This tutorial series is for some easy to accomplish graphic text effects * all links to external pages will open in a new window Toolkit for this tutorial series: PSP (I'm using v7), all steps should be capable of rendering in PS also or any other graphics program. Fonts: Many truetype fonts already installed on your pc (to view; control panel -->fonts) look fine when solid coloured against contrasting background, but to apply any sort of real graphic effects to them they need to be wide enough or large enough to display properly. Some very nice ones (that I'll be using here in fact) that should be on most PC's are: Papyrus, Tempus Sans ITC, Edwardian Script ITC, French Script MT, and Monotype Corsiva just to name a few. There are also some alternative TrueType Fonts available for free download (in zip files) from sites like: Font Garden, AEnigma Games and Fonts Download Free Fonts Ray Larabie Fonts~longtime fav of mine. Keep in mind that only the freeware ones do not require some form of payment for use, details are usually included in a notepad document inside the font's zipfile. For some of these examples, I'll be using Qurve from 1001 Free Fonts and Vinque from Larabie. There's also something called 'Dingbats'. No, I'm not talking about your mother-in-law. Dingbats are great fun, they are shapes, pictographs and symbols that are in font format you install in your font directory and can use in graphics programs. For adding a little personalization to your text graphic created from this tutorial, I'll be showing you how to do so using some dingbats offered for free download at Font Garden's cultural dingbats. They have many more, just nagivate through. Download one that you like (hey! They even have little dutchmen, Mayan heads, crosses and stars of David!) Gradients: PSP 6,7&8 have a feature called 'gradients' that are included in the program (in their own folder, C; -->program files-->JASC-->PaintshopPro-->Gradients) and PSP's 7 & 8 even have the handy feature of giving gradients as an option for fills (example below:) which we will be using occasionally in this tutorial. In Version 7, the other options are solid, texture, and none. When you choose that gradient option, by clicking in the center of the gradient showing an option box should pull up with an assortment of gradient styles, or ways to build your own. (example below) You can also download extra gradients for inclusion in that folder, just make sure they are located in the correct directory. Some gradient sites- Bodhi creations-gradients psp7-in basic psp gradient format (.jgf) PaintShopStop-gradients for PSP7-in one massive zipfile, There are many others available if you search for gradients PSP in google. Extras: Some very interesting after effects can be acheived with plug in filters, and I'll show some examples at the end of the tutorial, and list what programs and effects I used. Some other excellent sources of text effects tutorials for PSP can be found in this post. For this tutorial series, we'll be creating different welcome graphics for your home. Obviously, the abilities shown in this tutorial can be used for many many purposes, but I wanted to show you something applicable to start off with. All tutorials posted here including mine are automatically covered by ©