T E X T U R A T I O N S   1 . 5

-- Textures for the desktop, video, multimedia, and mare
      by Jerry Kindall        mailto:kindall@manual.com
        Manual Labor             http://www.manual.com

I love to explore the graphical universe inside my computer, seeing what kind of visually interesting places I can discover using Adobe Photoshop and a few plug-ins. I do this mostly to hone my skills (one can never have too much RAM or know too much about Photoshop) but every once in a while I run across something worth sharing. That’s what this package is all about.

A while back I posted Texturations 1 on my Web server, but made only a token effort to expose that first set of images to the public. I never even put them on Info-Mac. This new Texturations package includes some of the original Texturations, along with some new ones I found during more recent exploration sessions, for a grand total of thirteen images. Since they’re a mix of old and new, I’m calling this package Texturations 1.5.

Texturations are eminently suited for desktop backgrounds, the Web, video production, multimedia, and the like. (They are generally not of high enough resolution to be useful for print.) There are a number of different “feels” represented, from the merely abstract to the outright surreal, from the obviously computer-generated to the more organic.

If you’re using Mac OS 8 or later, Texturations (which are distributed as JPEG files) can be used with the Desktop Pictures control panel. If you’re using an earlier version, you’ll need a utility to allow you to use a picture as a desktop background. One popular one seems to be Décor; you can download a copy from any Info-Mac mirror. The program is available in English, French, Japanese, and German.

The images are available in four resolutions: 640x480, 832x624, 1024x768, and 1152x870. Four separate archives are provided containing all 13 Texturations in a particular resolution. With luck you downloaded the correct archive. If not, you can always find a copy of the resolution you need at http://www.manual.com/freebies.html.

These Images Are Free
But they’re still copyrighted. In fact, they’re Copyright © 1996-1998 Jerry Kindall. That just means that they are my intellectual property, and that they remain my property even though i allow you to use them for certain purposes.

You may use these images freely on any computer you own (for desktop pictures, etc.). Using them for any other purpose (the Web, video, multimedia, stock photo CD, etc.) requires my permission. If you do not intend to earn a profit from your project, my permission will usually be freely given, as long as you give me credit. All I ask is that you ask. If you’re doing it for profit I might ask you to pass some gold across my palm, but I don’t intend to gouge anyone.

If you’d like a copy of an image in an uncompressed format to aviod the loss of quality inherent in JPEG compression, e-mail me and tell me why you need it, and I’ll consider it.

Note For Big-Monitor Users
The original Texturations were designed at a resolution of 800x600 (this was before I got my 19” monitor). If you have a big monitor, then, you may notice a little  graininess with a few of the images. I have done what I can to minimize this problem. The newer ones were originally created at either 1024x768 or 1152x870 and should look pretty nice even on a large monitor.

If you are running a monitor bigger than 1152x870, you’ll have to use the 1152x870 version of the Texturations. I don’t have any personal need of images larger than this and it’s easier to work with the images when I can see the whole picture full-size, so I probably won’t make bigger ones. The demand for such large sizes is probably pretty limited anyway.

Please Visit Our Web Site!
If you really like Texturations, I invite you to visit my Web site. That URL, in case you missed it, is http://www.manual.com/. We specialize in user manuals, but we’re not just technical writers! We have some truly creative people on our staff, and we do Web sites, multimedia, scripting, graphic design, marketing, and much more. If you or someone you know has need of a service we can provide, I hope you’ll keep us in mind!

We might also be interested in putting together a collection of these images for a CD-ROM. Any publishers interested in this? Any potential buyers?

Comments are of course always welcome. E-mail kindall@manual.com.