After a year working on my business, Uniquehorn Designs, I have found my focus. I have found that my favorite projects are creating PSD Web Templates. I love the instant gratification I get using Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop to create a beautiful layout.
What is a PSD?
The .PSD (Photoshop Document) … stores an image with support for most imaging options available in Photoshop. These include layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths, and duotone settings. – Wikipedia
I’m sure your eyes just glazed over, I know mine did reading that and I know exactly what it’s saying.
In basic terms a PSD is Photoshops file. When you save the file as a PSD you save each separate layer and the different aspects of those layers including transparency, special effects, and more. You can create a design where each shape, text element and photo is on it’s own separate layer and with the layers separated you can edit each element quickly and easily.
As an example I will use one of my images from my free valentine’s day printables:
There are 3 layers in the PSD file of this image.
- The dark pink scalloped background
- The textured lighter pink box
- The XOs
I could quickly open the PSD file and change the colors of each item, I could change the font of the XOs, I could change the texture on the light pink box, or I could change what the picture said all together. But if I tried to do this with the JPG image file I would pretty much have to start over because all those elements have been smashed together.
What is a PSD Web Template?
A PSD Web Template is an un-coded web site. It has all the visual elements of the web site including the background, the images, the layout, the typography and more. But there is no HTML or CSS involved.
Each layer will have the different elements for the website. You will have a layer for the logo, the header, the content, the navigation (or multiple layers in a folder) and so on.
What do I like about PSD Web Template Design?
I know how to write HTML, CSS and some PHP but it is not my favorite part of designing a new website. It can take me days to get the coding just perfect on a website. You are constantly looking at code and then switching to the visual interpretation of the code, then back to the code again.
With PSD Web Templates I can just focus on the design, the beauty, and let someone else worry about the code.
There is something wonderful about finding a focus for my business and knowing exactly what I love and being able to do it: PSD Web Templates!
