#putting it under the edit tag because they ARE edited - i used the coloring/editing techniques i use for my gifs :3

[vaggieslefteye]

HAZBIN HOTEL (2024): 1x05 - "Dad Beat Dad" ↳ Everyone's reactions to Mimzy's showstopping entrance.

[basilone]

I want to hear your thoughts on fandom and the recent influx of the term content creation!

Well, anon, you are in luck! (Or not, depending on your definition of luck. 😉) I just so happen to have many Thoughts & Opinions™ about this. I will get wordy, this will get lengthy, and I will be social and put most of my thoughts under a readmore cut.

I personally try to avoid the terms ‘content’ and ‘content creation’ when talking about fandom works and a fandom’s creative pursuits nowadays. Occasionally, sure, it happens that it slips out anyway – it’s a term we’re all really used to using! – but I want to be as mindful about its use as possible. This is a personal decision on my account and I won’t get uppity about other people’s use of these terms, though.

But, Killy, you might say... why would you avoid using these terms? For me, here’s why:

Content is not synonymous with art;

Content creation indicates something different than art creation;

Fandom should not be subject to consumerism;

Fandom is about connection.

If all a fandom puts out is classified as content, that fandom is going to die.

Yeah. I know. Melodramatic much? I’m on my fainting couch here, folks. 😂 But let’s dig in, shall we?

You know, maybe it’s just the archivist in me that balks at the term ‘content’. Content is a data entry field in the archival system we use at my real-life job: literally speaking, this data entry field is where we put a brief summary of the document attached to that specific archival file. It contains information that tells you the key takeaways of what the document is about, but it will not contain the full text of the document itself. Content is one of the points of access for our archival search: I know what I’m looking for, so I put a few keywords into our search and it pulls up the relevant file. But what do I need, really need, in my line of work? It’s the document itself, not the data entry field. The document tells me the whole story that I need to be able to truly do my job well. The content-field is a cliffnotes edition of that story.

It’s the same way with the art we create in fandom. I’m gonna take myself as an example here, because I create a fair bit! (Shocking, I know. Local Tumblr cryptid sighting, more at 11. 😎) I spend hours writing fic. I spend hours sorting through screencaps before screeching at Photoshop for a lengthy amount of time. I spend days pouring over quotes, books, documents, photographs, tutorials, and other things that will help me create something cool. I apply color theory, art framing/perspective, narrative focus, and many other theories and techniques to my writing and my giffing. If I were to put my finished work or any of my WIPs in that same archive system, it would be the document within the archival file. The tags I use on my posts? Those are markers similar to the content-field. They tell you who my gifset depicts and from which show it is. They tell you which OC of mine my fic is about. My work contains these things I tagged.

But my creative work is not content itself.

Content is marketable, easy access, blurb-y stuff. Content is something you absorb within one minute flat. Content is the highlight reel. It’s what fills a page, something you’ll scroll past in a heartbeat, something that barely stands out in a long long long list of stuff. Content is what you consume on a lazy Sunday afternoon without ever being forced to read lengthy pieces, take in the details of what you see, pause mid-scroll to ponder the meaning of life, whatever else have you. Create content and you create a flash in the pan, a quick laugh maybe, before it fizzles back out again. Create content and it’s here today and gone tomorrow without anyone mourning its absence for too long.

Art should last longer than that, don’t you think? 😉

So when I see people put a fic request in an askbox and it’s phrased like “Speirs x spy!reader fluff” and that very same request makes its way into about ten more askboxes before the fandom starts comparing asks? I might be inclined to classify us all as slot machines. Put an ask in and out rolls a fic. Who cares which slot machine it came from? As long as you’ve got your painstakingly crafted fics that you consume the same way you do actual content, right? We, its writers, are just lucky if we get a pat of acknowledgement on our little slot machine head for our troubles, aren’t we?

When I see an overly detailed summary of what sounds like a full-fledged fic in an askbox and the demand is “write this for me”, I recoil from the screen and go “child, who the hell birthed you, were you raised in a barn?” out loud. If you can tell a story in the space of an askbox, consider asking for help to let that story – a story you own, a story that is more yours that it could ever be mine – grow into what it has the potential to be.

When I see fics and gifsets and other creations get likes but not reblogs, I mutter something about the state of fandom economy these days. We exist in a little fandom bubble. Our bubble can’t expand or blow from place to place without a little help from our friends. And you’re my friends, right? I know the follow-button says follow, guys, believe me, I’m not that far gone, but for me ‘follow’ means ‘friend’. 💚 You’re my buddy now. Suck it up. We’ll share a can of peaches. 🍑

When I see fics and other creations get reblogged without tags or comments attached, I die a little on the inside. I feel like a little Victorian orphan child going “please, reblogger, a little penny of thought for its creator, if it pleases?”. I feel like commentless and/or tagless reblogging is giving me nothing, nothing at all, about who you are.

And I want to get to know you! I want to know who’s in my notes. I want to know who’s scrambling through my MotA gifsets like a fat little raccoon inhaling its third helping of a box of jelly-filled donuts. I want to know who is adopting which character and why. I want to know that it’s your birthday, or that you had a bad day and needed a pick-me-up, or that you are locked in an Ikea at three in the morning reading my blog by the bright lights of countless Solhetta bulbs. I want to know that you love my OC Darlene but that you ain’t sure what the hell my OC Lottie’s got to do with anything. I want to know what tickles you – a turn of phrase I used, a color in a gifset, a little detail I captured that made me go !!!!!! on the inside while I was creating too – and I want to know what moves you.

What reaches into the soil of your being and nourishes you enough to blossom into whichever lovely self you can grow to be? What is precious to you? What comforts you in the dark nights of your soul, when all light feels like it’s faded out? What do you love, truly love? What feeling and thought and idea and love love LOVE do you consume – truly consume, head to tail, no takebacks – and what are you consumed by in turn?

Let me connect with you. Let me know the little internet scraps of you that tell me you’re a DeMarco girlie, or that you’re here for Hoosier only, or that you’re as feral and batty about Speirs as I am, or that you actually really can’t stand the one dude everyone else raves about. Let me know that you like angsty quotes on gifsets – feel free to yell at me for making you schedule an impromptu therapy session – or let me know you saw what I did in my fic there and you’ll be demanding compensation from me while you lie down and wail about it. Let me know you’re very into those lovely blues on a gifset (I know, SO good, right??) or that you are side-eyeing me because that close-up of your fave turned you into a little puddle.

Let me know what moves you, because I created these things with love. I created them because they moved me, too. I created them because I have a story to tell, somehow. I created them because the whole world is a string of stories and I want to pass the heart of them on to you. I created them not because I want to jump on a hypetrain that races past all the episodes and all the alternate universes and all the stories without stopping, but because I want to soak up the sun and point at something and tell you “look, isn’t this beautiful?”. I created them not because I am looking for a quick fix or a distraction or an escape, but because I want to give you something that nourishes you as it has nourished me.

That’s so much more than that quick flash in the pan, yeah? That’s so much more than what content could ever hope to be. That’s something that lasts beyond the clicks and gives you an ever-expanding horizon that leaves you wondering just what in the world is next.

Let me repeat point five: if all a fandom puts out is classified as content, that fandom is going to die. Because content doesn’t sustain you. Connection does. And connection? That happens with meaningful interaction. That happens when you stop getting followers and start getting friends. That happens when you treat all forms of art as something unique that can be precious to someone, rather than something to like today and forget about tomorrow.

Can I do a lil mic drop? Yeah. I think I’m gonna. Just this once. 🎤

[cal-kestis]

hi!! i am absolutely obsessed with your mulan edit (and the rest of them like. holy shit they're all fucking incredible. but that one in particular) and i was wondering if you'd mind sharing how you made the fifth gif? if you're not feeling it or don't do that sort of thing, no worries, it's just so unique and i think i can parse it but i really would love to hear about your process! regardless, thank you for sharing it and i hope you have a lovely day/night!

Hi there!! Thank you!!! 🥺 I'm always happy to talk about gif-making! 💙 (I also just made a new tag for tumblr/photoshop help and some of my other mini tutorials)

I used a few techniques in this gif. So, I'll quickly talk about the typography + shapes and multiple blended gifs. But I'll go more in-depth on the delayed fade-in transition since, I think, that's the most unique aspect of this gif (I haven't seen anyone do it before, but I'm sure I didn't break ground here either lol). I didn’t expect to get so detailed but hopefully that’s a good thing. 😅 More under the cut!

If you’re not here for the typography and if you already know how to blend, skip to the end for the delayed fade-in transition effect. But since I’m not sure what you already know (and because I hope this can be helpful for others too), I’ll try to explain in as much detail as I can.

PART 1: TYPOGRAPHY + SHAPES

Here are all the specs for the typography and shapes! 

The pen tool is my best friend for interesting typography. Just click to create a point and continue clicking to connect the dots with straight lines! To create a curve, you just long-press and drag your cursor until you get the curve you want. You can also use this tool to create paths, like wavy lines, and write text on them (I did this in the second gif of the same set).

PART 2: MULTIPLE BLENDED GIFS

There are lots of tutorials about how to blend gifs so I’m mostly just going to talk about the details for my gifs.

For context: I use the Timeline method — so I make my screencaps, load into stack, convert frames into smart object, sharpen, etc. [For any blending beginners: When you use Timeline to blend, it’s important to have the same amount of caps for each scene, otherwise, your gif will create duplicate frames for one scene while the other scene continues to move. This makes the animation look choppy/not smooth.]

Start with your base gifs as sharpened smart objects, then put them all into one canvas. If you don’t have a clear idea for your composition, my advice would be to make sure you have “Delete Cropped Pixels” unchecked when you use the crop tool. This will preserve the cropped out parts of your gif, so you can still use them if you decide to move things around. Do this all with the upper gif layers set to Screen, so you can see how the gifs will intersect and blend. Now, let’s talk about the coloring and blending modes I used.

THE BG: Let’s start with the background gif. I’m going to call it the BG (the one with Mulan grabbing Mushu from the sword and running away). I colored the BG as I normally would on its own. Since this was a rainbow set, I also made the blue pretty saturated. Whenever I blend, I always put all the layers per scene into groups. So I put the adjustment layers and the gif into a grouped folder. Keep this group below everything else and leave the group’s blending mode set to Pass Through.

THE FIREWORKS OVERLAY: This is the wide shot gif at the bottom. I colored this so the lighter portions (the reds and yellows of the explosion) were as vibrant as possible and the darker portion (the sky) was as black as possible. When you set the blending mode to Screen for blending, it’s important to have this contrast to make the blending as seamless as possible. The light portions are most visible when it’s overlaid above the BG. And because I made the sky super black, I didn’t have to erase the edges with a layer mask to blend it into the BG.

THE BW OVERLAY: Next is the black and white overlay gif (the one that fades in but I’ll go over that later). Color this however you like to do black and white coloring. I like gradient maps and levels. But remember, like before, creating contrast is crucial. Set this group to Screen as well and you can always go back to your adjustment layers and tinker with them until you like how the gifs blend! Here’s what it looks like broken down with the frames on their own and then blended on top of each other:

PART 3: DELAYED FADE-IN TRANSITION

So, this idea came about because I didn’t like how all the light areas of the smoke blocked Mulan’s face in the BG as she was running off screen. So, I thought, if the overlay explosion happened later, just as Mulan’s face goes off screen, it wouldn’t overlap! 

Now, before I get into how I did it... remember how I said you need to have the exact same amount of caps per scene when blending, otherwise things get choppy? Well, that all kind of goes out the window here for two reasons:

Problem 1: We’re moving one smart object gif. Once you move a smart object gif layer away from the beginning of the timeline, the frame synchronization can go wonky if you’re not paying attention. 

Problem 2: We’re using Timeline’s fade tool. It’s such a handy tool, but when you convert back to Frame Animation (which you absolutely MUST do if you do the bulk of your work in Timeline), you’ll see it: revenge of the duplicate layers.

I’ll go over how to mitigate these issues as I continue explaining. I’m going to reference the different colored lines and boxes in the screenshot below as we walk through the steps I took.

1. First, I moved my BW Overlay gif so it started a little later than the other gifs. You can see I moved it almost to the halfway point of the BG, where I placed the playhead (the vertical red line).

2. Problem 1 — If you were to export your gif right now and if you were lucky enough to move your gif to the perfect spot on the first try, your gif would look smooth. But if you didn’t move it to the perfect spot, you’d notice some choppy animation. Timeline does a weird thing with frame delays. You see this when you convert back to frames: some frames are at 0.07 sec and others are at 0 sec or something (that’s why we always have to reset the frame delay before exporting). I don’t know how to explain why this happens, I just know it does. But because of this, making gifs start at different points in Timeline creates gaps. The way I fixed this was by zooming in on the Timeline as much as possible. Then I kept clicking the next frame button while moving my BW Overlay over one frame at a time until all the gifs were all moving at the same time and stopped at the same time. It’s really just trial and error, and you keep nudging things til it’s in sync and the animation looks smooth.

3. Now, if I had only done these two steps, my BG and Firework Overlay would have just stopped and you would have seen the BW Overlay blended over nothing. See the vertical pink line? That’s where the gifs all stopped before I did Step 1. They wouldn’t be moving behind my BW Overlay. They wouldn’t even be visible. That’s where the green boxes come in. I labeled those green boxes “Freeze Frames” because they’re the very last frame of each gif, frozen. So, it’s as if the original gifs simply stopped on the last frame for an extended amount of time. You can have your BG continue to loop instead, but to minimize the distraction as my BW Overlay faded in, I decided to make them still frames. (You can make a freeze frame by duplicating your layer, moving the playhead/red line to the last frame of the scene, right-clicking, the layer and selecting “Rasterize Layer.” Move the freeze frame so it’s after your gif.)

4. Problem 2 — The easy part here is adding the Fade transition. The annoying part is the magically appearing duplicate layers. To do this simple Fade transition, just click that square in Timeline with the diagonal split. Then, I dragged the Fade effect (yellow box) over the beginning of my BW Overlay (other yellow box). The Fade effect is indicated by the right-angle triangle. All looks fine and dandy until you finish the rest of your gif, convert back to frames, adjust your frame delay, and see choppiness due to some duplicates. Luckily, the duplicates only pop up where the fade transition is. Again, idk how to explain why this happens, it just does. And to fix it, I simply go to the spot where the fade starts and delete all the duplicate frames until I get to the end of the fade. Once the duplicates are gone, it’s all good and the animation should be a lot smoother!

And ta-da! That’s pretty much how I made this gif:

I’m sorry this was so long a;slkdfjs 😅 Please feel free to ask any specific questions if I made something unclear!! I hope this helps! 

[chinzhilla-main]

i was tagged by a couple people (i know @bebecas and @cowboydiaz for sure but i think there were some others? sorry if i missed you!) to do a couple different 2021 round-ups, so i decided to do my 21 favorite creations from last year! 2021 was the year i started giffing, so it was interesting (and embarrassing kakjsdf) to go back and look at how i've grown as a creator over the year.

not going to tag anyone in particular but if we're mutuals please feel free to throw yours in my tracking tag (#userbon), which seems to be working now!!

here are my 21 favorite creations, in chronological order, with some director's commentary:

happy birthday dean winchester (january) - this was my first edit to perform pretty well and i think it holds up. i'm still happy with the coloring i was able to achieve considering how little i knew at that time

dean + john the revelator (april) - my first attempt at multiple gifs per canvas and again, i still think it looks pretty good. it was also my first time really playing around with typography, which has become one of my favorite parts of editing

destiel + tgd (may) - i rewatched the get down (which i will be bitter over FOREVER but that's not what this post is about) with my sister and as soon as zeke said 'calm almost like how god must be calm' i was like WAIT and then this was born

the rest is under the cut cause this got pretty long

buddie + the terrifying possibility of both (july) - ngl i actually think this is very ugly now BUT i was galaxy-brained for using this quote for them, and i think this is still my most popular buddie edit

destiel x reddie parallels (july) - this was a pretty niche post and i had several near-breakdowns making it but it reached its target audience and i was called evil for it so. a success.

buck + badass smartass etc (july) - speaks for itself. i also added dumbass which is not in the original because well. he is <3

cas + killer queen (july) - this was not a super difficult or involved edit but i'm really happy with the final product, particularly the typography

destiel + famous movie couples (august) - i think this is my favorite thing i've made this year in terms of concept. it took forever but it was so worth it

buddie + just say yes (august) - i was like i wanna make an edit using as many gifs and techniques as possible just to see how it turns out and then i did and it's busy and gaudy but that's my brand and i love it

athena and maddie for 911ww (august) - another set of very busy gifs but again i think it turned out super well. i may be the only one who likes my kitschy gifs but by god i will keep making them.

happy birthday supernatural (september) - if you're at all familiar with my editing style you know that i'm nearly incapable of just doing basic gifs because by god if i'm not putting myself through photoshop hell is it even worth it. so i decided for this ep that i was gonna play around with colors and typography and i liked it so much that that's just how i do episode edits now

on the head of a pin (september) - this one was pure experimentation (based on this incredible edit by cristina) and was super fun to make

buddie + jolene (september) - not to be too obnoxious but i really went off with that broken glass panel. AND i had to recolor m*gan w*st's eyes in the second one. AND it's just really well composed. this is one of my favorite edits i've ever made actually

buddie + can't fight this feeling pt. 2 (october) - the first panel is def my favorite of this one but i like all of it a lot (i'm also holding out on making the final part of this mini series for if when they go canon)

nov 5 edit (november) - this was not the vision i had for this edit and i was pretty frustrated with it by the time it was posted but the response to it was so positive that it really changed my opinion on it so thanks y'all!

buddie + hooked on a feeling (november) - similar to the killer queen edit this one isn't super complicated but i just think it turned out really pretty

merlin, the dragon's call (december) - i'm pretty sure this was my first edit for something other than spn or 9-1-1 and i really really love the last gif in particular

buck + the calendar amv (december) - my first amv! it took ages but was so satisfying and honestly i think it's fucking awesome. one of my favorite things i've ever done

buddie + paper rings amv (december) - so i had the idea to do this amv for my 9-1-1 secret santa gift back in early dec, which is why i made the calendar one in the first place, so i could learn how to make one with lower stakes. i think this one's just as good if not better and was arguably more fun to make since it didn't make me sad aksdjfkj

marvel x spn (december) - my last edit of 2021! i made like three different versions of all these gifs because i felt like nothing was working but i the finished product was worth it and the response has been very gratifying! a good edit to end the year on :)

[kbsd]

not sure if you’ve answered this before, but what’s your process look like when you make an amv? i’m just curious and in constant awe of ppl who can make videos like you do :)

hello all!!! i have answered this before and i have a vid help tag with other asks i’ve gotten about stuff like this! but i’ve gotten several more messages along these lines so i’m just going to answer a bunch of them together (under a cut since i love to ramble about editing lol). i do just wanna say i’m definitely not the authority on video editing and obv everyone has their own techniques!

edit: i just finished typing all this up and it’s SO long so sorry in advance LMAO god bless anyone who reads this entire thing

so i work in news tv and we have a very specific workflow for writing scripts, sourcing video, producing, and editing. i’ve just applied that to making amvs! for every video i make, i copy the song lyrics into a google doc and adjust them to match the song i��ve cut (i often will trim songs for time and/or content purposes). then i start planning! i’ll mark down what clip i want to use for each lyric next to that line, and any sound bites i want to use (with episode numbers!). i’ll color code between video and sound bites and lyrics, so my scripts end up looking something like this (for my honeybee amv):

doing the planning ahead of time makes everything much easier when it’s a video that spans the whole show or involves a lot of sourcing, like honeybee or sports analogies. that way when i get to the actual editing process, i already know what i’m going to do and have a game plan. for videos like happy ending or believe it or not, where i’m mainly just pulling from a few episodes, i can just plan it in my head as opposed to writing it all down, and produce as i edit. obviously i do make in-the-moment decisions while editing—sometimes a shot doesn’t work the way i thought it would, or i go where the video takes me—but planning ahead definitely helps. i know some people use spreadsheets as well, with columns for lyrics, video clips, and sound bites if applicable. once you find a system that works, it actually goes pretty quickly.

as for sourcing clips themselves/finding clips within episodes, i talked about that here and kind of here. the short version is that transcripts are a must, and the supernatural wiki is hugely helpful by cataloguing all the hugs, prayers, phone calls, etc. in the show. gifmakers that tag episode numbers on their posts are your friends. it gets easier the more video you make—that’s another huge reason i make the google docs for each video (even the ones i plan in my head, i end up going back and making a loose script with episode notes just for reference). if i can’t remember where something is but i know i used it in another video, i can easily reference past scripts!

i also cut all my videos in the same project in premiere pro, so i can flip between them easily. instead of checking a past script, i can just go to the video sequence itself and copy the clip i’m looking for! this was especially helpful when i match cut together the 5x18 and 4x22 wall slam shots for my bestie video, and then stole it from myself for honeybee hahaha. at any given time i have at least 8 sequences open:

because of the sheer volume of videos i make, it’s worth it for me to download the entire show—i have all 327 episodes in HD, plus deleted scenes. if you think you’re only going to make a few videos, i’d start with scene packs. you can usually just google “destiel [or whatever ship/character you’re looking for] scene packs” and there will be any number of ones you can download. if you need other specific scenes, you can always download/torrent individual episodes or screen record netflix (that’s what i did before i got HD download links). i’m happy to share my links if you DM, but be warned it’s a lot of disk space (about 500GB on my hard drive). someone also compiled every destiel scene, downloadable here.

having every episode already loaded in premiere for all my projects also makes it a lot easier to source clips. once i use a clip in a video, i’ll put a marker on the episode file, so that after a while i have most of the important scenes/lines marked to easily find them. to give you an idea, this is my episode file in premiere for 12x10 lily sunder has some regrets (markers at destiel scenes, the car fight, hot girl cas, etc.). markers are the green tabs along the bottom:

premiere also lets you color code and name markers, so ONE DAY i will go back and color code them all. the ones above are all the same color, but in a perfect world, i’d have a myraid—for destiel shots like hugs, touches, looks; for important pieces of dialogue; for action shots; etc. but for now this works ok for me, so that’s a project for another time!

between detailed scripts, one giant premiere project, markers, the wiki, and my own memory, i have so many points of reference that i can usually find any clip i need in about 2 minutes max. sound bites are often harder to start out, or tiny specific shots i haven’t used before, and that’s when i turn to tumblr gifsets or beloved mutuals to crowdsource. but if you’re as obsessive about marking/keeping neat scripts as i am, it gets easier and easier with every video you make. that’s part of why i’m able to cut videos together so quickly. (also i want to stress i do this for a living and have to produce/edit a new piece for my show every day so i’m used to it. and compared to constantly updating content/sources and news that changes every day, 327 highly documented episodes that never change are much easier to handle hahaha)

this is all great for me since i make so many videos and plan to continue doing so, but if you’re only making a few, this level of work isn’t worth it imo. really it’s all about developing a system that works for you. whatever you do with episodes/sourcing, though, i cannot recommend planning things out in a script ahead of time enough. 

