5.21.2002 — 8 PDA/hand-held style interfaces were added to the members area. Various metallic finishes. PSD format. Preview

A Success Story: Your response to our new site MetallicGIFs.com has truly been amazing. If you are not already a member of this huge GIF resource of metallic buttons, banners, divider bars, etc. in GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, BRONZE and PEWTER, you are missing out. This is a LIFETIME membership and an excellent resource for those webmasters who do not create their own graphics.

5.11.2002 — METALLICGIFS.com ... Our newest metallic venture is now online and ready for YOUR LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP! For as little as $7.95 you can gain access to over 7,500+ metallic Gold, Silver, Copper, Bronze and Pewter GIFs for a lifetime. Our "Golden CD" has gone virtual at half the retail price. If you own our Golden CD, you get free access to the lifetime online version. Or buy it on CD, and get free online access. Read more about it.

5.09.2002 — 10 Planets in various nonmetallic color combinations and sizes have been added to the members area. Use them in your digital art. Mix and match them with your own metallic creations. These are larger-sized images, ranging from 250px to 300px in diameter. PSD format. Preview

Wondering what you can and cannot do with our images? Here's a summary. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Special Surprise: On 4.23.2002 we published a little note that a special surprise was coming soon. If you saw it and follow our posts like so many do, then you might be wondering 'when' this event will take place. VERY soon folks, very soon! :)

Resources Around the Net! It has been awhile since we have passed along a quality resource for our visitors, so here is one we know you will enjoy!

Fantasy Art Resource Project: A free guide to Fantasy&SciFi art/story creation, history, techniques and much more.

4.23.2002 — Another 126 Gold Framed Web Buttons have been added to the members area. These buttons also include marble, wood, cloth, gel, and textured inserts surrounded by pure, shiny gold frames! A special surprise is coming soon, so stay tuned - you don't want to miss it! ;) Preview

4.20.2002 — Gold Framed Web Buttons! Check out our latest addition of 101 web buttons. These luscious sparklers are merely a sampling of what is coming to the members area. Preview - See what our loyal members, customers and visitors have to say about our graphics!

3.21.2002 — Anyone out there love jewels? How about gears? What would you say to 10 Jeweled Web Templates or 10 Geared Web Templates for only $4.95? Is that a big grin we see on your face? Yep, we thought so! Hey, are you a member? Good for you, because today is YOUR lucky day. Subscribing members get to choose one of these two Collectors Series absolutely FREE! So what are you waiting for? Subscribe today! or Read more about our Collectors Series.

3.08.2002 — Special Feature! Get our "100 Metallic Interfaces" CD at a reduced price. This is a limited-time offer. See Today's Special!

2.22.2002 — New Features have arrived! Wow! And many more exciting things are coming soon.

Metallic Web Elements! Now you can purchase individual images without becoming a member or through our mini-pack groupings. Our Metallic Web Elements section's official Grand Opening will be in June 2002. But in the meantime, take advantage of a special price per image offer. More info.

Webmasters' Design Toolbox Directory! We have opened a new section of a few quality resources for webmasters. This section will be growing at a rapid rate in the coming months as new resources are sniffed and submitted for listing. Do you have a quality webmasters or web design resource you would like listed? Let us know and we'll take a look-see. :) Go to the Toolbox!

Add-Your-Link! Are you using our Linkware graphics and linking to our site? We'll return the favor by adding your web site URL to our reciprocal links page! Are you are member and want your web site listed too? Absolutely! More info.

Our Services Directory (see navigation bar on the left) now includes a more in-depth description of the services we have been offering the metallic web community for years. Some of these services are "Engraving-Lettering, Logo Design, Banners-Headers, Digital Signage, Clipart Print-Ready Designs, and other Custom Designs.

2.18.2002 — New LINKWARE Graphics for NonMembers! Our Nonmembers section has been restructured as previously promised, and we have added a new section, "Hot Metal Stuff!" These images may be used according to our Linkware Terms of Use: "A link back to our site is required, our copyright inscription must remain on the image and be clearly visible at all times ...." Read more.

