There are a lot of times that you may need or want to have a repeating pattern for a project.  The easiest way to do this without losing your mind is to use a built in tool called ‘Define Pattern’ (in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements).  Below is a simple tutorial on how to use the tool, with a bunch of images to help walk you through it. While the example used below is very much on the simple side, you can do this same method on more complicated patterns as well.

First, lets say we want a dot pattern.  It would take forever to individually place each and every single circle perfectly, so we will make life a bit easier and use the pattern tool.

Click any of the images below to make them larger.

Find or make the image that is going to be repeated.

Here I’ve opened a blank file to create the pattern’s image.

The circle that is going to be repeated.  It’s against a transparent background.

Go to Edit : Define pattern.

You will get a pop up that asks you to name your image.  This one is rather uninspiring named Dots.

Open a new file if you need to.

Here is the new file.  Select the paint can tool, and look towards the top where it gives you the option of filling in the image with either a solid color (Foreground) or a Pattern.  Click on the dropdown option for pattern.

A box will open, and simply find your new pattern.

Use the paint can tool by clicking on the area you want filled.

Tada! You now have a new pattern.

Working online with a primary focus on blogging, more specifically, for the last few years has taught me a bit about the business end of it.  Considering I’m also a freelancer, finding and securing those jobs that help me pay all my bills is obviously an important factor.

I can wholly admit, I never intended to be a blogger, let alone a freelancer.  It had never occurred to me that I could even make money online, especially a livable income.  I did enjoy writing even though most of my earlier bits were considerably shorter than my present standard of about 300 words (or more).  While I did enjoy it, I wasn’t in need of a job until some of life’s little things came my way at once and I had mounting bills and other financial problems that needed to be taken care of.  At the time, I did turn to the internet and found a few editing and writing gigs that I had thought would be only temporary.

Of course that was also about 4 years ago, and I’m still working in writing.  I wound up falling in love with the hours, and the ability to work wherever I wanted, with no real ‘set-times’.  Getting started is harder now it seems that it was when I started, but once you get the ball rolling jobs will come easier.

Setting up your own website for writing, and potentially impressing a prospective client isn’t easy and you will need to work on a few basics before getting into the full swing of things.  Once you do however, all that work will be more than worth it.

Read:

Read other blogs in your intended niche.  While you do not want to copy them at all, it can help to see what voices are already out there are see what you can add to the discussion.  If you have an inspiring thought that you think should be said, write down the general idea for the next step.

Write:

Consider first your topics and intended audience, and think up a few entries to get you started.  Write out at least 10 or so full posts before your launch, and write and polish them until they are the best they can be.  While you don’t have to use them all immediately, it really helps to have that cushion in case you won’t be able to post on a few days or so.

Design:

Having a special design for your blog can help create a more memorable feel for it.  While it doesn’t have to be too fancy, it does help.  Make sure it is what you are looking for as switching constantly typically can make you look unprofessional and chaotic.  Your design can set the tone for the rest of your website, so think long and hard about it.  It should fit nicely into the theme of your website, and while it doesn’t need to be overblown or outrageous, a nicely designed website can really help out and work wonders.  At times, the perfect design will be unique and mesh well to the point of not really being noticed.

Research:

A fair portion of the typical blogger’s time is spent on research.  From chasing stories to looking up relevant links to add to those stories.  It’s not the easiest thing for a good portion of the time, but the more consistent research you put into your writing, the more knowledgeable you will be.  Being knowledgeable is a good chuck of where your readership will grow from.

Learn:

It’s the same with anything that can payoff, it really is a continuous learning process.  If someone offers you advice, it may be wise to take it under consideration.  Be it through contacts, or comments- constructive criticism will help you grow not only as a writer, but as a blogger as well.

One of the most popular instructions on this website is my Tutorial on How To Make a Zombie Doll. 

While I’ll confess that I’m still kicking myself for not using a better image (I’m working on a revamped version that will be posted soon), there are some other things you can make depending on what you keep in the image.  By covering up certain parts, below are just some more things you can make using the same process.

The below images are just quick things I threw together all using the tutorials you can find here.  They serve for a good piece of information and inspiration for just some of the ways you can edit images.  While they only took  a few minutes to create for this post, if you put more time into it you can create something incredible.

Okay, well sure it’s another creepy one OMG THE GROUND IS LOOKING AT ME!

This image also uses the Stylized Typography Tut.

Same with this one.

This one uses a combination of the mentioned tutorials, and some masking (and looks more like a zombie than the original image (yes, that is a confession). 

