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12 Top Music Event Promo Templates for Concert and Festival Videos in After Effects
How to Make a Great PowerPoint Title Cover Slide Quickly (+ Video)
How to Customize Your Twitch Channel
What Is an Infographic & How It Can Help Your Presentation? (+ Expert Tips)
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How to Make Professional PowerPoint Presentations (With PPT Templates)
How to React to Touch Events in Flutter
How to Check Your WordPress Version
Google Drive Plugins for WordPress
20+ Best Free WordPress Blog Themes
How to Create an Inflated 3D Frilly Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop

12 Top Music Event Promo Templates for Concert and Festival Videos in After Effects

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 04:50 PM PDT

If you're having a concert or music event, you want everyone to know about it! Using a template is the perfect way to create a high-quality video that will have your audience queuing for the guest list.

Top Promo Templates to Promote Music Events

Here are a dozen of our favourite Adobe After Effects music promo templates from Envato Elements, where you can download and use as many as you like for one monthly subscription.

1. Music Event Promo

This is quite a multipurpose music template, making it great for all sorts of music genres and music events. Just add photos, footage, and text to complete this band promo video template.

2. Hip Hop Music Event Opener Promo

This hip hop promo template for After Effects has a dynamic style. It comes with cool paper effects that you can customize quickly. It also features global color control and 4K resolution.

3. Music Event Promo

This template is made to represent smaller 'event-style' screens, playing parts of a larger image. It's fast-paced and would be well suited to a music event at a club.

4. Summer Music Event

Brightly coloured and filled with upbeat vibes, this template is a great one for promoting music events. The download includes an opener, bumper, transitions and lower thirds.

5. Retro Music Festival

At 1:28 in duration, the Retro Music Festival template is a lengthy opener or display advertisement, giving you ample opportunity to get your message across.

6. Music Event Promo

A stripped back template that uses a parallax effect, Music Event Promo would suit a range of music video projects.

7. Jazz Band Opener

Something a little different, Jazz Band Opener for After Effects has a cool black and white style, with silhouettes of a jazz band playing around the content of your choice – very cool.

8. Music Festival

Nothing says electronic music like the frenetic liveliness in this After Effects template. It harnesses all the energy of the dance floor into an event promo that everyone will want an invitation to.

9. Modern Music Event Promo

With multiple colours and transition effects, Modern Music Event Promo has simplicity and style. Share off a full show's lineup in a way that keeps audiences interested.

Free Music Promo After Effects Templates From Mixkit

The above premium After Effect templates for music promos have really high quality, but sometimes free fits your budget better. If you don't want to compromise on having a good-looking music promo, check out these three templates from Mixkit.

10. Club Promo Event

This After Effects music promo template keeps your footage dark. Thankfully, it comes with a pop of color with nice lower thirds and angled headings.

11. Event Promo Board

Event Promo Board draws viewers in with its bold, fast-moving text. The transition effects allow you to fit a lot of video content in a short amount of time.

12. Party Invitation Opener

The Party Invitation Opener features bold typography and transitions. It can be easily modified to fit different artists at your next event.

The best part of Elements? It's an all-you-can-download creative buffet. With a single subscription, you've got access to all that Elements offers. It includes over 1,000 PowerPoint designs plus more than 600,000 total creative assets. That includes stock photos, graphics, audio, and so much more.

In this tutorial, we're going to use an impressive template called the BePro PowerPoint Business template. This is one of the top PowerPoint templates that's included for Elements subscribers. It's got a litany of designs that you can use to create the perfect PowerPoint title page. It also includes multiple color schemes to make it easy to re-use.

BePro PowerPoint Template Promotional Image — The premium BePro PowerPoint theme includes more than 100 slides that are easy to add your content to for fast, professional slide designs.

Elements has over 1,000 PowerPoint templates, and we'll help by showing you the best. Try out this collection of popular professional PPT templates on Elements.

Microsoft PowerPoint

32+ Professional PowerPoint Templates: For Better Business PPT Presentations 2021

Sean Hodge

While Envato Elements is an all-you-can-download model for templates, it's not the only choice. GraphicRiver is a pay-as-you-go archive of PowerPoint presentation templates. Check out some of the new PowerPoint presentation templates on GraphicRiver and the trending bestsellers on GraphicRiver.