Note to our Subscribing Members: Most of the "Hot Metal Stuff" images are located in the Members Area; however, you will find a few "NEW" images that are a glimpse of what is coming to Members Area soon. :)

New Golden Moments™ eCards added. Two new categories have been added to our Metallic eCard section: I Love You cards and Wedding cards. 100s more eCards in 30 categories are coming soon! Go there now.

2.14.2002 — Golden Moments™ eCards — Send someone you love or admire a Golden Moments™ Valentine eCard. They are FREE to use as long as our copyright stamp remains intact on the image, you do not directly link to our images, and you do not alter them to claim them as your own. Send them to your friends, relatives, and cyber buddies via email, newsgroups, guestbooks, etc. See the first of 100s of eCards coming soon!

Need a Golden Moments eCard™ personalized? No problem ... we'll personalize any of our ecards for only $3.50 each! You can't beat that price for superior quality images. And the cost is much less than if you purchased a store-bought greeting card, and they aren't personalized! Request Personalizations Here

2.07.2002 — Our Metallic Web Site Templates are Back! Hot news folks. Our metallic web site templates are now back online and available for purchase from this site again. Choose from a nice selection with many more coming soon. And you simply cannot beat the outstanding license fees for the quality.

2.05.2002 — What's Happening Here? Please bear with us as we make our first steps into Phase 1 of our site restructure. If you encounter pages that are formatted differently, you are likely seeing part of the new restructure. If you encounter errors, please contact us and let us know. We hope to make this first phase as painless as possible for our loyal visitors and members.

2.01.2002 — Join our Affiliate Program and Receive $5.00 for EACH referral who subscribes to our annual membership from your web site! No kidding folks. Most affiliate programs only pay out pennies; we pay a generous $5.00 for each valid referral who subscribes from your web site. Signing up is FREE, and you can easily watch your affiliate account grow online in real time. Payments are made monthly regardless of how small or how large your affiliate account becomes. Read more.

1.30.2002 — Borders, Backgrounds using CSS! A few weeks ago we promised to bring you some resourceful and fun ideas on how you can use CSS (cascading style sheets) to make your web site pages load faster and more manageable. Throw out the old HTML border and background concept. It was replaced many years ago with CSS. This mini-tut is easy to follow, but if you have questions, give us a shout. We would be glad to help. It is worthwhile to mention that this concept can be used with ANY image and looks simply dazzling with our metallics. A few suggestions: Ornamental Accents - Gold Filigree - Calligraphy Scrolls - Metallic Backgrounds

Instead of using a background image for your border or background in your HTML, use this snippet of code between the HEAD tags:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
body { background-image: url(imagename.gif); background-repeat: repeat-y; background-color: #000000}
-->
</style>

Replace the imagename.gif shown above with the image name and path on your web site. Depending on your server, sometimes it may be necessary to use the full URL between the parentheses, ex. http://www.yoursite.com/myimage.gif

You will notice the background repeats on the "y" axis (vertically). Change it to the x axis if you want your image to be repeated horizontally. Change your background color to the same background of your image or a different one. We've prepared two quick samples for you to view . Sample 1 (x axis) - Sample 2 (y axis)

This works great for that page. But what if you want to use that background throughout your site? Put this snippet of code in a separate document created with a text editor such as Notepad. Save that document as, ex... mystyle.css

Then in the HEAD of your document, place the following snippet of code. What you are doing is linking a style sheet to that web page. If you ever want to change your background or border image throughout your site, simply change it in your style sheet. It's like magic!

<link rel="stylesheet" href="mystyle.css" type="text/css">

1.26.2002 — Get Your FREE Sample Too! Thinking about subscribing? Want to examine a free image from our FREE Members Tour first? Request your freebie today like many others have since this offer began only two days ago! Wow, what an overwhelming positive response. Now why didn't we offer this sooner? :)

Viewing Thumbnails. Do you have a huge collection of photos, graphics, etc. on your hard drive and you need a better way to view them other than through Windows Explorer or your graphics software program? We have been using ThumbsPlus by Curious Software for years and can vouch for its resourceful capabilities. It is especially useful for batch processing images and comes with a built-in search database you can customize yourself. It costs a little cash, BUT can save you valuable time looking for that image you know is on your hard drive somewhere or on an offline CD. Sue Chastain of Graphics Software at About.com has written a must-read review on ThumbsPlus. She has also scouted the web for us and compiled a list of several other top thumbnail browser programs. Go check it out!

