In previous chapter we used Corel Draw but we also could have achieved the same or similar results with Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand or any other vector-based design application. In this chapter we'll be using Adobe PhotoShop but it is important to mention that you could follow the tutorial and get similar results with any other high quality graphics application.

New versions of PhotoShop are very powerful and you can edit vector objects directly with it. This is a very wide subject so we recommend you consult PhotoShop Tutorial for more info... or for a quick info, do the search on PhotoShop Help, queries "paths", "vector", "illustrator" etc.

Suppose you opened some of our clipart images in Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. If you used Illustrator, after editing (if any) just save it in its natural file format (AI) and PhotoShop will open it without a problem.

If you're using Corel Draw, select the object(s) you want to import into PhotoShop and choose File/Export (or just press CTRL+E). Then check the box "Selected only" and choose EPS from the drop down menu. New window will show up: check "Include Header" and choose WMF as a format. Other options are for fine tuning and you probably won't need to change there anything (unless you are a seasoned pro with very specific needs, but then again pros don't need this kind of tutorial anyway :-)

So now you have a vector object in AI or EPS format somewhere on your HD. We will take the game-pad from our Computers Clipart set. At the time we were writing this tutorial a neighbor video games CD shop hired us to make a new logo for their web site. They also wanted us to build a nice header along with the logo.

We opened new RGB document 700x200 pixels and choose File/Place. The game pad, naturally, opened in a new layer. This is what we got:

As it was obviously too large, we pressed CTRL-T and resized it manually. As it was a vector object, it resized without any quality looses. We also filled out the background to see how it'd look on a white background:

Now notice the Layers window (it's on the right side of the screen by default, if you don't see it go to Window/Layers and switch it on).

Notice the encircled icon ("Add a layer style"). This is where you can add various and very customizable effect to your vector drawing.

After lots of playing with the effect (it's always fun :-) we choose the following effects:

- Drop Shadow: color default (black), distance 1, size 16
- Gradient Overlay: completely default parameters except for the colors (black and dark blue)
- Stroke: default size (3), color white

The result was this:

Now we just added the title in the similar colors we used for gradient and the logo was done:

Then we needed to design the complete header. This sites' targeted population are younger persons so we decided to spice it up some. For the start we wanted to test some other background colors:

Notice how the objects cooperates with every background color. Such experiments with bitmap graphics are practically impossible (at least the results would look very rough).

We decided to choose a variation of blue, in order to match the gamepad colors. We will maybe use red for titles and announcements on the right so they stand out more. The background color/pattern should be as pleasant as possible.

So we needed only a simple curve and a rectangle to get this:

Let's add some nice pattern to everything:

The game-pad isn't distracted with the gray horizontal lines at all. And that's the whole point - quality vector graphics will always fit with every background, will always be fully scalable and editable and will always give you the highest quality final product.

Download our free promotional content and try by yourself today - it's fun!