everything i just mentioned is producing, though. for the editing process, i usually do it in this order:

music first. any parts i want to cut, i make sure it all sounds smooth

then soundbites. i usually try to weave them into the lyrics—i have characters talk in breaks between lines or instrumental sections as much as possible. i’ll sometimes go so far as looped/extending an intsrumental part to make room for the soundbite i want there lol. if i do have dialogue over a line, i do the sound mixing/levels at this point as well to make sure everything is audible/one doesn’t overpower the other. (also i always include the video that goes with these bites when i drop them in, and decide later if i want to show the character speaking or have other clips cover the dialogue)

once i have all the audio locked in, then i bring in all my other video clips. sometimes i edit completely chronologically, sometimes jumping from section to section—it depends on the song or how i’m feeling

double check sound mixing. i usually listen to my videos through a few times, with headphones and without to make sure it’ll sound good no matter how people watch it

once i have picture and audio lock, i go through and color correct my clips. i’m basic and just use lumetri color in premiere, and usually just play with brightness, saturation, temperature, and tint until i like it

render and export! :)

i always have several audio tracks, but i try to keep my video tracks condensed. i’ll drop clips on a V2 level, and edit a section there, and drop the whole chunk down to V1 so i know it’s finished. that way when i leave and come back i can know where i left off/what’s done/etc. to give you an idea, this is the timeline for my what the hell video:

i always render as H.264 with high bitrate, and make sure to check “render at maximum depth” and “use maximum render quality” for the best quality. i’m sorry, but i don’t know what the equivalent options are in final cut, imovie, kdenlive, etc. i post on youtube mostly so i don’t have to sacrifice quality, but usually just using a lower bitrate will get you under the tumblr file size limit and it’ll still look good.

as for the anon who asked about “polishing”: first of all, thank you!! second of all, it’s in the details. all of this is a matter of taste and my own insanity, but here are some little things i always try to do:

after i color correct, i blur out any credits from the starts of episodes. i use gaussian blur for this, but really any blur tool works

as much as possible, i avoid clips where we see a character’s mouth move but don’t hear the words. in tv/film we call it “lip flap” and i just think it looks messy. also i’m trained to avoid it at all costs at work hahaha. it’s more for serious videos that this matters a lot to me (e.g. i think i did a really good job eliminating lip flap in my happy ending amv)—for comedy videos i don’t sweat it as much

i put audio fades on the start and end of every single audio clip i use, even if i don’t think i need it, to make sure everything sounds smooth

i use markers for timing, especially in action-y videos like what the hell. i’ll put a marker on the clip i’m using at the exact moment a punch lands, and in the song on the beat. if i have the magnet/snap in timeline tool on i can just easily snap them together instead of having to spend time finagling it

this is such a small thing but i dip/cut to black for a tiny bit at the start and end of every video. this way if i post with tumblr video player, there’s black between the loops, and it gives you a beat before the video restarts. i do this even on videos i post on youtube, just because i think it looks nicer/more professional

this is 1,500 words so i’m going to stop myself before i pull something. if you have follow-up questions feel free to ask and i’ll continue to add them to the vid help tag, but any more questions about sourcing clips or my process in general i’ll just link this post going forward. anyone who made it this far, i am sending to a telepathic kiss. thank you for reading and happy editing!

[kiwikyuu]

━━━━━━━━ all the different shades of orange ; hinata shōyō

summary — whoever said that hinata shōyō is a ball of sunshine is a liar

word count — 3k

genre — imagine ; kinda enemies to lover, fluff

warning(s) — major spoilers about spring interhigh for those of you who haven't read the manga, insults thrown around, kinda out of character hinata, cursing, not edited

a/n — okay but have y'all seen e2l hinata shōyō besides kagehina lmao because i haven't and thought it'd be interesting to try out. also wow i have never put so much effort into a work like this one (hopefully it reaches a lot of people and you can all find some joy in reading!)

❝ WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FUCKING GOING NEXT TIME, YOU ROTTEN BELL PEPPER. ❞

Hate was a strong word but the flaring anger in your heart and overwhelming urge to run into a wall whenever your eyes landed on that tangerine said otherwise. It wasn't that you went out of your way to dislike someone that has everyone wrapped around their finger. It just so happened that you had no tolerance for bullshit, and Hinata Shōyō pissed you off in every way possible.

It started on the first day of high school.

Walking beside Minari, a friend from middle school, the two of you were eager to leave the building. The idea of grabbing steamed buns had unraveled itself in your mind, and what better way to enjoy food than by sharing?

"Are you going to try out for any clubs?" Your elbow bumped against hers as you two walked the slowly emptying hallway. "I think I saw the girls soccer team holding tryouts soon."

Minari shrugged, but you could already see the thoughts pinging in her mind. "I might if I can."

See, the two of you had almost reached the staircase when it happened. Minari's long hair covered her view from time to time, so you were used to looking out for her while chastising the girl about the usefulness of a hairband. But what you didn't expect as you pulled the girl aside just as a gaggle of guys rushed by was the full strength of a short orange-haired boy catching you off guard and nearly sending you tumbling down the flight of stairs.

"I'm sorry! I - I didn't see you there!" He shouted, his hand coming out to latch instinctively onto your school uniform before you could be thrown back far. "And on the first day too... I'm so sorry! Please accept my apology."

You stared at the short boy standing before you looking positively green with anxiety and guilt. Minari was already calming him down with mentions of accepting his apology, but all you could focus on was the pounding beat of your heart and the tingling feeling in your legs from your near-fatal experience.

"Watch where you're fucking going next time, you rotten bell pepper," you muttered before pushing his fingers off your now wrinkled white shirt.

You had walked away first, Minari in tow, but not before catching the shine of his name tag, 'Hinata Shōyō,' and the wide-eyed stare on his face that sent shivers down your back.

From that day forward, every flash of orange around the school seemed to be followed by a glare on your end and a roll of eyes on his.

"You're in the way, pumpkin head." Your words cut through the chattering hallway and sliced at Hinata who in turn threw you a pointed look, something that all the First Year students knew by now was reserved for only you. "I'm trying to get to the library, but somebody's walking too slow. Aren't you supposed to be on the volleyball team?"

Hinata scoffed, but stepped aside to let you through. Dirty looks were all he had in his armory apparently as time after time after sending an insult or two his way, he held his tongue. You liked to think it was because he didn't have the proper brain cells to form a response, but sometimes you wondered if you were being too much.

Up ahead, Minari waved at you to hurry before all the seats at the library were taken. Shaking yourself of your thoughts, you walked over to her. Unbeknownst to you, while you shouldered your bag, your wallet tipped over and fell out at a certain somebody's feet.

Hinata picked up your ratty wallet, noticing it on the floor, and went to call out to you before catching himself. What did he care? Still, unable to ignore it, he pocketed your belonging making note to give it back to you later. Right now, he had a game to worry about.

Somehow you had ended up at the Karasuno vs. Aoba Johsai game during the Interhigh Preliminaries. Minari had dragged you up to the stands as discreetly as possible after convincing you that she wasn't feeling up to study. Considering she had her eyes set on a certain 5'10 blueberry, you were foolish enough to think that she'd wanted to take you some place fun.

Now as the two of you stared down at the game happening eagerly, you let out a sigh upon noticing Hinata. As if your day couldn't have gotten worse after misplacing your wallet, you were displeased to find that he was looking right back up at you with the same wide-eyed stare he had when you two had first met.

Shivers ran down your back almost as if on cue, and you tore your gaze away from him fully ready to leave the gymnasium and trudge back home. But had you turned away, you would have missed the freakish oddball combination execute their quick attack.

"Holy shit," you breathed. "What the fuck was that?"

Minari smirked. "Tobio-kun is a great setter, isn't he? Or were you too focused on Mr. Bell Pepper to notice."

You shot her a frosty look, pushing down the stuttering emotion starting to rise in your chest that most definitely did not feel like anger. "As if."

The game continued for what seemed like days but turned out to be hours at most ending at a score of 1:2 in Aoba Johsai's favor.

Deafening silence overtook your ears. Minari was quick to leave the stands, mumbling something about consoling the fallen setter while your eyes searched for some semblance of sunshine in Hinata's sullen ones.

Spotting his sunken expression, you felt yourself regret the hatred that had sparked for him for just a moment. A fleeting moment that buried itself in your heart, planting a seedling of growing doubt.

"Minari, we have to catch the bus back!" You called out to your friend as you joined her on the gymnasium floor.

She glanced your way, halting the conversation she had began with her Tobio-kun. "Two minutes, and then we can go. Please?"

You nodded despite feeling discomfort crawling up your spine at being surrounded now by those you didn't know. You settled by the door, checking your phone mindlessly to pass the short time only looking up when an outstretched hand came into view.

"You dropped this earlier." Hinata's words were short, sharp, and you were suddenly glad you had never been on the end of his scathing remarks. "On your way to the library," he continued.

"Oh," was all your malfunctioning mind could come up with as he took your open hand in his, placing your wallet gently in your palm. The warmth of his skin seemed pressed into your own even after he had started to stalk away.

Clearing your throat, you spoke before you could stop yourself. "You did well today. I - uh," you paused. What were you even saying? "I watched from the stands."

He offered you a soft smile, one that you realized could light the world aflame, before walking back to his awaiting team.

You placed your hand over your drumming heart, sedating the flustered feeling he had left behind with you, chanting in your mind over and over again that Hinata Shōyō was a menace and you had no plan to ever like him let alone fall for him.

But no one ever plans to fall in love.

The Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club seemed to practice non-stop funnily enough, rather motivated by their loss from months ago instead of despaired. Minari had become a regular face during practice as she cheered the boys on in an attempt to woo Kageyama still, and by fault, so had you.

"Y/N, Tangerine's on his way over here." Minari nudged you, stealing your attention from the workbook open in your lap.

You shrugged, trying to focus on anything other than your slowly rising heartbeat. "Why? Did the coach bench him for his subpar plays?"

"No, actually Tangerine wanted to give you something but he's currently reconsidering."

You looked up immediately, eyes narrowing upon noticing Hinata standing in front of you with a small smirk. "You're looking really fucking smug for a guy who still needs to work on his skills. Kageyama says you lack basic technique."

Hinata rolled his eyes at you. "You're being rude."

"It's because I don't like you," you answered smoothly. "So get back to practice before you lose any more volleyball brain cells."

He let out a small laugh. Turning away, for a moment you thought he'd actually leave as simple as that, but just before he took another step, he tossed something your way. It fell on top of your workbook, smacking against the thin pages, causing a couple of the boys to look your way while Hinata jogged back to the net.

Minari leaned in closer to you. "He got you—" She cocked her head in confusion. "A wallet?"

It was a deep shade of orange that almost made you laugh out in irony. Detailed with card slots and a latch with snapping buttons, the wallet was definitely an improvement from the one you had right now.

"That's sweet... right?" Minari questioned, watching your expression as you opened the wallet to reveal a note — scratchy handwriting on a scrap of notebook paper.

'thought your wallet looked ratty old. not in a mean way of course!!!!

— your favorite, Pumpkin Head Shōyō

ps. my sister picked out the color :p'

"Stupid fucking carrot," you whispered under your breath, feeling your cheeks grow warm at his message. "I don't need a new wallet."

Minari scoffed at your words, turning to face you completely and taking your hands in hers with seriousness. "Be honest with me." You stared at her blankly. "Be honest, and tell me if you actually hate Hinata as much as you say you do. Why don't you just drop the act? You two obviously like each other enough to be friends, so why keep this all up? Isn't it tiring?"

Her words echoed through the hallways of your mind minutes, hours, and days after. Sitting at your desk in school, on your walk home, lying in bed staring up at the ceiling, they were as loud as life itself.

You thumbed the straps of your bag while waiting for the bus. The sun was slowly dropping from the sky, setting on the horizon leaving you in a thoughtful orange haze.

You two obviously like each other enough to be friends, so why keep this all up? Isn't it tiring?

The weeks following were conflicting and chaotic. Exam season settled on Karasuno High School jolting the students and staff into a cloud of stress.

You spent your spare time at the library, eyes boring into material that just wouldn't stick while a certain rotten bell pepper took his seat next to you.

"I have to pass my finals or Sugawara senpai is going to nail me to a wall," Hinata explained, spreading his notebooks out on the desk and bumping his elbow against yours in the process. "You do well in your classes, right? Do you — " He looked abash. "D - Do you mind helping me?"

Against your better judgement, you nodded. Looking back now, you suppose that's where your odd friendship began.

Days on end, the two of you would stay behind to cycle through the material slowly building a tolerance of each other much to everyone's surprise.

"Do you still hate me?" The question came one night, the weekend before his exams.

Hinata looked at you from where he sat on the swings, kicking his feet at the sandy grounds. The two of you were at the park, cooling off after a long study session.

Your eyes fell to the can of convenience store coffee in your hands. The slight of the passing breeze drilled his question further in your mind.

"No, I don't think so," came your answer, words wobbly and unsure despite the thrum of your heart beating loudly against your chest and the warmth in your cheeks.

Silence filled the space between you two before Hinata finally spoke up again.

"Then do you like me?"

Your body felt lit aflame, mind jumping immediately to the way he made you feel things you hadn't much before. "As a friend," you decided after a moment of flustered emotions. "We're friends, I guess."

Hinata nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I like you." He took a deep breath. "As more than a friend, but if you feel that way then I'll wait for you. We have time."

His confession became lost among the flurry of thoughts and colliding emotions raging on inside you. Before you could say anything in response, Hinata got to his feet, shooting you that now familiar smile of his and offering you his hand.

The new year overwhelmed your senses like a storm of rain after a drought. Refreshed after the break, you returned to school with a new sense of purpose amplified by the motivation the new year always brings.

Hinata's confession had remained in your mind, pushed to the back by celebration but still bugging you every so often. The apricot haired boy had showed up, throwing ping pong balls (of all things) at your window to catch your attention over the break asking if you wanted to go grab something sweet with him. You promptly responded with a rejection, only to find yourself walking with him ten minutes later.

"How was your break?" Minari asked, bundled in a jacket, scarf, and hat. She joined you at your side, catching you on your walk from the bus stop to school.

You shrugged, pulling your puffy jacket closer to you. "It was okay. You?"

She smiled. "Hung out with Tobio-kun. We went for hot chocolate, and he taught me how to set." Her eyes seemed almost dazzling at the memory, and you laughed, pushing her lightly away.

"You and your Tobio-kun are positively gross," you said. "Absolutely—"

Your words were halted at the feeling of warm fabric settling around your neck and a known face popping up beside you with a proud smile.

"Stay warm. You can give it back to me later," Hinata said before jogging away to catch up with a pair of Second Year boys ahead.

Your hand came up to the green scarf around your neck, failing to form comprehensive sentences. Heart thundering, you ignored the funny looks others sent your way. Glancing at Minari, you caught her slipping giggles.

"What happened to Hinata Shōyō being a rotten bell pepper?"

"Shut up."

Lending you his scarf when days seemed too cold was just the beginning of it all. Days turned into weeks turned into months of Hinata pining after you and you—though obvious to everyone else—trying to decipher your feelings for him.

"Hey, I missed you," Hinata said to you lightly after you had agreed to drop something off for Kageyama on Minari's behalf. Quickly realizing the meaning of his words, however, Hinata corrected himself. "I mean—um, as in I m - missed you earlier. Like... like I didn't catch you today, you know?"

You tilted your head at him with endearment, a small smile playing across your lips at the sight of his blushing face. "Yeah, don't worry. I got it, sweet potato."

His flustered expression dropped. "You think I'm sweet?"

Your eyes widened, stuttering to form a response and correct yourself out of this situation you had suddenly been thrusted in. Luckily, Kageyama came to your rescue before you could embarrass yourself.

"Hinata, boke, stop flirting with Y/N!" The tall blueberry haired boy towered over Hinata with a menacing glare and a scoff. Kageyama turned to you with a blank look you took for an apologetic expression.

Shaking your head profusely, you put your hands up in surrender. "Ah, no worries, Kageyama. I—uh, I have something for you from Minari. She has classroom duties today, so she couldn't come herself."

Kageyama nodded, taking the wrapped bento box that Minari had prepared for him from your outstretched hands. He mumbled words of thanks before stalking off while muttering under his breath a colorful range of insults at Hinata who in turn sent him a funny face.

The Spring Interhigh was coming up, and you were sure the Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club was itching for redemption after what had happened last August. Deciding that you didn't want to interrupt their practice any further, you made move to leave only to stop at the feeling of a hand on your wrist.

Glancing back, you raised an eyebrow in surprise at Hinata's sudden action. "What are you—"

The tangerine boy had exchanged his lighthearted expression of just minutes ago with a look that you could only describe as properly motivated. "When we make it to Nationals, promise to give me a chance."

All around you, the gym seemed to fade until only Hinata was in your line of vision.

When we make it to Nationals, he had said, not if.

Unable to respond, you found yourself nodding because who were you to kid yourself at this point?

The Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club did, in fact, make it to Nationals, but unfortunately lost to Kamomedai High School in the quarter-final round while Hinata spent his time at the hospital.

Hooked up to an IV line and dressed in one of those flimsy hospital gowns, Hinata looked unusually weak laying down on the bed. The others had left not long after you had arrived though some took more convincing than others.

"Next time, you can keep your scarf to yourself," you said, cutting the silence short with a lighthearted remark.

Hinata smiled weakly at that, his hand coming to rest atop your folded ones on your lap. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

You shook your head. "Obviously, you can't take care of yourself." Slipping your hands from under his, you took the hand warmers out of your pockets and placed one in each of his hands. "Luckily, you got me."

His face lit up. "Oh, do I now?"

Warmth spread through your body as you looked away from his hopeful gaze. "Well, you did make it to Nationals."

[momentofmemory]

creator tag game

rules: answer the questions and then tag 10+ other creators to answer the questions!

tagged by: the most beautiful, lovely, supportive cheerleader ever @timothyolyphant 💜

first creation and most recent creation of 2020: apparently they were both about family and this was 100% unintentional? 

most recent: the old guard + family

first: spider-man + family

one of your favorite creations from 2020: allison argent + hamilton. this is one of those sets where i knew exactly which scenes i wanted blended together and then managed to execute it as-intended and it just. ugh it’s so pretty. and painful. so my two fave things.

a creation you’re really proud of: what’s up danger + sam wilson. both the concept and the execution turned out fire, man—I switched up a lot of my typography choices from my normal thing and I love how it looks.

a new style you tried this year and a gifset that uses it: this og six set. i switched up my blending technique for it, and i really love how it turned out—i’ve been finessing that technique ever since, lol. 

your favorite coloring: this scott mccall set, because any time I make TW look visible—let alone pretty—it’s a triumph, but also working on that first gif 1)took forever and 2)turned out really pretty in comparison to the OG colouring.

a creation that took you forever: black panther + pray for me. my very first attempt at Big™ gifs, and finessing the scene choices, overlay techniques, and fonts took like. hours. i love it so much and  will forever be sad it didn’t show up in the tags.

your creation from 2020 that received the most notes: sam wilson + i’m captain america. tumblr didn’t eat the post despite the blm donation link (which can still be used fyi!). <3

a creation with a favorite scene/quote: this edit of quiet uptown murders me every time. the scenes/cropping/overlays i wanted just came together really well.

a new fandom you joined and a creation you made for it: nile freeman + quotes. the way i adore that woman and her strength and determination and gentleness?? yes good. the colouring & typography worked together really well for this set.

a creation you made that breaks your heart: i made this set on grief in the black panther back in july and it already cut deep at the time, and now it hits... differently. nikita gill’s poetry is excellent and getting all that text to work on a set of four gifs was a fun challenge.

a ‘simple’ creation that you really love: this tfatws set was put together & posted in under like 20 min right after the trailer dropped because I was so excited. the black & white effect was a  callback to this set from the previous year. ...except that set took like ten hours lol.

a creation that was inspired by another one (add both your creation and the one that inspired it!): i don’t think i have any sets that were explicitly inspired by another set this year, but i’m almost always staring at @anya-chalotra​’s work when i need insp.

a favorite creation created by someone else: no picking one is impossible i refuse?? a few at random that are so pretty i want to yeet myself into the sun:

tony stark appearances by @timothyolyphant​ - gorgeous, amazing, phenomenal

scira + yellow by @lovingyennefer - it is my children and this is so pRETTY

jatp + wake up by @betty-coopers - the colouring and blends on this are gorgeous

tog + dæmons by @nilefreemans - excellent concept, A+ execution

the witcher + purple by @yenvengerberg - the colouring and overlays have me !!!!!

avengers overlays by @sersi - LOOK AT THE OVERLAYS. LOOK AT THEM. 10/10.

derek and scott + brothers by @alexjulies - the way i am soft and also typography??

the witcher + fave quote by @anya-chalotra - she doesn’t know how to make a bad edit and i am constantly in awe

some of your favorite content creators from the year: NO TOO MANY. everyone tagged in any sense in this post and also everyone i’ve reblogged from ever.

for good measure, another a couple more creations of yours that you love:

star wars s7 finale + ts eliot - this finale broke me and i couldn’t stop thinking about this  poem the whole time, and i love how the overlays turned out.

scott & stiles + twenty-one pilots - if you’d told me i’d be giffing teen wolf this year i’d have laughed at you. yet here i am, fully <3333 for these two.

marvel + little women - this set is peak i just think that women™ and i love it.

tagging: everyone tagged previously and also: @capsgrantrogers | @merlinemryspendragon | @jemmablossom | @clintfbarton | @hollywoods | anyone else that wants to go!

[madebymandyla]

I’ve tried quite a few different methods for iconing during my time in the rpc, but I always end up going back to Photoscape because to me it’s easier and more intuitive than other methods that I’ve found. This tutorial covers the basics of making base icons and using the batch editor to edit them, including how I personally do the borders on my icons with an aside about rainbow borders since someone asked me about it a while ago. I’ve never done a tutorial before, so hopefully it all makes sense. If not, I’m happy to answer questions!

This tutorial is specifically for Photoscape X (free version) for Windows 10, which you can find in the Windows Store. There’s also a version for Mac. If you’re running a different version of Windows, you should still be able to follow the same basic process in Photoscape 3.7 but some of the interfaces are different and it lacks some of the newer tools/features.

