Laptop Skins

Ever thought about looking online for skins for laptops or another device? Here’s a couple tips to help get you started;

Visit a page like Google Images and look for the image you were thinking to use for a skin.

Change the results to show “Extra Large” and look for images 1,000 Kb (which is 1 MB) or larger. You can find so many images for skins this way.

Remember:

Larger devices like laptops, netbooks, xbox, playstation or Wii should use images 1 MB or larger in file size.

Devices closer to size of a cell phone, PSP, ipod, MP3 player, Nintendo DS Lite, or similar size can use images that are 500 Kb or larger.

Use images with less than recommend file size would probably produce skins that could be disappointing due to unclear or pixelated images.

Also see How to Make Laptop Skins for more general info and advice.

No Comments Yet »

So, you want a hello kitty skin? I have good news and bad news.

First, the bad news… I don’t have any. But wait! The good news!

I’m going to teach you how to make your own Hello Kitty Skins!!

First, you need an image you can scan of Hello Kitty. Maybe some stationary or something else?

Found one? Good. Now scan your Hello Kitty image at 300 dpi.

If the final file was not at least 1 MB, the image you scanned might be too small. This applices for larger devices like a laptop, Xbox360, PS3 or other game console. If you are making Hello Kitty Skins for smaller devices like a cell phone, ipod, or similar sized device, your image can be closer to 500 kb.

Your output file (jpg, png, or gif) should be at least 1MB to ensure you have good resolution and a sharp image. Next you might need to open Photoshop and bring your image in there.

You might choose to “clean” solid colors around your Hello Kitty image as the scan might be just ok, or you might choose to trace the Hello Kitty image and drop onto an entirely new background. It’s up to you. If you’re not real familiar with Photoshop, you might find brushes are interesting too.

Here’s one set of “Hello Kitty Brushes“, and there’s lots more out there.

6 Comments »

Looking for some cool free Photoshop brushes to make your own Guitar Hero Skins?

How about skulls, more skulls, bullet holes, and a whole bunch of grunge brushes with things like bullets, grafitti, and blood spatters!

Or you might want to buy some pro brushes from GoMedia, creators of kick ass photoshop brush designs for clients like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Evanescence, Velvet Revolver, and Metallica.

Tip:

If you’re not much of a designer, you can still scan a CD cover (or larger image) at about 300 dpi. The key for a your skins to turn out decent is you want your final file (jpg, png or gif) to be at least 1 MB for something the size of a guitar skin (or laptop skin). Other devices can be closer to a half meg.

No Comments Yet »

I’ve noticed a lot of people are interested in the equipment and supplies for making laptop skins. As I mentioned recently in another post about equipment for making laptop skins it is not really a small home printing job.

Unless you are interested in investing many 10’s of thousands of dollars, it might not be for everyone.

1 Comment »

Even though the Macbook looks great, it’s not such a bad idea to protect your investment with Apple laptop skins to keeping the ol’ Macbook in minty new condition.

You can create custom laptop skins for your macbook like the one shown in the link simply by uploading your own photos or designs and choosing your model.

Protecting your notebook with Apple laptop skins is a great way to keep it looking new. And since they’re easily removed and don’t leave a mess, you can return to the original look in a jiff, and switch it for a cool new design anytime you like.

No Comments Yet »

Our Universal laptop skins offer almost every brand you could think of. If it’s a computer brand sold in a major retail chain, chance are we carry the Universal laptop skins for it. And we carry a lot more too!

It should be that difficult to find a skin for your notebook, especially if its a common brand. But Universal laptop skins are a bit different. Fortunately, we offer more options than most so you should be able to get the laptop skin you need through us, no matter what kind of notebook you have.

No Comments Yet »

If you’re looking for black & white laptop skins, we can probably hook you up. Simply click the banner and choose your model to get started. You can either select images from the online gallery or just choose a background color. It’s easy to create black & white laptop skins, or use your own photos or design!

No Comments Yet »

This is a starter guide to teach you how to makelaptop skins, which can also be applied to making cellphone skins, iPod skins, or just about anything you want to skin. You’ll want to start by opening your favorite graphics program. It could be Photoshop or something else.

If you don’t have a graphics program, you can get a free copy of Gimp which should do the trick.

When starting a new project in your graphics program, be sure to select RGB mode, otherwise it will probably be grayscale. Also choose a resolution of 300 so your graphic will be of print quality. Lower than 300 might produce disappointing results, above it is unecessary.

Update: 200 dpi is enough resolution for good results

For the size, you will want to work with something fairly large. You can easily scale your image down, but if you try to increase the size, that’s when things become “pixelated”, or distorted and blurry. Let’s start with 2500 width and 3000 height, with the resolution 200 dpi (dots per inch) and RGB color mode.

The next part, the design, is really up to you. If you are using photoshop, you might find “brushes” to be a cool way to help and inspire. Just do a search for “photoshop brushes” if interested. A couple sites for favorite brush sets are here, here, and here. If wondering what to do with them, search for “install photoshop brushes” for additional help. When you’ve completed your design, you would choose from the File menu to “save as” and select jpeg, with quality set to maximum.

A website that might also inspire you is deviantart which has lots of work by other graphic designers to look at. There are so many great sites to provide additional help all you need to do is search “photoshop tutorials”. One of the most popular is the PS roadmap. As a rule of thumb, your final image (jpeg) for a skin should be close to 1 MB or more, or it might be a little grainy/blurry. You can probably get use 500 kb or more for cellphones, but not less.

It’s now up to you. You’re the designer. Having an idea of what you hope to acheive will make a huge difference. Whether you’re looking to create a design in a hip hop, skater, or another style, it’s up to you.

12 Comments »