#format mockups

[shopsystem]

Format Mockups / Supply.Family / DIY Business Card (02) / Mockup / 2024

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[wanologic]

Heyoo!! The last item for my pop-up shop is going to be an anthology artbook with all of my college au content!

[Shop Link]

There will be a whopping 52 full color pages of fic, art, notes, and comics! I'm reformatting and recoloring almost everything so it will print beautifully in 8x10, and hopefully be more legible than my tumblr post ranting lmao

Shop will open on Saturday Feb 8th and close March 1st!!

[riacte]

hi! i love reading your fics but i specifically love the social media shenanigans in dearly beloathed. i was wondering how you would feel if i took some inspiration from that for a fic of mine because i would love to write something that's very similarly formatted but i wanted to make sure you were fine with that (cause i'm assuming it took some time and effort to come up with) before i did. anyways your writing is awesome and i love reading it

Yes sure of course! I took inspiration from ao3 fics (F1 fandom in particular is stunning at formatting, I have so much respect for their dedication), such as this one (I basically took the formatting from this) and this Twitch streamer AU. If you're posting on ao3, there's the option of playing with HTML/CSS for a more "realistic" socmed interface, for example this one for Twitter which is magic to me. This one is an extremely impressive Discord mockup. An Unauthorised Fandom Treatise is a nice look into mid 2010s Superwholock era fandom whereas F1 rpf and indeed mcyt / streamer stuff is more "modern". Anyways yeah there's a lot of potential in this genre of fics and loads of stuff to check out on ao3 if you wish :) I love scrolling through the Unconventional Format tag because people are just so creative. Good luck with your writing!

[limitype]

Led Screen Mockup

Download Here : https://www.behance.net/gallery/223566749/LED-Screen-Mockup

Modern LED Screen Mockup A modern LED screen mockup featuring human elements and light reflections that add a realistic touch. Easy to use and customize with smart objects, making it simple to adapt to your design.

Included in the download:

3 PSD Scenes

Resolution: 3000x2000px / 300 dpi

Easy Editing: Smart Object feature

Well-Organized: Layered and structured files

Help file (.txt Notepad)

[httwsb]

crying because I'm too much of a perfectionist to actually upload this

[buttercup-barf]

A few other loadout.tf whateveries from various points in time. I'll probably start throwing in finished (and permitted) commissions soon as well, my queue is DRY. More under the cut.

Behold, a rare image that isn't a square! The reason most of those are squares, is because it's easier for me to format and plan them. I like my boxes.

A mockup of what I think I'll be doing with Oleg and Reina's designs. Funny how they slot so neatly into the RED Soldier and BLU Demo... Lass? Demoma'am? Roles.

I was briefly debating giving her shorter hair (I want my OC iteration to be Possible in the game engine, damn it!) and some grey streaks, but some Lore Reasons would make both of those unlikely.

Congrats to all my fellow free-to-plays, by the way. We truly are a Team Fortress, too.

[adskayapanda]

I would like to say that I'm very proud to call this fandom a family ❤️

My design for our «DBDa Family» merch 💀🔎

Since I can't sell ready-made merch because of where I live, I give you the opportunity to make the merch yourself and I have developed the design.

This idea came from the spn fandom t-shirts and I thought we deserve some family merch too.

Link on Google Drive

There you will find the print itself in several formats, instructions and a photo of what it looks like (I made a t-shirt for myself).

Be sure to read the instructions

> Instructions here and in the file

> Mockups and how it looks on me

Print is SO good and I took into account all the requirements. If you have any questions, you know how to contact me!

And I'll wait for the photos :)))

Thank you for the best fandom I know ❤️

[author-a-holmes]

Hi, you mentioned having some resources for people considering Indie publishing? I would love to know more!

Hi! Yes!

So you mentioned not having a big budget, which was discouraging you from going the indie route, and I did a metric tonne of research before publishing Changeling, and came across a handful of really good, free resources so thought I could pass some along in case it's helpful!

The only thing I don't have a good, free, replacement for is an editor I'm afraid, but a robust series of self edits could work well, or possibly a kickstarter for the editing costs? Something to look into maybe.

If you do decide to run a kickstarter to cover your editing costs, I'd highly recommend the Facebook Group "Kickstarter for Authors", loads and loads of free advice can be found in there, but that's all I can really suggest since I've not run one myself.

When it comes to preparing a book for publication, however, I have a couple of helpful free or low-cost resources.

is Reedsy Book Formatter. Now, Reedsy recently updated their platform and pricing, so I just (24th May 2025) went in and checked if their formatter was still free to use. It is! You have to make a Reedsy account, or login with a Facebook or Gmail account. Additionally, there's lots of buttons suggesting their "paid features", which makes sense. However the formatter, and the ability to download your formatted manuscript either as a PDF (for Print Books aka Paperback or Hardcover) or an EPub (Ebooks) is still a free function. The only 'catch' to the Reedsy formatter is that, on the bottom of the Copyright Page, they will input something like "Formatted with Reedsy Free Formatter" or something along those lines. I don't remember exactly. I was on a bit of an ego trip when I was researching my debut novel, so that was a No-go for me and I saved up and paid for Atticus to format my books, but that's NOT budget friendly and runs about $147, but I digress. Once you HAVE a formatted Book File — and if it's a PDF for Paperback, you know how many pages your book will be, then next expense is going to be a Cover. You can make your own book cover, but unless you're (A) A graphic Designer and (B) have your thumb on the pulse of the book cover market in your genre, I wouldn't recommend it. What I would recommend is...

