Inspired by the incredible work by Matt Hawkins of Custom Paper Toys, I decided to put together a paper cut-out template of our fine feathered friend, Phoenix, that you can cut out and assemble yourself!
To begin, open the Paper Phoenix template here.
Feel free to make any edits you desire using Raven's powerful vector drawing tools.
New to Raven? Here's a tutorial on the basic functions of Raven to help you get started creating vector art.
Then, save the image to your computer using the File > Export > Export Bitmap function then follow the onscreen instructions to save the image.
Print the downloaded image on your printer (refer to your printer documentation if you don't know how!), preferably on card stock.
Next, cut the individual pieces out and perforate the slits marked on the pieces by short black lines, using an X-acto knife.
Then it's all a matter of assembling the figure!
Begin by gluing, or taping, tab A to the inside panel of the head shape. Close the box by affixing the B and C tabs to form a box for the head.
For the body segment, glue tab D to the inside panel of the body to form a box as well.
Fold down the tabs on the leg segments and glue tabs E and F to the inside panel of the body to form the figure's legs.
Insert the arm segments into the sides of the body, and place the tab on the egg into the slit on the Phoenix's left hand.
Finally, attach the head and body segments together by inserting the J tabs into the slits on the bottom of the head segment, and insert the K tab located on the headdress segment into the slit on the head to complete the piece.
And that's it!
Just because Aviary is a suite of web-based design tools, it does not mean you're limited to digital designs.
I'm hoping this post can kick start your own ideas of other real media projects you can create using Aviary.
Have fun!
Last June we were fortunate enough to win the New York Tech Meetup Classic
Our prize was a free booth at the Computer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas
If you are in the neighborhood come by and say hello.
We are in South Hall 4 - Booth #35338
Hey folks, have you ever wanted to see what you’d look like cartoonified?
Well, you’re just in luck! As we present to you a template for you to easily create your own custom avatars in Aviary in mere seconds, in a feature we like to call, “Creating Custom Avatars in Aviary in Mere Seconds.” (Creative name, eh?)
Begin by launching the template above.
If the screen looks confusing to you at first, don’t fret! I’m here to show you all you need to know in order to create your very own custom avatar in seconds!
Unless you are in actuality a baldy no-face, the avatar might not look anything like you to begin with.
The template is open for as much customization as you desire, or as little as you want if you aren’t the dawdling, extensive type.
Let’s begin by changing the color of your shirt!
To change colors of any of the elements in the picture, follow these simple steps.
1. Click the element you want to alter, in this example, the green of the shirt.
2. Click the Color box from the Fill menu on the bottom right of the workspace.
3. This will bring up the Color Picker, from where you can select your desired color.
4. Click “Ok” and your piece will be altered with your selected color!
Next, we can begin to fill in the facial features. Of course, you are free to draw in your own facial features using Raven’s powerful drawing tools.
Or you can use the provided facial features in the template.
Let’s begin with the eyes.
To set a style of eyes for your character,
1. Click the arrow next to the layer labeled “SELECT YOUR EYES” from the Layers menu to expand your options.
2. Toggle the visibility icon next to the various eye samples on and off to view them and select the eye you want to use.
As with the shirt color, you can alter the color of the avatar’s eyes the same way, by selecting the iris’ and setting the color using the Color Picker.
Additionally, you can move, resize, and rotate any element in the design as you see fit. To do so, select the square box on the right of your desired layer from the Layers menu.
This will create a bounding box around the selected element from which you can drag to move, or drag the corner handles to resize the area.
Continue this process to add in your desired eyebrows, nose, mouth, hair, and any accessories you deem fit. If you’re already versed in vector editing, feel free to customize It further by drawing in your own features!
When you are satisfied with your avatar, select File > Save As and follow the onscreen instructions to save your creation to Aviary in case you want to come back and edit your avatar later.
Then, you can save the image to your computer by selecting Export > Export Bitmap, to save your image as a .jpg on your computer (Note: Make sure to save your image with the “.jpg” file extension.)
Then upload your avatar to your profile in your favorite online community for all to see you in all your cartoonified glory!