The Logo Slide

The Logo Slide focuses on your brand image and showcasing the logo of your company. It's ideal to use a logo slide to show your branding on the PowerPoint title page.

A good starting point for this slide is slide design three that's built into the BePro template. It's perfect for just adding a logo and background image. In the example below, I dropped in the logo on the slide. I also took the same logo and faded it into the background image placeholder.

In this example, I inserted the logo on the slide and added a background image of my logo faded in the premium PowerPoint title slide design.

Make sure too that your version of the logo slide stays with the branding message. Adjust the colors of shapes and text to match the overall color scheme of your business.

Building a logo slide as your title slide doesn't have to be complicated. A well-made logo slide shows your branding quickly. An alternate option for this slide is slide design 4, a simple slide with a dark color scheme. Just add your logo to that slide to create contrast.

The Big Question Slide

Your audience may be expecting you to impart knowledge on them. But you can flip the script by asking a question up front.

The "Big Question Slide" doesn't take much time to design. It helps you free up time that you can spend thinking about the rest of your content.

When you're writing a presentation, there should always be a goal or big idea. In the example below, I used the minimalist slide design 4 to ask a question of the audience. Over the course of the presentation, I'll answer this question for the audience.

Big Question Slide in BePro template — I used slide design 4 in this premium PowerPoint cover page to ask a single significant question that I sought to aim over the course of the presentation.

If you aren't answering a question or sharing an idea, it might be time to re-think the content.

The Introductory Slide

There's nothing wrong with getting a bit personal in your presentation. Set the stage by building your authority and expertise, and the audience will trust and follow you through the presentation.

BePro has many slide designs that work well for this, but I opted for slide 25. It's a clean and straightforward slide design. It's easy to add points that explain your expertise to the audience.

Introductory Slide BePro — Slide 25 in this premium template has placeholder columns for fast facts about the speaker's background.

As you can see above, I also added a stock photo as the background image. Envato Elements features more than 100,000 stock images as part of the subscription. They're ideal for sourcing a stock image for your presentation.

In my example slide, I grabbed a great photo and faded it into the background. It's a great reminder that Elements is a total solution for building presentations—not just for the PowerPoint templates.

The Roadmap Slide

The roadmap style slide is used to tell the story of where your presentation is headed. I've sat through many presentations that seemed to wander through the agenda and would've benefitted from a roadmap slide.

When you build a roadmap, you show the audience the direction that you'll take them on over the course of the presentation.

The Roadmap Slide — Keep the premium roadmap simple, but four key points that define the structure or outline of your presentation can build interest early in the introduction.

Slide design 41 might take a bit of customization, but I do think that it's the perfect choice for showcasing your roadmap for the presentation. Just update each of the four placeholder boxes with a key section of your presentation to architect the roadmap of your big speech.

The Team Slide

This type of slide is the perfect intro to showcasing a project that was a total team effort. If you're going to spend your presentation sharing how you built a big app, product, or project, it's only right that you share the credit with your team.

Slide 22 in BePro is the perfect choice to build a team slide of your own. It's tailor-made to drop in images and descriptions of your team members and see it come to life.

In my example below, I put a vital member of the project team in each of the image placeholders. Giving a brief background or description of their contribution to the project is a great way to set the stage.

Team Slide Updated BePro — If your presentation focuses on the impact of your team members, consider using the premium Team Slide approach to showcase the individual members of the team.

I think the Team Slide approach is perfect when multiple speakers are involved. Some of my favorite presentations are when several different presenters will each take a part of the presentation. If this is the style of your presentation, consider kicking off with a team slide that introduces everyone's role and contributions.

5 Quick PowerPoint Title Cover Slide Design Tips for 2021

We've looked at how to make a great PowerPoint cover slide. Soon, you can begin building amazing slides on your own. But first, check out five quick design tips that are sure to help you out:

1. Go Bold

Bold style is essential on your PowerPoint cover page. Remember, you've got one goal: capturing audience attention. Sharp, eye-catching design does exactly that.