Part 1: Making Base Icons

The first thing you’re going to need is your source images from which to make icons, whether saved on your computer or copy/pasted from somewhere. I’m working from screencaps I previously took, so when I go into the photo editor I navigate to the folder they’re in using the navigation pane on the left side. Clicking on an image in the bottom left pane brings it up in the editor. On the right side of the screen choose crop. 

You’ll get a pop up of preset ratios you can crop your image to as well as options for custom ratios/dimensions and free cropping. I intend to make 100x100 icons when all is said and done, so I've chosen the 1x1 option. Then click and drag on the image to select what you want to keep and click crop at the bottom of the pop up.

And now we have a base icon! We should save it. You can click the save button in the bottom right corner of the screen or ctrl+s.

To save, you’ll get this pop up window. If you want to overwrite the source image with your newly cropped one, click the first “save” option. “save to” saves to a specified folder with the image under the same name. “save as” lets you change the name and also choose what folder it saves to. How you save and name your base icons is completely up to you but I personally have a “dump” folder set as my “save to” option and save them that way for the sake of expediency because of how often I do this. 

Now go back to the beginning and repeat until finished with all source images.

Part 2: Editing

Now that we have all of our base icons, we’ll switch to the Batch Editor. You can either drag your images from the folder into the center (ctrl+a will select all in the folder to be dragged at once) or you can click open in the bottom right corner and do so that way.  The image in the center acts as a preview and will display any changes you make. In the scroll box above it you can click on a different icon to change the preview image. On the right you’ll see several drop down menus. I’m not going to cover the crop section because I never use it, but we’ll go through the others.

Resize. You’ll see several options for how to resize your images. I find it’s easiest to adjust the width so I have it set to 100 and the image will resize accordingly.

Color Mode. Pretty self explanatory.

Filter. Allows you to adjust all kinds of light and color settings. It’s just a matter of playing around until you find something you like. 

Film. This section gives you many options for further coloring and other effects. These can be layered on top of each other by using multiple slots at once. When you use the editor for the first time, all of the slots will have + instead of a check box. To see all of the options, click the + or (once you’ve used a slot) check the box and click the film selection to change it.

This, unfortunately, is one of the places where I wish I had the full version of the program because you’ll notice as you scroll through that a majority of the options are marked ‘pro’, meaning you’ll have to shell out $30 to use them all. But the free version still gives you a decent amount to work with. At the top of this popup you can choose the type of effect you want to add and it will switch to a different tab to show you those options. At the bottom you can use the slider to adjust the amount of the effect. Depending on what type of effects you’re looking at you’ll also see some other options (flipping/rotation in the light leaks tab, for example). When you’re satisfied, click apply.

As I mentioned earlier, you can layer multiple effects on top of each other by using multiple slots in the Film drop down. For example: two film effects and then a texture.

Part 3: Frame

The next two drop downs are Insert and Frame. For the sake of this tutorial I’m going to go a little out of order and talk about Frame first. You’ll notice that there is only one slot for this section which means you can only choose one of these options at a time. This is the first option for adding borders, though not the route I personally go. In the pop-up, the frames tab has a bunch of pre-made frames you can choose from, some with extra options that will appear below the scroll-box with the frames. The borders tab lets you round corners and add simple borders and shadows. I don’t have a lot of experience with this option so you’ll have to mess around with it yourself if you want to go that route.

If you want to make circle icons, the shapes tab is where you can do so. There are also a plethora of other shapes you can choose from as well; all the basic and speech bubble shapes are included in the free version and one shape in each of the other groups as well. When you choose a shape, you can choose either a solid color, a pattern, or transparent background. Also, if you choose to follow my border technique covered below, you may want to increase the margin (slider to the left) so as not to cut part of your border off.

When you’re satisfied with your choice, click apply.

Part 4: Insert

Now we’ll double back to Insert. Again, we have several slots here to work with like we did in the Film section so we can have more than one object. When you click the + you’ll be presented with these choices. 

Sticker. Gives you the option of inserting clipart that comes with the program. When you select one you’ll be able to move/adjust the sticker however you wish on the preview image. 

Image. This allows you to insert images saved on your computer as an object on your icons. This could be a symbol that represents your muse or even a custom texture or pre-made border. If you search through various graphics/rph tags you can find a lot of pre-made borders and textures to put on top of icons like this post. Once you insert the image you can move/adjust as you see fit.

Clipboard Image. Same as Image except it’s whatever you’ve got on your clipboard.

Figure. Lets you insert a host of shapes and figures. This is how I make my borders, so I’m going to go through it in that context. When you first click figures you’ll get the window below. Because I’ve made my icons circular, I’m going to choose the hollow circle on top to insert that figure. If I was doing square, for example, I’d choose the hollow square.

Once I’ve inserted the image, I adjust it to the correct size by clicking and dragging the edges and center it by clicking on the middle bubble in the square of the top left of the pop up (you may have to click a different bubble and then click the middle to get it to work). Then I start editing using the other options. (Side note that the pop up is essentially what the options for sticker and image look like with a few minor differences.)

Here’s a run down of the options that I regularly adjust:

Color: You can either make the fill a solid color or a pattern.

Type: Allows you to change the figure from a solid line to dotted/dashed lines.

Thickness and Opacity: Adjust sliders to adjust thickness and opacity.

Outline: Adds an outline to the figure. Allows you to adjust color and thickness.

Outer Glow: Adds a glow to the outside of the figure. Allows you to adjust color, thickness, and amount of blurring.

Gradient: Changes the fill color to a gradient. If you came for the rainbow borders, your time has come! Under this drop down you have three options for coloring: preset gradient, two color, and single color. You can also adjust the angle of the gradient by using the angle slider.

If you click the first option you’ll be presented with all the preset gradients. Below the scroll box you can adjust the chosen gradient by moving the sliders along the bar. Below that you can adjust the opacity of different parts of the gradient by dragging the line down at a specific point, with the top of the box being 100% opacity and the bottom being 0%.

For the second and third options, you can click the boxes to choose the color(s) you want to use. To the right of the color options are the options for how the colors appear in the gradient. Pictured is the two color options, the single color options are similar.

Text. Allows you to insert text. As you’ll notice, many of the options are the same as those of the other objects with the addition of text specific options. You can type your text in the black text box (has a G in the picture) and change your font and size, bold/italic/underline/strikethrough, text alignment, and color. 

Step 5: Save and Enjoy!

Before you save, make sure to check the preview for all of the icons to make sure they’re to your liking by either clicking on them individually or scrolling through using your arrow keys. Then click the save button in the bottom right corner or ctrl+s.

And you get this save pop up. I have my save location set as an output subfolder (which Photoscape will automatically create) in the folder the base images are currently in, but you can save them to the same folder or choose a custom folder as well. Other options allows you to choose the image format and (if you’ve chosen jpg) the quality of the image. As for naming, I prefer to use the Advanced Naming tab and choosing <sequence> from the drop down menu as this will name/save the icons in numerical order. In the picture I also have ‘a’ as a prefix for something I was doing earlier and forgot to change. So with the settings I have below, my icons saved to the ...garnet\output folder as a001.png, a002.png, a003.png, a004.png, and a005.png.

**EDIT: If you are making shaped icons with a transparent background, DO NOT save as a JPEG because the format does not support transparent pixels and it will replace them with white instead. I’d recommend PNG in that case.

Be sure to check your icons before you exit the program by either looking at them in your photo viewer or uploading a couple to a draft just to see how they’ll look on the dash. Sometimes things look a little different between the preview in the batch editor and the saved version.

In the event that you want to make more icons in the future, it’s useful to save your settings so that everything stays exactly the same with your next batch. Click on the three dots next to the save button and then save settings on the menu. Then just give your settings a name and you’re ready to go for next time! All you’ll have to do is click load settings instead and select your saved settings.

So there you have it! Once you get the hang of working in Photoscape it becomes really simple to make icons and the more you play around the more you’ll learn how to do. In the future, I’ll probably do further tutorials on other specific things I’ve learned how to do as well as how I make gifs, but for now, enjoy your iconing! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[wishfulfanficing]

Tiffany

Harrison walked through the double doors of Tiffany and Co. as he had many times before. This time was different, though: he had his girls with him. Well, two of them anyway. Carrie had been burning through her energy lately between writing a new novel, editing a screenplay, and undergoing a new course of treatment. She’d cried in his arms the night before, and had tearfully asked him to take the girls out to the movies for the day over breakfast. He obliged, but decided to use the time for another purpose.

“Good afternoon Mr. Ford,” the attendant greeted him. The Ford family, and Harrison in particular, were frequent visitors to the Beverly Hills Tiffany and Co. “Shopping for Ms. Fisher today?”

“Yes!” his older daughter, Emma, piped up.

“We’re getting something for our mom,” her sister Billie added.

The attendant smiled at the precocious children. “Any occasion?”

Harrison shook his head. “Just because,” he said with a smile and wink in his daughters’ direction.

“Right this way,” the attendant said as he led the three coconspirators over to a display case full of colorful gems. “These are some good ‘just because’ pieces.”

Billie broke away from her father and pressed her tiny nose up to the glass. “Billie!” her sister exclaimed, pulling the back of her shirt.

“Careful, love, you’ll smudge the glass,” Harrison said gently, putting one hand on Billie’s head and the other on Emma’s shoulder. He turned back to the attendant. “Can I see the blue… the sapphire one? The solitaire with the diamonds around it?” His mother in law had taught him some of the language of fine jewelry, but he still wasn’t fluent.

“Absolutely. Here’s the sapphire solitaire with the diamond halo on a platinum chain.” Harrison bent over the table to get a closer look; in an instant, Emma and Billie were on their tip-toes next to him.

"Do you really think Mom will like that?" Emma asked, cocking her head to the side. 

Billie did the same. "Yeah. Do you?"

Harrison looked down at the necklace. "I mean, she wouldn't mind it..." He tapped on the glass thoughtfully, then turned around, lips pursed, to look at his daughters. It struck him in that moment how much like their mother they were growing up to be. Both had her dark eyes; Emma had her mother's face, and Billie had her laugh, her smile, and her singing voice. But there were deeper similarities: they had her wit, her sense of humor, her deep kindness and compassion. “You two have a better idea?”

“We can go the Rainbow Room,” Billie said with a shrug. Harrison stifled a laugh - clearly this had been their plan the whole time, and Billie’s attempt at a casual suggestion made that more obvious than anything.

“They have weird stuff there. Mom LOVES it,” Emma chimed in.

“Mom loves it, huh?” He snorted and turned back to the attendant. “I’m so sorry, sir, I think I’m being outvoted.”

“No problem at all Mr. Ford… I’m sure we’ll see you soon,” the attendant said with a smile.

“Oh, I’m sure you will,” he called behind him as the girls dragged him out of the jewelry store and toward the thrift shop.

Harrison held his breath every time they entered, not out of fear or disgust, but as a way of preparing his senses for the all out assault that was The Rainbow Room. “Eclectic” was one way of describing it, but that word didn’t go far enough. Strange things were plucked from their contexts and brought here. The first time he’d been there was with Carrie to help her decorate her apartment. She’s bought a red sign that said “Beware of Trains”; it still hung in their home and earned a chuckle from Harrison every time he saw it.

“Dad… look at this.”

Harrison followed the sound of Billie’s voice to find her and Emma staring up at a painting of a child. Or, at least, that's what the tag said it was.

The head was round and bulbous - and took up half the painting. Beady, lifeless eyes stared down at Harrison and the girls. The body was tiny in comparison, with hands drawn like claws at the end of tapered arms. Judging by the costume, the artist must have been attempting some kind of medieval look, but failed.

It was grotesque. It was hideous. It was perfect.

"Jackpot," he said with a smirk as he took the painting off the wall. "Let's go purchase this monstrosity."

The girl at the checkout stand seemed genuinely surprised that anyone had bought the painting, but she knew that Harrison Ford was a celebrity, and that celebrities could be strange. Besides, she was too excited to be waiting on him and his adorable little girls to really care. Still, she wrapped it in twice as much butcher paper as one normally would, just to make sure no unsuspecting people would see it between the shop and their car. Harrison thanked her, took each of the girls by the hand, and walked out with the painting under his arm.

"Do you think she'll like it?"  Harrison asked as the girls buckled themselves into the car.

"Dad," Emma said in a matter of fact, dry tone that reminded Harrison of his own, “It’s so ugly. She's gonna love it." Sitting next to her, Billy nodded vigorously and craned her neck to sneak excited peeks at the package in the passenger's seat.

While Harrison, Emma, and Billie drove home, each one excited to give Carrie the gift they found for her, Carrie sat at the kitchen table seeping her tea. She’d been going so fast for so long, it felt strange to sit down. The doctor had started her on a new medication and therapy regime, and the effects were taking  little getting used to.  She sent Harrison and the girls to run an errand not because she didn’t want them around - in fact, the opposite was true - but because she didn’t want them to be around her when she was like this. They don’t deserve this, she thought, inhaling the steam from her mug. Sighing deeply, Carrie pulled her knees to her chest and curled into herself. She didn’t feel depressed, or manic, or out of control - she felt numb. She was used to feeling either all her emotions at once, or just one extremely deeply, but feeling nothing was new for her. The medication worked faster than the therapy, her doctor had warned. She’d have to practice emotional regulation and other cognitive behavioral techniques before she felt the full effect.

Still, she smiled when she heard the car pull up to the driveway, and her smile widened when she heard three sets of footsteps pad down the hallway. Billie reached the door first and threw it open, running to her mother and throwing her arms around her shoulders. Her sister wasn’t far behind. Carrie scooped both girls into her embrace as best she could, then spotted Harrison, grinning and effortlessly carrying a bulky package. “Hey, beautiful,” he said with a wink. “Miss me?”

“I did,” she cooed, reaching past Emma and Billie to slip her arms around his neck. “I missed all of you.”

“We brought you something!” Billie squealed, barely able to contain her excitement. Harrison felt a twitch of pride in his heart. That was another thing Billie, Emma, and their mother had in common: they loved giving gifts and took care to find things the recipient would truly enjoy.

Carrie seemed to share this observation. “I don’t know who’s more excited: me, who’s getting the present, or you, who’s giving it.” She shot Harrison a loving glace as she kissed Emma’s forehead and reached for the package, which Billie now held in her tiny arms. “Thank you, baby,” she said, stroking her youngest child’s cheek before turning to open it. The sisters giggled excitedly, and Harrison, too, grinned both at his daughters’ excitement and the anticipation of his wife’s joy.

“Oh my God.” Carrie gasped as she tore through the paper to reveal the masterpiece underneath. At first she just stared, but then she started to laugh. It was one of Harrison’s favorite sounds, and he loved it even more when he was its cause. “It’s so ugly,” she wheezed between cackles. “It’s exquisite… where did you find this?”

“At the Rainbow Room,” Harrison said.

“They have the ugliest stuff,” Emma added with a smile.

“Does she have a name?” Carrie asked, removing the last of the packaging and holding the painting away from her to fully take in its glory. The girls giggled again and looked at their father.

Harrison smiled his lopsided smile, his real smile that only his family ever really saw. He leaned into his wife and placed one hand on her cheek. “Tiffany,” he said, then kissed her deeply. “I love you and I’m proud of you,” he whispered to her. 

They ignored their daughters’ chorus of “ew!” and “ick!” as she kissed him back. — AN: Carrie really did have a collection of ugly paintings of children, and she named each one.

[michellelewis7162]

7 Ideal Magento Extensions That You Should Begin Utilizing Today

7 Ideal Magento Extensions That You Should Begin Utilizing Today

 You recognize what? The overall common shopping costs every consumer throughout the year is actually predicted to become $1,800 in the United States as well as 1,600 in the UK. Along with ever before boosting on the web ecommerce company, a growing number of services are actually developing online along with numerous systems readily available in the market.

 Magento is actually one coming from the a lot of dependable systems out there certainly to construct your establishment on. The main reason why Magento is actually incredibly well-known is actually given that it offers the shop proprietors the greatest features as well as an assortment of expansions to improve the general customer knowledge of their site. https://www.itoris.com/

 While there are actually a lot of Magento extensions accessible around out there, I have actually taken a while to filter a number of the most ideal coming from the remainder that you have to outfit your internet site along with:

 1. Brochure Search Refinement:

 This Magento expansion, fine-tunes your outlet's hunt capacity, as proposed due to the label. Commonly, when clients make use of a number of conditions in the Magento hunt club, the items detailed perform certainly not take into account the web link in between the phrases as well as the outcome might certainly not matter.

 Through this expansion, however, your shop intelligently shows those applicable items having all the hunt phrases. If a consumer hunts for 'blue earphones', they will certainly discover blue-colored earphones as an alternative of things that are actually just 'earphones' or even 'blue'.

 2. Sidebar Navigation Menu Professional:

 This Magento Addon incorporates an upright collapsible navigating food selection to your retail store's sidebar pillars. The expansion additionally reveals succinct images for types. SNMP possesses versatile arrangement environments along with 30 choices to handle your web site's navigating.

 3. Transporting Rule:

 Delivery is actually the crucial part of any sort of E-commerce shop. Magento 2 gives standard freight functions as well as arrangements however there are actually demands to ask for personalized delivery costs to your consumers located on particular shapes. With the aid of this Magento 2 expansion, you may possess fully modified delivery regulations as needed.

 4. Free Shipping Bar:

 Create clients knowledgeable about the free of charge freight provide on your establishment in a non-intruding way. Attract your consumers along with custom-made message and also reveal all of them just how much are they coming from the minimal purchase overall to get the cost-free freight provide. Improve the common purchase worth on your shop through putting up the free of cost freight pub expansion.

 5. Easy Lightbox 2.0:

 Easy Lightbox shows your item picture in a beautiful lightbox home window which aids your consumers obtain a far better scenery of your items. The expansion permits you to individualize your item thumbnail, lightbox home window, and also major photo measurements. Lightbox setups including tag photo, overlay vanish as well as resize timeframe could be set up.

 6. Facebook Connect & Like:

 Facebook Connect as well as Like enables your customers to enroll to your retail store via their Facebook profiles as well as makes it possible for such component on every outlet web page. You may tailor the login switch concept to match your internet site's style as well as likewise put a picture in the login switch area.

 7. Free Banner Slideshow:

 The Free Banners Slideshow expansion permits consumers to incorporate as well as take care of advertisements effortlessly coming from the frontend in a picture slider. The expansion uses a lot of configurable choices like advertisement resizing, switch results, autoplay setups and also various other alternatives to improve the advertisement display screen.

 Those were actually some of the ideal Magento Extensions that you need to possess mounted on your Magento Store. These will definitely aid you develop your organisation greatly through enhancing the performance of your shopping retail store.

 Magento Extensions Explained

 Complete command over the appeals of the outlet. Consumers nowadays are actually quite meticulous regarding where they desire to go shopping. That is actually why the appeal of your outlet is actually very significant, as well as along with the Magento extensions advancement you are actually the individual entirely in charge of what it appears like - and also the most ideal component you do not need to be actually a coder to create significant improvements to your establishment.

 Easy modification. Managers of stores need to commit in to Magento addons progression ventures that create items purely personalized for a cement organisation. adaptability as well as effortless scalability are crucial consider contemporary economic climate where a lot of adjustments must be actually carried out swiftly.

 Easy satisfied administration. Along with Magento extensions it is actually very easy to alter the material without possessing IT abilities of a material supervisor.

 Putting in to Magento extensions growth is actually the most ideal method to protect your ecommerce store versus the hazards of modern-day economic situation. Altogether, this seems the best means to create your personal business that will certainly function in software application advancement particular niche without taking threats.

 Easy updates. When updates to Magento items are actually readily available you will certainly possess all of them quickly improved if you decide on excellent quality Magento extensions progression coming from dependable suppliers of such solutions.

 Magento extensions progression is actually a subject that is actually in demand for every manager of ecommerce organisations. Managing on the internet retail stores much more successfully as well as along with additional simplicity it is actually essential to locate the absolute best Magento answers.

 Tension free of cost examination out components. Magento extensions are actually terrific for producing your website very easy to visit straightforward formats and also navigating, while additionally possessing truly easy purchasing as well as browse through attributes in a handful of simple measures - a choosing think about creating clients go back to your store. Customers may make use of various money and also foreign languages to purchase, while you can easily obtain relevant information concerning your clients.

 Ready-to-use from the beginning. Throughout Magento extensions progression refines screening is actually performed widely of every expansion, be it unit of currency adjustment or even blog sites combination, thus you could be certain that completion item will certainly prepare to go coming from the instant it arrive on your work desk. This suggests you possess options that operate without a flaw, despite just how made complex the activity is actually.

 Being compatible of all items. All magento items are actually develop to become appropriate thus throughout the progression method you may be certain that if your organisation expands and also creates it will certainly be actually effortless to include in the attributes you possess presently.

 Magento Extensions to Optimize an eCommerce Store

 Magento is actually certainly the very most dependable eCommerce system made use of all over the world. To time, Magento has actually been actually set up through as several as 240,000 on-line establishments with various ventures.

 Why Magento thus well-liked?

 Magento is actually an effective Online Store - That is actually genuinely feasible because of precise and also reliable item command. Item purchase is actually significantly sustained! Multi-sites under particular domain names are actually quickly developed as well as functioned.

 Magento is actually SEO Friendly - Magento site is actually very optimizable along with outstanding components as well as capabilities to take business around the globe realized.

 Magento levels Source - Magento Community Edition is actually cost-free to utilize. Superb admin as well as individual adventure ensured.

 It is actually an one-of-a-kind expertise in eCommerce site advancement!

 Why Magento Extensions?

 Magento web sites unquestionably use steady on the internet services. Coming from internet site style to growth facets, there might arrive several needs that will certainly require Magento enlargement to possess extra importance to eCommerce.

 " And right here happens Magento Extensions!"

 What are actually the perks of Magento Extensions?

 Magento extensions and also elements behave efficiently, include wonderfully and also operate effortlessly. Magento expansion, plugin installment and also arrangement is actually quick and easy.

 As covered over, Magento Extensions will mostly boost the functions as well as capabilities of Magento's nonpayment facets. Nowadays, some on the internet tasks like on-line item monitoring, repayment techniques, transporting alternatives, have a look at procedures and so on are actually properly conducted over it.

 " User knowledge is actually made sure on the whole!"

 Allow's surf some extensively desired outlet criteria that the Magento extensions are actually generally created:

 Item Insertion and also Interface

 There are actually the expansions that are actually suit maker produced to enhance numerous functions. Item bring in expansions like ratty sell item bring in, package item bring in, up-sell item bring in and so on are actually in huge technique as well!