So, go on and try making yourself! Or make your favorite character or celebrity!
Can you guess who these are?
Check out some of these user created avatars showcasing various levels of customization you can incorporate into your own design:
Welcome to Part 2 of our Etsy Shop Makeover!
As a seller, you can not underestimate the importance of having a good, eye-catching banner and avatar in your shop. Your banner and avatar should tie into your shop branding and immediately tell a prospective customer what your shop is about either by evoking the mood of your shop, showcasing samples of products your shop carries, or both!
In this post, I'll be showing how to create your Etsy banner and avatar using Phoenix, Aviary's free, online Image Editor. So you won't even need expensive photo editing software!
Creating Your Banner
To create your banner, begin by opening the free Etsy banner template.
Click to open the Etsy Banner template
The template will open in Aviary's online Image Editor.
Note: The template contains a window in the center area. The content inside the window will comprise your banner and all outside content will not.
To customize your banner, you can import your product images into the document.
To do so, select File > Import File from the menu and import your product photo from your computer.
Then, drag this layer BELOW the layer labeled "Window" from the Layers Panel.
Using the Transformation Tool, you can resize and rotate the image to fit within the window and arrange your compositions for your banner.
Next, you'll want to change the shop title to your own shop name.
To do so, select the text layer labeled "Your Shop Name" from the Layers Panel, and select the Text Tool from the Tools on the left hand side.
Here, you can delete the default text and type in your own shop name.
Using the Text Tool options, you can even change the font to any font from your computer and change the color and size of the text.
You can download from thousands of free fonts to play with from dafont.com!
Once you're satisfied with your banner design, you'll need to prepare the image for use in your shop.
Using the template, you can easily crop the graphic to the appropriate size.
Select the layer, "Crop Bar" from the Layers Panel.
Then, select Image > Crop Selection from the Menu at the top to crop your image to the appropriate size of 760 px wide by 100 px tall.
Now you're ready to upload your banner to your shop in all its glory!
Select File > Export Image to save the image to your computer to take you to the Export Image menu.
From here, select JPG from the file extension dropdown, then select "generate image" to prepare the image for exporting.
When the file is prepared, press the Download button, name your file (be sure to use the .jpg extension) and save it to your computer!
Then, go to Your Etsy > Appearance, and upload your newly created banner for all the world to see!
Creating Your Avatar
Next, you'll need a shiny new avatar to go along with your banner.
Creating your banner is a simple process using Aviary's Image Editor.
Begin by launching Aviary's Image Editor.
Then, upload a photo of one of your favorite products that represents your shop to the program (File > Import File).
Then, you'll need to crop a square shaped section of the image to serve as your avatar.
To do this, select the Rectangular Selection Tool and, while holding the Ctrl key down to constrain the square proportions, drag out a square selection on the area you want cropped.
Then, select Image > Crop Selection to crop the image to your new selected square area.
Next, you'll need to resize the image to 75 x 75 pixels for preparation to upload to Etsy.
Simply select Image > Image Resize and change the width and height of the image to 75 pixels each and press OK to apply the resizing.
And you're all set!
Bonus Avatar Frames
Here are some bonus avatar frames you can add to your avatar to help promotions on your shop.
To use these templates, simply click the frame below to launch the image editor.
Then, upload your existing avatar to the file by selecting File > Import File, locate your file, then import the image.
Then, drag the layer containing your avatar BELOW the layer labeled "Frame" from the Layers Panel to apply the frame.
You can change the color of the frame by first selecting the Frame layer from the Layers Panel, then selecting Image > Hue & Saturation, and adjust the Hue slider to change the color of the frame.
Export the image to your computer (File > Export Image) and your sale avatar is all ready to go!
Remember, you can change, edit, and alter your banners and avatars as often as you want! So have fun with them!
Happy sales!