Getcover Design Services. Getcovers are a professional design company based in Ukraine, and they designed the cover for my Reader Magnet "Whatever Happened to Madeline Hail?" and my debut novel, "Changeling" (I'll put pictures of the covers below.) Getcovers has a sister company called Miblart, which charges a closer-to-market-average for their design services, although still cheaper than many designers. I have NO PROOF of the following statement, but I suspect the designers at Getcovers are new with the company, and being trained up, before they're moved over to Miblart. Again, I have no proof of this, it's only a suspicion on my part. And that's NOT to say I have any complaints over Getcovers quality. What I would say is that, being based in Ukraine, somethings a little bit of back and forth is required before the designer understands what you're looking for. (In one particularly memorable moment, I ended up doing a mockup in MSPaint, and that seemed to solve ALL communication issues lol) But, on the flip side, all of Getcovers cover design packages come with unlimited revisions, so as long as you have a bit of patience, they're well worth it. Which brings me to cost. Getcovers isn't free, of course, but in my humble opinion they might as well be. Getcovers will design an Ebook Only Cover for $10. They will design an Ebook & Paperback Cover for $20. They have a premium service, for detailed covers, which is a Ebook & Paperback for $35. If you want a Hardcover Design added on, that's an additional $10. It's not free, but you cannot buy a PREMADE cover for that price. It's a little bit insane. Getcovers over other design services as well, such as author branding (My author branding was developed by them as well), marketing materials, and merchandise design, but again, I digress.

Finally, uploading your files. You have self edited as best you can, you've formatted your book, and you have your cover files. Now, all that's left to do is upload the book for sale somewhere. This is, honestly, the easiest part. Draft2Digital is a free platform to upload your books. They are a distributor, which means they take a small cut of your royalties for doing all the labour of sending your book out to a dozen other storefronts, but for ease of use, and time saved, it's a negligable amount (10% if I remember correctly). KDP or Kindle Direct Publishing is basically Amazon. You CANNOT have more than ONE KDP account, so if you're not sure if you've made a KDP account before, I'd reach out to customer service and check if you have a KDP account linked to your Amazon account. They'll be happy to let you know if that's the case, before you try making a new account and end up in hot water. But, essentially, it's also free to upload your book to KDP. When it comes to your EBook on KDP you have a choice between exclusive and wide. If you want to upload your Ebook to other platforms like Draft2digital, you CANNOT put your Ebook into Kindle Unlimited (aka KU). This is because Amazon requires exclusive rights to your book, so if it's uploaded anywhere else, they'll kick up a fuss. I've never had my books in KU, I prefer to keep Changeling widely available so take this next part with a pinch of salt, but I THINK KU is a 90day rolling contract. So you can have your book in KU for 90 days, and then choose to go wide. It's more difficult to be Wide, and THEN go KU, because you have to pull your book from all storefronts and make sure it's not available anywhere before putting it back into KU. The only "Cost" of publishing on KDP is if you decide to have a paperback or hardcover book, and want them to print a physical proof copy. This is a recommended step to make sure the files all uploaded correctly, however it's not a requirement. And if you do decide to print a proof, it's not too expensive. I think Changeling, which is a 5.5x8.5 trim, 399 pages, usually costs me less than $12 If you decide to publish Wide, and no Exclusive to Amazon, then other storefronts I recommend uploading to directly, instead of through Draft2Digital are Barnes & Noble, Googlebooks, and Kobo. Itch.io is also free to upload to, and is beginning to pick up steam with Ebooks! You can also turn on tips, so people can choose to pay you more than the book price is set to. The only 'Downside' to Itch.io is that is has a minimum withdrawl cost, which I THINK is $10 before you can have it paid out to your paypal account. Again, I'm pulling those numbers from memory, so I might be off a little. But, essentially, you can publish an Ebook for as little as $10, and a paperback for as little as... what... $45? Tops? I know that's still a handful of cash, but it's much, much, more reasonable than initial research suggests when you start looking into it <3 I hope ANY of this helped!!

EDIT!! I forgot to add the covers for "Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail?" and "Changeling" for examples of Getcovers work!!

Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail is the reader magnet for my newsletter, so I only really needed an Ebook Cover. I could have just spent $10 on this, but I want to offer it as a paperback once the main trilogy is complete, so I decided to go for the full package $35. Mainly because I was VERY new and didn't know how many stock images the designer would need to bring my vision to life. In hindsight, and for future reader magnets, I'll probably settle with the $20 option.

Changeling is the cover of my debut novel, and I've lost count of how many compliments I've gotten for it. I chose the $35 bracket for this cover design, and I actually ordered the entire trilogy all at once, so I also have books 2 and 3 covers matching.

Since Changeling is available in Paperback and Hardcover, I paid an additional $10 for the Hardcover version, the picture below is the full wrap for the paperback...

And for Xmas my Dad gave me the extra I needed for Getcovers to make custom Title Pages based on the cover design. I don't have a picture of that immediately to hand, as they're on my laptop, but a screenshot from inside of my ebook file looks like...

[amphibianauthor]

Ao3 HTML/Coding Resources Part II

This is the HTML/Coding for Website mimicking resources in Archive of our Own (Ao3). To find Part I where I go over the Basics, General Text HTML and some Fancy Formatting (images, dividers, columns, photos, tabs etc. CLICK HERE!