Premium templates built by creatives provide unmatched designs. They even help inspire you to do your very best work. And they're incredibly easy to customize, making you look like a PPT expert.

2. Create Your Own Layouts

PPT decks are really frameworks for your message. Inside the app, you've got the flexibility to customize every slide layout. That's never more important than on the first page of PPT presentations.

By adjusting layouts, you can show exactly what you want, where you want. It's the best way to create a memorable and unique PowerPoint cover page.

Learn how to customize PPT layouts with our quick tutorial:

Microsoft PowerPoint

How to Make Great PPT Slide Layouts in Microsoft PowerPoint 2021

Andrew Childress

3. Embrace Minimalism

Minimalism. It's a popular design aesthetic, and for good reason. It adds style without being overpowering or distracting. That's perfect for a PowerPoint cover page.

First page of PPT presentation — Vynil is a premium modern option for the first page of PPT presentation designs.

Try to build a cover showing only the essentials. These could be things like an image, the presentation title, a date, and your name. Be careful to avoid adding clutter: it's a quick way to lose your audience.

4. Add Kinetic Typography

You might not think of animated text. But it's actually a great way to grab attention and lock in audience focus. Thanks to PowerPoint, you can add these animations (called kinetic typography) easily.

Kinetic typography brings subtle, stylish text animation to any slide. It's ideal for the first page of PPT presentation layouts in need of a bit more energy.

Learn how to use kinetic typography in just 60 seconds here:

Presentations

How to Make Kinetic Typography in PowerPoint in 60 Seconds

Andrew Childress

5. Be Specific

First impressions are key, and you'll make one with your PowerPoint cover page. So why use generic layouts if you can find something specifically suited to your needs?

Business PowerPoint cover page — Pizzarena is a PowerPoint cover page made just for pizza restaurants.

This might mean choosing a premium template built for your industry. Or, you might add your brand's colors, logos, and more. Either way, being specific and tailoring your cover slide to your needs is sure to impress.

5 Top PowerPoint Title Cover Slide Templates (For 2021 Presentations)

Premium templates from Envato Elements include stunning PowerPoint cover page designs. Let's check out five of the very best:

1. VERA PowerPoint Template

Bold colors abound in this visually stunning PPT deck. With 55 unique slides, you're sure to find the perfect PowerPoint cover page. Also, inside is a custom icon set that's easy to work with. This one is perfect for almost any project.

2. STYLE - Multipurpose PowerPoint Template V50

Style: it's in the name of this template, and for good reason. This is a perfect example of a sleek, minimalist PowerPoint cover page. Customize it in seconds, and with 4,000 slides to choose from, your options are almost unlimited.

3. IPSUM - PowerPoint

IPSUM offers a key part of a successful PowerPoint cover page. That's creative flexibility. Over 50 layouts are built into the pack. You'll also see custom infographics, icons, and more. Each slide element is completely editable.

4. Livy PowerPoint

Searching for a timeless, retro-inspired PPT cover page? Livy has you covered. With 50 slides and resizable graphics, it's easy to adapt to your project needs. The included gallery slide makes for a perfect mosaic cover layout.

5. Conference PowerPoint Presentation Template

Last but not least is Conference, a modern PowerPoint cover page deck. Choose between multiple color themes and quickly add in your content. Plus, slides are pre-animated, saving you precious time. Each slide is in full HD, helping them look great on large screens.

More Top PowerPoint Templates

PowerPoint templates give you a tremendous advantage when creating a presentation. You've already seen options for PowerPoint cover pages in this tutorial, but these just scratch the surface.

Check out more of the top templates below. Many of these templates give you even more options to use as the first page of PPT presentations.

Keep Learning

PowerPoint is a fantastic app because it's easy to learn but has so many features that you can use to build beautiful slides. These five title slide designs and the template we used to build them are a great example of how easy it can be.

Still want to learn more about PowerPoint? One of the best resources for learning the app is our article, Ultimate Guide to the Best PPT. That guide and the tutorials below will help you build competence and present confidently.

Make Great Presentations ( Free PDF eBook Download )

We also have the perfect complement to this PowerPoint tutorial, which will walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully.

Download our new eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. It's available for free with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter.

