Painting a gradient in Photoshop CS is as easy as using the Gradient tool and drawing a line with your mouse. You can paint a gradient on an entire layer or just part of a layer.

In some ways e-cards aren´t much different from the old-fashioned greeting cards. The main feather of the card is still the artwork. Except today the artwork is digital, the mailman is the World Wide Web, and that long list of names and addresses has been converted into a digital address book.

We will draw the base of our Christmas tree, learn how to use the Brushes Panel to view thumbnails of the brushes and to apply a brush stroke to a path.

There can never be too many books like this one by Michael J. Hammel. This project-based book has great examples of how the graphic designer uses GIMP software. Hammel discusses these techniques in a way that prepares the readers to reproduce the results in their own projects.

If you are a novice to Illustrator, the WOW! book is a great way to learn the software. The book is packed with great examples and step-by-step instructions.

This tutorial will show you how to create text on a curve or path using Paint Shop Pro 7. You can create this text to follow any shape or path that you choose. You can add this text onto an existing image. Or you can create the text on a transparent layer and copy and paste at a later time.

One thing that can speed up your productivity as a graphic artist is the use of templates. Certain digital art projects just scream for the use of templates. Templates fall within two categories based on the production requirements for the final project.

LightWave 3D from NewTek is the favorite of 3D artists in fields including games, film, animation and print production. It is the all-in-one software package for modeling, animation, dynamics, particle effects and quality rendering.

We will create the sunburst design used quite frequently in header designs. The sunburst is semitransparent and used as part of the background with the more prominent design details in front.

There are several external drives, from Flash drives that can store 4 GB and retail about $27 to an external hard drive that can store 750 GB and retails about $200. Just the other day, one of my readers emailed requesting instructions for moving photos from their email onto an external drive.