Other Websites:

Texting

-How to make iOS Text Messages on Ao3 by CodenameCarrot, La_Temperanza

-A Quick Generator for Embeddable iOS Text Messages by 221b_ee

-imessage Skin by Adzaema

-Retro imessage by Adzaema

-Basic Text Message Work Skin by ProfessorMotz

- Bubble platform [workskin] by Khashana

-Chat Log HTML by deathbymistletoe

-LINE Messenger/Chat by imperiousmarshmellow

-IDOLish Rabbit Chat Workskin by associate

-Replika workskin by FaeriMagic

-Texting Workskin to match light/dark mode by irrationalpie

Tumblr

-Tumblr style CSS Tweaks by Aposiopesis

-Ao3 Workskin Testing and Tutorials by junietuesday25 tumblr DM

-How to make Tumblr Posts on Ao3 by phyyripo

-Plain Text Social Media Platforms by anubisms

-Tumblr Post Work Skin by tsukinosaugi

Twitter

-Repository - Twitter by gadaursan

- How to mimic Social Media in an Ao3 work by aerynevenstar

-Twitter Work Skin Template by etc e tal

-Twitter Workskin: Tweets and Profile by starskin

-Twitter Mock-Up by TheBrookesNook

Ao3/Fandom

-How to mimic Authors notes and Kudos/Comment Buttons by La_Temperanza

-How to mimic AO3 Comments by bittermoons

-How to add mobile Ao3 in your fic by DemigodofAgni

-How to make a fanfic style header Ao3 style by ElectricAlice

-Template for adding post chapter content by SpookyTesting

-CSS based full Ao3 fic integration (Header/Overview, Comments, Title, Summary & Buttons) by deciMae

-How to Mimic LiveJournal Posts and Comments by cursedcuriosities

-Dreamwidth Entries & Comments Work Skin  by folk_melody 

Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp

-Whatsapp Group Chat builder by FestiveFerret

-How to make Facebook Messenger Chat on Ao3 by ran_a_dom

-Whatsapp Work Skin Template Revamped by etc e tal

-Whatsapp group chat skin by ovely

-Instagram DMs for Ao3 by monarch_rhapsodies

-How to make Instagram DM mockup by xslytherclawx

-Penstagram chats on ao3 by deciMae

Snapchat

-Snapchat skin by Azdaema

-Snapchat Template for Ao3 by starskin

Reddit/Forum

-UPDATED Reddit Skin by diamine

-2020 Reddit Work Skin by timstokerlovebot

-Reddit Work Skin CSS & HTML by knave_of_swords

-How to mimic Social Media in an Ao3 work by aerynevenstar

-template Reddit Skin by spookedcroon

-template:Subreddit page by ireseen

-Ao3 workskin for Forum Thread by fencesit

-Ao3 workskin for Forum Thread [Expansion Pack] by AMereDream

-How to mimic 4chan posts without just taking screenshots of 4chan

Twitch/Youtube

-Mimicking Twitch Chat for fics by Ultraviollett

-Twitch Chat Work Skin by cherrari

-Workskin testing by tohmas [Youtube comments]

-Youtube Work Skin by 1864s

-Youtube Comment Section Workskin by LupaMoe

Discord/Slack/Zoom

-2023 Discord Theme Workskin by TrojanTeapot

-Discord Work Skin by unpredictableArtist

-Discord (Dark Theme) Workskin by Heterochromia_Mars

-Skin for Recreating Discord’s Server Member List by SpookyTesting

-Ao3 Workskin Testing and Tutorials by junietuesday25

-Slack Workskin by Khashana

-Zoom inspired Ao3 skin by mystyrust

Wikipedia 

-Fake Wikipedia article about a TV show: Work Skin by Anonymous 

-Wikipedia article work skin by styletests

-SCP Wiki Style Workskin by thesnager

Working Games in Ao3 Tutorials

Logic Grid Puzzle Work Skin & Tutorial by BookKeep

The Case Of The Clickable Murdle by VThinksOn

Review Sites:

Yelp Reviews by kiwiana

Amazon Reviews by kiwiana

Rate My Professor Work Skin by BookKeep

Video Game Dialog Mimics

-Dialog [workskin] by Clover_Zero

-Dialogue Workskin (with parallax BG effect) by mystyrust

-My S Ranks--System Windows by unpredictableArtist [computer dialog workskin]

-Tutorial: Ace Attorney Work Skin by QuailFence

-Among Us Ao3 skin by mystyrust

-How to Mimic Undertale Fonts on Ao3 by La_Temperanza

-Tutorial:Rain Code Work Skin by faish

-Balder's Gate 3 Documents Work Skin by Professor_Rye

-SpookyTesting has SOO many Nintendo based ones

–Mimicking Minecraft for some fics by Ultraviollett 

Runescape Right Click Menu Formatting by fennfics

How to put Z skits in your Tales fics by wingedcatgirl

How to make Honkai: Star Rail Messages by html_hell (jihnari)

Hold-hands inspired Texting skin by cursedcuriocities(SetsuntaMew)

Simple Linkshell Ao3 Work Skin by Pent – Final Fantasy XIV mimic

Homestuck Chat Clients by 77angel-skins

Workskin: Slay the Princess by ASpooky

Slay the Princess: Updated Workskin by Lilto

Misc. Sites

--How to mimic Deadpool Thinking boxes by La_Temperanza

--FetLife Skin [Work Skin] by Khashana

--Disco Elysium workskin by SarunoHadaki

--StarTrek PADD workskin by duskyspirit

--MDZS-themed letters by allollipoppins

--A Newbie's Guide to Podficcing by Adzaema [skin for podfics]

--Skin for making Character Intro Cards by SpookyTesting

--Kpop Photocards by legonerd

–OVR System Workskin by unpredictableArtist

-How to make Stylized CSS Card Links for your fics by buttertartz

-vroom vroom kachow: Formula1 Race Results Workskin by mackerel_cheese

Bonus: Ever wanted to see how crazy HTML can be on AO3? Try playing But can it run Doom? or Tropémon by gifbot

Happy Creating!