 Remittance Gateways

 It makes it possible for on the web remittance methods to take place carefully, rapidly as well as successfully along with significant banking companies and also various other monetary companies. This aids to boost remarkable consumer rely on over an eCommerce market.

 Check-Out Process

 It makes it possible for outstanding on the web purchasing knowledge to website visitors. Check out Magento extensions are actually intended to promote visitors along with each of their measures that feature all of them coming from getting in onto the item web page to looking into along with their wanted acquisitions. A soft, swift as well as error-free method is actually seen to it to prepare an enjoyable purchase!

 Transporting Methods

 It enables boosting freight, distribution as well as payment methods depending on to shop and also consumer comfort. Transporting elements are actually created based on a variety of nations.

 Raising Sales

 Such expansions are going to urge internet guests to examine, fee as well as convey their viewpoints regarding items. They market on-line website traffic through attempting to interact audiences along with expansions like News, Advance Shop Through or even Subscription to Services and so on.

 Ending,

 eCommerce criteria possess no conclusion consequently carries out the demand to create Magento extensions. Along with every developing online relocation, Magento will definitely keep ever before prepared to provide an enjoyable surfing and also purchasing experience to on-line individuals!

 Leading Marketplaces To Sell Your Magento Extensions for Magento Developers

 Binpress:

It includes premium expansions after evaluating its own premium as well as functionality. They additionally feature author account along with the item that is actually practical for setting a great impact for the author in Magento neighborhood.

 Ecomextension:

Ecomextension is actually a prominent ecommerce service carrier that may be actually an excellent spot for industrying your Magento extensions. Magento designers can easily likewise receive brand-new potential clients for their items by means of this internet market.

 MageGiant:

MageGiant is actually a prominent title in the buying/selling circumstance of Magento extensions. The internet retail store at MageGiant spruces up numerous superior Magento extensions along with some cost-free highlighted plugins.

 Magento extensions are actually important in enhancing the efficiency of your Magento internet sites. Magento Developers all over the entire world happen up along with tons of valuable expansions every time.

 CodeCanyon:

A conversation on ecommerce expansions market is actually certainly never full without the reference of CodeCanyon. CodeCanyon possesses several buying/selling alternatives in expansions as well as plugins division for Magento and also various other systems.

 Softprodigy:

This is actually an additional leading web-store for Magento extensions that includes even more than 250 high-grade expansions. This is actually an excellent area for Magento designers to ensure their expansions.

 Xtendify:

Xtendify is actually a trending industry to purchase or even market Magento extensions or even plugins. Along along with Magento extensions, the on the internet shop of Xtendify additionally includes many various other ecommerce motifs and also plugins.

 Cmsmart:

If you have actually been actually trying to find a best internet market that will certainly justify your expansions through delivering the correct system as well as assistance, at that point Cmsmart is actually merely for you. Among the most significant establishments for Magento as well as Virtuemart expansions, Cmsmart possesses a great market discussion forum that allows the creator associate with numerous leading specialists around the world as well as extend their exposure in the neighborhood. The industry blog posts of Cmsmart are actually likewise very practical for they deliver improved details regarding the most up to date headlines, fads, as well as celebrations concerning the ecommerce remedies.

 While merely one or even 2 of the above establishments include Magento extensions only, many of all of them note multi-vendor items suitable along with various ecommerce systems. It is actually sensible and also an unfortunate demand of the hr for Magento programmers to appear past MagentoConnect to ensure their expansions.

 Undoubtedly, MagentoConnect is actually the ideal ever before industry that Magento extensions can ever before be actually included in. Still, as a result of to some restrictions and also limitations, Magento advancement providers choose producing their very own establishments to offer their expansions.

[john2983miller-blog]

7 Absolute Best Magento Extensions That You Have To Beginning Utilizing Today

7 Absolute Best Magento Extensions That You Have To Beginning Utilizing Today

 You recognize what? The overall common ecommerce investing every client throughout the year is actually approximated to become $1,800 in the United States as well as 1,600 in the UK. Along with ever before raising internet shopping service, an increasing number of companies are actually surfacing online along with several systems on call on the market in the market.

https://www.itoris.com/

 Magento is actually one coming from the a lot of reputable systems out there certainly to develop your shop on. The cause why Magento is actually really well-known is actually since it provides the shop managers the greatest functionalities and also an array of expansions to enrich the total consumer expertise of their internet site.

 While there are actually several Magento extensions readily available around out there, I have actually taken a while to filter a few of the greatest coming from the remainder that you have to outfit your internet site along with:

 1. Brochure Search Refinement:

 This Magento expansion, improves your outlet's hunt capacity, as proposed due to the title. Generally, when consumers utilize several phrases in the Magento hunt club, the items provided carry out certainly not consider the hyperlink in between the conditions and also the end result might certainly not matter.

 Using this expansion, however, your retail store wisely features those appropriate items including all the hunt conditions. If a consumer hunts for 'blue earphones', they will definitely discover blue-colored earphones as an alternative of things that are actually simply 'earphones' or even 'blue'.

 2. Sidebar Navigation Menu Professional:

 This Magento Addon includes an upright collapsible navigating food selection to your shop's sidebar pillars. The expansion additionally reveals succinct symbols for types. SNMP possesses versatile setup setups along with 30 possibilities to handle your internet site's navigating.

 3. Delivering Rule:

 Freight is actually the crucial part of any type of E-commerce outlet. Magento 2 delivers standard delivery components and also arrangements yet there are actually demands to bill customized freight prices to your clients located on specific shapes. Through this Magento 2 expansion, you can easily possess totally customized freight policies as demanded.

 4. Free Shipping Bar:

 Create clients familiar with the cost-free freight deal on your shop in a non-intruding way. Attract your clients along with customized message and also reveal all of them just how much are they coming from the minimal purchase overall to make use of the cost-free delivery promotion. Raise the typical purchase market value on your retail store through mounting the complimentary freight pub expansion.

 5. Easy Lightbox 2.0:

 Easy Lightbox presents your item picture in an attractive lightbox home window which assists your clients acquire a much better viewpoint of your items. The expansion enables you to tailor your item thumbnail, lightbox home window, as well as major graphic measurements. Lightbox setups including tag graphic, overlay vanish as well as resize period could be set up.

 6. Facebook Connect & Like:

 Facebook Connect as well as Like permits your customers to enroll to your outlet by means of their Facebook profiles as well as makes it possible for such attribute on every shop web page. You can easily personalize the login switch style to match your internet site's motif as well as likewise place a graphic in the login switch industry.

 7. Free Banner Slideshow:

 Those were actually some of the absolute best Magento Extensions that you should possess put up on your Magento Store. These are going to aid you expand your company significantly through boosting the functions of your shopping shop.

 The Free Banners Slideshow expansion permits consumers to incorporate as well as take care of advertisements efficiently coming from the frontend in a picture slider. The expansion delivers a variety of configurable alternatives including advertisement resizing, switch results, autoplay setups as well as various other alternatives to improve the advertisement show.

 Magento Extensions Explained

 Committing right into Magento extensions advancement is actually the most effective means to protect your ecommerce outlet versus the dangers of present day economic situation. Altogether, this seems the most safe method to develop your personal firm that is going to do work in program progression particular niche without taking threats.

 Anxiety free of charge examination out functions. Magento extensions are actually fantastic for creating your website effortless to visit straightforward designs and also navigating, while additionally possessing actually straightforward buying as well as look into attributes in a couple of simple actions - a making a decision think about helping make consumers return to your outlet. Buyers can easily utilize various money and also foreign languages to go shopping, while you may acquire relevant information regarding your clients.

 Easy personalization. Managers of outlets must put in to Magento addons progression ventures that develop items purely tailored for a cement service. adaptability and also simple scalability are vital consider modern-day economic climate where lots of improvements need to be actually performed swiftly.

 Ready-to-use from the beginning. During the course of Magento extensions progression refines screening is actually performed widely of every expansion, be it money adjustment or even blog sites assimilation, thus you could be certain that completion item will certainly prepare to go coming from the second it arrive on your work desk. This implies you possess remedies that operate without a problem, despite just how made complex the job is actually.

 Being compatible of all items. All magento items are actually create to become suitable thus throughout the progression method you may be certain that if your service increases and also builds it will definitely be actually simple to contribute to the functions you possess presently.

 Total command over the appearances of the store. Individuals nowadays are actually extremely meticulous concerning where they desire to go shopping. That is actually why the appearance of your store is actually very crucial, as well as along with the Magento extensions advancement you are actually the individual entirely behind what it resembles - as well as the very best component you do not must be actually a coder to bring in substantial adjustments to your retail store.

 Easy updates. When updates to Magento items are actually offered you will certainly possess all of them conveniently updated if you decide on premium quality Magento extensions advancement coming from trusted service providers of such companies.

 Magento extensions advancement is actually a subject matter that is actually trendy for every proprietor of ecommerce organisations. Managing on the internet establishments extra successfully as well as along with even more simplicity it is actually needed to locate the finest Magento answers.

 Easy material administration. Along with Magento extensions it is actually quick and easy to alter the web content without possessing IT skill-sets of a material supervisor.

 Magento Extensions to Optimize an eCommerce Store

 Magento is actually definitely the very most reputable eCommerce system utilized all over the entire world. To day, Magento has actually been actually set up through as several as 240,000 internet establishments via various companies.

 Why Magento therefore well-known?

 Magento levels Source - Magento Community Edition is actually cost-free to make use of. Superb admin and also customer knowledge ensured.

 Magento is actually an effective Online Store - That is actually genuinely achievable because of exact as well as reliable item management. Item purchase is actually immensely assisted! Multi-sites under particular domain names are actually effortlessly produced and also worked.

 Magento is actually SEO Friendly - Magento site is actually strongly optimizable along with impressive components as well as functions to take your business around the globe identified.

 It is actually an one-of-a-kind knowledge in eCommerce site advancement!

 Why Magento Extensions?

 Magento sites most certainly provide steady internet answers. Coming from web site concept to advancement facets, there might arrive numerous requirements that are going to require Magento enlargement to possess added value to eCommerce.

 " And listed below happens Magento Extensions!"

 What are actually the perks of Magento Extensions?

 As talked about over, Magento Extensions will primarily raise the attributes and also functions of Magento's nonpayment components. Nowadays, some on the internet tasks like on-line item administration, remittance techniques, transporting possibilities, take a look at procedures and so on are actually precisely done over it.

 Magento extensions as well as components function effortlessly, include completely as well as operate flawlessly. Magento expansion, plugin installment and also setup is actually quick and easy.

 " User expertise is actually made certain in general!"

 Permit's search some commonly in-demand outlet needs that the Magento extensions are actually primarily created:

 Item Insertion as well as Interface

 There are actually the expansions that are actually dressmaker produced to enhance different components. Item bring in expansions like ratty sell item bring in, bunch item bring in, up-sell item bring in and so on are actually in major strategy also!

 Repayment Gateways

 It enables internet repayment procedures to occur securely, promptly as well as effectively along with significant financial institutions as well as various other monetary associations. This aids to improve significant client rely on over an eCommerce market.

 Check-Out Process

 It enables fantastic on the web purchasing knowledge to website visitors. Take a look at Magento extensions are actually intended to help with visitors along with each of their actions that feature all of them coming from getting into onto the item webpage to having a look at along with their preferred acquisitions. A soft, prompt as well as error-free procedure is actually seen to it to specify an enjoyable purchase!

 Transporting Methods

 It enables boosting delivery, shipment and also payment methods depending on to retail store and also customer ease. Transporting components are actually produced according to several nations.

 Improving Sales

 Such expansions will certainly motivate on the internet site visitors to assess, fee as well as show their point of views concerning items. They advertise on the web traffic through attempting to interact customers along with expansions like News, Advance Shop Through or even Subscription to Services and so on.

 Ending,

 eCommerce criteria possess no side consequently carries out the demand to build Magento extensions. Along with every surfacing online step, Magento is going to keep ever before all set to provide an enjoyable searching as well as purchasing experience to on the internet individuals!

 Best Marketplaces To Sell Your Magento Extensions for Magento Developers

 While simply one or even 2 of the above establishments include Magento extensions specifically, many of all of them specify multi-vendor items appropriate along with various ecommerce systems. It is actually prudent as well as a terrible necessity of the hr for Magento creators to search past MagentoConnect to advertise their expansions.

 MageGiant:

MageGiant is actually a preferred title in the buying/selling instance of Magento extensions. The on the internet shop at MageGiant decorates a variety of superior Magento extensions along with some free of cost showcased plugins.

 Binpress:

It includes top quality expansions after determining its own premium and also use. They additionally feature author profile page along with the item that is actually valuable for setting a really good impact for the author in Magento neighborhood.

 Magento extensions are actually important in enhancing the functionality of your Magento sites. Magento Developers all over the world happen up along with lots of valuable expansions every time.

 Cmsmart:

If you have actually been actually trying to find an ideal internet market place that will certainly justify your expansions through supplying the correct system as well as assistance, at that point Cmsmart is actually simply for you. Among the greatest establishments for Magento and also Virtuemart expansions, Cmsmart possesses an outstanding industry online forum that permits the programmer associate with several leading experts around the world as well as increase their presence in the neighborhood. The market place blog sites of Cmsmart are actually additionally pretty beneficial for they deliver upgraded details regarding the current updates, fads, and also occasions concerning the ecommerce services.

 Ecomextension:

Ecomextension is actually a well-known ecommerce answer supplier that may be actually a suitable spot for industrying your Magento extensions. Magento designers can easily likewise obtain brand new possible clients for their items by means of this on the internet market.

 Undoubtedly, MagentoConnect is actually the ideal ever before market that Magento extensions can ever before be actually included in. Still, as a result of to some constraints as well as limitations, Magento growth business choose generating their very own shops to market their expansions.

 Xtendify:

Xtendify is actually a trending market place to purchase or even market Magento extensions or even plugins. Along along with Magento extensions, the internet shop of Xtendify likewise includes numerous various other ecommerce concepts as well as plugins.

 Softprodigy:

This is actually yet another leading web-store for Magento extensions that includes additional than 250 top notch expansions. This is actually a terrific location for Magento programmers to market their expansions.

 CodeCanyon:

A conversation on ecommerce expansions market is actually certainly never comprehensive without the reference of CodeCanyon. CodeCanyon possesses several buying/selling choices in expansions and also plugins team for Magento as well as various other systems.

[suzanneshannon]

Patterns for Practical CSS Custom Properties Use

I've been playing around with CSS Custom Properties to discover their power since browser support is finally at a place where we can use them in our production code. I’ve been using them in a number different ways and I’d love for you to get as excited about them as I am. They are so useful and powerful!

I find that CSS variables usage tends to fall into categories. Of course, you’re free to use CSS variables however you like, but thinking of them in these different categories might help you understand the different ways in which they can be used.

Variables. The basics, such as setting, a brand color to use wherever needed.

Default Values. For example, a default border-radius that can be overridden later.

Cascading Values. Using clues based on specificity, such as user preferences.

Scoped Rulesets. Intentional variations on individual elements, like links and buttons.

Mixins. Rulesets intended to bring their values to a new context.

Inline Properties. Values passed in from inline styles in our HTML.

The examples we’ll look at are simplified and condensed patterns from a CSS framework I created and maintain called Cutestrap.

A quick note on browser support

There are two common lines of questions I hear when Custom Properties come up. The first is about browser support. What browsers support them? Are there fallbacks we need to use where they aren’t supported?

The global market share that support the things we’re covering in this post is 85%. Still, it’s worth cross-referencing caniuse) with your user base to determine how much and where progressive enhancement makes sense for your project.

The second question is always about how to use Custom Properties. So let’s dive into usage!

Pattern 1: Variables

The first thing we’ll tackle is setting a variable for a brand color as a Custom Property and using it on an SVG element. We'll also use a fallback to cover users on trailing browsers.

html { --brand-color: hsl(230, 80%, 60%); } .logo { fill: pink; /* fallback */ fill: var(--brand-color); }

Here, we've declared a variable called --brand-color in our html ruleset. The variable is defined on an element that’s always present, so it will cascade to every element where it’s used. Long story short, we can use that variable in our .logo ruleset.

We declared a pink fallback value for trailing browsers. In the second fill declaration, we pass --brand-color into the var() function, which will return the value we set for that Custom Property.

That’s pretty much how the pattern goes: define the variable (--variable-name) and then use it on an element (var(--variable-name)).

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 1.0 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

Pattern 2: Default values

The var() function we used in the first example can also provide default values in case the Custom Property it is trying to access is not set.

For example, say we give buttons a rounded border. We can create a variable — we’ll call it --roundness — but we won't define it like we did before. Instead, we’ll assign a default value when putting the variable to use.

.button { /* --roundness: 2px; */ border-radius: var(--roundness, 10px); }

A use case for default values without defining the Custom Property is when your project is still in design but your feature is due today. This make it a lot easier to update the value later if the design changes.

So, you give your button a nice default, meet your deadline and when --roundness is finally set as a global Custom Property, your button will get that update for free without needing to come back to it.

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 2.0 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

You can edit on CodePen and uncomment the code above to see what the button will look like when --roundness is set!

Pattern 3: Cascading values

Now that we've got the basics under our belt, let's start building the future we owe ourselves. I really miss the personality that AIM and MySpace had by letting users express themselves with custom text and background colors on profiles.

Let’s bring that back and build a school message board where each student can set their own font, background color and text color for the messages they post.

User-based themes

What we’re basically doing is letting students create a custom theme. We'll set the theme configurations inside data-attribute rulesets so that any descendants — a .message element in this case — that consume the themes will have access to those Custom Properties.

.message { background-color: var(--student-background, #fff); color: var(--student-color, #000); font-family: var(--student-font, "Times New Roman", serif); margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 10px; } [data-student-theme="rachel"] { --student-background: rgb(43, 25, 61); --student-color: rgb(252, 249, 249); --student-font: Arial, sans-serif; } [data-student-theme="jen"] { --student-background: #d55349; --student-color: #000; --student-font: Avenir, Helvetica, sans-serif; } [data-student-theme="tyler"] { --student-background: blue; --student-color: yellow; --student-font: "Comic Sans MS", "Comic Sans", cursive; }

Here’s the markup:

<section> <div data-student-theme="chris"> <p class="message">Chris: I've spoken at events and given workshops all over the world at conferences.</p> </div> <div data-student-theme="rachel"> <p class="message">Rachel: I prefer email over other forms of communication.</p> </div> <div data-student-theme="jen"> <p class="message">Jen: This is why I immediately set up my new team with Slack for real-time chat.</p> </div> <div data-student-theme="tyler"> <p class="message">Tyler: I miss AIM and MySpace, but this message board is okay.</p> </div> </section>

We have set all of our student themes using [data-student-theme] selectors for our student theme rulesets. The Custom Properties for background, color, and font will apply to our .message ruleset if they are set for that student because .message is a descendant of the div containing the data-attribute that, in turn, contains the Custom Property values to consume. Otherwise, the default values we provided will be used instead.

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 3.0 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

Readable theme override

As fun and cool as it is for users to control custom styles, what users pick won't always be accessible with considerations for contrast, color vision deficiency, or anyone that prefers their eyes to not bleed when reading. Remember the GeoCities days?

Let's add a class that provides a cleaner look and feel and set it on the parent element (<section>) so it overrides any student theme when it’s present.

.readable-theme [data-student-theme] { --student-background: hsl(50, 50%, 90%); --student-color: hsl(200, 50%, 10%); --student-font: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; }

<section class="readable-theme"> ... </section>

We’re utilizing the cascade to override the student themes by setting a higher specificity such that the background, color, and font will be in scope and will apply to every .message ruleset.

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 3.1 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

Pattern 4: Scoped rulesets

Speaking of scope, we can scope Custom Properties and use them to streamline what is otherwise boilerplate CSS. For example, we can define variables for different link states.

a { --link: hsl(230, 60%, 50%); --link-visited: hsl(290, 60%, 50%); --link-hover: hsl(230, 80%, 60%); --link-active: hsl(350, 60%, 50%); } a:link { color: var(--link); } a:visited { color: var(--link-visited); } a:hover { color: var(--link-hover); } a:active { color: var(--link-active); }

<a href="#">Link Example</a>

Now that we've written out the Custom Properties globally on the <a> element and used them on our link states, we don't need to write them again. These are scoped to our <a> element’s ruleset so they are only set on anchor tags and their children. This allows us to not pollute the global namespace.

Example: Grayscale link

Going forward, we can control the links we just created by changing the Custom Properties for our different use cases. For example, let’s create a gray-colored link.

.grayscale { --link: LightSlateGrey; --link-visited: Silver; --link-hover: DimGray; --link-active: LightSteelBlue; }

<a href="#" class="grayscale">Link Example</a>

We’ve declared a .grayscale ruleset that contains the colors for our different link states. Since the selector for this ruleset has a greater specificity then the default, these variable values are used and then applied to the pseudo-class rulesets for our link states instead of what was defined on the <a> element.

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 4.0 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

Example: Custom links

If setting four Custom Properties feels like too much work, what if we set a single hue instead? That could make things a lot easier to manage.

.custom-link { --hue: 30; --link: hsl(var(--hue), 60%, 50%); --link-visited: hsl(calc(var(--hue) + 60), 60%, 50%); --link-hover: hsl(var(--hue), 80%, 60%); --link-active: hsl(calc(var(--hue) + 120), 60%, 50%); } .danger { --hue: 350; }

<a href="#" class="custom-link">Link Example</a> <a href="#" class="custom-link danger">Link Example</a>

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 4.1 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

By introducing a variable for a hue value and applying it to our HSL color values in the other variables, we merely have to change that one value to update all four link states.

Calculations are powerful in combination with Custom Properties since they let your styles be more expressive with less effort. Check out this technique by Josh Bader where he uses a similar approach to enforce accessible color contrasts on buttons.

Pattern 5: Mixins

A mixin, in regards to Custom Properties, is a function declared as a Custom Property value. The arguments for the mixin are other Custom Properties that will recalculate the mixin when they’re changed which, in turn, will update styles.

The custom link example we just looked at is actually a mixin. We can set the value for --hue and then each of the four link states will recalculate accordingly.

Example: Baseline grid foundation

Let's learn more about mixins by creating a baseline grid to help with vertical rhythm. This way, our content has a pleasant cadence by utilizing consistent spacing.

.baseline, .baseline * { --rhythm: 2rem; --line-height: var(--sub-rhythm, var(--rhythm)); --line-height-ratio: 1.4; --font-size: calc(var(--line-height) / var(--line-height-ratio)); } .baseline { font-size: var(--font-size); line-height: var(--line-height); }

We've applied the ruleset for our baseline grid to a .baseline class and any of its descendants.