Start Using PowerPoint Cover Pages Today

In this tutorial, you saw some of the best options for PowerPoint cover pages inside of premium templates. These files set the tone with the help of the first page of PPT presentations, presented perfectly. Choose one of these templates and get started now.

How do you grab and hold the audience's attention? If you've got ideas on how to write more compelling copy for title slides, make sure to use the comments section below to share a tip with other Tuts+ readers.

Editorial Note: This tutorial was originally published in August of 2019. It's been revised to make it current, accurate, and up to date by our staff—with special help from Andrew Childress.

How to Customize Your Twitch Channel

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 07:00 AM PDT

So you're interested in streaming on Twitch, and you want to know how to customize Twitch channel features. There's a lot of content to cover on that, like custom Twitch emotes, custom Twitch alerts, custom Twitch panels, your custom Twitch overlay, and more. It can seem pretty overwhelming to a newcomer, so consider this article a general primer to get you started. Let's dig right in.

custom twitch overlay — Customizable Twitch Overlay from Placeit

Twitch Channel FAQ: Things You Should Know

Before you dig into how to customize Twitch stream content, make sure you're familiar with these basics:

Custom Twitch emotes are exclusive to Affiliate and Partner Streamers. You'll have to meet those criteria if you want to upload your own custom emotes.
However, all streamers can potentially use a custom Twitch overlay, custom Twitch panels, and even custom Twitch alerts.
There are many ways to stream on Twitch, so you'll need to figure out which one best meets your goals. For example, many streamers use software like Streamlabs OBS. However, you can also stream via the Twitch app and Twitch Studio.

Now, let's dig into specific sections to help explain some of your Twitch customization options, particularly for beginner streamers.

twitch overlay maker — Custom Twitch Overlay from Placeit

How to Customize Your Twitch Channel

Step 1

So, what is a Twitch channel? When someone tunes in to your channel, they can watch your Twitch stream. When we explore how to customize your Twitch channel, keep in mind that we're talking about the channel itself. We can do things like adding panels, a custom Twitch banner, and more to customize this space. You might also want a custom Twitch logo for your channel's branding too.

Here's an example of what a Twitch channel looks like when the streamer is offline:

Step 2

Click on the About tab to check out your Twitch panels. You won't see any here by default; you have to add them yourself. You can add images, text, and even dynamic content, like panel extensions. These extensions can display things like your Twitter timeline, recent stream data, and more.

To edit your Twitch panels, click on Edit Panels, as highlighted below. This will let you add or remove panels from your channel.

Step 3

You can also customize your Twitch avatar. You'll want to have some kind of representation here, rather than a blank icon. This could be an illustration, photo, or even a custom Twitch logo.

To edit your profile picture or avatar, go to the Creator Dashboard. Then, under your Settings, click on Channel.

Click on the Brand tab, as shown below, to edit your channel's branding. This includes your avatar. Just click on Update Profile Picture to choose a picture from your computer.

You can also customize your profile accent color here. Choose a color that best suits your branding. You can also choose between light and dark themes.

Example Avatar from Envato Elements

Step 4

In this same Brand section, scroll down to customize your profile banner. Using a custom Twitch Banner is a great idea, but the default will generate a basic background, using your username, just in case. Choose between this generated background and a custom image.

Click Upload to choose a custom image from your computer. Save once you are happy with your selection.

Step 5

Scroll down further in the Brand tab to customize your video player banner. The process here is very similar. Just click Update to choose a file from your computer. A 1920x1080 pixel image is recommended.

twitch offline banner — Twitch Offline Banner from Placeit

Learn More About How to Customize Twitch Channel Content

Want to learn more about making Twitch channel content like custom Twitch banners and custom Twitch panels? Check out these free tutorials from Envato Tuts+.

Create Twitch Panels, Custom Twitch Banner Designs, and More in Your Browser

Looking for some custom content for your Twitch channel? Check out some of the awesome offerings on Placeit. You can create Twitch panels and Twitch banners, and you can even create a custom Twitch logo for yourself. Best of all, it's free to give it a try, with no software required, and some of these designs are entirely free to use!