Last updated: Feb 8 2025 (Have a resource that you want to share? My inbox is open!)

View Part I with HTML Basics HERE!

[ink-ghoul]

It's my great joy to announce the plans for the Scarland Art Book fan-project! 🌸

-----

🔥 UPDATE: YOU CAN FIND US NOW ON @scarland-artbook

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What's this about?

It's an artist collaboration, to create a compilation of illustrations, concept designs, sketches, and thought processes that mockup the development of theme park design.

This project will be centered around showcasing Scarland's architecture, landscapes, and experiences along with the designs of its products, costumes, advertisement, rides and everything else that is so carefully crafted for a park.

Who's organizing?

Yours truly @ink-ghoul, along with @berrysquared, @septictech, @cocoabats, @kazehita, and @peanutbutter255 with support from Elle, Reshie, Blods, Void and Myra.

How can I join the project?

The process will be the same as a fan-zine, we will open application forms in the near future! keep an eye on that!

🔽 We would love to hear your opinion on this idea, please let us know by answering this form (closes on July 9)

More news coming soon, reblogs appreciated!

[see-arcane]

The Vampyres--The Bones and Blood of the Book

Good news! I’m not dead and the book isn’t either! Just shambling slowly through the wasteland of the publication process. It’s been a bit since I last waved this bloody morsel around. So, consider this a progress report on the state of the novella, the prospective publishing options, and a few other questions that have been bouncing around in the inbox.

EDIT:

I have a website now! For some reason.

It's See Arcane Scribbles.

Smaller Edit:

Got a Spotify too for story soundtrack goodness:

COVERS

First things first—and the first part of a finished book is the cover. Here are some mockups I’ve been juggling, starting with the original placeholder. They’re far from perfect, but I’m proud of what I managed with a fairly skinny graphic art skill set.

FINISHING, FORMAT, AND FINANCE*

*(OR, THE HEADACHENING)

Copyright: Technically speaking, you have the copyright to your own writing once you put it to paper or screen. But this is somehow a different thing from a legally-binding registered copyright, which everyone declares is a must-have if you want your work to be protected with more than a non-textual trust-fall exercise, hoping nobody steals your work and runs.

That said, electronic registration with the copyright office is $65, or $45 to register one work by one author.

ISBN: I only recently learned the words behind this acronym. ‘International Standard Book Number.’ It’s the ID on a book that marks it as unique and helps commercial booksellers and libraries circulate it. Each iteration of a book—paperback, digital, hardcover, new editions, et cetera—has its own ISBN. When you’re publishing on your own, you purchase ISBNs through a service called Bowker.

One book/version’s ISBN costs $125.

There are better bargains the higher the number of books and/or versions you go, starting at a bulk of 10 books for $295. But as I only have the one (1) skinny novella on the table, that’s a no-go. Which begs the question of how many ISBNs are in store for this little monster. It depends on how many formats I go with.

eBook: The quickest and most cost-efficient option across the board for any self-publication service. Short, sweet, no printing pains of trim sizes or distribution costs or formatting, oh my. Nice.

Paperback VS Hardcover: …But I am now and forever a sucker for physical media. Even though it’s a teeny brochure of a thing, I want to hold a physical copy of The Vampyres in my hands! So bad! And every service I’ve looked through has stated the obvious: Hardcover costs more than paperback. My heart won’t break if I have to stick with paperback to spare everyone’s wallets—hardcovers are pricy in both directions!—but I am a little torn. Especially as physical size might affect the price too.

Here we have two of my favorite quick reads, an anthology of Poe stories and Clive Barker’s novella, The Hellbound Heart.

The Poe book is a clothbound hardcover. 6.5 x 4.5 inches, a bit over 120 pages.

The Hellbound Heart is roughly 8 x 5 inches (about standard for a novella), at 164 pages. But unlike Poe, it looks like Barker took some liberties with the spacing and font size.

Standard size dimensions cost less than unique cuts, which means that whether paperback or hardcover, I sadly have to say goodbye to the petite palm-sized edition I was hoping for. On the upside, good news to us crap-vision readers—the font’s going to get H U G E in order to make the book more than a pamphlet with delusions of grandeur.

Audiobook: The fact is, my voice is not up to the task of reciting anything with appropriate gravitas and I think we’ve all been spoiled by @re-dracula and assorted other podcasts’ skill in orating. I don’t have the cash to hire a professional and I’m not about to accept anyone’s freebie offers. I won’t pickpocket friends for their talent. If an audio version ever comes along for any story of mine it’ll be down the road when it proves worth the format’s effort and cost.

REVIEWS (and a Foreword!)

It was the best of times (People reading the thing! Commenting on the thing! Good good good—), it was the worst of times (The Mortifying Ordeal of People Reading and Commenting on the Thing). Time for what every advice site declares a book absolutely must have the moment it’s thrust into the wild.

Reviews, reviews, reviews.

