In this Issue...
 INTRO |
PixelMill Newsletter Returns
Sometimes, we don't know what we have until it is gone.
I know this is an old cliché, but it has proven to be absolutely true when speaking of our monthly newsletter. There has been many-a-night that I have kicked myself for letting us fall out of the habit of producing a monthly newsletter. It was always one of our best opportunities to communicate with our customers, and we let it slip away. Let me take this chance to apologize for not staying in touch and providing the valuable news, tips, and tutorials that helped you stay informed about PixelMill, the products, and the industry.
This past year we were proud to launch a new site with an updated design, increased functionality, and a layout built to grow. The return of the monthly newsletter is only a small piece of the many communication tools, feedback opportunities, valuable resources, and major announcements that you will see from PixelMill in the coming year. In this newsletter, you will find that we link to our new blogs, articles that link to more detailed tutorials/articles in our support area, and summary articles that link to other valuable resources across the web.
We hope you enjoy the return of our newsletter. Stay tuned as we further develop the newsletter and our other communication features.
by Jason Reckers, PixelMill
FEATURE | Flash detection using FlashObject
 The problem with Flash... Many of PixelMill’s templates include some sort of Flash animation or Flash
components. Some of our customers have asked, “What if some of my visitors can’t
view Flash – what do they see?” Unfortunately, they would see a big, blank
space! This happens if your visitor doesn’t have the Flash player installed on
their system. It may also happen if they have their security settings set to
block ActiveX components. Another issue with Flash movies is that the code used
to embed a Flash file into your web page does not validate according to the W3C
HTML or XHTML specifications. That’s a huge concern for web developers who are
trying to meet standards.
"What can I do?" Other than deleting all that beautiful Flash work off your web site, you can
venture into the arena of Flash detection. And the great news is never before
has it been easier to work with Flash detection than it is now. Geoff Stearns
has put together an elegant solution,
FlashObject
for detecting the Flash plugin and embedding it into your web page. If you’re
concerned about your web site’s code validating as HTML or XHTML, his solution
takes care of that problem as well!
Read the rest of this article...
by Corrie Haffly, PixelMill Staff Writer
LEARN MORE | Fading Images in Photoshop
 A common web graphic effect is that of one image
fading into the background, or that of one image
fading into another. How do you get that effect into
your own web graphics?
First of all, you need a graphics program that: 1)
uses “layers” to keep elements separate, 2) allows
you to “mask” layers, and 3) generates web-optimized
files. Some graphics programs that do this are Adobe
Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks, and Corel Paint
Shop Pro.
Then, it’s a simple matter of creating a layer
mask.
Fade Images in Photoshop Using Layer Masks,
a SitePoint.com article by Corrie Haffly, goes through the step-by-steps of
creating a layer mask using Photoshop. The steps
will be slightly different for other programs, but
the concept remains the same.
Go to SitePoint to read the article!
HOLIDAY SPECIAL | Coupon - 20% off your order
Enjoy this holiday special and get 20% off your
order! Act quickly...this discount ends when the year
ends.
Coupon: 20% off your order
Code: Dec2005News
Expires: 12/31/2005
Enter the coupon code in Step 2 of the
checkout process.
Start shopping for next year's site...today!
Visit PixelMill
View Newsletter Online -
December 2005
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