Missed Part 1 of our Etsy Shop Makeover? Check it out here, Enhancing Your Etsy Photos using Aviary's Online Photo Editor
We are about to put out the following job description on different job listing boards, and wanted to give any of our blog readers who are interested in joining the flock first dibs on the position. If interested in applying, please read the bottom of the post for information on how to apply for the job. :)
Seeking: Director of Design & User Experience for Aviary
About the Company: Aviary (http://aviary.com) is a pioneering and leading provider of fully web-based design applications. With a suite of digital creation software available as an online service, Aviary offers a simple and cost-effective solution for creators of all genres - from graphic design to audio editing - to build, edit produce and distribute digital assets. Based in New York and backed by leading investors and visionaries such as Spark Capital, Jeff Bezos, Joi Ito and Reid Hoffman among others, Aviary is changing the way digital assets are created and distributed online.
About Our Culture: Aviary is a highly team-driven company, made up of the best and brightest in the industry. Functional groups collaborate and communicate with high frequency. As one might expect, we are an artistic group. We also happen to love old school games like Quake, and even older school games like ping pong (the offline kind with the wood table), and some of new fangled PS3 and Xbox contraptions have managed their way in to the office. We are passionate from the inside out about building and changing the medium within which we spend hours of our time in. Aviary is a set of tools, but it is also a growing, grassroots community that is charting a new way of creating, designing and helping artists monetize their talent.
The Position: Aviary is seeking to hire a User Experience expert to modify, optimize and sculpt the visual presentation, workflow, interface, aesthetics and usability of Aviary's tools and software. This person will report to senior management and play a key role in the development and evolution of Aviary's products. The hire will be involved in designing at a high level and at the same time must be able and ready to roll up their sleeves and dive into code as needed. The position is only on-location in New York.
Candidate Profile:
* A functionalist first. A minimalist second. A stylist third. Views the world through the lens of usability.
* Obsessed with simplicity, ease of use.
* Approaches design by first understanding what the end user needs, then creates products that meet those needs.
* Imaginative - looks beyond the way things are currently configured, generates ideas for a new paradigm, layout, flow, etc.
* Works well in a team-based culture.
* Strong verbal communicator. Comfortable presenting work to a team.
* Accepting of feedback. You are able to integrate feedback into your work.
* Proactively focused on statistical optimization and A/B testing.
* Track record of meeting deadlines.
Technical Skills:
* Expert in current industry standard desktop design applications.
* Familiar with Aviary's web applications.
* Can whiteboard / prototype ideas in a clear and communicative way.
* Knows XHTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery.
* Any Flash knowledge a plus.
Compensation:
* Compensation is competitive with comparable companies.
* Health coverage benefits.
Who can apply:
Birds of all kinds of feathers, funny squawk, spotted feathers - Welcome!
How to apply:
Send an email to jobs@aviary.com if you are personally interested in the position with links to your portfolio or any example work you have done, updated resume and anything else you think might be of relevance to us. No recruiters, please.
We just released an extension for Google Chrome that allows you to do screen capture right in your browser! This will currently work for people using the development build of Chrome (and will work for everyone else once Google releases the beta version of Chrome, with extensions support).
You can download it here.
Continue reading full post ...
Have you ever had the perfect idea for a t-shirt and wanted to see it in print? Do you ever find yourself perusing the t-shirt designs at your local clothing establishment thinking to yourself, "People get paid to design these???" Or are you just plain sick of being naked?
Whatever the case, you can satisfy any one of these problems by creating your own t-shirt designs and submitting them to threadless.com, where you can win up to $2500+ in cash and prizes, not to mention seeing your very own t-shirt design in print!
First, launch Raven, Aviary's Vector Editor, to draw your t-shirt design.
Then, it's all a matter of creating your brilliant idea using Raven's powerful vector drawing tools.
New to Raven? Here's a tutorial on the basic functions of Raven to help you get started creating vector art.
Here's the super hilarious design I drew for my shirt.
(Click to view layered file)
In the event your image is chosen for print on threadless, you'll need to provide them with your vector file. So, you'll want to export your design to .eps format.
To export the vector file of your image, select File > Export to EPS from Raven and click Save to generate an .eps for your design.
Once complete, simply press the Download button, name your file (remember to save the file with the .eps extension!), and save it to your computer!
Now that you have your design all created and ready to go, you'll need to prepare the submission files for threadless.