1. Create Custom Twitch Panels Online

Take a look at these Twitch panels. Customize them in any way you want. This includes more than the text too. You can move elements, change colors, and more.

2. Customize Your Own Twitch Banner Online

You can also customize a Twitch banner on Placeit. Add your info, your content, change up colors, and make this design your own.

3. Customize a Twitch Offline Video Banner for Your Stream

Need an image for when your stream's offline? Create one easily and quickly with Placeit. Add your content, experiment with the layout, and then download your creation.

4. You Can Even Create Your Twitch Avatar Online Too!

Yup, you can even customize an avatar or logo on Placeit too. Whether you're looking for something abstract or a customized character, you can find it here.

How to Customize Your Twitch Stream

Step 1

As we discuss how to customize your Twitch stream, keep in mind that we're talking about the video itself here. You might, for example, want to use a Twitch stream overlay, rather than straight video without any added content.

Here's an example of what a Twitch steam could look like with and without an overlay. It makes a pretty big difference, right?

twitch overlay example — Twitch Overlay from Placeit, Stock Imagery from Envato Elements

Step 2

Let's take a moment to talk about how Twitch overlays work.

Think of it like visual content that is placed on top of your video. This means that the possibilities here are endless. You can use transparent PNGs, animated GIFs, and much more. You can layer multiple sources too, including dynamic content.

So, for example, take a look at this Twitch stream overlay. Here's what it looks like on its own, without any video or other content. The checkered pattern here indicates transparent space. Notice that we can even have lowered opacity (semi-transparency) in the images themselves. Cool, right?

twitch overlay transparency — Twitch Overlay from Placeit

Step 3

Then, these images, like this sample overlay, are typically placed into some kind of streaming software. In this example, we'll add it in Streamlabs OBS. Notice, in the Source section, it's our Overlay Image.

We could add more sources here, like video, additional images, and more. This content would then be "layered" on top of each other. This is basically how overlays work.

twitch overlay in OBS — Free Twitch Stream Overlay from Placeit

Want to Learn More About Twitch Streaming Software?

There's plenty to explore, when it comes to how to customize Twitch stream content. Take a look at these walkthroughs that will help you explore some of your software options.

Want to Learn How to Make a Twitch Stream Overlay From Scratch?

If you'd like to learn how to create a Twitch overlay from scratch, check out this tutorial. It's free, and we go through every step: from designing in Adobe Photoshop to adding the content to Streamlabs OBS.

Adobe Photoshop

How to Create a Twitch OBS Stream Overlay in Photoshop

Daisy Ein

Check Out These Custom Twitch Stream Overlays

But you can also customize your own Twitch overlay with Placeit. Check out these designs that you can customize, download, and use in your Twitch stream today.

1. Customizable Twitch Stream Overlay

Keep it simple and stylish with a Twitch overlay like this one. Designs like this are perfect for streams where you want to focus on one video output.

2. Horror Survival Gaming Twitch Stream Overlay

You can find genre-centered designs on Placeit too. Remember, this is all customizable too, even things like the imagery and colors.

3. Colorful Online Twitch Overlay Maker

Speaking of colors, check out this colorful design. Prefer green? Maybe pink? You can easily switch that up in Placeit too. Resize the webcam space, add images, and more.

How to Make Custom Emotes for Twitch

Step 1

Emotes are such a fun part of interacting with your audience on Twitch. There are so many ways to make custom emotes for Twitch too, like using a photo or drawing them yourself.

Keep in mind the required sizes for custom Twitch emotes:

112x112 pixels, 56x56 pixels, 28x28 pixels.
Your emote file should be between 112x112 pixels and 4096 x 4096px.
It should not be animated.
It needs to have 1:1 square dimensions.
Remember, you'll need to be an Affiliate or Partner to upload your own custom Twitch emotes.

Make sure your emote is a PNG file. You will likely want the background to be transparent. For example, check out this sample Twitch emote created from a funny dog photo.

custom Twitch emotes — Funny Dog Stock image from Envato Elements

Step 2

But what if you don't have drawing or image editing software? You might be tempted to grab a random image off the internet, but they are rarely free of copyright. This means they're probably not free to use, and they may not get approved or could bring up trouble for your channel.

