ClipArt Video

Animated video announcing Church festival. Created using Adobe After Effects and Photoshop CS2. A photo of a haybale was turned into a character and animated to tell the story. Utilized Digital Juice Jumpback motion graphics and various clipart. See more at www.csramultimedia.com. Was encoded at 15 frames/sec for web.CSRA Multimedia, Inc. can help you with all your video production, product photography, website development, Flash video, converting old films, videos, slides, photos to DVD and CD. We can provide your business or organization with rental pf audio, projection, and sound equipment for your workshop, conference, or install the equipment in your conference room. We also design an d install sound systems for hotels, country clubs, malls, and retail stores. www.csramultimedia.com 803.270.4159

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Churches normally prefer that their banners and sign carry some themes, such as seasonal concepts of names of God and Jesus. Many are limited to illustrating Bible vs. or some of the famous Christian symbols. Few churches also favor expressing forthcoming sermon or mission themes. Whatever may be the choice, it is generally recommend that you study the Bible for your inspiration.

Tips when designing your Church Banner

If you have a talent on graphic design or on the subject of visual art, the most rewarding work to do for you is designing a banner. It is actually significant to start with any creative process with prayer as well as counsel from the church leadership. As we believe that God exposes himself to us, your banners actually become an acknowledgment of the hidden gift he has given you. Try coming up with your strong point and look counsel for your all your week points that really helps.

The best way is just to throw you into the banner designing! There is no reason for being shy, so you just need to be dramatic enough and bold in your work. Put every step out in faith and you churches banner would come out amazingly well.

One more good way to start is by studying the theme, which you have selected in the Bible. Then have a visit to any of your local library or get on the Internet and research lettering, Hebrew culture, Christian symbols, royalty, history, flowers, art, etc.

Begin saving magazine ads, which detain your eye, even if you are not actually sure what it is about them that you like. When you look at them later, models would start to emerge. The ads would have similar color schemes or type fonts, may be. Some of what you see would be appropriate to your banners.

Go to art stores or Christian bookstores and take a look at clip art books and lettering catalogs. Notice what actually catches your eye? Those as well might be used for future banner designs. Once again, you are only restricted by your own imagination. Be imaginative and Have fun!

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Product Description
A resource for pastors, church administrators, church secretaries, youth workers, and other church members who find themselves in the business of communicating on paper.

The Church Clip-Art Book

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Artwork is available online and offline in various different extensions. Different file types vary in their usefulness and in their weaknesses. So how do you know which one to use?

The main file types are TIFF, JPEG, GIF, WMF, and PNG. With these, the two main questions you want to ask yourself is: Is the newsletter a print or online publication? and Will I need to resize the graphic?

JPEG is the most common for photos and illustrations. It is flexible and works well in both print and on websites. It can lose some of its quality though over time if it\’s being saved and moved often.

GIF doesn\’t reproduce well in print and is intended only for use on the Web. It is better on websites than JPEG because it\’s designed to speed up the display time on the computer.

TIFF is compatible with most computer software. But some artwork can make the file size large and cumbersome. This can slow down printing. Also, this type is unsuitable for website use.

WMF files work the best when the graphics need resizing, but they can only be used on PCs. Some art styles won\’t work as WMF files though.

PNG was created to replace the GIF and, to some extent, the TIFF. It may not work as well as the GIF, however, for animations, but there was another partner version created to be like the PNG, but suitable for animations, called the MNG.

Still, you\’ll find many suppliers offering GIF extensions and not catching on to the MNG extension yet.

If you\’re using a true color graphic, such as a photograph, the JPEG is still the best choice over a PNG. And sometimes the TIFF beats out the PNG and JPEG when it comes to using black-and-white images for print.

Most pictures taken by digital cameras are automatically saved in JPEG format and are easy to use. Often the software with the digital camera will include a photo editor. This allows you to make simple adjustments, such as cropping your pictures and resizing them.

If you wish to make more adjustments, such as changing the colors of items within the picture and some advanced effects to the picture itself, I suggest looking at photoshop. It\’s easy to find at many stores and usually a hundred dollars and less. This would make an ideal donation item for a member of the congregation if you need the software for the church office.

I also suggest having a scanner in the church office. Sometimes, people will hand you pictures of interest that can go into your church publications. By scanning the picture in and saving it in the format you wish to use, you have more options.

To find graphics on the internet, google such terms as \”free church clipart\”, \”free clipart\”, \”free church graphics\”, and \”stock photography\”. Stock photography sites carry photographs from many categories. Most charge a small fee for downloading photos, but there are some who have free photos.

Also, check out church graphic supplies, like NewsletterNewsletter.com. Their membership is around $100 a year, but they have a vast array of clipart and pictures available. I love their searchable database too.

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Graphics in Your Church Website Design

Using graphics in your church website design is very important and are the basis for first impressions. The Internet has become what many call the “Information Highway.” This is true for your website as well as the design you incorporate into the site. 

Graphics are the pictorial information to a website. A visitor can view a website, see the pictures and decide if they want to continue viewing or move on to the next website. Before incorporating graphics into your church website design, there is one major decision to be made: Is your designer comfortable creating their own graphics or would they rather use graphics that were designed by someone else? Sometimes graphics are difficult to create. Their beauty and how they blend in with your page design makes creating them even harder. Therefore your designer should decide this quandary himself. 

Obtaining graphics from a clipart library is the easiest way to incorporate graphics into your church website design. Clipart libraries give you the choice of design, color and size that fits your website. A two-inch set of praying hands would be an eyesore on a page with tiny doves and a large photo of your church. Therefore choosing the correct size of graphics is important as well. Make sure they are eye catching but not overpowering to the page.

Many of the programs used in designing web pages include a clipart library. If yours does not, you can always log onto the Internet and do a search for graphics and clipart. There is a multitude of free clipart websites that allows you to download all the clipart you want. 

Another possibility is obtaining permission from the owner of another website to use some of their clipart. If you are browsing a website and see the perfect graphic for your design, it is possible to contact the owner of the website and ask permission to use that design. Obtaining permission is important for several reasons: The owner of the site may not be the owner of the graphics, the graphics designer may have these graphics copyrighted and use of them without express consent could be a violation of copyright laws, and finally, the graphic may have been used from another designer who has copyrights to it.

Another way of adding graphics is by taking pictures yourself and editing them to fit your needs. Digital cameras afford the designer the ability to create their own graphics by snapping a picture of the graphic they want and then editing it to fit their page. A good example is: Taking a picture of a Bible then cropping and resizing it could give the perfect graphic for your needs. 

Whether you design your own graphics or use a clipart library, the usefulness of graphics on a church website design has become common practice and separates the “ok” websites from the “great” websites. Consider using graphics on your web pages to set your sight apart from all the others. You won’t be sorry you did.

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