You will need to prepare two presentation images for submission; one low resolution preview of your design, and a 100px x 70px thumbnail.
Creating your submission files in Aviary is simple!
First, open the Threadless tee template in Raven, the Vector Editor.
Then, select which color t-shirt you want your design to appear on from the Layers Panel by enabling the "eye" icon next to the t-shirt color of your choice.
Next, you'll need to import your design into the template.
Select File > Import file, and select Aviary Library. From here, you can select your t-shirt design and import it directly into the template.
Then, you'll want to export a bitmap version of this image which you can upload to threadless.
Select, File > Export Bitmap and press "generate image" to save the bitmap image to your computer.
Finally, you'll need to generate a thumbnail of your image as well. You can do this by opening your t-shirt design file in Phoenix, and using the Image > Resize Image function to fit the 100px x 70px size specifics.
Then, it's all a matter of uploading your design to threadless using their handy submission form.
Then sit back, wait for the money to roll in, and do it all over again!
Go on and create some t-shirt designs yourself!
Fame and fortune await you!
Be sure to read through all the documentation provided on threadless.com prior to submitting your designs.
Ask any successful seller on Etsy for tips on how to improve sales in your shop, and 99.9998%* of them will tell you that your items need to have great pictures.
(*statistic might be made up)
In this post, I'll be showing how to correct common photo problems using Phoenix, Aviary's free, online Image Editor. So you won't even need expensive photo editing software!
Help! My photos are too dark!
One of the most common problems users run into is with exposure. For extreme cases of photos being overly dark or bright, you may need to re-shoot your photograph. But often times, you can adjust the brightness in Phoenix.
First, launch Phoenix and select "Load existing file" to upload your photograph into the program.
I would recommend doing your adjustments on a duplicated layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer), so you"ll always have your original photo on a separate layer in case you want to undo the adjustments you made.
To adjust the brightness of your photo, open the Brightness & Contrast dialog from the Image tab. Slide the Brightness slider to the right to make the image brighter if it's too dark, and slide it to the left to make the image darker if your photo is too bright. Additionally, you can raise the Contrast by using the Contrast slider as well. When you are satisfied with the results, click Ok to apply the adjustment.
My photos are too blue!
Often times, taking your photos in natural light may create a blue cast over your image. You can fix this problem by adjusting the channel levels in your photo. Open up the Levels dialog from the Image tab.
In the Levels dialog, you will see a preview of your image with your Levels adjustments, on the fly. Select Blue from the Channel dropdown. You will see three sliders in the dialog. Slide the midpoint slider to the right, which will control the brightness and darkness of the selected channel.
The left slider will control the lightest areas of your channel, while the right slider will control the darkest.
Play with the settings until the blue cast is removed from your image, then click Ok to apply the adjustment.
You may also need to raise the Brightness & Contrast (from the Image tab) to fix the overall exposure of the image.
Alternately, if you find your indoor photos appear to have a yellow cast, you can adjust the Red and Green Channels in the same way.
How do I create clean white backgrounds in my photos?
It is desirable to use clean, simple backgrounds for your products, as not to distract from your items.
To enhance the brightness of your white background, first adjust the Brightness & Contrast (from the Image tab) of the entire image. For my image, I raised the Brightness by 20 and raised the Contrast by 33.
You can also use the Paintbrush Tool with the foreground color set to white to spot clean any undesirable areas, such as creases. Create a new layer (Layer > New Layer) and use the Paintbrush Tool to paint directly over the areas you want to "white out".
How do I create Depth of Field in my photos?
Using the Blur Tool, you can blur distant elements in your photos to create the appearance of depth of field. The Blur Tool can be found docked with the Smudge Tool. Select the Smudge Tool to bring up the tool's options flyout, then select the Blur Tool.
Paint over the distant elements with the Blur Tool, set with a lower Hardness level of 10-20, to create the effect.
How do I crop my photos in Aviary?
Cropping photos in Aviary is a simple job! To crop your photo, select the Rectangular Selection Tool and drag it around the area you want the image to crop to. Don't worry if you are not happy with your selection. You can always deselect (Select > Deselect) and try again!