Thankfully, there are tools like Placeit out there, a browser-based design tool. Using Placeit, you can customize emotes online, just like this example:

customized twitch emote maker — Customize your own custom Twitch emotes with Placeit, like this one.

Step 3

We can even crop and prepare our custom emotes online, using Placeit's online image crop tool. Simply upload your custom emote, specify the size, and download. It's simple, easy, and doesn't require any software.

online image cropper — Use Placeit's free online image cropping tool to prepare your custom Twitch emotes

Want to Learn More About Making Custom Twitch Emotes?

You can make custom Twitch emotes out of photos and drawings. Curious about how to do it? Check out this free tutorial. It'll walk you through the process.

Emoticon Design

How to Make Twitch Emotes

Mary Winkler

Twitch Emotes You Can Customize Right Now

Check out these fun emotes you can customize in your browser, on Placeit. It's free to jump in and give it a try, and, if you do decide you like it, you not only get your emote. You also get a high-res print version, so you could use it for other things too, like your overlay or even merch, like T-shirts.

1. Cute Animal Custom Twitch Emotes

Isn't this a cute character? Like the other content on Twitch, you can customize colors, the text, and the arrangement here too.

2. Funny Reaction Custom Twitch Emotes

Photos can make for a fun, memorable Twitch emote too. Some of the most successful and used emotes likely key into a reaction. That's something to keep in mind.

3. Customizable Character Twitch Emotes

There are other customizable characters on Placeit too. Try this out with different colors and text, and see what combination best suits your channel.

How to Add Custom Emotes to Twitch

Step 1

Now that we've talked about making custom Twitch emotes, let's look at how to add custom emotes to Twitch too.

Return to your Creator Dashboard. Under Viewer Rewards, go to Emotes.

From there, you can see which emotes are available to you. This example is from an Affiliate streamer. Click on one of the plus signs, next to each tier, to upload your custom Twitch emote.

Step 2

Here's what it looks like, after clicking that plus sign. Just click the upward arrow icon to upload your custom Twitch emote. Remember to note the size and file requirements.

Keep in mind that uploads may not be instant, unless you meet certain Twitch criteria. Otherwise, you'll have to wait for them to be approved.

Step 3

Finally, your emote will need a name. There is a prefix first. So, for example, if our channel name was "Tutorial", our prefix would likely be something like "tutori" (just an example, so make sure to consult current Twitch guidelines on this). This will be added and displayed by default.

If we named our emote "Happy", our emote name would end up looking something like "tutorihappy". This would then be what users would type to use your emote in chat.

Want to Check Out Even More on Custom Twitch Emotes?

Looking for even more custom Twitch emote inspiration? Check out these tutorials and collections here on Envato Tuts+. There's plenty more to see.

How to Create Custom Alerts for Twitch

Step 1

Next, let's talk about Twitch alerts. There are many different services, software, and other ways you can use alerts in your stream. So prepare to do a little research here. We'll take a look at one option to explore how they work, but it's just that: one option you could try.

Here, we'll take a look at Streamlabs OBS again. We'd start by adding a new Source to our stream, just like when we added visual overlay content.

Step 2

Check it out; there are so many different kinds of content we could add. In this case, we'll add an Alertbox, which creates notification popups or alerts. There are plenty of other options, however, so feel free to give them a try. You can always remove a source if you don't want to keep it anymore.

Click Add Source to continue.

Step 3

Then, we can customize our alert in a whole bunch of different ways. Change the colors, the text, the imagery, and more. You can have a lot of fun with this and really get creative.

Click Done to proceed. You can come back and edit this later, if you'd like to.

Step 4

Then, notice how this source is placed into our stream, just like with our overlay. We can reposition it any way we prefer in our visible area, by clicking and dragging it. So place it wherever you'd prefer it to appear on your stream.

Learn More About Adding Live Content to Your Streams

Want to learn more about alerts, live chat on stream, and other widgets? Check out this free tutorial for even more Twitch stream content.

Live Streaming

How to Add Chat and Live Audience Widgets to Video Streams With Streamlabs OBS

Marie Gardiner

Check Out More Twitch Content on Placeit

Looking for even more inspiration for your Twitch stream? Check out these awesome assets that you can customize on Placeit. Remember, it's free to dig in and give it a try, and many of the designs are totally free.