1.23.2002 — New to Graphic Design? Everyone has to start somewhere, so hang tight and take things slowly. Get the right tools for the right job, learn as much as you can about the program(s), and practice, practice, practice. Anyone with a smidgen of creativity, the drive to learn and keep up with technology can learn to design web graphics. Here are a few of our software picks for digital imaging for "web" graphics. Most experienced designers use several tools of the trade, but start slowly and be sure you want to do it before investing tons of money on software you may never use. Most of the larger software developers offer free trial demos that you can use for a specific period of time before making the decision to buy. Adobe PhotoShop, Jasc PaintShop Pro, Ulead PhotoImpact, and CorelDRAW.

1.22.2002 — New to Web Design? New web designers are coming on board the design wagon at lightning speed these days. The difference in educational resources for new web designers' compared to those that were available in 1995 when we picked up our very first design tools is outrageously vast. (Don't we wish there had been that amount of resources to choose from!) Back then when we told someone we were studying to become web developers, they said "What?" with a very confused look on their face. Believe it or not, that is a true story and today such a response would be considered silly. The hardest part today for new designers however is trying to find quality resources which actually provide helpful information and isn't confusing or a waste of time. Here are a few of our picks: WebMonkey, W3C, HTML Goodies, Web Design Guide, Digital Divas, WebDeveloper.com. (Please note: These sites will not bombard you with tons of popup windows, flashing banner ads/buttons nor excessive affiliate program propaganda.)

1.21.2002 — Clarification of Image Usage. Sometimes it becomes necessary to explain in more detail what can or cannot be done with our images. As questions arise, we therefore include more detailed information in our Terms of Use much like an amendment to a FAQ. At first glance, it may sound restrictive to a minimal few, but if thinking from a logical perspective, the majority completely understands. We can certainly assure you it is the industry standard for any worthwhile image collection site designed by the original artist.

1.11.2002 — Any Webmasters out there? Why of course there are! We have been evaluating a webmasters' resource site for some time now and we found one worth passing along to you. First, let us reiterate that we always review a site extensively before we recommend it to anyone. We feel webmasters who simply pass along a site URL to drive traffic, give out award icons and join affiliate programs simply to get exposure, hits, and money in their bank account risks their reputation and creditability if the site they are referring their loyal visitors to is poor. That is why we research a site extensively. This way you can always be assured that when we send you on a hunt, we aren't wasting your time. Our latest referral is 321 Webmaster.com. They claim to be the ultimate resource for everything you could ever want. You be the judge. Our opinion is that have some mighty fine resource links and a ton of them! Some are very good and a few not so good BUT it is certainly worth the trip to see for yourself. We imagine you will be inspired and find many good resources.

1.09.2002 — For all those "Get Organized" New Year's Resolutions! Did you make a New Year's resolution to get more organized? Is your graphic files scattered all over your hard drive? Do you have snippets of code or how-to instructions here and there and spend most of your time trying to find them? Look no further. We have been using a very useful PIM (Personal Information Manager) software package that has saved us tons of time over the past few years. We now have all our notes, how-to instructions, snippets of other info organized within TreePad Plus. TreePad is freeware, however, to upgrade to the Plus version you pay a small fee (currently $27.95), BUT it is completely worth the price! Software updates are free and the customer support is fantastic. Okay, so that takes care of your computer organization, right? Well, yes and no. TreePad is limited to your imagination. You can organize absolutely anything in it ... recipes, address book, Christmas card lists, your to-do today lists, personal journal, etc. Oh, but if you need something more ... here is a web site that is for organizing anything and everything in your life: GetOrganizedNow.com. Visit their highly popular forum for tons of ideas/tips/tricks on getting your entire life under control and be sure to subscribe to their awesome newsletter too!