Once you are happy with the selection, select Image > Crop Selection to crop your image to your desired area.
A couple notes on resizing for Etsy:
Etsy will resize your image to 430 px wide in your listing, so make sure your image is at least that size or larger. To check the size of your image, select Image > Resize Image to check the proportions of your image.
Etsy will also generate 155 x 125 px, and 75 x 75 px thumbnails from the center of your image, so be sure to include all the pertinent elements of your photo where it won't be cropped in the thumbnails.
(For additional tips on cropping your photos, check out our tutorial on Compositional Cropping!)
How do I sharpen my images?
To create a nice, crisp look to your photos, you can sharpen your photos a couple different ways.
The first method is to simply duplicate your layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer), and apply the Sharpen filter to it. The Sharpen filter can be found under the Filter tab.
The filter will apply a very harsh sharpening effect to your layer. But don't fear! By adjusting the Alpha of this layer from the Layers panel, you can adjust the amount of sharpening you apply to your image.
Phoenix also allows you to sharpen only the edges of your image.
Instead of applying the Sharpen filter to your duplicated layer, apply the Find Edges filter. 
The image will look all funky at first, but do not feat! Simply set this layer's blend mode to Screen from the Layers panel to apply precision sharpening!
When you're finished editing your photo, select File > Export Image to export your creation to your computer all shiny and ready to upload to Etsy!
As each image will need a different approach to processing, the best practice is to experiment with the various methods and see what's best for your particular photo!
You can upload up to five photos per item, so play around with different angles and crops to give your buyers as many views of your items as possible!
Happy sales!
Hey, Aviators! Did you know you can make web comics in Aviary?
Well, if you didn’t, I have some news for you.
You can make web comics in Aviary!
Click for layered file
Go on and try one yourself!
Here are a few tips for creating comics.
What I like to do is lay down the background for the panel first.
Don’t worry if the elements of the image extend beyond the canvas. Only the content within the canvas frame will be visible in the final output.
I would recommend creating all the background layers in a single layer group.
(New to Raven? Here's a tutorial on the basic functions of Raven to help you get started drawing vector art.)
Using an old classical animation technique, you can find yourself saving time by creating character templates with expressionless faces/extremities.
(Click for layered file)
Then, it’s all a matter of drawing in the appropriate expressions…
…and adding the text for each panel!
(Here’s a video tutorial created by Aviary user learonthefly on creating speech bubbles in Raven.)
Save each of the panels of your comic as a separate Raven .egg. You’ll find all your panels saved in Your Creations page.
I like to assemble the comic in Phoenix. Begin with a canvas size large enough to fit your panels.
Then, import them all into the document by selecting File > Import File, then upload each of your panels through the Aviary Library tab.
Using the Move Tool, assemble the panels on your comic any way you like.
Then, you can add a title and author using the Text Tool in Phoenix.
And your comic is complete!
If you created the background in a single grouped layer, you can easily disable this group…
…and create infinite backgrounds using your comic template as well!
Let’s make some funnies!
Last week we released our online audio editor, Myna.
We weren't the only ones who were excited about the release.
Here is a quick round-up of what others had to say:
CNET:
Aviary launches impressive audio editor
DownloadSquad:
Aviary Myna: The best web-based audio editor yet
Mashable:
Myna: Garage Band in Your Web Browser
ReadWriteWeb:
Aviary Rocks with Free, Web-Based, GarageBand-Like Audio Editor
Lifehacker:
Myna Is an Awesome Multi-Track Audio Editor for Anyone
Lifehacker- Again!
The Aviary Suite is #1 Underhyped Webapp of 2009
TechCrunch:
Bands Should Really Take Advantage Of Aviary's Myna Remixing Tool
For all the bands and developers in the audience we are pleased to announce that now you can use Myna along with the rest of our suite of online creation applications on your very own website.
For more information take a look at the Aviary API documentation page.
If you have any questions or are looking for a customized versions of Aviary's apps please dont hesitate to contact us
Try Out Aviary»
Aviary is a powerful suite of browser-based design tools for people who create. Head on over to the Aviary homepage to try the applications out and learn more. It's free to try our tools or sign up!
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