--rhythm: This is the foundation of our baseline. Updating it will impact all the other properties.

--line-height: This is set to --rhythm by default, since --sub-rhythm is not set here.

--sub-rhythm: This allows us to override the --line-height — and subsequently, the --font-size — while maintaining the overall baseline grid.

--line-height-ratio: This helps enforce a nice amount of spacing between lines of text.

--font-size: This is calculated by dividing our --line-height by our --line-height-ratio.

We also set our font-size and line-height in our .baseline ruleset to use the --font-size and --line-height from our baseline grid. In short, whenever the rhythm changes, the line height and font size change accordingly while maintaining a legible experience.

OK, let’s put the baseline to use.

Let's create a tiny webpage. We'll use our --rhythm Custom Property for all of the spacing between elements.

.baseline h2, .baseline p, .baseline ul { padding: 0 var(--rhythm); margin: 0 0 var(--rhythm); } .baseline p { --line-height-ratio: 1.2; } .baseline h2 { --sub-rhythm: calc(3 * var(--rhythm)); --line-height-ratio: 1; } .baseline p, .baseline h2 { font-size: var(--font-size); line-height: var(--line-height); } .baseline ul { margin-left: var(--rhythm); }

<section class="baseline"> <h2>A Tiny Webpage</h2> <p>This is the tiniest webpage. It has three noteworthy features:</p> <ul> <li>Tiny</li> <li>Exemplary</li> <li>Identifies as Hufflepuff</li> </ul> </section>

We're essentially using two mixins here: --line-height and --font-size. We need to set the properties font-size and line-height to their Custom Property counterparts in order to set the heading and paragraph. The mixins have been recalculated in those rulesets, but they need to be set before the updated styling will be applied to them.

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 5.0 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

Something to keep in mind: You probably do not want to use the Custom Property values in the ruleset itself when applying mixins using a wildcard selector. It gives those styles a higher specificity than any other inheritance that comes along with the cascade, making them hard to override without using !important.

Pattern 6: Inline properties

We can also declare Custom Properties inline. Let's build a lightweight grid system demonstrate.

.grid { --columns: auto-fit; display: grid; gap: 10px; grid-template-columns: repeat(var(--columns), minmax(0, 1fr)); }

<div class="grid"> <img src="https://www.fillmurray.com/900/600" alt="Bill Murray" /> <img src="https://www.placecage.com/900/600" alt="Nic Cage" /> <img src="https://www.placecage.com/g/900/600" alt="Nic Cage gray" /> <img src="https://www.fillmurray.com/g/900/600" alt="Bill Murray gray" /> <img src="https://www.placecage.com/c/900/600" alt="Nic Cage crazy" /> <img src="https://www.placecage.com/gif/900/600" alt="Nic Cage gif" /> </div>

By default, the grid has equally sized columns that will automatically lay themselves into a single row.

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 6.0 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

To control the number of columns we can set our --columns Custom Property inline on our grid element.

<div class="grid" style="--columns: 3;"> ... </div>

See the Pen Patterns for Practical Custom Properties: Example 6.1 by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

We just looked at six different use cases for Custom Properties — at least ones that I commonly use. Even if you were already aware of and have been using Custom Properties, hopefully seeing them used these ways gives you a better idea of when and where to use them effectively.

Are there different types of patterns you use with Custom Properties? Share them in the comments and link up some demos — I’d love to see them!

If you’re new to Custom Properties are are looking to level up, try playing around with the examples we covered here, but add media queries to the mix. You’ll see how adaptive these can be and how many interesting opportunities open up when you have the power to change values on the fly.

Plus, there are a ton of other great resources right here on CSS-Tricks to up your Custom Properties game in the Custom Properties Guide.

See the Pen Thank you for Reading! by Tyler Childs (@tylerchilds) on CodePen.

The post Patterns for Practical CSS Custom Properties Use appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

Patterns for Practical CSS Custom Properties Use published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

[martin9395]

7 Absolute Best Magento Extensions That You Have To Beginning Utilizing Today

7 Absolute Best Magento Extensions That You Have To Beginning Utilizing Today

 You recognize what? The overall common ecommerce investing every client throughout the year is actually approximated to become $1,800 in the United States as well as 1,600 in the UK. Along with ever before raising internet shopping service, an increasing number of companies are actually surfacing online along with several systems on call on the market in the market.

 Magento is actually one coming from the a lot of reputable systems out there certainly to develop your shop on. The cause why Magento is actually really well-known is actually since it provides the shop managers the greatest functionalities and also an array of expansions to enrich the total consumer expertise of their internet site.

 While there are actually several Magento extensions readily available around out there, I have actually taken a while to filter a few of the greatest coming from the remainder that you have to outfit your internet site along with:

 1. Brochure Search Refinement:

 This Magento expansion, improves your outlet's hunt capacity, as proposed due to the title. Generally, when consumers utilize several phrases in the Magento hunt club, the items provided carry out certainly not consider the hyperlink in between the conditions and also the end result might certainly not matter.

 Using this expansion, however, your retail store wisely features those appropriate items including all the hunt conditions. If a consumer hunts for 'blue earphones', they will definitely discover blue-colored earphones as an alternative of things that are actually simply 'earphones' or even 'blue'. itoris

 2. Sidebar Navigation Menu Professional:

 This Magento Addon includes an upright collapsible navigating food selection to your shop's sidebar pillars. The expansion additionally reveals succinct symbols for types. SNMP possesses versatile setup setups along with 30 possibilities to handle your internet site's navigating.

 3. Delivering Rule:

 Freight is actually the crucial part of any type of E-commerce outlet. Magento 2 delivers standard delivery components and also arrangements yet there are actually demands to bill customized freight prices to your clients located on specific shapes. Through this Magento 2 expansion, you can easily possess totally customized freight policies as demanded.

 4. Free Shipping Bar:

 Create clients familiar with the cost-free freight deal on your shop in a non-intruding way. Attract your clients along with customized message and also reveal all of them just how much are they coming from the minimal purchase overall to make use of the cost-free delivery promotion. Raise the typical purchase market value on your retail store through mounting the complimentary freight pub expansion.

 5. Easy Lightbox 2.0:

 Easy Lightbox presents your item picture in an attractive lightbox home window which assists your clients acquire a much better viewpoint of your items. The expansion enables you to tailor your item thumbnail, lightbox home window, as well as major graphic measurements. Lightbox setups including tag graphic, overlay vanish as well as resize period could be set up.

 6. Facebook Connect & Like:

 Facebook Connect as well as Like permits your customers to enroll to your outlet by means of their Facebook profiles as well as makes it possible for such attribute on every shop web page. You can easily personalize the login switch style to match your internet site's motif as well as likewise place a graphic in the login switch industry.

 7. Free Banner Slideshow:

 Those were actually some of the absolute best Magento Extensions that you should possess put up on your Magento Store. These are going to aid you expand your company significantly through boosting the functions of your shopping shop.

 The Free Banners Slideshow expansion permits consumers to incorporate as well as take care of advertisements efficiently coming from the frontend in a picture slider. The expansion delivers a variety of configurable alternatives including advertisement resizing, switch results, autoplay setups as well as various other alternatives to improve the advertisement show.

 Magento Extensions Explained

 Committing right into Magento extensions advancement is actually the most effective means to protect your ecommerce outlet versus the dangers of present day economic situation. Altogether, this seems the most safe method to develop your personal firm that is going to do work in program progression particular niche without taking threats.

 Anxiety free of charge examination out functions. Magento extensions are actually fantastic for creating your website effortless to visit straightforward designs and also navigating, while additionally possessing actually straightforward buying as well as look into attributes in a couple of simple actions - a making a decision think about helping make consumers return to your outlet. Buyers can easily utilize various money and also foreign languages to go shopping, while you may acquire relevant information regarding your clients.

 Easy personalization. Managers of outlets must put in to Magento addons progression ventures that develop items purely tailored for a cement service. adaptability and also simple scalability are vital consider modern-day economic climate where lots of improvements need to be actually performed swiftly.

 Ready-to-use from the beginning. During the course of Magento extensions progression refines screening is actually performed widely of every expansion, be it money adjustment or even blog sites assimilation, thus you could be certain that completion item will certainly prepare to go coming from the second it arrive on your work desk. This implies you possess remedies that operate without a problem, despite just how made complex the job is actually.

 Being compatible of all items. All magento items are actually create to become suitable thus throughout the progression method you may be certain that if your service increases and also builds it will definitely be actually simple to contribute to the functions you possess presently.

 Total command over the appearances of the store. Individuals nowadays are actually extremely meticulous concerning where they desire to go shopping. That is actually why the appearance of your store is actually very crucial, as well as along with the Magento extensions advancement you are actually the individual entirely behind what it resembles - as well as the very best component you do not must be actually a coder to bring in substantial adjustments to your retail store.

 Easy updates. When updates to Magento items are actually offered you will certainly possess all of them conveniently updated if you decide on premium quality Magento extensions advancement coming from trusted service providers of such companies.

 Magento extensions advancement is actually a subject matter that is actually trendy for every proprietor of ecommerce organisations. Managing on the internet establishments extra successfully as well as along with even more simplicity it is actually needed to locate the finest Magento answers.

 Easy material administration. Along with Magento extensions it is actually quick and easy to alter the web content without possessing IT skill-sets of a material supervisor.

 Magento Extensions to Optimize an eCommerce Store

 Magento is actually definitely the very most reputable eCommerce system utilized all over the entire world. To day, Magento has actually been actually set up through as several as 240,000 internet establishments via various companies.

 Why Magento therefore well-known?

 Magento levels Source - Magento Community Edition is actually cost-free to make use of. Superb admin and also customer knowledge ensured.

 Magento is actually an effective Online Store - That is actually genuinely achievable because of exact as well as reliable item management. Item purchase is actually immensely assisted! Multi-sites under particular domain names are actually effortlessly produced and also worked.

 Magento is actually SEO Friendly - Magento site is actually strongly optimizable along with impressive components as well as functions to take your business around the globe identified.

 It is actually an one-of-a-kind knowledge in eCommerce site advancement!

 Why Magento Extensions?

 Magento sites most certainly provide steady internet answers. Coming from web site concept to advancement facets, there might arrive numerous requirements that are going to require Magento enlargement to possess added value to eCommerce.

 " And listed below happens Magento Extensions!"

 What are actually the perks of Magento Extensions?

 As talked about over, Magento Extensions will primarily raise the attributes and also functions of Magento's nonpayment components. Nowadays, some on the internet tasks like on-line item administration, remittance techniques, transporting possibilities, take a look at procedures and so on are actually precisely done over it.

 Magento extensions as well as components function effortlessly, include completely as well as operate flawlessly. Magento expansion, plugin installment and also setup is actually quick and easy.

 " User expertise is actually made certain in general!"

 Permit's search some commonly in-demand outlet needs that the Magento extensions are actually primarily created:

 Item Insertion as well as Interface

 There are actually the expansions that are actually dressmaker produced to enhance different components. Item bring in expansions like ratty sell item bring in, bunch item bring in, up-sell item bring in and so on are actually in major strategy also!

 Repayment Gateways

 It enables internet repayment procedures to occur securely, promptly as well as effectively along with significant financial institutions as well as various other monetary associations. This aids to improve significant client rely on over an eCommerce market.

 Check-Out Process

 It enables fantastic on the web purchasing knowledge to website visitors. Take a look at Magento extensions are actually intended to help with visitors along with each of their actions that feature all of them coming from getting into onto the item webpage to having a look at along with their preferred acquisitions. A soft, prompt as well as error-free procedure is actually seen to it to specify an enjoyable purchase!

 Transporting Methods

 It enables boosting delivery, shipment and also payment methods depending on to retail store and also customer ease. Transporting components are actually produced according to several nations.

 Improving Sales

 Such expansions will certainly motivate on the internet site visitors to assess, fee as well as show their point of views concerning items. They advertise on the web traffic through attempting to interact customers along with expansions like News, Advance Shop Through or even Subscription to Services and so on.

 Ending,

 eCommerce criteria possess no side consequently carries out the demand to build Magento extensions. Along with every surfacing online step, Magento is going to keep ever before all set to provide an enjoyable searching as well as purchasing experience to on the internet individuals!

 Best Marketplaces To Sell Your Magento Extensions for Magento Developers

 While simply one or even 2 of the above establishments include Magento extensions specifically, many of all of them specify multi-vendor items appropriate along with various ecommerce systems. It is actually prudent as well as a terrible necessity of the hr for Magento creators to search past MagentoConnect to advertise their expansions.

 MageGiant:

MageGiant is actually a preferred title in the buying/selling instance of Magento extensions. The on the internet shop at MageGiant decorates a variety of superior Magento extensions along with some free of cost showcased plugins.

 Binpress:

It includes top quality expansions after determining its own premium and also use. They additionally feature author profile page along with the item that is actually valuable for setting a really good impact for the author in Magento neighborhood.

 Magento extensions are actually important in enhancing the functionality of your Magento sites. Magento Developers all over the world happen up along with lots of valuable expansions every time.

 Cmsmart:

If you have actually been actually trying to find an ideal internet market place that will certainly justify your expansions through supplying the correct system as well as assistance, at that point Cmsmart is actually simply for you. Among the greatest establishments for Magento and also Virtuemart expansions, Cmsmart possesses an outstanding industry online forum that permits the programmer associate with several leading experts around the world as well as increase their presence in the neighborhood. The market place blog sites of Cmsmart are actually additionally pretty beneficial for they deliver upgraded details regarding the current updates, fads, and also occasions concerning the ecommerce services.

 Ecomextension:

Ecomextension is actually a well-known ecommerce answer supplier that may be actually a suitable spot for industrying your Magento extensions. Magento designers can easily likewise obtain brand new possible clients for their items by means of this on the internet market.

 Undoubtedly, MagentoConnect is actually the ideal ever before market that Magento extensions can ever before be actually included in. Still, as a result of to some constraints as well as limitations, Magento growth business choose generating their very own shops to market their expansions.

 Xtendify:

Xtendify is actually a trending market place to purchase or even market Magento extensions or even plugins. Along along with Magento extensions, the internet shop of Xtendify likewise includes numerous various other ecommerce concepts as well as plugins.

 Softprodigy:

This is actually yet another leading web-store for Magento extensions that includes additional than 250 top notch expansions. This is actually a terrific location for Magento programmers to market their expansions.

 CodeCanyon:

A conversation on ecommerce expansions market is actually certainly never comprehensive without the reference of CodeCanyon. CodeCanyon possesses several buying/selling choices in expansions and also plugins team for Magento as well as various other systems.

[tube-thoughts-blog]

Vol. 14

zero stars - terrible, 1/2 a star - dull, 1 star - folly, 1 1/2 stars - lacking, 2 stars - fair, 2 1/2 stars - decent, 3 stars - terrific

--- MTV's 120 Minutes w/ Alan Hunter:

*Alan has to be pulled out of his dressing room listening to George Jones (Sure, George is way too manly for Alan)

*The pinnacle of man towered over by skyscrapers in a very 20th century modern art ad for athletic 80s yuppies who drink milk. Yuppies listen to Phil Collins on evening MTV, not late night 120 minutes alternative bands.

*Wrigley's gum w/ nutrasweet for sweater wearing 80s families to chew on long bike rides.

*Awesomely 80s retro ad for a Casio keyboard drum that has a dorky guy walking around the type of alley Michael Jackson would dance in until he meets a sexy looking keyboard player who would fit right in with Prince's band at the time.

*TSOL "Colors": Another edgy new wave The Cult-esque sounding music video featuring cowboys. What was up with these bands & cowboys? Depeche Mode did it too. Decent.

*Walk in the West "Lonely Boy": Another edgy cowboy themed video? This time with the alt version of Cougar Mellon? This is more bluesy & has some of those awesome 80s video editing techniques with the band superimposed over shots of driving through rural America. Decent.

*The Descendents "Kids On Coffee": Very 80s punk/hardcore aesthetics featuring mugs of coffee & pictures of Molly Ringwald for some reason. Decent.

*Some new alternative records for the week are gone over by Alan. A few hip hop show up. Not sure if these were quirky hip hop acts or if hip hop was still considered a niche.

*Nickelodeon tips from Dennis. Nick still aired the Menace at this point. Now the black & white, non-trying-to-be-a-Teeny-Bopper-Pop-Star-themed show would give tween brats a seizure.

*Hey, "hoppin' & bobbin'" 80s family, sign up for HBO & cable. You'll get a free phone alarm clock too. Huh? Phone alarm clock? Whose dumb idea was that invention? People will never sleep beside their phones & use them for alarms *wink*

*Vomitous preview for a Joan London talk show about being a great mom & Mother's day on the Lifetime Network. Now, Joan stars in a commercial about putting her dear old mom in a nursing home to get rid of her. Ha!

*A generic new wave pop band "The Hooters" in an MTV bumper & performing & bowing, in front of a concert crowd, as a god awful song by them with the lyrics "Day by day" plays.

*Another cartoon graphics bumper for MTV featuring a jackpot machine scroll. More imagination went in to all these old bumpers than has gone into actual MTV programmingin the last almost two decades since the early 2000s.

*Joe Piscopo in a Miller Lite beer ad playing an over the top 80s wrestler, named Python Piscopo, taking over a seedy dive bar

*"Captain EO" a strangely forgotten Disney theme park music video / movie attraction produced by George Lucas & starring Michel Jackson. Looks good if you like MJ's 80s videos & Star Wars.

*James "So Many Ways": An Aussie sounding new wave singer is dancing, around a field of amber grains, like a spastic. Something new wave singers were known for doing. Dancing like a spastic. Nice, soaring, Bono-esque vocals. More than decent via video cliches.

*The Housemartins "Happy Hour": Quirky U.K. band in a pub partying themed video w/ California Raisins style animation. Terrific.

*Get a KODAK Supralife battery & be able to play air guitar longer beside your giant 80s ghetto blaster boombox. Awesome.

*"Did You know?" ad w/ 1-800 number for ordering a Yugo compact car. Pretty cheap too for a new car under 4,000. Not sure how much a new car cost in the 80s, but it would be hard to get a used car w/out 100,000 plus miles on the motor for anywhere near that amount today.

*Pringles Sour Cream & Onion dip chips has the Royal Family going goofy for the flavor.

*The low fi "do it yourself" aesthetics of videos by bands like Gene Loves Jezebel are something corporate produced videos can't re-capture.

*Gene Loves Jezebel "Heartache": Okay, I might have spoke too soon. The band had signed with Geffen records by the point of this video & the earlier clip doesn't apply. This video is slick w/ better camerawork, but the band's music still manages to shine thru. ---- Decent.

*The Bolshoi "A Way": This Brit band takes over some nice mum's quaint home to film aspooky little number for I.R.S. records 80s R.E.M.'s label

*"The Long Ryders" a hopeful "band" (not sure if real), in a Miller Beer ad, perform theircorny bar band rock & roll in a bar in Hollywood near Tower Records.

*Another stereotypical 80s dorky teen (the kind in every 80s teen movie) plays a CASIO keyboard in his totally 80s bedroom for his bored out of its mind hound-dog w/ big ears

*A 50s via the 80s "Leave it to Beaver" type nerd talks in the mirror about Cracker Jacks & then shares them with his sweetheart.

*Wrap up Hollywood hit movies like "The Karate Kid" & "The Al Jolson Story" (complete w/ him in facepalmingly funny black face) for only $29.95

*Soft & Dri ladies deodorant helps a cute black chick get ready for her tv news debut

*MTV's "Make My Video" contest for a chance to make a video for Madonna. Wow! 80s Madonna was iconic, I'll have to admit. Right up there with all the other 80s icons. Pretty to boot. Also included, in winning, is a surplus of Twix candy bars & a Levis wardrobe. I'd like to see some of the terrible entries from the contest.

*Bang "Summertime" an MTV Basement tapes winner: This NYC street video featuring a garage band that looks like KISS minus makeup feels like it would belong more on regular MTV or Headbangers Ball.  --- Fair.

*Cactus World News "The Bridge": A big, soaring U2 sounding band plays for a concert festival. --- Decent.

*Alan insults Cactus World News & blames it on a music article. I admire the bite that MTV wouldn't show today in insulting an artist on their network. They'd be considered a product that would be above criticism today, if they still had vj's or music videos. Still, Alan is the wrong person to be hosting this show, as MTV would soon figure out.

*The Go-Betweens "Head Full Of Steam": Video w/ a band that has a prissy looking leadsinger & Cure video style aesthetics. Nice crooning. -- Decent.

*80s mallrat teens tired of waiting forever for zits to go away get Clearasil & then beat it on their mopad or skateboard to the local foodcourt to gawk at each other while screwing up their skin even more with chocolate milkshakes & greasy pizza slices. The winner: corporate America. The loser: hormonal teens & their scraping to get by parents.

*Toni volumizer makes any 80s chick look like a high fashion sex kitten.

*"Heartbeat of America is today's Chevrolet"... This was a time when picturesque Americana actually might have meant something before global trade sent automotive jobs overseas.These quirky Americans & American made autos have vanished. Replaced by crumbling urban landscapes (Detroit), jobless & depressed people, along with foreign made products & autos.

*Sammy Hagar era Halen takes over MTV for a week. Would have been more fun w/ Diamond Dave. Can't imagine any band taking over MTV anymore much less one like Van Halen.

*The Wind "Good News, Bad News": A funny semi-acoustic duo music act performs for their neighbors in block party black & white video. Close to decent.

*A Brit rock (nobody that I recognize) ex-junkie for a "No Drugs & Alcohol" sober music making experience 1 - 800 recovery number. Being sober is probably why his music career is so forgettable.

*James Brown for MTV. James Brown popular in the 60s & here still recognized on MTV in the late 80s. Current MTV doesn't recognize music much less music legends.

*Cryin' Out Loud "Live It Up": "I ain't no Marxist" a lyrical band w/ "a message." Fair.

*Awesome post-apocalyptic arena combat ad for a "Lazer Tag" toy. "Stadium not included ."Ha. Someone must have complained that their backyard wasn't as fantasy like as this ad.

*"VCR Theater," every night at 2am on The Movie Channel, helps rock lovin' chicks, who sleep with their electric guitar, record a flick. Why the rock & roll theme was included, in the ad, must have been because the ad was MTV specific. Otherwise, it makes no sense.

*Penn & Teller have "blood & fire" as they guest host MTV. "Born to be wild" badasses.

*A rock & roll hotel in "Playin' For Keeps" rated PG13. 80s PG, which GoodBadFlicks.com would tell you might equal a little R rated sex & nudity & language w/ the comedy. I had forgotten this 80s movie. Might be a forgotten gem, might be well a forgotten dud.