I’ve already bitten several bullets and passed copies out to a handful of fellow scribblers to scrutinize, their reviews destined to be hung up like literary gold stars on their bookselling site of choice, my own included. Now comes my preliminary grovel to readers en masse to please drop a review, a comment, a blurb of any shape or size where you can once The Vampyres drops. I’ve already gotten some early comments that have consisted mostly of screaming. Screams also count as a review.

As an aside, there are two folks in particular who I reached out to who exist in the stratosphere of Coolest People in the Vampiric Lit scene. They promptly exploded me into disbelieving giblets when they told me, yes, they’d be happy to read my little story and offer up a review and a foreword for the book respectively.

I’m not sure what the decorum here is, but for safety (and surprise’s) sake, I’ll not name names. But they are names I’ve been happy to come across for the past two years while neck deep in the undead book club. I’m infinitely grateful to both of them and am waiting on pins, needles, stakes and kukri blades by my inbox so I can pin their words up inside the book itself.

FUTURE SCRIBBLING

To get one of the biggest questions out of the way, let’s talk about Barking Harker.

My very own object lesson on sunk cost fallacy.

I wrote my way through a goddamn cinderblock of text without even grazing the finish line of the first section of the story. A story made of so many convoluted triple-decker layers of subplots and side characters that it had the structural integrity of a monolithic Nature Valley granola bar, just waiting to fall apart under its own weight. Such is the hubris and curse of too-many-words-itis. The Vampyres remains a miraculous fluke, jotted down during an overdue break from BH’s slog. Not just because I tripped and fell into finishing the story, but because it’s comparatively compact! Brevity at last!

For those still craving the assorted gothic and ghoulish promises of the initial novel idea, don’t worry, those aren’t going anywhere. I’ve just crumbled the metaphorical bloodstained granola by my own hand and have done the sane thing of parsing out the various subplots to become the foundations of their own stories. Which they really should have been from the get-go. Insert 100+ clown emojis here.

On that note, I am turning into WIPs Georg over here. Good god.

I hesitate to throw myself all-in again and make promises of X Story that may leave me spinning my mental wheels or ballooning the plot out into a behemoth that can’t be steered back on course. Even so, here’s a peek at a few ideas I currently have on the brain.

So.

Not exactly lacking for stories. It’s just a matter of seeing which of them breaks ahead of the herd and squeezes out into the publication ether first.

LAST BIT  

Blah, blah, requisite reminder that I have a Ko-Fi where you can donate a buck or commission my best attempt at art, blah. Any pennies are a help.

But I’m betting very few of you came around here for my doodles. Somehow, a good amount of people tripped into this pit with me because you enjoy the rambles and horrors I’ve written over the years. Maybe some of you will even buy my book once it’s out. And you, there, on the other side of the screen—you’re reading this right now. You made it all the way to the bottom of this pile of exposition just because you wanted to. So, thank you.

Thank you for reading this far. Thank you for reading before and reading what’s to come. Thank you for giving me the confidence to even consider shouldering my own work out into the wider world.

Thank you.

P.S. If you want to re-read the preview, go here!

[sirfrogsworth]

Amazon-Style Product Photography Tips

I got this message from a lovely follower.

Now, a fairly large part of my new steady job is product photography. Not glamour shots, more documentation. The company I work for makes, among other things, licensed drinkware (think water bottles, mugs, tumblers, etc.). Part of my team's duties is to photograph a mockup or finished product both for our records and to submit to the license holder.

The routine typically goes: put item facing forward in lightbox. Click. Rotate to the left. Click, etc. for the back and right. Then a closeup of the copyright info.

Here, finally, is my question: one of the license holders decreed that all of our photographs must be taken at f/8 and shutter time (?) of 1/25s. This strikes me as… not always optimal, considering the range of colors of objects as well as different materials: polypropylene both transparent and opaque, stainless steel, and lacquered cardboard for packaging. I would love to hear your thoughts on how I might better (while being consistent!) adjust camera settings to account for these kinds of factors

As an added bonus, we let the camera decide white balance/color correction. But I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to try and correct myself, considering none of the monitors/printers I use are color-correct in the first place. I just know there have been many times where I've submitted photos only for the license holders to be like, "Hmmmm, that green doesn't seem like the right kind of green…RESUBMIT!"

First, I'm going to answer this specific question, but at the end I'm going to recommend a full setup for taking these type of rapid fire product shots.

My answer:

f/8 makes sense. Outside of macro photography, this allows a deep depth of field assuring the photo is sharp and in focus for the entire depth of the product. It is usually the sharpest part of the lens and it is not so small of an aperture that you risk diffraction effects softening your image. They probably were told this by a photographer and thought it applied to all of the camera settings.

The shutter speed is problematic. By forcing it to a fixed setting, your camera is going to choose whichever ISO gives a good exposure. And if you don't have enough light, it will choose a high ISO that will possibly add a great deal of noise to your photo. Noise can corrupt the colors of your photo and it just looks bad.

If your camera is on a tripod and they want the sharpness and depth of field f/8 grants you, then I would set your camera to aperture priority mode (usually Av), lock your ISO to it's lowest number (usually 100) and then your camera will choose the best shutter speed on its own.

So… Camera on tripod Av mode f/8 ISO 100 Camera chooses shutter speed

This is all assuming you are using a tripod and continuous lighting. If you are handholding the camera or using flash, I can rewrite the recipe. Otherwise this will get you very sharp photos with minimal noise.

