I've received countless e-mail requests regarding what programs I use to achieve the effects I do in my graphics subsites. I have finally included this page to let those who are interested gain access to that information! The links below will take you to places you can purchase or have a "free trial" of the products I use. If there is no link for purchase, then that means I don't have information on ordering the product online. Some of these links will offer me a small commission while still offering you tremendous savings off "list" price. If you decide to purchase any of these products, please help me keep my "free graphics" online by purchasing through this page!

By the way, nothing that I do not personally use and endorse will appear on this page. If I don't use it, you won't find it here!!!

Graphics Programs

Those that have spoken with me before know that I limit myself to just a few graphics programs and just a few add-on programs. If you have a large budget for a graphics program, I always recommend Adobe PhotoShop (and I'm one of the many that chooses to not upgrade from the Version 4 series). If you are not in a position to "shell out mega-bucks", then I stand solidly behind Paint Shop Pro 6 as the graphics program of choice. I used the Paint Shop Pro Version 4 and 5 series avidly, and was absolutely thrilled and amazed at the outstanding features introduced in their Version 6 series, which placed them EASILY "right up there" with PhotoShop.

Why do I use more than one graphics program? Well, having become accustomed to a way to quickly achieve a desired effect in one program but not the other is the primary reason. For instance, if I want to transform an image into a seamless "tiled" background, as I almost always do in my Fantasyland Graphics subsite, I always, ALWAYS turn to Paint Shop Pro 6. It is absolutely my only choice for this effect. If I want to lighten the hue/saturation of an image, I go back to PhotoShop. Why? I just know how to do it more quickly and easily there.

I strongly suggest, as I have done for the past three plus years, that you select Paint Shop Pro 6 as your graphics program of choice if you are just starting out, or if you are already working with graphics but are unable to achieve the effects you've seen on my subsites.

Add-on Utilities and Filters

My very first add-on filter purchase was the purchase of ULead's Alien Skin Eye Candy, and I quite simply have never quit singing it's praises. The lovely beveled text - that 3D appearance - you see within my website was created using this filter, and I also use it extensively for button beveling (any shape), drop shadows, cutouts, and much, much more...

I have read countless tutorials on how to do this and that with PhotoShop or with Paint Shop Pro, but, they all required an enormous number of steps and quite simply did not always achieve the desired effect. With Alien Skin Eye Candy (which, by the way, works with both PhotoShop and Paint Shop Pro), you are one simple click away from an onscreen preview with options to adjust, cancel, or apply the filter. This is a "must have" in my book!

My second "plug-in" graphics program was Ulead FXRazor. Just when I thought I had every filter available to mankind that I would ever need, I ran into the suite of effects offered by this program (which also works with both PhotoShop and Paint Shop Pro), and I gave it the "free trial". I didn't even wait for my trial period to expire before placing my order for the license to keep using the effects.

For those who have not seen the "smoke effect" that graces most of my splash page "orbs", the effect was created using Ulead FXRazor. Additionally, the drop shadow filter provided with this package allows four easy preset drop presets, and I have grown quite accustomed to turning to this filter for it's drop shadow effects.

Finally, I highly recommend Flaming Pear Software's BladePro add on filter. Some time back (probably around a year), I finally asked one of my graphics friends just how she could create such beautiful, jeweled looking graphics. Her answer was quite quick and quite simple: "You probably don't have BladePro!". That was true, but only for the moment, because I had downloaded it in no time, and licensed it shortly thereafter.

If all you require is a beveling effect, you can achieve that with the filters I've already mentioned. BladePro offers a bit more to the beveling, and it is such fun to play with! There are many, many web sites that offer their own free BladePro presets - so you can just browse the web, find effects you like, and get instant satisfaction by producing the same effect. BladePro is not on my "must have" list, but I DID purchase it and DO use it on a quite regular basis. Download to try for free - you'll probably agree it's well worth the price for creating effects!