Okay, honestly it’s a crummy title but a really awesome widget.  The Paradox9.com Two-Line T Shirt Maker (look at the sidebar, or even grab it from here: Two Line T Shirt Widget)is the easiest way known* by me to make your very own custom t shirt (there may be more coming up, aside from t shirts, at least).  So, how exactly can one use this marvelous little widget?  Follow the steps below to make your very own custom t shirt.

1: Upload your image somewhere.

2: Copy the URL to the image, and paste it into the URL box.

3: Enter your text.

4:Click Grab it!

5: View/ Edit/Buy

Obviously, the image is crappy for the example.  It’s one of the article images from this very website.

Misc Information: Enter your Zazzle associate ID to earn a commission (15% I believe) of each sale you make through the widget.  If you don’t have one, get one for free by just signing up at zazzle.com.  If you don’t want one, leave the option blank.

Don’t find random images that you don’t have the right to use.  That is just crummy, and they won’t print it anyway.

*Is it the easiest?  I have no clue.

There is a school of thought that any traffic is ‘good traffic’, unfortunately it simply isn’t true.  There is both good traffic and unproductive traffic, and the SEO of your website will decide on which one you will ultimately receive.  If you are checking your search statistics and are finding that many are getting to your website after searching for unrelated terms to your business, you are suffering from not-so-great SEO.

Before you pull your hair out trying to figure out how to fix it, there are some simpler things you can do to help.  Some of those options are a bit more time intensive, but they are workable and will help you improve your relevant search rankings.  Before you continue, make sure to write out a lists of terms that you are looking to rank better for.

Start Now: This is an under-utilized but good choice.  If you have a lot of content and a lot of visits that you don’t want to lose start writing posts now geared towards correct SEO.  Use keywords properly and often, the list you made can also serve to give you some post ideas.

Rewrite: If you don’t have too much in the way of content already on your blog, you can seriously consider just rewriting your present content with the keywords you listed in mind.

Start Over: Consider starting over only if you feel that your website is truly hopeless.  Generally speaking, this should be only used if there are absolutely no other options,  this option used far more often than it really needs to be.

Constantly updated content is the key to better rankings and more popularity with the search engines. By incorporating your main keywords into your posts, the search engines will see them and you will rank better.

Sure, anyone can have content.  It’s really not too difficult to throw together some words and call it a day.   Looking around the internet, it’s why there are so many people blogging and on social networks, they enjoy the attention and being able to be seen for saying something.  Inherently that is one of the issues, there is a lot of ‘something’ being said, but all in all very little content.

Anyone can tell you a bit about a ‘something’, however, being a good blogger or even a great blogger is a whole other ballgame.

Readers will know if you call it in, and most people don’t have much of an A game at first.  Let alone a consistent A Game.   Yet, most advice articles on blogging and internet writing in general, will tell you that daily posts are important.

Sure, they are, and while this blog is far from daily it’s due to the Editor (wonderful writing-type that I am) not wanting to post every little mundane thing that pops into her head.  Besides, I have a lot of other blogs for that kind of thing anyway.

Having great content may not mean consistently updates, let alone daily content, eventually you may get there. but having great content means having good copy and if you don’t have at least that, you may not get far.

Especially when you are starting out, you need to be able to develop a rhythm and have consistent sounding posts.  By that I mean, avoid frantically updated just for the sake of updating filler posts. Don’t even worry about updating daily, even once a week or a month is better than having a lot of filler.

At first my own posts were 95% filler, and well my visits were nothing.  Literally, nothing.  Zero.

I kept up however and while when I started the mere thought of 250 words per post was ridiculous to me but, I still kept at it.  Now, that is a small article and on average 500 words is about the norm for me.

Can you get there?

Sure, there’s no reason not.  It’s a lot of work, and you do need to keep at it and keep posting.  If you have to- post on a program like notepad (personally, I use Windows Live Writer but there are tons of different options out there).  Save it when you feel like you may start losing steam and post again when you are feeling better.

It’s not for everybody, at first it is a lot of work.  It actually outright sucks at times, but it’s perfectly possible for most people to get there.

Even if your topics are all over the place, sometimes it may even help to find a topic you love and stick with it.  Sometimes all over the place works, but often it doesn’t.   Find your passions and write about them.  For this very website, I write about making it as an artist or writer online.  Truthfully, it’s become my thing and I love it.  While I may not post everyday, my rankings are still growing regardless.

So to get right to the point; the ‘secret’ to having great content?  Keep at it.  While that isn’t something that most people want to hear, the best way to get there.  Admittedly, it isn’t much of a secret at all and in fact it’s the one thing people aren’t looking to hear.  It is, however the best way to get there and the only way to really stand a chance.

The sample above took about five minutes.  While it looks incredibly complicated, accomplishing this effect is really simple. This how-to will show you the easiest way (that I know of)  to create a stylized text look using Photoshop.

