Linux Photoshop

I have always delighted in giving myself projects with new programs, and one of my favorite things to use is Photoshop. I love exploring the infinite possibilities, and I like to slowly see myself get better and better with the tools that are given to me.

Working in an I.T. Department at a Stage College requires a lot of focus and the ability to solve many different kinds of computer problems. We have found various ways to fix these problems, thanks to some tools that we have been able to find. One of those tools is the use of a Puppy Linux Distribution, so that we can freely navigate all the Windows files and folders, and be able to delete anything that we want, or repartition a drive, or other things like that.

I took the (at the time) latest release of Puppy Linux from their website, and went to work. I boot from the live CD into a test computer, the typical computer that we receive from students (it is the recommended and supported school laptop). I ran through the live CD and found all the correct drivers and utilities that would be needed for us to easily work on the computers when they come in with problems that require us to use Puppy's safe environment. With Puppy fully functional and running exactly how we liked it to run, I needed to do something about the appearance. Puppy comes with a decent theme and background built in, but we wanted something unique for our I.T. Department.

This is where the Photoshopping comes into play.

I used a blank slate and began with a small idea on what I wanted to do. First, I knew that I wanted to incorporate the Puppy Linux puppy, and the word "Linux" in the photo. I quickly added "Linux" and curved it to my liking using the simple built in shapes tool. The next step was to add the puppy logo, but I wanted to make it look a little like a sphere, so I added a small amount of gradient inside an oval near the top of the logo, giving it that spherical look. I created a circle just outside of the logo, a little larger, then feathered it in order to created a sense of distance coming from the logo. I decided that just plain old Linux was too bland for the project, and created my own variation of the word. I strung a long eclipse from the 'I" to one half of the "X", and made it appear to be a ring. I set the ambience by blending a blue gradient into the background, and created a sense of infinity by hand drawing tons and tons of stars, all variations of sizes.

This is what I ended up with, and I am quite proud of the results.