MagCloud is a sweet, novelty service that allows you to create a real magazine. The process seems pretty straight forward.

1. Create your own document in whatever program you wish. The file dimensions need to be 8.5″ X 11″. If you want photographs to bleed to the edge, create your document at 8.75″ X 11.25″.  You can easily create this file in Microsoft Word, Photoshop, or other layout programs.  If you use InDesign grab their template here.
2. Export your layout to a multi-page PDF. You can use PrimoPDF to create a multi-page PDF from any program. It works as a secondary printer that prints to a file.
3. Upload your PDF and they send you a proof in the mail.
4. Once approved, your project gets published and others can go online and purchase your magazine. You can even make a profit on your

The pricing is very reasonable – .20 per page. A 50-page magazine would cost $10.00 + shipping. You can add up to 100 pages and a minimum of 4 pages. Page counts must be a multiple of four.

Ideas For Your Own Magazine

• Annual Church Event Calendar / Directory
• Yearly Student Curriculum Book
• Student Trip Memory Books
• Wedding Albums For Family Members
• Collaborative Stories (Each student  submits their own page)

These are just a few ideas to get your brain gears turning. I’m sure you can come up with something awesome for your ministry. If you create a magazine, send me an email and I’ll post it below for others to see.

Go To MagCloud

I just saw this really nice Photoshop tutorial at Creative Overflow. This would be a nice sermon series image effect. By the way, this is the best way to learn Photoshop – by trying out step-by-step tutorials. This helps you learn about features you have never used before and create some really nice looking stuff.

Go To Creative Overflow

If you’re looking for some creative Christian inspiration, Joe Cavazos is the guy. Joe is from Mission, Texas and is a full-time graphic designer for the Palm Valley Church. He regularly creates sermon media as well as print collateral for his church. His work oozes with creativity and attention to detail. It really speaks for itself.  Here are some of the images he’s released for public use on CreativeMYK.

All of these images are available for download to use in your church. Some are flattened images, others are PSD files you can edit. If you like Joe’s work give him a shout and tell him what you think. You can find Joe here on  Twitter – @joecavazos or on his website. Beware: Following Joe on Twitter will push you out of your design comfort zone.

This is a great resource for web designers who want to embed nice fonts in their web designs without infringing on the EULA agreements of popular fonts. Font Squirrel provides a list of dozens of free fonts to use on commercial websites. There is a nifty generator that helps you embed the fonts in your site as well. If you’re not a web designer, you can obviously use these fonts on print collateral as well. Enjoy!

Go To Font Squirrel

The Instant Shift blog just posted a good selection of really nice free fonts. If you don’t know how to install fonts, check out DaFont’s FAQ page.

Here are a few samples:

Go get your free fonts!

(via Photoshop Tips)

Aviary.com just opened up the totality of their services for FREE to the public. In the past, $25.00/year would get you a pass, but now it’s editing bliss for the masses. Here are some really great ONLINE services you can access:

• Image Editing – Photoshopish
• Color Editing – Create cool color combos/palettes for your creative work
• Effects Editor – Photo Effects – not really digging this one, but you might!
• Vector Editor – This is cool. If you ever need to access Adobe Illustrator, this is your spot. You can import files and export vector based files. Learn more about vector graphics here.
• Image Markup – Grab images from the web easily and edit them.
• Screen Capture – If you ever want to save a website as an image, this is an easy way to do it.
• AUDIO EDITOR – This is ground breaking for me. Access a library of hundreds of loops and audio clips. Record multiple tracks from your Line In/Microphone. There are a few effects features as well. If you need a quick audio production on-the-fly this is perfect for you.

Go To Aviary

(via Life Hacker)