Again, while I am using Photoshop Elements, the method is the same in the full Photoshop program.  Just by some creative use of layers and the brush tools, you can create visually stunning text effects easily and quickly.   The only extras you may want are some brushes.  In the above I used the absolutely fabulous watercolor brushes from Bittbox and the equally wonderful Liquid Drop brushes from Ardcor over at QBrushes.

Creating Stylized Text In Photoshop:

Type out your text.

This effect works best with a thicker font, but play around with them until you have a look you like.  When it is all finished, if you don’t like the way a font looks it’s still editable and you can easily change it to something you like better.

Ignore the layer panel for now that comes next .

Stylize your text.

Using Element’s text menu, I’ve just added a simply outline to the text.  In the full Photoshop, you can do this by right clicking on the text layer. then go to blending options. then on the left side click stroke and alter (if I am wrong about that post up the right way in the comments, as it has been a while since I last used Photoshop.

Create your layers.

Create layers above each element. With the layer itself highlighted,  hit Control+G and using your brushes, design it until it looks how you want it.

Style Your Background

I used the same overall theme for the background that I did for the effect itself.

That’s it! Easy right?

Before you use any of this, be advised- I am not an attorney and I have no legal training (at all).  These are just a few handy little tips to have for those clients that may not be the best when it comes to paying on time (or at all in some cases).

While the actual tactics of dealing with those who pay less than promptly depend on a few things, they all boil down to- is this a customer you can afford to lose and if there are mitigating circumstances behind it.

Step-By-Step

The main thing to remember is to handle it calmly and without getting too (visibly) upset.

• Ask them if they were/ are happy with the service you provided.  Sometimes a client may feel justified in not paying due to what they see as an inferior product, or things not meeting their expectations.
• Ask for payment, including the full amount owed.  Call, email, or send a letter.
• Send a ‘formal late payment’ form (you can just copy and paste the below):

Dear Customer:

Please take note that your account is still past due in the amount of $ _____________________.

We sent you a statement a short time ago, which was not acted upon by you. Please submit payment immediately.

Your failure to pay the amount due on your account is a violation of the terms of your  agreement with us. We therefore will suspend your account in seven days from the date of this letter if we do not receive payment. Once we suspend your account, it is unlikely that we will reactivate credit terms on your account.

We sincerely hope that you submit payment in full.

Thank you.

• If they still don’t pay up, and the amount seems worth it- you can consider taking them to court.

Have you found any advice that works for you on clients who seem to never pay on time?  Post up any ideas in the comments.

While there are as many different ways to accomplishing a vintage look using Photoshop, I like this method due to being able to control the look fully, by using layers and the brush tool.  This is an incredibly quick and easy tutorial, it uses a few things that have been talked about here as well (linked for ease).

Here are the three images used (right click, save):

1.) Load your images in Photoshop

I’m using two different paper images.  While, you can just as easily use one- I really like the ‘clean’ look of the one to the right, plus the more destroyed look is great as well for a bit more dimension to the finished image.

2.) Define your brushes(to see a full tutorial on how to do this, click here:Creating a Pattern in Photoshop while it is the pattern tutorial, it’s also applicable for brushes).

Here’s the ‘define brush’ tool (it’s location: Edit > Define Brush ).  While you could easily only pick and choose an area that you prefer, this is shown using the whole image.  Repeat this with the other image as well.

3.) Put each new brush on it’s own layer.

Only one layer is started right now. Simply make the brush larger to fit the image, and click (the brush will look faded).

A darker brown color suits the vintage look best.

4.) Toy with your layers until you have it just how you like it (similar to the zombie doll tutorial).

Note in the image above the two different layers and flipped image. 

Each brush is in it’s own layer so it is easier to toy with the overall look, and the image is flipped because I’m lazy and don’t really feel like playing with the brush options (at least I’m honest).

This was one of my favorite projects when I was a kid, it’s also just a really fun thing to do on a snowy day.

Needed:

• Black Paper
• Camera with macro option

Here’s what to do:

• Put the black paper in the fridge or freezer for about 10 minutes to let it get cold.
• Bring it outside while it’s snowing, and take some photos!

This is a fun project that kids would love as well.

You can really see the geometry in all the little flakes, and the results of the macro photos are pretty amazing as well.

The black paper lets you see more detail, and it’s placed in the freezer so the flakes don’t melt immediately.

While it also takes a bit of luck in capturing the images, taking a bunch of photos can help.

To check out more great projects, recipes, and more- check out cutecustomcrafts.com and the fun wiki for those creative types shop.cutecustomcrafts.com!  You can even add your own crafty projects by becoming an editor!