1. Free Customizable Twitch Overlay Template

Speaking of which, here's a free Twitch overlay you can customize right now with Placeit. Change up the colors and text, and see what you can come up with.

2. Custom Just Chatting Twitch Stream Overlay Template

There are lots of different designs to choose from, however, like this more minimal Twitch overlay. This one would be a great choice for chatting, music, and more.

3. Customizable Free Twitch Offline Banner for Video

There's plenty of other Twitch content over on Placeit too, like this Twitch offline banner. Customize the character and content, and move things around.

4. Custom Animated Twitch Stream Intro

Did you know you can even create custom, animated video content on Placeit? You can, and all from your browser. Give it a try for an awesome animated addition to your stream.

5. Custom Twitch Banner Channel Template

Check out this colorful banner. You can find banners, emotes, panels, and more on Placeit. There's plenty to see and customize, so why not take a look today?

How Would You Customize Your Twitch Channel?

So, how would you customize your Twitch channel? Think about your branding. It's a good idea to have a consistent idea for your visuals, like colors, imagery, and other qualities.

Remember to check out Placeit if you're looking for an easy-to-use option that's perfect for beginners and experienced streamers alike.

Want to learn more about creating content for Twitch? Check out these free tutorials from Envato Tuts+. Happy streaming!

What Is an Infographic & How It Can Help Your Presentation? (+ Expert Tips)

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 06:55 AM PDT

Are you using infographics in your presentations and marketing?

If not, maybe it's time to start. Infographics combine data and visual representation with analysis. As we'll see, they're a great way to enhance any presentation, using presentation infographic templates like the ones available on Envato Elements.

What is an Infographic - examples from Envato Elements — You can find hundreds of high-quality presentation templates with simple infographics on Envato Elements.

This guide explains what infographics are, and how you can use them to better reach and engage your audience, even if you're presenting complex information. You'll also learn how to create infographics quickly and easily. I'll also share some tips for creating better presentation infographics.

What Is an Infographic?

Let's backtrack again to get clear on what an infographic is. We often think of the term as being relatively new, but it isn't. People have used charts and graphs to present information for centuries, and those are effectively infographics.

BusiPro is a simple infographic presentation template — The simple infographic, BusiPro, from Envato Elements has many uses.

Google's Ngram Viewer shows that the term "information graphic" has been around for centuries. People have been talking about "infographics" since the 1970s.

In answering the question "what is an infographic" these days, we usually mean graphics that group data and facts around a theme, and which are shared online. Those can be pretty complex to create, but there's an easier way.

You can create a simple infographic within a presentation by using a Google Slides or PowerPoint infographic template. Since you can export Google Slides to PowerPoint, you can learn more about how to customize an infographic PowerPoint template in the following tutorial:

Google Slides

How to Make a Great Infographic With Google Slides Using a Template (+Video)

Sharon Hurley Hall

Benefits of Using Infographics

So, why does it make sense to use infographics in marketing? Here are a few benefits of using infographics.

First of all, people can be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of online information around. In the average internet minute, there are:

hundreds of thousands of tweets
tens of millions of messages via SMS, WhatsApp and other platforms
hundreds of millions of emails

Infographics provide a way to cut through the overload and help people make sense of the data that's available online.

Design and marketing professional Dan Walker comments:

"The digital age has trained us to expect visual evidence by the constant presence of images at our fingertips. Thoughtful designers are aware that their mission is to communicate a message, to persuade an audience to think or act a certain way, not just to make something look pretty. The visual and verbal working together to form a stronger communication is exactly what infographics are supposed to do. The average person becomes distracted in 8 seconds. By creating a visual story and using numbers to validate our statements, we stand a better chance of holding our audience's attention."

From a business viewpoint, using infographics brings a lot of other benefits. There's nothing that says you know your stuff like sharing some data-rich research and analysis. That's why using infographics in PowerPoint presentations helps you show your expertise.

How to design infographs with a presentation template — You can find many infographic presentation templates in the Corporate Business Plan Google Slides Template.