I'd also recommend getting a shutter release cable so you don't shake the camera when taking the picture. Just search your camera brand and “shutter release” and get the cheap wired version unless you really need wireless.

This is the Canon DSLR one, just to give you an idea.

Be warned, if you do not have powerful lighting, you may get some long shutter speeds. That is perfectly okay as long as it is on the tripod and you aren't shaking the camera when taking the picture.

As far as white balance goes, if you really want it to be accurate, you can order a cheap photography “gray white balance card”. They are as cheap as 10 dollars.

This is the one I use.

There are a couple of ways to utilize the gray card.

Option 1:

You put the gray card in the exact lighting as the product or just hold it directly in front of the product.

You take all your photos in RAW format (JPEG will not work) and adjust the white balance in Lightroom, Photoshop, or any RAW editing software. Use the white balance picker tool (looks like an eyedropper) and click on the gray card.

This will give you an exact white balance for that lighting environment. You can synchronize those white balance numbers across all of your photos. Lightroom has a copy and paste function or a "sync" button that will change adjustments in all selected photos as you go.

This is the most accurate option because it allows for “tint” adjustments for extra color accuracy.

Option 2:

Do the same as above and remember the white balance value. Then set your camera to a custom white balance matching that value. It will probably be around 3200K or 5500K depending on your lights.

Pro tip: If you have any ambient lighting from overhead or other room lights, it could contaminate the photo and skew the white balance into a weird color temperature. Try to make the room as dark as possible aside from your photo lights to avoid this. If you are using flash or have really bright photo lights, this isn't a huge concern.

Option 3:

Use your camera's built in custom white balance tool. It's different for every brand, so you will need to search for a tutorial. But the basic idea is the same. You put the gray card in the lighting of the products, take a picture, the camera analyzes it, and then sets a custom white balance. This can also be done with a white sheet of paper in a pinch.

Here is a video demonstrating the process. Remember every camera brand mau have a slightly different method.

Good white balance means accurate colors. That is important with product photography and a good value add for your clients. Just be warned, if you change the lighting even a little bit, you have to redo this process. If you bump a light or switch it out for a different one, redo your white balance calibration.

Also, some continuous lights have white balance drift, especially if they allow you to adjust the color temperature manually. Not only will the white balance change depending on the power setting, but it can also change over time. Especially if the lights are used frequently.

Move the lights, redo white balance. Change the power, redo white balance.

And if your lights are stable and on the same power all the time, I’d still redo the white balance every week or so. Personally I would do it before every shoot, but you’ll have to decide if that is worth it depending on how fast you need to turn things around. I usually do it as my first photo in the series so I can set the white balance, select all the photos, and copy the settings to all of them at once.

The nice thing about doing white balance with a gray card is that the results are display agnostic. Even if your monitor is poorly calibrated, you can be assured the white balance is accurate. And if someone says your photos are green, it will be their monitor and not your problem.

You just have to avoid doing any color specific adjustments to the images. Trust the gray card and white balance tool more than your eyeballs and display.

You can boost saturation a tad, but that is all I would mess with unless you know what you are doing. Even if the photos look a little drab or not very colorful, I would leave it alone. It sounds like the importance for this task is accuracy of color rather than making them as pretty as possible.

------------------------------

Okay, that is the question answered. Now I'd like to go through how I would build a setup to do this kind of work.

In the product photography world, this workflow is referred to as "pack shots." The idea is to create a consistent setup so you can just swap out the product one by one and speed through the shoot. It is best to control as many variables as possible so all you need to do is set the product down, take the shot, and repeat.

I'm going to show you my ideal pack shot setup with a light cube. I think it will be similar to what my follower is using. And, if not, it might help him streamline his process a bit.

A light cube is just a box made of diffusion material.

You drape a background with the color of your choice. White is usually preferred for Amazon-style pure white background photos. Though I prefer dark gray for aesthetic reasons. You just want to make sure the backdrop has that natural gravity curve so there isn't a hard line or wrinkles.

For lighting, you should get two *identical* lights. They can be desk lamps as long as they are the same and have the same light bulb inside. Then you just place them on either side of the cube. You want the ball of light on the cube to be in front of your subject.

Remember, your light source isn't your actual lights. It's the ball of light on the sides of the cube.

If you want to make it a little fancier, you can get a black or white acrylic sheet to create a reflective surface. You want it as far forward as possible and a little elevated. Here are some things I did in a simple light cube with the setup above.

Here is what the white acrylic looks like.

I placed a big book under the acrylic sheet like this.

This allowed me to hide the curve of the background and get a nice crisp transition between the acrylic and the background.

And if you do white acrylic, you can get the background to seamlessly blend.

As I said, two desk lamps will work, but if this is for a business and you want something fast, convenient, and reliable, I would suggest something more robust.

I'd probably get two daylight balanced COB (chip-on-board) LED video lights that have a Bowens mount attachment.

This Godox light is very reasonably priced for its features.

Daylight balanced means one consistent color temperature, so less chance of drift. These are very bright so you can use a quick shutter speed and you won't even need a shutter release cable (still a good idea). You also don't *need* a tripod, but you should still use one. The main advantage of bright lights is they can't be overpowered by room lights. You can be assured any overhead lights or window light will not contaminate your photo. A darker room is always preferable, but if you crank these it won't matter.

The Bowens mount allows you to place any modifier you wish on the light from softboxes to reflectors. But the standard reflector should be fine for the light cube. But if you are taking photos of tall cylinders, a couple of strip boxes might help.