1.08.2002 — Are you tired of Email SPAM and Web Site SPAM? Who isn't, right? Fight back with SpamCop. SpamCop monitors and filters known Email SPAM from the important mail that needs to get to you. Another great service is BrightMail (available only through specific ISPs). What is Email SPAM? It's unsolicited junk mail you receive in your Inbox generally advertising a product or service. Often times the people sending Email SPAM in some way will generate a profit for themselves if you click on the links within it. What is Web Site SPAM? It is very much like Email SPAM except that you are bombarded by it when you visit a web site. These sites are easy to recognize because they generally have tons of animated buttons and banner ads that are often unrelated to their web site. When unsuspecting people click on these links the unethical web site owner counts the money just added to their bank account. Not to mention that it is extremely inconsiderate to make their web site visitors sit and wait on countless animated propaganda to load. Often times their visitors are unmercifully plagued with popup windows that simply won't go away or locks up their computer systems - or worse, adds some type of trojan spyware to their computer systems! How do you fight back? Simply DON'T visit these sites. If their business practices are unethical, then likely their products or services are of inferior quality too. Read More About It.

1.07.2002 — CSS for Graphic Designers? We know that sounds rather odd, but once you fully dive into CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), you will see just how much easier it is to display your graphic designs on your web site. In the near future we will be posting a few CSS tutorials in our Bright Ideas section for members so they too can benefit from this remarkable web programming language. Trust us, CSS is not as scary as it seems. It is in fact very easy to learn. Where can you learn CSS? Well, here are a few resources to get you started: W3C, WebMonkey, TopStyle (software program for stylesheet editing)

1.04.2002 — Are you an Adobe PhotoShop junkie? Yes, we can understand. :) We have tons of metallic related PhotoShop tutorial links in our resource section. These tutorials were written by some very talented authors. If that isn't enough try browsing Studio Adobe and Action Xchange for more awesome PhotoShop resources!

1.3.2002 — Are you artistic? Many people who have a background in art, drawing, painting, etc. may not initially realize that the techniques in digital art is not much different. It may take a little while to get used to manipulating a graphics tablet and wand or the ole mouse to paint or draw with, but the techniques for painting, shading, blending, lighting, drawing, etc. are very much the same as in traditional art. Digital graphics software has made it fairly easy to use canned imaging and change colors/texture. But real artistic type individuals use what they know from traditional art techniques to enhance their digital creations. Of course, the better you know your graphics software, the better you can apply traditional art techniques. The magic is in the software and how well you know it. Which quite honestly can be done by anyone with a bit of creative blood in their veins. It doesn't necessarily take a Leonardo da Vinci type person. It takes commitment, motivation, patience and the sheer drive to learn and keep up with each new software version. So what are you waiting for? Pick up any art or painting book and apply those technique to your graphic software of choice. I can guarantee you that there is a way to create any type of effect without using canned images, built-in auto processes or plugins; the options beyond what is supplied in graphics software is endless. If you aren't close to an art store, here are a few online art sites which we frequent to inspire us and get our creative juices flowing. Often times all it takes for us is to read a mini-tip and it acts as a memory jog for an artistic technique we used to use or used to know eons ago. Warning: These sites can become addictive and you may find yourself overcome by the tons of resources they provide. It is easy to get lost in their world of creativity but quite enjoyable. So don't forget to come back here and visit us. The Artists Magazine - Decorative Artists Workbook - Dick Blick (Art Supplies) - WetCanvas! - About Painting

1.2.2002 — Remember but Push Forward. We sincerely hope everyone's New Year was super. Today is a good time to reflect on the past year, but yet to put behind us all the unpleasant events that occurred throughout the world in 2001. We cannot forget and would not want to forget those people who have suffered and continue to suffer from the tragedies. But remember too that life does goes on, and there is a lesson to be learned for all of us. "We must make the best of every day."

lphabet CAPS to emphasize your web pages. As a web site owner, chances are you are always looking for ideas on how to attract your visitors' attention. The use of alphabet capital letters to emphasize the first letter of your web page's paragraph is a technique that is often overlooked but quite effective. You have to admit that your eyes were drawn to this paragraph, right? You could use a larger font without using images, however, the down side to that is if the user does not have the font you used on their system, they won't see the font face you hoped for but rather their system's default font. If that doesn't concern you, then go for it. However, to show metallic 3D effects such as the letter used at the beginning of this paragraph and in our six new sets of Alpha CAPS, you will need to make your fonts into images. There are do's and don'ts to this procedure to be effective, and of course, we have made those available to our members in the "Bright Ideas" section. Subscribe today. 99.9% of our members are 101% satisfied with the bang for their buck. You cannot go wrong. Where else can you get quality, originally designed digital artwork by professional artists for such a low annual fee?