*Christy Brinkley for taking a shower & using Prell shampoo. I, like Chevy Chase, am all for getting a little wet w/ the very sexy 80s model Christy Brinkley.

*More bad jokes & bad silver jackets from Alan.

*Timbuk 3 "Future's So Bright, Gotta Wear Shades": A minor classic. terrific.

*Christmas "Big Plans": Clever points for the band name. Clever & quirky video featuring mailroom drudgery. The band escapes into a fantasy world filled with cliche 80s cheesy & weird video editing techniques. Close to terrific.

*Alan's head is now a talking head in an 80s tv set. Silver 80s tv sets w/ either a rabbit's ears antenna or a dial cable box are more art & make me feel more happy than a 60 inch flat screen wall hanging home movie theater experience to watch crappy 20 tens era reality shows on. Those old tvs played awesome UHF local tv stations & awesome at the time cable channels.

*Every day Joes drink Miller beer after they get off work from their blue collar jobs. It's the "American Way" of getting liver disease & addiction & emotional / relationship problems when you're "Born & raised in the U.S.& A."

*"Top Gun, the number one soundtrack" w/ music from Kenny Loggins, Berlyn, & Loverboy. Coming to a yuppie moron's car stereo near you! (unfortunately)

*"Dippity Do" hair styling gel for futuristic 80s weirdos.

*MTV was hip in the 80s, I might not say this enough, & for clarity on how "cool" it actually was... it had guys sticking their fists up chicken butts & wiggling said fist, while their bald heads were covered in whip or shaving cream. Why? Why not?

*The Rainmakers "Let My People Go-Go": Funky, bluesy, quirky, top hat wearing band rocks the house (literallY) while their horn section blows it up out in some rural decay while walking around w/ the bulldog from Little Rascals. Decent.

*Billy Chinmock "Somewhere in the Night": tape cut out, so who knows, didn't look like it was gonna be great for an alt video what w/ its aesthetics of a high style 80s babe walking down a foggy back alley. zero.

I think at this point in 1980's 120 minute alt rock history, they had mistaken alot of the popular bluesy rock of the time for alt rock & mixed it in w/ the Brit new wave. It didn't mesh together well. I guess none of the music on 120 minutes history ever truly did through the changing time periods & trends. At least it existed for a while & was something a bit different.

*Limited Warranty "Hit You": 120 Minutes has definitely gone off, at this point, but the tape has another video for me. It's a new wave pretty boy group. In the style of A-Ha "Take on Me." It's nothing terrible for what it is. Pretty catchy like most of that kind of music was. Decent, I guess.

close to 2 for Alan,  close to 3 for MTV, 2 1/2 for videos, 2 1/2 for ads

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

Geraldo Rivera: Exposing Satan's Underground *"This is a horror that will give children bad dreams." We're not talking about Satan,no, it's Geraldo's mustache. Jokes & utter stupidity aside... Seriously, after all his 80s & 90s tabloid garbage "news" hysteria, it's unbelievable that Geraldo still has a career in journalism.* zero stars

Penn & Teller Bullshit!: Ouija Boards & Near Death Experiences *The mind can be deceived through cheap games & brain power-outs.* close to 3 stars

--- DinosaurDracula.com presents Creepy Commercials Countdown:

*Sunkist Spooky Fruit (1989): Eat enough gummy fruit flavored snacks & wake up, from a candy coma, in a cemetery filled w/ animated trees, lounge about skeletons, & purple people eaters from the stars.* 2 stars

*Easter Seals Halloween Coupons w/ Vincent Price (1990): "Halloween doesn't have to be spooky." It's blasphemy for a lame organization to get one of the most symbolically spooky actors of all time to say this. "It should be warm & friendly." Even if it's meant to be ironic & Vincent Price sure reads it that way, it sucks. I want Halloween to be like Halloween 3, and end horribly. Well, at least in my imagination. Candy & fright. Not "safe" coupons.* 1 star

*Coors Light Beer w/ Elvira (1991): If I were an Addams family style disembodied hand & I met Elvira, I would do more than try to hand her a beer. I would crawl down the front of her very open black dress & never come out. Also, I wouldn't mind being at a Halloween party stuck behind Elvira in one of those two person horse costumes.* 3 stars

*Spooky Goop Halloween Make-Up (1988): Be the coolest & weirdest kid on the block going from cheap ghoul face paint to full on Fulci's Zombi grotesque skin.* 3 stars

*The People's Court Frankenstein Promo (1988): Village idiots will kill over daytime trash tv. Dr. Frankenstein & his monster (son?) would have been great guests on Jerry Springer.* close to 3 stars

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

Public Access: "My Name Is John Daker" *A mumbling piano lady, of some Methodist church according to her, & a mumbling male singer who couldn't be more stiff. They attempt a song about "The Lord" only for it to devolve into jaunty number about the moon hitting one's eye like a big-ah pizza pie.* either 1 star or 3 stars terrible becoming terrific

--- Red Letter Media presents Best of the Worst: Shakma, Python II, and Beaks the Movie

*Shakma: A crazy baboon on the loose while its victims live action role play in a college animal testing lab.* either 1 star or close to 2 1/2 (for primate slasher premise cuteness)

*Python II: One of those crappy CGI snake genre flicks. A genre that would be further made worse by SYFY & Asylum later on in the 2000s. The python looks startling, in its scenes, but I do not know if that's just all the taco soup, that I ate earlier, talking or what.* 1 1/2 stars

*Beaks the Movie: The VHS box cover says "unintentionally funny." See, hipsters, our VHS ancestors were self aware too. So, this is pretty much an Italian exploitation version of Hitchcock's "The Birds" complete w/ that Eye-Talian auteur creative cliche of animal cruelty. Such a dumb premise taken to its heights of ridiculousness, but M. Night would try it with "The Happening" & there's the "wants to be so bad so bad it's good" but isn't "Birdemic 1 & 2." Not really all that fun, except to Red Letter's Rich.* 1 star

According to Red Letter Media, Beaks is best (by default) Shakma is divisive & Python 2 was supposed to get destroyed by beach birds but they don't like birdseed covered VHS tapes

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

Classic Comedy Central: Buddy Scott trio in the elevator *An office worker ant is trapped in his coffin falling a hundred plus floors to hell. He cheers up when a lounge act sing to him the message that he's "heading to the top." Penn Jillette (then voice of Comedy Central) says to "Think positive."* 2 1/2 stars

--- Everything Is Terrible:

*You Gotta Be Kidding Me: The customer is always a pain in the rear of the golf shorts.* 1 star

*They're Coming For Your Kids!: "For the cost of two Cokes," & one soul, they'll become manipulative salespeople of religious literature on their school campuses.* 1 or 3 stars

*The Net: "From astrology to gardening & punk rock."* close to 3 stars

*Telephone Song!: Be correct when you dial collect. Tween girls discover the power of the telephone. They all do.* 2 1/2 stars

*Rock Music & the Occult: "God isn't interested in impressing teenagers." Hence the reason that Satan's rock music is so successful.* 3 stars

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

"B Videos 101 Vol. 1" *"Perfect, no one suspects" that Andy Griffith is a bar brawling deviant, that Redd Foxx is from a galaxy far far away, or that Papa Smurf likes to have his salad tossed.* 2 1/2 stars & zero stars for the doo doo Jackson Pollock porno finale

--- Phone Losers:

*Security Cam Pranks - The Kitchen Couple: An outrageous & short lived invasion of boring breakfast table privacy.* either zero or close to 2 1/2 stars

*Home Security Prank Call - Peace of Mind: Every hour on the hour reassurance is bothersome & as comforting as forced prayer.* close to 2 1/2 stars

*Rich Neighborhood Prank Calls: We've been going through your trash, & we don't like what we find.* 2 1/2 stars

*Tenants from Hell - Archaeological Dig Site: Before you hear it on the news, we want to let you know about the giant skeletons & the buried alien technology that we found.* close to 3 stars

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

Beavis & Butthead: It's So Cold in the D *"This is hard to dance to." Detroit has fallen on such hard times, the very danceable to hip hop sounds more like a funeral song.*

2 1/2 stars w/ riffing

1 star w/out

5 Dollar Wrestling: Death Match Dance Party *"Blood in the roller-rink."* 2 stars

--- Found Footage Fest:

*How To Have Cybersex on the Internet: "those who have mastered the art of one handed typing."* close to 3 stars

*It Only Takes A Second: "to be safe" or die in a hilariously horrible accident.*

3 stars

*Mr. Nasty - Insult VHS Tape: Mr. Nasty is such a bad insult comedian, he makes Andrew Dice Clay look like Jeffry Ross who looks like Nazi propaganda of a Jew on marijuana.* 1 star

*What Does God Say About Worldliness: "It's better to go to a funeral than to go to a party." Maybe so, but it's not as much fun. So this failed comedian, turned touring for money evangelist, says one can have a fine stable of horses, cars, or women... but HaHa, it's a one way ticket to H-E-L-L. The evangelical sort of brags about having a stable of finely bred horses, by the way. His audience looked like they were at a funeral. No smiles, no laughs, no horses, just misery. I thought they called it the gospel (good news).* 1 star

*Something's Happening: Watching the mucus sizzle. The "stuff that's killing the world" (mucus) of a old man / mucus conspiracy theorist. (What did I just watch?!)* Uh? stars?

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

--- Monstervision w/ Joe Bob Briggs: Coma

*Joe Bob has on his gloriously un-politically correct rebel flag western shirt (Joe Bob is just too un-PC for current tv) & he does a funny editorial on the world's obsession with wrapping the everyday garbage products we produce & consume up with so much other wrapping that there's no real garbage anymore just the plastic we used to hold all the crap we consumed.

*TNT had such a hard on for E.R. coming to TNT, Joe Bob says that's the reason the first flick is E.R. creator Michael Crichton's "Coma"

*Drive In totals:  77 dead bodies... 8 breasts 2 living 6 dead (censored)... Brain slicing kidney weighing.. vegetable handling.. organ donating.. plastic covered peni (Devious look on Joe Bob's face as he says this).. death by electrocution...  gratuitous New England antiquing... fire extinguisher fu.. cadaver fu..

*Huggies ad w/ a baby parachuting out of a plane thru fluffy clouds. Don't diapers sell themselves? Babies are cute, sure, but is this to convince new parents of that fact & to make the awful reality of changing shitty diapers not have them wanting to put their brat up for adoption?

*Dennis Miller for dollar collect calls & being a smug asshole. Only good thing that he ever did was Weekend Update on SNL, & Norm was better at it. Fallon & Tina not my choice...Colin Quinn pretty okay...

*Fisher Price Rescue Mission toddler action figures ad... Huh? This isn't Saturday morning cartoon commercial breaks? This is after 11pm TNT. Why the ads for kids & their parents?

*A dog dreams about bacon in the classic "Beggin Strips" commercial. I think this would not be politically correct now either. Dogs can't eat bacon because their owners have to feed them liberal nazi approved gluten free & non-processed healthy meat dog food. Surely no bacon, a little chicken (no hormones) & they'd just love to take meat away from dogs & make them vegans. They don't go that far yet, but PETA probably does with their pets.

*Leann Rimes (sp?) croons the classic country song "Blue" while images of picturesque Maine play in a Red Lobster commercial. Nice combo.

*An ad about the type of toothbrush (Oral B) a dentist uses, & so should you. Dentists also have free access to all the high tech dental cleaning & surgery tools in their office, so why does it matter that they use a certain toothbrush at home? It doesn't.

*WCW's "The Giant" has nostrils so big that he could inhale most normal size people. Check him out on TNT's WCW Monday Nitro.

*Ikea turns a subway train into a kitschy living space for the daily grind passengers. Ikea furniture also is the decor of one of the sub levels of Hell.

*Joe Bob reads from the "trashy" novel version of Coma while he sips from his Budweiser covered in a TNT logo coozy.

*Another of the countless "never need another" "get back to your outdoor life" allergy rx ads. I wonder if evolved alien civilizations, out there in the stars, still deal w/ allergy problems on their planets filled w/ lush plant life...

*Firestone helps a young college age guy & his dog get back out on the road of life in his beat up convertible.  "Saved money too." Sure, mechanics aren't rip off artists.

*Visit the TNT website for NBA news, a Babylon 5 chatroom (you were a legit nerd if you were on a chat site like this in the 90s, not a hipster nerd), even a Monstervision page

*$1.99 Disney toys in Happy Meals has a future out of the closet broadway kid putting on a living room show, along w/ his sister, for his parents who are too cheap to buy real toys or cook an actual healthy dinner for their kids. Harsh, but whatever.

*Kevin Nealon, another Weekend Update SNL alumni, sells out to a collect call ad.

*Antz, one of the early CGI Pixar style movies. Has some of the charm, if I'm remembering correctly, of those CGI cartoon movies for kids, not as obnoxious as most, but the animation hasn't aged well (imo).

*Monks avoid breaking their vow of silence by chewing "Beano" before eating gassy salads at dinner. First semi clever & funny & not despisable ad of the night.

*Digitally restored, & w/ dvd style extras, episodes of Star Trek coming to 1990s Sci Fi channel hosted by Shatner.

*Joe Bob has an I.V. drip ran into his beer to keep with the medical theme.

*Joe Bob makes a joke about Dustin Hoffman being a midget who has to wear platform pimp shoes. ha

*Two patronizing ads to talk about. One w/ a less manly man who needs to get a mid sized Sonoma pick up truck like a "real man." Another about a old maid going to Tru Value to pick up (not truck) a can of paint to match her cat's furball.

*Eggo's new microwave pancakes (I'm sure they're edible?) make a dad believe he's a short order breakfast cook at a greasy spoon diner. One where truckers show up in a family's kitchen in the morning. If truckers are showing up in your kitchen, uninvited, it's not for griddle cakes. It's cause you're gettin' raped.

*Wanna check out what whitebread 90s peoples looked like, view this "So easy to use, no wonder it's #1" America Online 1 800 number commercial

*"Come see the softer side of SEARS" Short story, every time I used to go to the mall ,I somehow ended up entering thru the SEARS appliance section. So, first I was greeted by refrigerators, washers, dryers, color tvs (Dire Straits, wink). The softer side, the SEARS clothing section, was way off in another part of the mall. Some tucked away corner. By the time that I was there, mall anxiety was really getting to me. I wanted to Tom Savini "Dawn of the Dead" special fx kill a few mall motherfuckers. Not really. I'm more timid & just wanted to run back out the way I came thru all the appliances.

*Joe Bob talks about Rip Torn being a good ole Texas boy & having starred in an episode of I Love Lucy. Joe Bob doesn't really like Lucy (me either) but feels like he's seen every episode (me too for some reason).

*Joe Bob blames Nick at Nite for classic tv osmosis, & says we're better off watching "hick at nite." I definitely digged TNT's Monstervision & 100 % Weird, but there were a few late nite Nick at Nite shows worth watching like F-Troop & Dobie Gillis among others

*"Get back to the groovy 60s" w/ flower power & free love? No. McDonald's Big-Macs & fries instead. The secret sauce is almost as good as sex & for 49 cents, the same price a burger was in 1969, I'm in. Don't take the brown acid or Grimace will really freak you out, mannnn!

*Kinkos guido competitors think it's better to have comedy than color printing. Not a bad ad going off one viewing & not having it ran into the ground like tv ads' fate goes.

*"Smile you got French's Smile you got fun." French's mustard. Smile you got heartburn. Smile you got a nasty yellow stain on your white t-shirt. Points for the dog, in the ad, w/ a whole hotdog held sideways in his mouth w/out swallowing. That had to have lasted all of 2 seconds. Dogs swallow everything whole in seconds.

*Cute commercial w/ live bears dressed up like a mama bear & her school aged children little bears. She dresses them up in backpacks & sends them off into the woods to go to school. She packs a lunch of rice krispie treats in wrappers. Bears & people food don't mix. The bears probably destroyed the set to eat all the sticky candy & mauled a few school children once they got to school.

*Motorola phones & pagers give NYC hipster yuppies "wings." It's a fashion model / actress who attended suit & gown parties while also keeping it real w/ her across town jeans & t-shirt boyfriend. Not sure how many regular folks had a cell phone at this point. Pagers were pretty popular yet ghetto.

*Campbells tries to give moms the delusion that their teenage sons will leave the bedroom & the Playstation long enough to have a family meal in the kitchen.

*Hip Hop tapdance meets RiverDance meets the Salsa dance in a TOPS appliance ad. Why they needed to spice up an appliance store grand opening is just a sign of the popularity of River Dance crap at this point in the 90s.

*TimeWarner cable, it's like a bagel penetrated by the Empire State building. No, really, that's the image they put on the screen. Not sexual subliminal at all, wink wink. Either that or they're saying, "Fuck you, New York, pay your overpriced TimeWarner cable bill, 'cause we got our figurative giant dick up your ass!"

*Joe Bob claims to have been kicked out of a convent of nuns. Fox in the hen-house.

*I think it's important to view these old (not too old) ads, because the sinister hand appears, & is more visible given the historical context. It shows that sinister hand has always been around trying to make the world outside the hamster wheel seem prettier than it really is.

*Wear Target clothes & look like a model photographed in stunning black & white photography Yep.

*Tony Danza is the boss of fifty percent off collect calls. These collect calls ads were the pathetic celebrity precursor to things like Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice & Dancing w/ the Stars.

*Preview for James Garner in a TNT original movie along with Kathleen Turner. Ted Turner had a real hard on for old actors like Garner.

*A Geico car insurance fairy ad. Geico were already torturing people at this point? Hmmm.

*Another Geico ad w/ a business guy bumming a ride on the back of a chicken truck w/ feathers flying in his mouth & all over the place. Quirky, but still Geico, & they've worn out their welcome long ago.

*Joe Bob & Reno the Mail Girl discuss Bill Clinton lowering the standards of America's women w/ his flawed Southern charm & looks.

*"Words instead of letters" to the tune of "Sweet nuthins" on Motorola Wings pagers. The era of text messages has begun. Interesting ad for historical purposes.

*A pretty lady leans out of the darkness, turns on a light, & says "Do you see the tar stains on my teeth or smell the tobacco on my breath?" Well, no I don't have smell-o-vision & whatever happened to Targon mouthwash? Smokers just don't give a shit anymore. The rising price of smoking (health, money, & legally) has worn smokers down.

*Clairol hair color. Coloring one's hair can make that person feel like a "natural wo-man."

*Joe Bob thinks that the TNT censors are out to blur comatose boobs because they mistakenly think the sight of them will make people wanna screw nekkid corpses.

*Joe Bob ridicules the plot holes & foolishness involving bumbling security guards & a heroine who is clued in but clueless.

*Coma: A sleuthing surgeon almost sinks trying to stop a corrupt hospital conspiracy of organ harvesting for profit & having a social climbing coworker boyfriend (Michael Douglas) who doesn't, til almost her end, believe her conspiracy.*

running from 2 to 2 1/2 stars for Coma, 3 for Joe Bob, & 1 1/2 for the ads

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

The Young Turks: Fox News's War On... Sharks *Clear the waters, sharks, people are number 1.* 2 stars (edit years later: I used to occasionally get news from the turds at Turks. how dumb.)

Public Access: "Live TV Prank Calls To Pro-911 Communist Public Access Host" (youtube) *Bluff & guff.* either 1/2 or 1 star

James Randi & Psychic Crime Solving *Police don't officially use psychics but often rely on their illogical detective work.* either 1/2 (what'd you expect? other than sensational lies by the psychic. which this time didn't happen. therefore dull reading.) or 3 stars

==== The Comfort Zone w/ Ray Comfort:

"Ray Comfort's New Homosexuality Movie" ("Audacity" ha...)

*"People were begging" this Aussie sounding evangelical, Kirk Cameron's buddy, the guy who debated, along with Kirk, atheists.

They were begging him to make a movie about gay ole homosexuality in the non-happy sin sense.

He's also infamous for a video where he talks about evolution & creation using a banana as an example.*

runs from 1 to close to 2 stars

(He's rather polite & there's not a lot of hate towards gays as usual w/ these things.)

(edit, years later:

when you're a shitlib supporter of gay rights, you put them up on a pedestal.

not realizing how truly degenerate they are.

this is way before I saw pics of what really goes on at pride parades.

where oral & anal sex takes place on the street along w/ half naked men in leather & clown outfits performing spankings & bondage acts.

many times, other non-gay themselves equal rights, for queers, supporters (like i was) would bring their families (including children) there to support these pride marches. that's a folly that should open more eyes. not sure it does when one is that blinded w/ the mindset of "don't judge" & "love is love"... ugh... smh in disgust & shame

here I was poking fun at a dumb evangelical (man of faith in a faithless world. an easy target.) & his banana folly

while thinking anyone else was intolerant or ignorant for holding onto tradition in the face of such odd & socially dysfunctional behavior.

forgive me.)