Don't worry about putting the grids on. You just line them up towards the front of the light cube so you have even light from the top to the bottom of your cylinder. Again, this is optional.

Since these lights are so versatile, you can do any kind of lighting for any other photographic needs. Slap on a white umbrella and take company portraits if you want. Or you can use them as video lights to film a worker safety video.

So, here is my recommended ingredient list for a pack shot light cube setup.

Light Cube COB video light Black Plexiglass Seamless paper (color of your choice)

Colored poster board also works if you keep it from getting dinged up. And the light cube also comes with some cloth backgrounds, but watch out for wrinkles.

BONUS TIP: If you want that pure white background like in Amazon shots, add a third light from behind with no background paper. Make the light cube material your background and shine a light through it. You have to make sure it is bright enough to give you pure white, but not too bright that the light blasts your subject from the rear.

Otherwise just use a white backdrop and use Photoshop to brighten it to pure white.

Karl Taylor shows a pack shot setup without a cube, but the same principles apply. He shows you how to dial in that white but not too white background. Just imagine instead of shining a light onto a background, you are shining a light through the background (the back of the cube).

[neobastard]

neopets posted a very lengthy update to the portal site, the new format replacing the monthly AMAs.

the full post can be found here: https://portal.neopets.com/news/may22-neopets-updates

but i'll summarize the community questions and other updates beneath the cut:

community QnA:

Q: is neopets planning a "rugpull"?

A: no, the team working on the site has doubled over the past two years and everyone is working hard to revive not just the brand but the site itself. these teams' commitment to both neopets,com and spinoff projects and merchandise for brand relevance is described as "unwavering"

Q: why are they making money with nc releases but not improving the site?

A: there are different teams working on engineering, improvements, and nc releases simultaneously. the engineering and improvement team is much larger than the team working on nc, it's just less visible to players than new items because it's "wizard behind the curtain" changes (they described it as fixing issues on an older tech stack). every dollar they make goes back into neopets in some form, including events, collaborations, and further development. the company is still at a loss but it's not as dire as it used to be two years ago (which is a great improvement, NC discourse aside).

as for major updates:

revamped NC mall - the nc mall will get a new converted layout around late Q2 to Q3 this year, and a tutorial along with the changes.

easier to find on-site wishlist

one click purchasing (alongside the cart)

fixed pet preview!!

reorganized shop directory

new shopkeeper NPCs

here's the new mockup:

website loading speed improvements - there's been a 35% improvement in loading speed since january as a result of specific optimizations, such as backend enhancements, optimizing database queries, cleaning up records, and upgrading servers (a bunch of tech talk essentially)

anti botting progress - neopets has seen a 15% reduction in bot traffic by blocking it at the network level (which likely improved the performance of the site in and of itself). they intend to further tighten defenses, through methods that remain unstated but will likely hit these paid bots and the people who benefit from them hard.

wearable NP and NC item bug fixes - 37 items have been fixed since april, with 21 items on the chopping block for later this month.

and what's on the horizon:

altador cup: they grey year

enhancements to jhudora and illusen's quests, including new battledome item returns (and a $7 club perk that grants extra time)

more progress on converting NP and NC items

expansion of the avatar high score table

adding invisible pets to the customization spotlight

updates to the trading post, including a page conversion

and of course, the void within: episode 2

i'm glad that this new format allows for more transparency, a lot of people thought the video/stream format was too "corporate" and so these big updates to the portal allows them to cover a lot more. i'm excited for what's to come, and i'm honestly glad they ripped the bandaid off and just outright said "yeah we're working on the site behind the scenes y'all just don't see that part cause it's nerd shit".

a lot has improved over the last two years in this site, and i'm appreciative of the team's hard work regardless of my numerous complaints about things like neocash items and the $7 club. they clearly care about feedback and making neopets for the players before all else including any kind of profit.

[slightlymediocree]

Documenting one of my projects here!

Im taking an anthropology class called Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, and our final proj is to present any topic relating to the class in any medium. My topic is Victorian/Edwardian mourning rituals and customs. I chose to recreate an Edwardian (c. 1905-ish) half mourning dress!!

So far, ive went through several rounds of designing and 0 mockups bc i dont have time for that. Im recreating everything using only methods that would have been available at the time. I currently own 2 antique sewing machines from 1911: one hand crank and one treadle. A lot of this project will likely be done by hand because i just enjoy it :)

I'm using a cotton lawn, which, according to Victorian mourning guides, would not have likely been used because the dyed might bleed onto the skin, but I live in a very hot area and will *absolutely not* be wearing wool or silk in 95F weather. The sash is (regrettably) poly taffeta because i dont have the money for silk. Im using snaps and a few vintage buttons for the closures.

Above are pics of some sketches, a blouse fitting, and the belt/sash ive draped. Ive seen similar sashes on lingerie/summer dresses and thought it might be fitting. Taffetta probably wouldve been used towards the end of half mourning according to etiquette books, but ive found extant examples that suggest otherwise. I also found that etiquette rules were a bit more relaxed in Edwardian times compared to Victorian.

I have the skirt and blouse placketts cut out and i need to attatch them. I might add some lace to the cuffs but idk yet. I kinda like the simple short cuffs but a lot of 1905-6 dresses ive seen have large ruffles at the sleeve. I dont really want to make ruffles but they do look cool. I also have a chemise, bustle pad, corset, and petticoat done but i felt weird posting a picture in (Edwardian) underwear, even if it covers much more than our modern underwear.

