To humour myself, I pieced together two mocks from a few of Windows 7’s native applications to illustrate a possible “Windows 7″ theme for Steam.

I think this could easily be accomplished by a clever developer. It just can’t be me, for a while at least.

What I needed was the alpha information, or at the very least, an alpha mask. Since Flash wasn’t behaving, here’s how I made one:

1. Export the image twice; once with a black background, and once with a white background. Instead of exporting as “24 bit with alpha channel”, simply export it as “24 bit”. Other than the background, the images should be identical.
2. Open both the images in Photoshop, and put them in the same document.
3. Select the top-most layer, and set its blending mode to “Difference”.

4. Merge the layers (Layer > Flatten Image).
5. Invert the document (Image > Adjustments > Invert).

What you should now have is a greyscale image. The background should be black, and all the features white.

6. Select the entire document, and copy it.
7. Open one of the images you exported, and create a new layer mask (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All).
8. Paste the greyscale image into the mask.

You should now have an image with perfectly smoothed edges. If you notice a slight white or black outline surrounding the edges, you can use “Defringe” or “Remove White\Black Matte” from the Image menu.

Enjoy!

Error 1327. Invalid Drive: Drive Letter


It appears you will encounter this if either:

1. One of the paths to your “special folders” is changed to a location which is invalid,
2. A registry value to the drive on which Windows is installed is not actually the location of Windows.

Microsoft suggests using the Windows Registry Editor to manually check if the keys are invalid, however, this only helps solve the first issue listed above, and not the second. It is also not very friendly for those unfamiliar with the registry.

However, if you were like me, you would have done the above steps, checked the “Special Folders” and found everything to be valid and still have the error appear.

So here are two solutions

1. Fix with Window’s XP TweakUI

This solution is for those who are using Windows XP, and either are fairly novice with the Windows Registry or for those who already have TweakUI installed (as there seems to be a correlation between this error and a previous installation of TweakUI).

1. Download Microsoft’s TweakUI PowerToy.
2. Once installed, run the TweakUI program.
3. Click the “My Computer” category, and select the “Special Folders” sub-section.
4. Under “Folder“, select each of the options and check that their locations are valid. Pay particular attention to the “Installation Path” option, as this is should point to the drive in which Windows was installed.

If this is in fact the source of the problem, this path will be set to something other than your operating system’s drive. Mine was set to F:\, when it should have been C:\.

Press “Change Location” to specify the drive on which Windows XP was installed. Once done, you will have to log out and back in again to complete the changes.

2. Fix by altering your Windows Register

If you feel comfortable with adjusting the Windows Registry, then the manual steps are below:

1. Press Start, then Run.
2. Type regedt32
3. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
4. Look for the SourcePath key, its value should be set to the path in which you installed Windows. If its not the correct path, then this is most probably the source of the trouble.
5. Follow the information in Microsoft’s KB Article 327763 to check the other Special Folders (as they are included in a different part of the registry).

With any luck, this should solve your problem. Any issues or concerns, leave a message below or email me directly.

Enjoy.

Still is a very simplistic wallpaper, intended for sore eyes and overworked minds. The original art was just an experiment of mine to try to create a tranquil water-scape with minimal complexity, using mostly gradients to give the effects of the sky, clouds and water.

This wallpaper is really intended for widescreen displays, but the normal 4:3 ratio is include for those who are without widescreen monitors.

You can download this wallpaper from the links below, but be sure to read the notes on gamma and copyright before downloading.

Download

Now that they are over, I have found the time to complete the new Perspectives section on my photography collection. As well as giving the site a complete re-design and fixing a number of unresolved issues that have been stuck with the site since it was first built.

Perspectives holds the notion that every photograph has a story. Having not been out for a photographic trip since the start of the year, and having an over abundance of un-published photos, I decided to create the Perspectives section to share the surroundings and the atmosphere of some of the photographs in my collection.

The “Snaps” collection has also been updated with a number of new portraits.

Enjoy.

Trees On Fire is a minimalistic wallpaper I made back in 2007. Like a number of previous images (such as Past the Tree), Trees On Fire makes use of Context Free generated trees. The motivation behind this image was simple; I needed a clean, minimalistic desktop. Something with bright colours and complex shapes can be hard on the eyes, and I wanted something I can stare at and unclutter my mind. This was the result.

I plan to release a tutorial on how this was created so that others can give it a try once I find the time.

You can download this wallpaper from the links below, but be sure to read the notes on gamma and copyright before downloading.

Download

Another Day On Earth, titled after Brian Eno’s album of the same name, was heavily influenced by the song “Just Another Day”, as the lyrics were ambiguous but discussed humanity’s astounding ability to “shrug off” some of the most awful events ever committed in our history. I designed this piece to follow the same ambiguous nature, hinting at any number of possibilities as to what is being shown, but without being definitive on choosing any one story.

You can download this wallpaper from the links below, but be sure to read the notes on gamma and copyright before downloading.

Download

As always, enjoy!

Past The Tree was an art piece I first created in 2006 using a combination of vectors, fractal images and an assortment of Photoshop brushes and filters. The 2007 Edition was a revised version of the first version, and touted revised colours. After leaving the 2007 design untouched, I decided to re-create it from scratch, ensuring all of the previous elements were fresh and unique. The 2008 Edition is available on DeviantArt, so it seemed only suitable to release a collection of wallpapers to go along with the new design.

These wallpapers are meant to supersede the 2007 Edition wallpapers, given in a previous post; however, I decided not to remove them just in case someone still wanted them.

The difference between Windows and Macintosh versions is the gamma – the Windows versions are suitable for monitors with a gamma of 2.2, whereas the Mac versions are suitable for a gamma of 1.8.

Normal (4:3)

• 1024 x 768
  Windows • Mac
• 1280 x 960
  Windows • Mac
• 1600 x 1200
  Windows • Mac
• 2048 x 1536
  Windows • Mac

Widescreen (8:5)

• 1280 x 800
  Windows • Mac
• 1440 x 900
  Windows • Mac
• 1680 x 1050
  Windows • Mac
• 1920 x 1200
  Windows • Mac

As always, these files are for non-commercial use. Please do not redistribute these files or use them in derivative works.
Enjoy.

Remembering MX is a collection of five Photoshop files, showcasing some very old icons I created in 2004 when Macromedia’s Studio MX was still the big thing. The files contain the vector shapes for each application’s logo, and layer styles for each design so that you can create your own or reproduce their appearance.

Whilst I can’t fault Adobe’s minimalistic “coloured-box with lettering style” for the CS3 applications, I’d like to think that the MX Suite designs will forever be engraved in the minds of all the designers from all those years ago. I don’t think any design have come close to how the MX designs clearly and brilliantly portrayed the software suite.

As updated, the downloads below now list a set of icons for Windows XP/Vista and Mac OSX. The Vista & Mac icons are untested, so if you do use them, leave a comment and let me know how they went. Only 32-bit icons are included.

The Photoshop files are compatible with Photoshop CS and above. It may work in Photoshop 6 and 7, except I believe that some layer blending options won’t be preserved correctly.

Download

Please read the copyright notes before downloading.

• Photoshop Files
• Windows XP/Vista Icons
• MacOSX Icons
  

Comments always welcome.