Design News – N77 Design | NickClaeboe.com https://www.nickclaeboe.com Atlanta Web, Graphic & Flyer Design • Design Portfolio & Rates for Nick Claeboe Custom Design Work Wed, 03 Mar 2021 15:35:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://www.nickclaeboe.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/favicon-60x60.png Design News – N77 Design | NickClaeboe.com https://www.nickclaeboe.com 32 32 Using the pen tool in Photoshop for cutouts https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/07/12/using-the-pen-tool-in-photoshop-for-cutouts/ Sat, 12 Jul 2014 13:18:39 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=216

This is by far the best way to cut out anything that you may come across in Photoshop. I do this almost every single day when cutting out people, shapes, buttons, you name it. It is clearly and by far the best method for your intended results.

I see so many people try to use the magnetic lasso or the polygonal lasso and this is just a mistake. I’m even guilty of trying to shortcut with the lassos when I was a junior designer.

Bottom line, the pen tool will out perform the array of lassos any day of the week. You have control of each point, line and curve. God forbid if you make a mistake with one of the lassos… BOOM, you have to start all over again.

With the pen tool, you can even close the document you’re working on and pick up that exact path at a later time with no consequence.

So the lesson here, PEN TOOL for CUT-OUTS  in Photoshop.

]]> GreenCloudVPS.com https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/07/06/greencloudvps-com/ Sun, 06 Jul 2014 11:34:51 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=172

I’m trying them out for my new VPS server. I’ve been cleaning up my servers lately and decided this course of action.

They have all kinds of payment plans. This particular server is a Windows Server. Their servers are located in the US and Canada. Their support is top notch. Here’s a peek at the specs.

Lots of good reviews and great prices for my needs.

https://greencloudvps.com/

]]> Choosing the best CRM for Small Business https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/07/04/choosing-the-best-crm-for-small-business/ Fri, 04 Jul 2014 14:09:14 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=168

I have a client that needs an ecommerce sales flow added to his landing pages for about 1500 units of 3 products that he has in stock. The problem that I’m trying to solve is finding a reasonably priced CRM that has payment processing included so we can sell his products online with his existing landing pages. The form will have to be tokened and the variable will have to be passed through the API of the CRM.

My first thought was Limelight. It’s an industry leader in CRM’s but a little bit overkill for our needs on this project. I started to do some research and found the following CRM platforms that seem more in the price range of what we’re looking for in regards to small business.

At first glance,  I could go with any of the aforementioned. I’m going to put in some contact requests and see what I can find that fits my needs at the right price. If anyone has a better solution, please contact me using the form on our contact page. Also, have a safe and happy 4th of July everyone.

]]> Happy 4th of July! Luau BBQ Design https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/07/03/happy-4th-of-july-luau-bbq-design/ Thu, 03 Jul 2014 13:23:52 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=162

So the 4th of July is tomorrow and I’m going to our annual bbq at Patrick’s parents house. I wanted to do a fun little design for it this year. I’m still recovering from my broken leg so I have plenty of time to do fun stuff like a bbq flyer. Every year Patrick’s mom does pulled pork and we shoot each other with fireworks. It’s a blast. No reindeer games for me this year tho. I’ll watch everything from a safe distance this time. I wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. Happy Birthday, America!

]]> Tutorial Videos Coming Soon… https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/07/02/tutorial-videos-coming-soon/ Wed, 02 Jul 2014 02:09:29 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=159

I will be posting video tutorials soon on my site. They will include Photoshop tips, Dreamweaver practices and other general design tips and tricks. I’ll be doing this with a screen capture software named “Camtasia.” I’ve noticed that sometimes when I’m searching for solutions on Google, it can take so long to find what I’m looking for and when I do find it, I always think to myself, “I could do that better.” So I’m putting my money where mouth is and going to make my own tutorials. Check back regularly to see what’s new.

]]> How to build a spam-free contact form without captchas https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/06/28/how-to-build-a-spam-free-contact-form-without-captchas/ Sat, 28 Jun 2014 21:16:59 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=155

This is a great tutorial I’ve used to fight back again spam on some of the website that I design. Most site use a captcha system to deter spam but that can kill your conversions sometimes. With the method in this tutorial, you can set up a spam-free contact for without captchas. It uses simple css, javascript and html. You’ll need to have a basic understanding of all three of these to complete this tutorial.

How to build a spam-free contact form without captchas: Read More…

]]> Great JavaScript Tutorial for Pop-Up Windows OnClick https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/06/27/great-javascript-tutorial-for-pop-up-windows-onclick/ Fri, 27 Jun 2014 17:07:43 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=152

javascript window.open function

Thewindow.open()function creates a new browser window, customized to your specifications, without the use of an HTML anchor tag. In this example, we will be making a function that utilizes thewindow.open()function.

HTML & JavaScript Code: 
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function myPopup() {
window.open( "http://www.google.com/" )
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type="button" onClick="myPopup()" value="POP!">
</form>
<p onClick="myPopup()">CLICK ME TOO!</p>
</body>

Display:

CLICK ME TOO!

This works with pretty much any tag that can be clicked on, so please go ahead and experiment with this fun little tool. Afterwards, read on to learn more about the different ways you can customize the JavaScript window thatpopsup.

javascript window.open arguments

There are three arguments that thewindow.openfunction takes:

  1. The relative or absolute URL of the webpage to be opened.
  2. The text name for the window.
  3. A long string that contains all the different properties of the window.

Naming a window is very useful if you want to manipulate it later with JavaScript. However, this is beyond the scope of this lesson, and we will instead be focusing on the different properties you can set with your brand spanking new JavaScript window. Below are some of the more important properties:

  • dependent– Subwindow closes if the parent window (the window that opened it) closes
  • fullscreen– Display browser in fullscreen mode
  • height– The height of the new window, in pixels
  • width– The width of the new window, in pixels
  • left– Pixel offset from the left side of the screen
  • top– Pixel offset from the top of the screen
  • resizable– Allow the user to resize the window or prevent the user from resizing, currently broken in Firefox.
  • status– Display or don’t display the status bar

Dependent, fullscreen, resizable, and status are all examples of ON/OFF properties. You can either set them equal to zero to turn them off, or set them to one to turn them ON. There is no inbetween setting for these types of properties.

upgraded javascript popup window!

Now that we have the tools, let’s make a sophisticated JavaScript popup window that we can be proud of!

HTML & JavaScript Code:

<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function myPopup2() {
window.open( "http://www.google.com/", "myWindow", 
"status = 1, height = 300, width = 300, resizable = 0" )
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type="button" onClick="myPopup2()" value="POP2!">
</form>
<p onClick="myPopup2()">CLICK ME TOO!</p>
</body>

Display:

CLICK ME TOO!

Now, that is a prime example of a worthless popup! When you make your own, try to have them relate to your content, like a small popup with no navigation that just gives the definition or explanation of a word, sentence, or picture!

]]> Announcement: Site Re-design In Progress https://www.nickclaeboe.com/2014/06/21/announcement-site-re-design-in-progress/ Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:04:05 +0000 http://dev.nickclaeboe.com/?p=110 Thank you for coming and checking out my new site re-design an blog. I’ve waited way too long to get this done but I’m very excited to be developing my new web site. As you know I do all kinds of design work. My main focus is club flyer design and web design but I’m experienced in all areas and would consider myself a marketing professional.

]]>