I will be updating this page and plan to present this project in video format on youtube, ill post a link here once I finish!

Date: 4/19/2024

[pineapplefulfillseveryneed]

Annette (the original Sparks pre-movie 2013 version)

I've been waiting for this to be released since my early days as a fan! I've not seen enough hype about it out there and I think that is because there's not been a lot of info about this to put things into context for newer fans. So let me remedy this!! (I know they've added some more info in the newsletter but I don't know if everyone gets that.)

At the end of the THOM era Sparks started teasing us about "the new album", which would be in a similar format to Bergman as it was also a full story in audio format. They were fully intent on touring it as a 3-people live theatrical performance with them + Rebecca Sjöwall performing the roles. (They would've liked to tour Bergman as a live performance as well, but logistically that wouldn't work so they were excited about this.) … And then we stopped hearing about it. Until the first news about the film came out!

I've seen people refer to this as a demo or even a mockup album (?), but let me set the record straight: what we have here is the FINISHED Sparks album for Annette! This is what would have been the new album in 2013, the original story for Annette, exactly how Sparks themselves created it (before the film collaboration with Leos Carax). For the film some things were changed, for example I think Carax said that a lot of the irony and humour wouldn't work in a film so that aspect of it was mostly taken out. AND NOW WE GET THE VERSION WITH THAT IN IT! I kid you not I had to be one the phone with a friend to yell about it for 2 hours straight, this is one of the most exciting things to happen!!! (Also, Annette being a literal singing pram? R&R remain the funniest guys alive - this is SO GOOD! I'm so hyped about the beautiful art by Galen Johnson, too! (Who also did the art for the THOM era, and was one of the directors for some music videos over the last few years.))

What we get with this release is Russell as Henry McHenry (and believe me, YOU WANT TO HEAR RUSSELL PERFORM AS AN EVIL GUY), Ron as the conductor as well as some other voices (RON ON VOCALS, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!), and the wonderful vocal performances by Rebecca Sjöwall as Ann/Annette (she was the Hollywood starlet on Bergman and she also sang on Life With The Macbeths - a highly relevant song in reference to this release we're getting, I think, "each murder the ratings soar"). I am a huge fan of the Bergman album, but I'll be very honest and say that while I love their choice of accurate voices to tell the story - the most beautiful voices out there are Ron & Russell's and that's the only thing that might have made me love the sound of The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman more. And now we're getting that! This is them taking on the roles of the characters they wrote! I love it when they're acting, because honestly they are really really great at it!

[SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH] Russell Mael - looks like a cinnamon, can actually kill you - will be committing murders, Ron - looks like he could kill you, actual cinnamon roll - will once again not get the girl as the guy portrayed by his brother takes her away from him in more ways than one. (Fuck I still so wish I could've seen this on a stage.)

Also there will be songs we've not heard at all, there will be songs that might sound very different than what we've heard in the film, the story ends differently (and I personally really like that). …I don't know what I'm most excited about, I JUST CAN NOT WAIT. While I'll forever be curious what their stage performances would have looked like, I'll not have to remain curious about what the album and their original version of Annette would have been like. Because here it is!!! :)

I say this without slandering the film, but this version of Annette is the one that's going to hit me hardest. (I am calling my 2013 self to tell them the good news, holy hell!)

As a final note, here's something they've shared in the newsletter:

"Writing in the sleevenotes of this boxset release Ron and Russell Mael have said "...we feel that this earlier version of Annette should be listened to not as the preparatory or demo step toward a filmed version, but rather as a complete and alternative version in itself. We are very proud of it.”

[polysucks]

Illustration Commission Information

Sketches - 2 colors (Line art + Fill color) ... USD$ 50 Chibis + Pixel art - Full color ... USD$ 60 - Additional character +30 per - Extra details USD$ 100 Flat Color ... USD$ 75 - Additional character +30 per Full Color ... USD$ 120 - additional character +40 per

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These prices are a guideline and may change depending on the request.

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I work on a strict personal schedule, so please be patient when waiting for responses. I'm in PST and might not reply right away, but feel free to follow up if needed—you're not bothering me!

I take requests through my askbox, but they are free, public, and may take longer than commissions.

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More Info and TOS below the cut

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I love details. Send me everything—rants, headcanons, references, playlists, Pinterest boards, memes, unhinged google docs and notes app screenshots, you name it. I will match your freak and then some. Don’t worry about “too much”—my dms are a safe space.

I work primarily through Discord—it’s perfect for fast messages, image sharing, and chaotic idea dumps. Take your time writing; I’ll take my time reading. I’ll check in regularly and keep you in the loop the whole way!

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I'm available between 8am–5pm PST. Outside those hours, replies might be slower. If you think I missed something, ping me! Triple-text me! I’m not offended or annoyed—I actually appreciate it.

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I want you to love your commission. If something’s off, just say so—your input is welcomed and encouraged. I’ll send you progress updates (sometimes at odd hours, because I’m excited) and you never have to respond right away.

🌀 Process Overview

Once payment is confirmed, I’ll send 2–4 mockups to get us started.

You get to go full There Is No Pepe Silvia on me.

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2 free revisions at any point PRIOR to finalizing the design

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⏳ Turnaround Time

Sketches: 1–14 days

Full-color pieces: 6–30 days

Expect ~2 weeks as a general rule of thumb. I’ll keep you updated as I go!

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Complex details like backgrounds or accessories may cost extra. I’ll always confirm pricing before we start. I’m affordable, but I value my time and skill!