12.31.2001 — Happy New Year everyone! We hope your 2002 rings in with good health, happiness and prosperity.

Be Cyber Smart and ProActive. Take a little time today (if you have not already done so) and backup your important computer system files, check to be sure you have the latest virus protection, firewall, trojan detection, and spyware updates. It is times like these that the unsavory types come out of the woodwork to play havoc. Be armed and ready. If you do not have these programs installed on your computer, you should, unless you don't care whether you lose your data files or computer system. Here are a few resources to get you started:

Anti-Virus Protection: McAfee, Norton Anti-Virus, Kaspersky, Panda
Firewalls: ZoneAlarm. Norton Internet Security, BlackICE
Trojan Detection: PestPatrol, TDS-3, MooSoft
Spyware Detection: AdAware
Other: Cyber Terrorism - Cyber Crime

Tip: When installing these type programs, make sure you do NOT install them in the default directory suggested. Virus creators program their nasty pests to delete files in known default directory paths. Its too bad these smart individuals do not use their talents to better serve the world. What a waste, yes?

Note: The list above is only a reference and not a recommendation from us. We obviously have not used all of these programs; however, they are the "top" contenders for their respective category.

12.30.2001 — Hang onto your hat folks! The new year is nearly upon us and 2002 will bring some exciting features to Digital Web Gold. We guarantee that you will want to visit us every day because you won't want to miss a single thing!

Along with new site features we are branching out. Branching out, you say? What does that mean? Well, we don't want to spoil the surprise, but we can tell you that new design partners have arrived, they're rolling up their sleeves, and are now working like mad dogs to make improvements to the existing site and to help us expand in new directions. So stay tuned!

What neat resources have you found lately? A few months ago we found a color selection program that enables the user to easily select colors that compliment each other. This helpful little program is called Color Schemer developed by Aaron Epstein. Before we recommend anything to anyone, we always give it a full workout. First hand experience is a must, so you have to try it for yourself.. Let me just say that it is an excellent, powerful little color tool that is well worth the modest price tag. You simply cannot go wrong.

Do you have a neat resource you want to tell us about? Go ahead! We'll review it first, and then there is an excellent chance we will publish it here with a link to YOUR web site. But be sure to prepare your web server for a lot of traffic! No kidding!

Would you like to give some life to your metallic interfaces? Wouldn't it be cool to add some sound to the buttons? Hey, why not? With a few tools of the trade and a dynamite sound resource, you are on your way to some clicking, boinking, banging, clinking, clattering and popping. Hike your little ole mouse on over to FlashKit's SoundFX collection of thousands of FREE sounds. Yep, we said FREE. But hey wait! DON'T forget to come back. FlashKit's site is huge! We don't want you to get lost or forget us, okay?!

Ever wonder how those 3D software box images are created to look so real? We ran across a simple PhotoShop tutorial that makes it look so dog-gone easy! Give it a whirl. It's actually kind of fun. It can easily be adapted to your graphic software if you do not use PhotoShop, so never fear. If you are a software developer or a graphic designer who would like to start developing packaging prototypes for software developers, here you go. Rob of Robouk Designs has just made your day. (Note: This tut was not viewable with NN 4.x, so fire up IE if you generally use NN.)

12.29.2001 — We don't like to get ugly. But from time to time we find it necessary to update our Terms of Use so that it is not misunderstood. Just when we think we cannot get more detailed, we find we need to add a little tiddy here or there to clarify the clauses. So take a moment to review our latest revision to our Terms of Use: Here (Linkware Only) and Here (Applies to all Linkware, Purchased Images via Memberships/CDs/Mini-Packs). We aren't really as nasty as it sounds, really ... BUT we do take necessary measures when it comes to the security and fairness to our loyal members and web site and the longevity of our business.