over about 50 px or so. halp?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Mickey-the-Luxray In reply to issuldra [2013-03-08 07:34:17 +0000 UTC]

Try putting in this to your title's code:

padding-left:50px;

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

NaroKusanagi In reply to ??? [2013-01-25 17:05:22 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the tutorial X3

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

HokiMaru [2013-01-05 19:03:46 +0000 UTC]

great tutorial... but WHERE do you write all these codes?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to HokiMaru [2013-02-01 15:13:18 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

Go like you're creating a new journal entry. Top-left you'll see where it says "New Journal Entry" and just below that, "Current Skin: ----". Beside that is a link that says "Edit Skin". Click that link. You'll get a pop-up. Ignore the "Skin Header" and "Skin Footer" boxes for now, those have other uses. Your entire CSS goes in the big center box labelled "Skin CSS". Preview it, tweak it, whatever until you're happy. Then give it a title and hit "Save". Your skin is now saved in your left-hand collection of skins, and you just select it to apply.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

HokiMaru In reply to Pyek [2013-02-01 17:27:35 +0000 UTC]

Oh ok! Thank u so much!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Mecanicalpencils In reply to ??? [2013-01-04 04:15:23 +0000 UTC]

ok..working on part 2 as we speak...I need my part 3 fix soon!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Deus-Lux [2013-01-02 19:21:03 +0000 UTC]

[link]

Thanks for the help on this! It was great for making my journal!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to Deus-Lux [2013-02-01 15:07:26 +0000 UTC]

That's gorgeous! Thanks for sharing

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Deus-Lux In reply to Pyek [2013-02-03 11:44:54 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, and you're welcome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

A-S-H-3-S [2012-12-31 18:26:03 +0000 UTC]

Amazing tutorial C:
I have one problem, however, the text box hangs off the image and I don't know how to fix it ;n;

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to A-S-H-3-S [2013-02-01 15:06:28 +0000 UTC]

It may just be a padding problem. Is it an additional textbox tag or are you talking about your main text body area as a whole?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

A-S-H-3-S In reply to Pyek [2013-02-01 20:51:37 +0000 UTC]

Oh, it's the whole text box as a whole.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AOGRAI In reply to ??? [2012-12-30 01:00:04 +0000 UTC]

still waiting 4 part 3!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to AOGRAI [2013-02-01 15:04:33 +0000 UTC]

one of these days.... :'D

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AOGRAI In reply to Pyek [2013-02-01 16:37:04 +0000 UTC]

K no worries mate!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

StarlitMoth In reply to ??? [2012-12-29 16:05:28 +0000 UTC]

What exactly is GSS? I tried looking it up, but I didn't get a good answer.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to StarlitMoth [2013-02-01 15:04:19 +0000 UTC]

Do you mean CSS*? CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets; they tell the html what to do and how to look. It's basically a language or a set of rules that you're writing that tells your project - in this case, a journal skin - that 'this is the background you use in this area', 'this is the color of links in this area', 'using this tag makes the text move over here', etc.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

StarlitMoth In reply to Pyek [2013-02-01 22:46:12 +0000 UTC]

OK. That's nice to know. So it's a type of computer programming then? Do you know if it's similar to VisualBasic.NET?

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

rafagranaa [2012-12-26 20:20:36 +0000 UTC]

I don't really get WHERE I should write all those codes. And I would just like to have the header, not the footer.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to rafagranaa [2013-02-01 14:59:11 +0000 UTC]

The entire code for your journal skin goes in the large center box. If you are only using a top image, then you simply leave the backgrounds for the middle and bottom pieces designated as background-color:transparent; as opposed to plugging in an image URL. The header and footer boxes are for things like html code so you can set up sidebars and permanent fixtures like that, not for CSS.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

rafagranaa In reply to Pyek [2013-02-01 16:01:16 +0000 UTC]

ohhhhhh I get it now!!! I'll try to do my journal skin now! thanks, really.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

McChipy [2012-12-16 22:44:44 +0000 UTC]

it won't work with the images..

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to McChipy [2012-12-17 00:06:30 +0000 UTC]

Which images aren't working for you, the background images? Make sure you're using the direct link for the URL.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

McChipy In reply to Pyek [2012-12-17 18:30:36 +0000 UTC]

I use Sta.Sh for it.. and it won't work..

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to McChipy [2012-12-18 17:28:48 +0000 UTC]

if you're using stash, you need to click the download link to the right of your picture so that it opens up in its own page. The URL on that new page is the direct link that you need to use in your CSS.

That should work if you're using the right link, that's how I do mine as well. Let me know if it's still not working for some reason. c:

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

McChipy In reply to Pyek [2012-12-18 18:24:22 +0000 UTC]

it won't work... may I sent you the CSS and you correct it?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pyek In reply to McChipy [2012-12-18 19:59:44 +0000 UTC]

certainly, I'll be happy to take a look for you.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

McChipy In reply to Pyek [2012-12-18 20:35:39 +0000 UTC]

ok sent note ^^

👍: 0 ⏩: 0


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