================================================================================

Conan on TBS: James Bobo Fay Got His Hands On Sasquatch Semen *Bobo is willing to "take one for the team" of bigfoot hunters. In the name of pseudo-science & love.* 2 1/2 stars

Kenny vs. Spenny: Who Is Cooler? *Kenny overdosing on black tar heroin or Spenny, Kenny's caring nurse, dressed up like a "Greek rapist" (Johnny Depp)? The obvious loser gets locked in a cold meat locker.* close to 3 stars

"Fan Made Dominos Pizza Commercial featuring a fake The Undertaker" *Okay, so it's the Summer of 1992? It's a few months before the World Wrestling Federation pay per view wrestling show "Summerslam." Beware though The Undertaker has been missing for months. That's not the strange part, no, the strange part is that The Naked Gun's Leslie Nielsen had been out searching for him in vignettes. Dominos pizza was the sponsor. Here, some real nerds borrow a vhs camcorder, their Dominos delivery gremlin of a car, & a nighttime cemetery to film one of their friends dressed up like their hero, The Under-taker, lurking behind a tree while, in said graveyard, ordering pizza through the power of the darkside? Not exactly sure, but he got them to deliver w/out paying for the pizza & only leaving an autographed picture of himself as a tip.* 3 stars for absurd effort

Look Around You: Food *Vegetable orchestra for the Feast of Saint Frankenstein. Featuring a piping hot casserole made out of recycled & dehydrated food that pushes the fat right out of the skin. Or you could stay home & celebrate your birthday with a delivery medicinal-pizza.* close to 3

"New Orleans Airwaves - The Mystery Morgus Episode" *Serialized & shot on grainy film, circa 1960s, mad science lab hijinks w/ all the gloriously ghoulish trappings.* more than 2 1/2 stars

--- Everything Is Terrible:

*Christian Star Wars: It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for an Imperial lazer beam to penetrate the soul of a believer.* 3 stars

*Anybody Can Make Chili Dogs: Knock on a stranger's door & share the message of love topped w/ a variety of condiments to mask the bland taste of grinded pig's anus packaged in a tube form.* close to 2 1/2 stars

*Machine Gun Magic: "They're not for everyone." Just those who can't get enough of that tat-a-tat-tat action.* 1 star

*Police Scanner: The suspect appears to be an obese house-cat.*

either 1/2 a star or fair

*Why Wait For Heaven: The babyboom generation were really susceptible to cult thought & behavior.*

either 1 or 2 1/2 stars (eye opener, I'm now a mindless believer)

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

Manimal: Night of the Beast *Simple bear necessities of wildnerness life trying to be corrupted & turned into a casino resort for the mafia. Robert Englund (not quite Freddy just yet) vs. Manimal. There's a destructive claw, in the movie, but it's not Freddy's. It's Manimal in a ridiculous looking bear suit.* 2 1/2 stars

Men Without Hats - Safety Dance (Literal Version) *"Whack a midget's ass."* 2 1/2 stars for literal 3 stars for original

Angry Video Game Nerd: Seaman for Dreamcast *It has Leonard Nimoy. It eats time & knowledge. It says / does "fuck." It's not logical... or is it? (Cue creepy sci fi music)* 3 stars

The Young Turks: Man Breaks Leg Attempting To Rape Horse *Sadly "it wasn't his first "rodeo"..."* 1 star

Hannibal: Fromage *Lures & lutes. Hannibal gets into a kung fu showdown w/ a fellow serial killer.*

3 stars

Penn & Teller Bullshit!: PETA & Eat This! *Ethical? No. Infact, insanely evil. Emaciated? Yes. ------ Stop expecting results. Start exacting change. Avoid batshit crazy activists at all cost. They'd starve us all.* 3 stars

---- Memory Hole:

*I'm Obese Song: Just tryna tell you people that I'm messed up.* 3 stars

*Meatsack Worshipers: It puts the cow tongue on its skin or else it won't ever get Fritos again.* close to 3 stars

*Salad Tossers: Hidden Valley's behind closed doors food fetishes.* 2 1/2 stars

*Satan's Dinner Prayer: Dig in, hooves first.* close to 2 1/2 stars

*Dance Til U Puke: Achy Breaky Rappers never die. They cry "unbutton my fly."* 3 stars

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

"Munchies" (1987) *Roger Corman produced Gremlins ripoff starring Harvey Korman as a polyester sleazeball bumbling villain. Exists in a quirky America similar to Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks."* running from 2 down to 1 1/2 stars

---- Reel Wild Cinema w/ Sandra Bernhard : Supernatural Sirens

*Creepy Mexican 1940s Universal Horror looking horror short called "Curse of the Crying Woman." Pretty darn creppy, and much more depraved than Universal Horror.

*Sandra wants to slap a bitch (The Crying Woman) & then go get a massage (ha)

*Sandra says not to mess with the hearts of Texas witches or sell your soul to Hollywood

*"The Naked Witch" a story about Bruce Campbell's hipster twenty something year old uncle riding the backroads of Texas, in the 1960s, accidentally bringing back to life buried & vengeful femme fatales. while all the time narrating to himself about it.

*Sandra drops some info about the director of "Naked Witch" filming another flick called "Naughty Dallas" in a strip club owned by Lee Harvey Oswald's assassin Jack Ruby

*Comedian Dana Gould joins Sandra to talk about capes, masks, & restraining orders.

*Sandra gives a hilarious history lesson on Mexican imports including pain killers, ponchos, various other things from Tijuana, & most of all El Santo horror/sci fi movies

*"Samson vs. The Vampire Women"... Watch as El Santo gets "monkey flipped," then puts a werewolf in a "camel clutch" wrestling submission hold. I love typing that sentence.

*1950s retro ad where a woman shows off her Playtex magic plastic bra as she turns completely invisible, except for her underwear, in a grocery store of all places.

*Dana talks w/ Sandra about his friendship w/ Ed Wood's starlet Vampira (sp?). Great story about how she met a rollerskating Bela Lugosi on Hollywood Boulevard. Ha. awesome.

*"The Girl in the Cage"... a 1960s kooky nudie short minus the nudity. We can watch the kitschy siren paw at her bamboo prison, but no nudity. 'Cause even though we're all adults & this is late night, the Puritans who wouldn't ever watch this, & the kids, whose parents ought to have them in bed by late night tv time, might get offended. Nice jungle girl strip tease, none the less.

*Buy a Viva Santo t-shirt from this 1 800 number ad. Do it before Hot Topic puts it up at their store & makes it not cool to wear anymore. Shortly after, they did.

*Grindhouse coming attractions commercials for "The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman"... "Devil Woman" a cobra charming she bitch flick from Asia.... "Fanny Hill Meets Dr. Erotico" a Frankenstein sexploitation feature....

*No surprise to find out, via the credits, that the show's "Film Doctor" is none other than the director of "Basket Case" & "Frankenhooker"

3 stars for the shorts & 3 stars for Sandra

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

--- Crematia's Horrorscopes (old school tv horror host):

*Aries "A man w/ a glass eye will try to catch yours as his rolls under a table"... Not a bad way to meet. "Meet cutes" make me wanna puke. Glass eyes usually make me want to puke, too, This however I like.

*Taurus "A gardener will ask you to propagate. Don't do it. Ask him to fix the latch." If you have to be told not to screw your gardener, you need more than your horrorscope read. Gardeners don't look the way sexless middle aged women imagine them to be. No six-pack & tan. Only a mustache w/ bread crumbs in it. "Fix the latch." He's not a gynecology expert, either, I'm sure. If you can afford a gardener, you can afford a trip to the vagina doctor. We're already asking enough work, at slave wages, from our illegal help.

*Gemini "Cockroaches will stage a counter-revolution in your kitchen." Wouldn't that make the cockroaches already the oppressive regime in one's house if that were so?... No hiding when the lights come on. It's the humans crawling around in the dark trying to throw molotov cocktails in order to get access to the cereal cabinet or the fridge. Are they gonna booby trap cans of roach spray so that it will explode in the human's hands? That sounds more revolutionary than counter-revolutionary.

*Cancer "You'll be given a gift that requires batteries." This had to be tame in order to be on basic tv. But is a sex toy joke being worked in here? Not funny & probably not.

*Leo "A poultry farmer will ask you to do foul things, but you'll chicken out." Okay, maybe I was wrong about the last one not being about a sex toy. This is getting pretty grotesque. "Chickening out" hints at being interested in the first place. I don't know too many women or men who'd have to turn over in their heads the notion of doing foul things w/ a guy who more than likely smells of chicken feces even after bathing. Someone might be in to that. Someone w/out a gag reflex (I don't mean that in an oral sex sense).

*Virgo "A woman will view your clothing w/ disdain & offer you club soda." Bad joke.

*Libra "You'll attend a party that reminds you of a bowl of cereal full of fruits, nuts, & dates." First, you need some fruits & nuts to spice up a party. Aren't dates dried up fruit? Who'd want a dried up date? Not the fruit but an actual romantic interest... Who'd be at a party thinking about cereal? besides a really high stoner who couldn't wait to get back to their apt & watch cartoons....

*Scorpio "You'll be invited to the neighbors for a matzo ball but you won't know what to wear." If you're that culturally ignorant, then wear some of your Nazi memorabilia attire.

*Sagittarius "A grammarian will make rude comments about your dangling participle" that's pretty clever, I guess. unless your sexual partner is the grammarian.

*Capricorn "A fisherman will invite you to dinner. Go just for the halibut." Stay to look at his small dinghy. Surprised that she didn't say that too.

*Aquarius "A foreigner will misinterpret your body language & take you up on an offer." What's w/ all the references to stumbling into a bad sexual situation? People who follow the nonsense of the zodiac must be really paranoid about rape.

*Pisces "A phrenologist will ask to look at your wife's bumps." He's a doctor of small bumps. He's not a plastic surgeon wanting to give your wife bigger boobs.

Crematia has a dirty mind.

2 1/2 stars

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

GoodBadFlicks.com : "Bad Channels" *Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" radio airwaves alien panic meets early 1990s rock & roll cheese plus Full Moon Horror productions animatronics special fx work. Starring quirky & energetic MTV vj Martha Quinn.* close to 3 stars for the review

Idiot Box starring Alex Winter: Episode 1 *Raw animal urges & accounting.* more than 2 1/2 stars

Clerks TV Show Pilot (Disney) 1995 *So sanitized, Silent Bob would have Tourettes trying to sit through it. Jim Breuer would fit in pretty well w/ Jason Mewes.* close to 2 stars

The Daily Show w/ Craig Kilborn: 1996 Bill Clinton & Bob Dole Presidential Debate Coverage *Kilborn struggles to connect w/ the studio audience (I believe there was one & it wasn't just the crew laughing. Or maybe it was. Often quiet.. only minimal laughing noise). The correspondents of the Daily Show invade their first of many major political events. You could tell that the major news journalists didn't really know how to react to it. Nothing interesting to report from the snoozer debate. News of Sammy Hagar fired from Van Halen. A funny bit called "Tesh History" that I forgot about & remember liking back in the day. Craig interviews old school entertainers Joe Balogna & his wife Renee Taylor.* 2 stars

Nickelodeon Arcade (featuring the stars of Nick's Salute Your Shorts) *Donkey Lips & Buttlick (the redheaded scumbag pal of Edward Furlong in Terminator 2) go to a gameshow arcade ran by a quirky black dude in a colorfully loud shirt. The type of arcade that moms imagine. Ones w/ a green screen like on the weather channel & where kids wear bike helmets plus elbow & knee pads just to be safe.* 2 1/2 stars (fond childhood memory)

Reading Rainbow: The Salamander Room (1994) *LeVar visits a NYC zoo rainforest enclosure. Much love to Lynne Thigpen who was the voice of reading the story. An unsung hero of the show. Also, there's a reason the theme song is stuck in many an adult's head years & years after never hearing the song again. Good reason that is.* 3 stars

James Randi debunks an aura reader (youtube) *The aura reader had to pick out the auras or actually sillhouettes of strangers behind a thin white sheet. 2 out of 5 ain't bad, given it's all a game of chance & aura reading is bullshit. But, if I were the aura reader, I would claim that the 1920s style barbershop quartet top hats threw off their chakras.* 2 stars

---- TV Carnage:

*Seamless: On Dr. Phil, today a murder confession, tomorrow the tale of a clutterbug.* 3 stars

*The Bottom Line Is Nice Hair! No Matter How You Get It!: "There's a new you waiting" & he has teased bangs but no bald spot.* close to 2 1/2 stars

*Your Inner Piece: If you are wise, you won't let a white guy wanna be yoga master (yogi) put you into all kinds of awkward stretching positions that resemble sex positions.* close to 2 1/2 stars

*Women Look Amazing When They Fight: Noogies & short shorts. I miss America's Roman gladiatorial days of sexist lady athletics.* 2 1/2 stars

*Sylvia Dogs Do Rule Heaven: Saint Peter has a St. Bernard.* 2 stars

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

Beavis & Butthead: Don't Call Me Dude - Scatterbrain *If you don't know the dude, it's rude.* 2 stars w/ riffing close to 2 stars w/out

Uncharted Zone: Gemma Cretella - Thesis Antithesis Synthesis *Pretentiously wordy hipster techno music white rapper.* 1 1/2 stars

Robocop: Zone Five *This series continues to borrow heavy from Batman & Frank Miller. There's a drug hitting the streets of Old Detroit that's similar to The Joker's laughing gas. The bureaucrats have turned a section of the most crime ridden part of the city over to vigilantes who secretly are the criminals supplying the drug. There's a psychiatrist agreeing w/ the criminals & he's a lot like Dr. Crane in Batman Begins. Robocop's son almost gets corrupted by the vigilantes, similar to a lot of Robin stories.* more than 2 1/2 stars

Rifftrax versus 70's Commercials from CBS's presentation of the Star Wars Holiday Special *"Always look for the union label" & the "extreme melodrama."* 3 stars w/ riffing 2 1/2 stars w/out

Occult Demon Cassette presents "Never Be A Victim" (1990s Stranger Danger) *Be alert, aware, & filled w/ awful anxiety. Has friendly Irish-Canadian police officer Jim scared the shit out of you, w/ his helpful hints about the horrific, yet or not?*  either 1 or 2 stars

"Madman" (1982) w/ commentary from cast & crew *Trends don't always have to be a bad thing. Following in the footsteps of Friday the 13th & Halloween, some young, determined filmmakers scrounge together enough resources to take a camp legend & turn it into another great entry into the early days of the 80s slasher genre.* 3 plus stars w/ commentary 3 stars w/out

American Gothic: Inhumanitas *To living we owe respect. To the dead we owe the truth. To the devil, Lucas Buck, a crooked lawyer owes money & also a corrupted preacher owes his soul.* close to 3 stars or 1 1/2 stars for the horrible CGI / unintentionally funny scene of a poor, old, black man's head on the body of the angel sister pretending to be a waitress.

"Warlock Moon" w/ audio commentary from Joe Bob Briggs *According to Joe Bob, San Francisco & Austin indie filmmakers may have traded ideas about turning the classic children's fable "Hansel & Gretel" into a horror flick. He suspects much marijuana was smoked in the process (ha). San Francisco produced this one, Warlock Moon, which Joe Bob says should have went by its other, much better title "Blood Spa." The Austin connection makes it very similar to & almost a sister film of "Saw" (Texas Chain, that is).*

3 stars w/ commentary & 2 stars w/out

The Higgins Boys & Gruber: Skinny Wizard *Tired of spending your weekend either jamming out to metal in your kitchen/den/living room combo or going to the mall w/ your devil worshiping friend Thad? Straighten up, thanks to The Parents Coalition for Good Tunes.* 2 1/2 stars

Jerry Springer: "I'm In Love With A Gay Vampire" *You'd think that it'd be a drain, but they're great emotional & spiritual support in a relationship or affair.* 1 star

Duran Duran: Rio (Literal Video Version) *"Sweet air saxophone dude, dude, dude, dude..."*

running from 2 to close to 2 1/2 starsw/ literal & close to 2 1/2 stars for actual

"Dirty Shary" ---xxx--- (1985) *She's got a 44. No, not a handgun. A 44 double d breast size & she's using it to somehow help take down a white slavery sex ring.* more than 2 1/2 stars

Cheaters: Anesthesiologist Finds Cougar Wife Cheating *Menopause shouldn't mean a skanky girls nite out addict should pause gettin' some from douchebag hunks just 'cause her hubbie specializes in dulling sensitivity.* zero stars

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mitchell *"Leaves behind the "great" smell of brute." Joel also leaves behind a great legacy, fleeing in an escape pod after this awful movie. This movie is more anti-drug idiotic than Reefer Madness. Joe Don runs around being a supposed to be loveable drunk, but isn't, always chugging a six pack & shooting first or causing someone else's violent demise, even at one point an innocent helicopter cop partner. However, he's on his moral high horse in forced comedic interactions w/ his high class escort girlfriend who he's always shoving around & hauling off to jail for a small amount of marijuana. Hypocritical. That's on top of the rest shit movie smeared in 70s era country western trucker lowlife swagger Americana b.s. (not just in the also awful soundtrack & not in any cool way).*

more than 2 stars w/ Joel's last MST3K riff & 1 star w/out

5 Dollar Wresling: Storm Maverick, Your Next 5 Dollar Wrestling Superstar *He body slams his pillow, even though it's also his amigo, on his grandma's living room floor.* close to 3 stars

--- TBS Commercials May 12, 1988 (Part 3 on Youtube) ran during the Superstation Movie Presentation of "The Savage Bees":

*The announcer lady talks about how Thursday at 8:00pm prime time, TBS will be showing The Dirty Dozen w/ Lee Marvin & Ernest Borgnine. That shows the huge difference in old school TBS & modern "Very Funny" TBS. The Dirty Dozen is very manly whereas TBS's modern primetime lineup of "Big Bang Theory" is very unmanly.

*Preview for Frank Sinatra as a guest on Larry King Live on sister network CNN.

*80s mallrat tween girls dance about because Lee 'Press On Nails' have just been made for smaller hands.

*Partly animated Murine earwax removal system commercial. My grandparents were of the Depression/WW2 generation. By the late 80s, they were already retired & living comfortably. Products & ads like this remind me so much of their medicine cabinet. TBS reminds me of them, as well. Old war movies, westerns, & Americana sitcoms / dramas.

*A New York Giants linebacker, in full gear, in his locker room spraying athletes foot cure spray on his toes. The brand is NP-27, & the can couldn't have a more generic yellow & red color scheme design or bland logo. Probably why the product didn't last...

*Sleepinal to help 80s adults fall asleep fast. The milquetoast ad man for Sleepinal puts me to sleep just looking at & hearing speak.

*Quirky promo for prehistoric time travel feature "The Land that Time Forgot" on Grandpa Munster's Super Scary Saturday on the Superstation.

*Remember those old Time Life music compilation commercials? The ones where some forgotten entertainer would stand alone in a studio & sing a few lines from each of their hit songs? Well, here's one for "Get the Very Best of Ray Stevens" & Ray is at his best (worst?) as he sings his tunes while dressed up in costumes fitting each silly song. Whitetrash variety

*"Munster, Go Home" promo coming on Saturday afternoon on the Superstation.

Ah, I so miss old school TBS Superstation

A very biased for nostalgia reasons 3 stars

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

Extended Play on Tech TV 10/12/2001? *Extended Play was such a better name than X Play. X for xtreme, I guess, sounds like something a group of smarmy ad people sat around & did focus groups to come up with a "cool" title. Adam Sessler a thick head of spiky Billy Idol hair too. There's also no nerd sex object Morgan Webb to lust over. Talk with a visionary computer gaming studio ,Xulu, who wanted to have a realistic space travel simulator. Sad news that the already dead, at the time, Sega Dreamcast wouldn't be getting Shenmue 2, & instead X Box would. Preview for the classic, cute, & addictive "Super Monkey Ball."* 2 stars

Cracked.com : Why 28 Days Later is Secretly About Sex *Everything in this running zombies(? infected?) flick is a metaphor over frustration about humans' urges surrounding fucking.* either 1 star or 3

Brass Eye: Science *Some people say that heavy electricity isn't real. Those people aren't idiots or celebrities looking to be cool standing up for a cause they pretend to understand.* more than 2 1/2 stars

Forbidden Transmission 2: Cultural Fallout *Let's all smoke pot, dat damn fried chicken, do fag stuff. Shucky ducky, quack quack. Grab a slut & pee in her butt* 3 stars

Max Headroom: Baby Grobags *Planned Parenthood presents Baby Grobags from the makers of Hot Pockets. These bundles of joy are smarter than a 5th grader & an adult.* 2 1/2 stars

--- Cinema Insomnia w/ Mr. Lobo: Bigfoot, Mysterious Monster

*Retro 1970s ad for Mattel's Creepy Crawlers 'Thingmaker 2' from an era when little girls wore granny sized eye glasses. Awesome.

*Some 1960s era Go-Go dancing w/ upskirt shots of nice legs in pantyhose & white jungle babes.

*Mr. Lobo wants the viewer to suspend disbelief for the "Godfather of Grunge" Bigfoot

*1950s sci fi film star Peter Graves comes on camera, very grim, to tell the viewers of the film about its earnestness in documenting the truth about Bigfoot (snicker) & to warn them of the horror (let the exploitation begin).

*Vintage trailer for King Kong vs. Godzilla. In it, an American scientist talks about how King Kong's brain is bigger. Go America, boo Japan! Our monster is smarter. But did we not kidnap Kong from Skull Island in the Pacific? Shhh! He's a Yankee, now!

*Lobo & Graves both talk about the Loch Ness monster. Of course, Lobo does it more tongue in cheek. Loch Ness vs. Bigfoot... about as close as we could actually come to King Kong vs. Godzilla. That is if all the crazies are right & reality isn't.

*Parody of those old soft rock romance cd ads that would play on t.v. This one is for cult sci fi character Krankor. For only 9 payments of $9.99 own Candles, Krankor, & You. It will make you want to hug your significant other on a sunset beach while the waves gently break on your feet. Ah... romantic.

*Nice bumpers for Cinema Insomnia using old cartoons. One has a giant, angry motor oil can chasing a cute something or other...

*Lobo is keeping up w/ the latest crypto weirdo through UFO magazines & such.

*Graves tries to pass off modern lizards' ties to ancient times, including the funny little running on two legs lizard complete w/ wacky sound effects, to prove the possibility of Sasquatch... He's no Darwin.

*1950s ad for Gravy Train dog food "Makes it's own gravy" & "looks like beef stew" if you believe Johnny, the hound's owner. Go ahead, Johnny, take a bite. You know you wanna.

*"This could be your terror!" "This could be your city!" so it says in a vintage trailerf or Rodan. The early days of the atomic age had people actually wondering if that were true or not. Or at least shelling out a nickel or dime to see monster carnage.

*American history lesson on Sasquatch. He ("they") migrated from Asia. Oh, no, don't tell Donald Trump. Also, a Brit team, in the 1800s, possibly captured a young one & named it "Jacko." Hmm... a young, repressed weird boylike creature named "Jacko"... Why am I reminded of a chimp named "Bubbles" & a pursuit of The Elephant Man's bones...

*Lobo is having stomach problems out in a park restroom on his hunt for Bigfoot. He'll find another big, hairy manlike creature instead. The North American Gay Bear fetishist.

*Gigantis, the Fire Monster trailer. Bigfoot as an excuse for all the kaiju krazy

*Graves tries to argue the importance of oral statements on Bigfoot to a scientist. The scientist doesn't buy it. He wants hard scientific evidence. Graves brings up the fact that the courts relied on such testimony. Thank science for physical scientific evidence coming into play more now in the courts. It's not 100 percent perfect, yet, but it's far better than a jury believing the same person, in a real trial of importance, who had earlier given a sworn report on their encounter w/ a mythical creature.

*An adult Bigfoot believer recounts his time out camping w/ his Boy Scout troop when Bigfoot was caught sniffing their underwear late one night. This caused the boys to squeal like a Girl Scout. This only proves that Bigfoot belongs not in the list of known species but instead on that of sex offenders.

*Chilly Dilly "The Personality Pickle" a cartoon pickle spokesperson who looks like Jimminy Cricket. A portable pickle snack. Snacks have come a long long way. Picklemania ran wild.

*Lobo visits w/ the director of "Bloodthirst, the Legend of the Chupacabra." American woodsmen are afraid of Bigfoot & Mexican desertmen(?) fear "Goat Sucker."

