10 Minute Tutorial: How To Make A Paisley Desktop Background With Xara Xtreme & Urgent Artwork
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10 Minute Tutorial: How To Make A Paisley Desktop Background With Xara Xtreme & Urgent Artwork
Part 1 covers changing page size, importing many image files at once to work on, exporting finished work, and using Xara Picture Editor to resize and crop the image. If you can't be bothered making it, you can also download the desktop background and other freebies made with Urgent Artwork from my blog 8wordmission.blogspot.com All art elements in this tutorial from urgentartwork.com/theoffice.htm (Coming soon: Part 2, how to make a calendar for your monitor desktop background)
Step 1: Look through your folders of art elements
Get an idea of where everything is that you will be needing
Step 2: Open Xara and change the page size
This will be the size of your desktop background 1920pixels by 1200pixels
Step 3: Import the art elements all together
Position them on the outside of your page
Step 4: Duplicate and flip the background paper
Step 5: Put the centre paper in the middle and angle
Step 6: Add separate shadows and group together
The shadows need to be just behind the paper in the centre.
Step 7: Position the doodles and paisley
When you have them in place, bring the centre paper in the middle to the front
Step 8: Add the credit
If you are giving your desktop background away, you have to put the credit in. If it is for personal use you don't need to worry of course.
Step 9: Save the file then reduce it in size for other desktop backgrounds monitor sizes
Other popular sizes are 1680x1050, 1280x800, 1024x768 and 320x480 for iphone