*Trailer for the above mentioned flick. Looks very low budget & shot on video. Also like a vampire flick instead of a monster flick. The director explained that he believed the Chupacabra was actually another Mexican/South American legend called the Mocha or something Vampire. He admits fans & critics hated his Chupacabra re-imagining & I can easily see why. It sucks.

*Chocolate Toddy dairy bar snack in a can. It's 1950s white people approved. Mooooooo! The poor dairy bar worker guy. What a lame uniform.

*Suburban Sportsman is odd & I don't know what to make of it. A sort of travelogue of Area 51 conspiracy theorist visiting the base, looking at dead sheep corpses, & then going out on the salt desert to use their high powered pistols to shoot lizards for lunch.

*Again, Cinema Insomnia makes good use of stock footage for their bumpers. Comforting midnight jazz & a moon filmed for some long ago tropical flick now shown in timelapse sliding across the night's horizon. Doing late night tv, right.

*Escape from the Planet of the Apes trailer. When the apes arrived here via space ship to the astonishment of the U.S. army. The Ancient Aliens tv show guy w/ the crazy hair... He looks like a Tim Burton concept sketch for his Apes failure of a movie.

*Graves visits a psychic detective w/ a Bigfoot plaster cast hidden in a suitcase. The quack guesses correctly. If it weren't obvious that Graves was fucking w/ the viewer, before, it should be now.

*Lobo tries to hypnotize a waitress into revealing whether or not she served Bigfoot a cup of Joe as one of her countless customers over the years.

*Trailer for the awesome looking stop motion 50s giant monster flick "The Black Scorpion."

*Lame & long winded joke interview w/ a 5th grade teacher about Bigfoot being his former student. Only gets funny w/ a short part about Bigfoot hitting puberty & being smelly.

*1940s looking safety film clip about numbskulls taking risks & turning into grotesque looking figures wearing scary as shit masks from that time period. I think the masks were supposed to make them look like comical fools, but to the modern eye it's ole timey uncanny valley horrifying.

*Lobo sits on a nice pier interviewing Bigfoot's awkward prom date who seems to never have gotten over that night. She claims Bigfoot had a tiny penis.

*Lobo talks w/ Bigfoot's former roommate in college. The hipster playing the part makes sure the shot is framed w/ a Buffy cast photo magazine, a Doctor Who laser disc or vinyl album, & his Superfriends cartoon t-shirt.

*A bunch of hippy investigators went out in the woods w/ tranquilizer guns & cameras to find evidence to force the scientific community to "take a more active role in the hunt for Bigfoot" according to Graves. Also according to Graves, they only came back w/ a handful of fecal matter & hair. Sounds about right. Hippies + or - Bigfoot = Hair + Shit.

either fair or folly for Peter Graves pseudo documentary, 3 stars for Cinema Insomnia's ads & bumpers, more than 2 1/2 stars Lobo, close to fair for the guests

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Chiller Theater Presents: Doctor Moreau's Happy Pills (youtube) *If only they'd invent a solution to everyday ills.* close to 2 1/2 stars

"Marc Maron Predicts the Future" (youtube) *Doomed, bored, & further restricted. Marc nailed it.* close to 3 stars

Rich Hall: Supermarket Sniglets --1983-- (youtube) *Made up words that should be in the dictionary. An early urban dictionary, but more cleverly absurd & stomachable & not awful slang related.* close to 3 stars

Bill Maher's "Religulous" *Take it on faith & do it because you've always done it, dammit.*

more than 2 1/2 stars

[mediacalling]

How to Create Beautiful Instagram Stories (and 10 Amazing Templates to Use)

More than 15 million businesses now use Instagram worldwide and over half of those businesses are creating Stories every month.

Stories are an incredible way to connect with your audience in fresh and authentic ways. Who knows, maybe they’ll even become the new News Feed.

But creating attractive Instagram Stories can be challenging and time-consuming.

We’d love to help with that!

We’ve teamed up with the team at Adobe Spark, an awesome free design tool, to share 10 Instagram Stories templates you can use to quickly create your Instagram stories.

We’ll share how we create outstanding Instagram Stories graphics in under 10 minutes each.

Instagram Stories: 10 ways your business can use Stories (plus 10 free Adobe Spark templates)

There are so many different ways to use Instagram Stories.

At Buffer, we use Stories to:

Discuss our latest blog posts

Take our community behind the scenes

Share social media stats and data

And much more

To help you get the most out of Instagram Stories, we’ve created 10 easy-to-edit Instagram Stories templates that you can use to right away.

How to use these Instagram Stories templates:

Click on the ‘Use this template’ button under your chosen template

You’ll then be taken to Adobe Spark to edit the template (you’ll need to create a free account to do this)

Once logged in, edit the template as you wish: change the background, caption style, etc.

Download the finished graphic and you’re ready to post to your Story

Let’s jump in!

1. Storytelling

Use this template

One common use case for Instagram Stories is to show behind-the-scenes content. For example:

Restaurants show how their dishes are prepared

Musicians show how their music is recorded in their studio

Sports teams share training sessions with fans

Fashion experts demonstrate how to put together the perfect outfit

SaaS platforms could provide an inside look at their company hack-day

This template could be used to introduce a story to your audience — like an opening title. If you want a bit of inspiration, here are 11 storytelling formulas you can refer to.

2. How-to tutorials

Use this template

This is our favorite way of using Instagram Stories — to educate. We’ve used Instagram Stories to share how to curate content, set benchmarks, and much more.

If you want to share some tips or teach your followers how to do something (such as how to use your product), you could try using this template.

For example, we often get questions about the perfect size for Instagram Stories (1080px X 1920px) or how to advertise on Facebook. We’ll take these questions and turn them into short Stories tutorials.

3. Blog post promotion

Use this template

Blog post promotion is another thing we often do with Instagram stories.

Instead of simply asking people to visit our blog, we like to highlight the key points via Stories. Repurposing content across channels is a great way to ensure it reaches as much of your audience as possible.

If you write how-to guides or create how-to videos, you can adapt the how-to tutorial template above to promote your content.

4. Lists and countdowns

Use this template

I learned this strategy from Airbnb. I’ve seen them share lists of the best places to live, workspaces in Airbnb homes, and more.

You might be interested in sharing:

Various ways to use your product

Surprising stats and facts about your industry

User-generated content

You can also try fun and entertaining lists such as “top books for marketers” or “top things we learned in social media this month.” People love a good list!

5. Limited time offers and promotions

Use this template

As Instagram Story lasts for only 24 hours, making it a great way to promote time limited sales. This is a strategy often used by online clothing retailers.

For example, Black Sheep Cycling launched their new limited edition cycling kit through Instagram Stories and sold them out in 30 minutes.

You could use this template to share your offers with your followers.

6. Giveaways and discount coupons

Use this template

To entice followers to watch their Instagram stories, brands sometimes host exclusive giveaways or give out discount coupons in their Instagram stories.

Again, this is great for online retailers who drive sales through social media promotions. You could use a unique discount code specifically for your Instagram stories to track how much sales your Instagram stories generate.

At Buffer, we’ve used this technique to help encourage reviews to our podcast.

First, we thanked all of our weekly listeners for being a part of the show and then we showed a picture of Buffer socks and shirts.

Next, we asked people to respond to our Stories with a  if they have listened to our podcast or a  if they’ve reviewed our podcast.

Everyone was entered for a chance to win swag!

7. Data, research, and statistics

Use this template

Do you know any interesting (or surprising) statistics about your industry that your followers might be interested in?

Mentioning a cool stat can be a great way to get the attention of your followers before you share something important (such as an announcement or a blog post).

8. Quotes and inspiration

Use this template

Several social media influencers such as Gary Vaynerchuk often share motivational quotes on their Instagram Stories.

It doesn’t only have to be a motivational quote. You could share a quote from your most recent blog post or a quote from your CEO — if it’s relevant to your followers, it’s often work sharing.

9. Introduction for an Instagram takeover

Use this template

An Instagram Stories takeover has a nice advantage over a traditional Instagram post takeover, in that your guest can post as many stories as they like without filling up your nicely-curated gallery.

Before you let your guest post on your account, you might want to promote the takeover or introduce the guest, and that’s where this template will come in handy.

You could also use this template if you want to host a question and answer session with your followers through Instagram Stories. Let your followers know what the session is about and invite them to DM you questions.

10. Announcements, news, and updates

Use this template

We have shared several fun announcements using Instagram stories: the launch of our podcast, the launch of our online social media strategy class, our celebrations for Social Media Day, and more.

You could use this template to build up the anticipation for your announcements and then to reveal the surprise through a subsequent story.

How to design your own Instagram stories in under 10 mins

Adobe Spark is one of our favorite free design tools for creating graphics. With the app, I managed to create this graphic in just four simple steps:

Here’s how I did it.

(Feel free to grab a free Adobe Spark account to follow along!)

1. Select the Instagram story template

Adobe Spark has a handy template for Instagram Stories, so you know your post will be perfecly sized.

(If you are wondering, the ideal dimensions for Instagram Stories are 1080px wide by 1920px tall.)

To find the template, create a new post, select “More sizes”, and choose “Instagram Story”.

Enter the caption for your story and hit “Continue”.

Adobe Spark will generate a design with your caption. (Sometimes, it looks great enough to be used without further edits!)

2. Set your background

Next, pick a background for your Instagram story. (Or you can stick with Adobe Spark’s suggestion if you like it.)

With Adobe Spark, you can set the background as a plain color or an image.

To use a plain color for the background, select your preferred color from the side panel and Adobe Spark will remove the suggested image.

To use an image, click on the image and then click “Replace” above it. Adobe Spark has a search function for you to find free images (that are tagged as Creative Commons-licensed) to use.

We often use a simple colored background because text can be hard to read on some images. That said, when designed properly, Instagram Stories with an image as the background can look very appealing.

Here’re a few quick tips for using an image as the graphic’s background:

Choose a relevant image that has few things in it and preferably with a clear background such as the sky or sea

Place your text on the part of the image with a clear background

Use a photo filter and use a bright color, such as white, for your text

For this example, we’ll use an image for the background. Here’s how I set an image as the background:

3. Edit your caption

Next, spice up your caption.

With Adobe Spark, there are six different ways you can edit your caption.

Shape

Color

Font

Spacing

Alignment

Opacity

If you are not sure how to design your caption, no worries at all. Adobe Spark has a neat feature that suggests different designs for you. All you have to do is turn the dial.

(To go back to previous suggestions, simply turn the dial in the opposite direction.)

Once you have found a design you like, you can still make adjustments to it such as changing the color or the font.

If you want to add more text to your graphic, click on the green plus icon above the graphic and then, “add text”.

4. Download

Finally, to download the graphic, click “Share” at the top of the page and then, “Download” on the left.

Transfer it to your mobile phone and you’ll be ready to post your newly-designed Instagram Stories graphic. You can find this graphic by swiping up or tapping the image icon when you’re in your Instagram Stories camera mode.

If you are using an iPhone, you can also use Adobe Spark’s iOS app to download your graphic to your mobile phone directly. (The Android version is coming soon.)

Optional: Draw, add stickers, and more

If you like, you could also add more details to your graphic using the Instagram app before posting it. Draw, add stickers, add hashtags, and more to make it look more fun.

Also, adding hashtags and location tag helps people who aren’t following you discover your Instagram stories.

Additional tools and resources

There are many other great design tools and resources available if you wish to create Instagram Stories videos or customize your Instagram Stories graphics further.

Here are a few options:

1. Video tools: Stories Ad

Stories Ad is a free tool for creating “stunning Stories in less than 2 minutes”. It provides 12 professionally-produced video templates you can use to create Instagram Stories videos.

Follow the instructions on the web editor, and it will send your video to your email inbox.

Other video tools: Flyr, Animaker, and After Effects

2. Mobile apps: Storeo

(Image from Molly Marshall Marketing)

If you like use long videos for your Instagram stories, you might love Storeo. Storeo is a mobile app that slices your videos into clips of 15 seconds — the maximum length of an Instagram Stories video. It will save you lots of time from manually editing your videos into 15-second clips yourself.

For $9, you can remove the watermark on the clips.

Other mobile apps: Flyr, Over, and Flipagram (Hat-tip to Molly Marshall for these app recommendations.)

3. Marketplaces: Creative Market

You can also get Instagram Stories templates designed by talented creators for about $10 to $20 on Creative Market. Many of these templates are Photoshop files so you’ll need a basic knowledge of Photoshop to customize the template for your purpose.

Other marketplaces: 99designs and TopTal

What’s your favorite Instagram Stories tip?

Using templates can be a great, easy way to create amazing Instagram stories in minutes. I’m grateful to the team at Adobe Spark for creating these wonderful Instagram Stories templates we have shared with you in this post.

I’m sure using templates is just one of the many ways to save time while creating Instagram stories. Do you know of any other tips for creating Instagram stories quickly? 

If you are going to use any of these templates, we would love for you to share any one of your graphics in the comments below! 

—

Image credit: Unsplash

How to Create Beautiful Instagram Stories (and 10 Amazing Templates to Use) posted first on http://ift.tt/2qbaJ0t

[mariemary1]

How to Create Beautiful Instagram Stories (and 10 Amazing Templates to Use)

More than 15 million businesses now use Instagram worldwide and over half of those businesses are creating Stories every month.

Stories are an incredible way to connect with your audience in fresh and authentic ways. Who knows, maybe they’ll even become the new News Feed.

But creating attractive Instagram Stories can be challenging and time-consuming.

We’d love to help with that!

We’ve teamed up with the team at Adobe Spark, an awesome free design tool, to share 10 Instagram Stories templates you can use to quickly create your Instagram stories.

We’ll share how we create outstanding Instagram Stories graphics in under 10 minutes each.

Instagram Stories: 10 ways your business can use Stories (plus 10 free Adobe Spark templates)

There are so many different ways to use Instagram Stories.

At Buffer, we use Stories to:

Discuss our latest blog posts

Take our community behind the scenes

Share social media stats and data

And much more

To help you get the most out of Instagram Stories, we’ve created 10 easy-to-edit Instagram Stories templates that you can use to right away.

How to use these Instagram Stories templates:

Click on the ‘Use this template’ button under your chosen template

You’ll then be taken to Adobe Spark to edit the template (you’ll need to create a free account to do this)

Once logged in, edit the template as you wish: change the background, caption style, etc.

Download the finished graphic and you’re ready to post to your Story

Let’s jump in!

1. Storytelling

Use this template

One common use case for Instagram Stories is to show behind-the-scenes content. For example:

Restaurants show how their dishes are prepared

Musicians show how their music is recorded in their studio

Sports teams share training sessions with fans

Fashion experts demonstrate how to put together the perfect outfit

SaaS platforms could provide an inside look at their company hack-day

This template could be used to introduce a story to your audience — like an opening title. If you want a bit of inspiration, here are 11 storytelling formulas you can refer to.

2. How-to tutorials

Use this template

This is our favorite way of using Instagram Stories — to educate. We’ve used Instagram Stories to share how to curate content, set benchmarks, and much more.

If you want to share some tips or teach your followers how to do something (such as how to use your product), you could try using this template.

For example, we often get questions about the perfect size for Instagram Stories (1080px X 1920px) or how to advertise on Facebook. We’ll take these questions and turn them into short Stories tutorials.

3. Blog post promotion

Use this template

Blog post promotion is another thing we often do with Instagram stories.

Instead of simply asking people to visit our blog, we like to highlight the key points via Stories. Repurposing content across channels is a great way to ensure it reaches as much of your audience as possible.

If you write how-to guides or create how-to videos, you can adapt the how-to tutorial template above to promote your content.

4. Lists and countdowns

Use this template

I learned this strategy from Airbnb. I’ve seen them share lists of the best places to live, workspaces in Airbnb homes, and more.

You might be interested in sharing:

Various ways to use your product

Surprising stats and facts about your industry

User-generated content

You can also try fun and entertaining lists such as “top books for marketers” or “top things we learned in social media this month.” People love a good list!

5. Limited time offers and promotions

Use this template

As Instagram Story lasts for only 24 hours, making it a great way to promote time limited sales. This is a strategy often used by online clothing retailers.

For example, Black Sheep Cycling launched their new limited edition cycling kit through Instagram Stories and sold them out in 30 minutes.

You could use this template to share your offers with your followers.

6. Giveaways and discount coupons

Use this template

To entice followers to watch their Instagram stories, brands sometimes host exclusive giveaways or give out discount coupons in their Instagram stories.

Again, this is great for online retailers who drive sales through social media promotions. You could use a unique discount code specifically for your Instagram stories to track how much sales your Instagram stories generate.

At Buffer, we’ve used this technique to help encourage reviews to our podcast.

First, we thanked all of our weekly listeners for being a part of the show and then we showed a picture of Buffer socks and shirts.

Next, we asked people to respond to our Stories with a  if they have listened to our podcast or a  if they’ve reviewed our podcast.

Everyone was entered for a chance to win swag!

7. Data, research, and statistics

Use this template

Do you know any interesting (or surprising) statistics about your industry that your followers might be interested in?

Mentioning a cool stat can be a great way to get the attention of your followers before you share something important (such as an announcement or a blog post).

8. Quotes and inspiration

Use this template

Several social media influencers such as Gary Vaynerchuk often share motivational quotes on their Instagram Stories.

It doesn’t only have to be a motivational quote. You could share a quote from your most recent blog post or a quote from your CEO — if it’s relevant to your followers, it’s often work sharing.

9. Introduction for an Instagram takeover

Use this template

An Instagram Stories takeover has a nice advantage over a traditional Instagram post takeover, in that your guest can post as many stories as they like without filling up your nicely-curated gallery.

Before you let your guest post on your account, you might want to promote the takeover or introduce the guest, and that’s where this template will come in handy.

You could also use this template if you want to host a question and answer session with your followers through Instagram Stories. Let your followers know what the session is about and invite them to DM you questions.

10. Announcements, news, and updates

Use this template

We have shared several fun announcements using Instagram stories: the launch of our podcast, the launch of our online social media strategy class, our celebrations for Social Media Day, and more.

You could use this template to build up the anticipation for your announcements and then to reveal the surprise through a subsequent story.

How to design your own Instagram stories in under 10 mins

Adobe Spark is one of our favorite free design tools for creating graphics. With the app, I managed to create this graphic in just four simple steps:

Here’s how I did it.

(Feel free to grab a free Adobe Spark account to follow along!)

1. Select the Instagram story template

Adobe Spark has a handy template for Instagram Stories, so you know your post will be perfecly sized.

(If you are wondering, the ideal dimensions for Instagram Stories are 1080px wide by 1920px tall.)

To find the template, create a new post, select “More sizes”, and choose “Instagram Story”.

Enter the caption for your story and hit “Continue”.

Adobe Spark will generate a design with your caption. (Sometimes, it looks great enough to be used without further edits!)

2. Set your background

Next, pick a background for your Instagram story. (Or you can stick with Adobe Spark’s suggestion if you like it.)

With Adobe Spark, you can set the background as a plain color or an image.

To use a plain color for the background, select your preferred color from the side panel and Adobe Spark will remove the suggested image.

To use an image, click on the image and then click “Replace” above it. Adobe Spark has a search function for you to find free images (that are tagged as Creative Commons-licensed) to use.

We often use a simple colored background because text can be hard to read on some images. That said, when designed properly, Instagram Stories with an image as the background can look very appealing.

Here’re a few quick tips for using an image as the graphic’s background:

Choose a relevant image that has few things in it and preferably with a clear background such as the sky or sea

Place your text on the part of the image with a clear background

Use a photo filter and use a bright color, such as white, for your text

For this example, we’ll use an image for the background. Here’s how I set an image as the background:

3. Edit your caption

Next, spice up your caption.

With Adobe Spark, there are six different ways you can edit your caption.

Shape

Color

Font

Spacing

Alignment

Opacity

If you are not sure how to design your caption, no worries at all. Adobe Spark has a neat feature that suggests different designs for you. All you have to do is turn the dial.

(To go back to previous suggestions, simply turn the dial in the opposite direction.)

Once you have found a design you like, you can still make adjustments to it such as changing the color or the font.

If you want to add more text to your graphic, click on the green plus icon above the graphic and then, “add text”.

4. Download

Finally, to download the graphic, click “Share” at the top of the page and then, “Download” on the left.

Transfer it to your mobile phone and you’ll be ready to post your newly-designed Instagram Stories graphic. You can find this graphic by swiping up or tapping the image icon when you’re in your Instagram Stories camera mode.

If you are using an iPhone, you can also use Adobe Spark’s iOS app to download your graphic to your mobile phone directly. (The Android version is coming soon.)

Optional: Draw, add stickers, and more

If you like, you could also add more details to your graphic using the Instagram app before posting it. Draw, add stickers, add hashtags, and more to make it look more fun.

Also, adding hashtags and location tag helps people who aren’t following you discover your Instagram stories.

Additional tools and resources

There are many other great design tools and resources available if you wish to create Instagram Stories videos or customize your Instagram Stories graphics further.

Here are a few options:

1. Video tools: Stories Ad

Stories Ad is a free tool for creating “stunning Stories in less than 2 minutes”. It provides 12 professionally-produced video templates you can use to create Instagram Stories videos.

Follow the instructions on the web editor, and it will send your video to your email inbox.

Other video tools: Flyr, Animaker, and After Effects

2. Mobile apps: Storeo

(Image from Molly Marshall Marketing)

If you like use long videos for your Instagram stories, you might love Storeo. Storeo is a mobile app that slices your videos into clips of 15 seconds — the maximum length of an Instagram Stories video. It will save you lots of time from manually editing your videos into 15-second clips yourself.

For $9, you can remove the watermark on the clips.

Other mobile apps: Flyr, Over, and Flipagram (Hat-tip to Molly Marshall for these app recommendations.)

3. Marketplaces: Creative Market

You can also get Instagram Stories templates designed by talented creators for about $10 to $20 on Creative Market. Many of these templates are Photoshop files so you’ll need a basic knowledge of Photoshop to customize the template for your purpose.

Other marketplaces: 99designs and TopTal

What’s your favorite Instagram Stories tip?

Using templates can be a great, easy way to create amazing Instagram stories in minutes. I’m grateful to the team at Adobe Spark for creating these wonderful Instagram Stories templates we have shared with you in this post.

I’m sure using templates is just one of the many ways to save time while creating Instagram stories. Do you know of any other tips for creating Instagram stories quickly? 

If you are going to use any of these templates, we would love for you to share any one of your graphics in the comments below! 

—

Image credit: Unsplash

Thank How to Create Beautiful Instagram Stories (and 10 Amazing Templates to Use) for first publishing this post.