Infographics are widely shared, which can help to increase awareness of your brand. DemandGen Report shows that:

56% of marketers use visuals in all their content.
37% of those visuals are original material like infographics.
Infographics and original visuals drove more engagement than any other visual format.

Finally, infographics are great for SEO because they build inbound links. Most people who embed an infographic on their site link back to the original source. If search engines see your site as the online authority for that content, that can only be a good thing, right?

Why Use Infographics in PowerPoint Presentations?

Clearly, it makes sense to use infographics to market your business, but is it also a good idea to use infographics in presentations?

Absolutely! There are several reasons why it makes sense to use infographics in presentations.

Say you've got a public-speaking engagement, like a conference presentation. Instead of simply reeling off a list of facts, you can communicate business insights in an accessible way by using an infographic presentation.

Even better, using presentation infographics helps keep your audience's attention. In fact, the combination of text and data helps people visualize and retain key points in your presentation. Founder and creative director of Creamy Animation, Larry Mutenda says:

"Infographics, just like stories with a beginning, middle and end, have a message to get across and need a main detailed body to argue in its favor.

Group the related information pieces. Derive the central message. Introduce it, then lay out the details that support your argument and conclude with the final, more nuanced message. Use numbering if possible."

Pyramid infographic presentation slides — Use this attractive Google Slides infographic template from Envato Elements to help your audience retain key points.

As our collection of free infographic PowerPoint templates points out, many of us are visual learners. That makes infographics the perfect tool for capturing and retaining attention and fostering engagement with the material you're presenting.

What's Included in an Infographic?

If you're going to create an infographic, and especially if you're going to us an infographic template, here are the elements you'll need to have ready in advance:

Text. Although infographics are visual, you still need some text to provide information for your audience.
Data. The research that you're presenting.
Charts and graphs. These are useful to help people understand the data.
Diagrams. These can provide another way to lead people through the data you present.
Images. Depending on the subject of your presentation, images may be a useful tool for illustrating your topic.

Next, I'll look at how you combine these elements to create an infographic.

9 Infographic Creation Tips (+ Expert Quotes)

If you're ready to start creating an infographic presentation, here are some tips to help:

1. Do Your Research

Founder and lead graphic designer of Southpaw Grafix, Kathie Daniel says research is a key part of the infographic creation process:

"A good infographic conveys information accurately and correctly. A great infographic does this in a memorable manner, no mean feat in a world full of things competing for our attention. Before starting on your infographic, research what others are doing and find out what works and what doesn't and try to understand why. Let this research guide your project."

2. Don't Forget the Info

Thinking about what's an infographic must-have? The "info" part is crucial, says Walker:

"This may sound strange, but make sure there's real INFO in your infographics. And by that, I mean data and numbers. It's surprising how many items labeled "infographics" are merely vague statements and verbiage without hard supporting data. People respond to numbers better than words alone. I've been given infographic assignments with zero numbers. As a designer that makes you think, "Why are we doing this?"

3. Work Out the Story Before the Visuals

OK, so here's how to create an infographic. One of the most important tips is not to get too hung up on the visuals at the start. That seems counter-intuitive for a visual tool but let me explain.

Abstract Google Slides infographic template — The right infographic presentation template can help you tell your narrative.

An infographic tells a story, and the visuals support that story. So, it's important to have an underlying narrative that leads readers from point A to point B to point C, and to your conclusion.

The best way to make sure you do this is to plan and outline your infographic in advance. It's just like planning a piece of written content. You'll need:

a title
the main points you intend to cover, in order
the data
a conclusion

Walker comments:

"Remember to keep it simple. Good advice for all communication, but particularly important for infographics. Have a clear hierarchy and don't overwhelm your audience, or you'll lose them. Don't be afraid to edit."

Let's look at these elements in a bit more detail. Like other content, a good infographic needs a strong headline or title. This is what will encourage people to read the rest of the infographic and to pay attention to the content. Daniel advises:

"The purpose of an infographic is to accurately convey information to the target audience in a quick, attractive and easy to understand visual format. Keep this top of mind. Ensure that your content is accurate and relevant. No "fake news" or "clickbait headlines." Your headline must always be relevant to the content."

You can use a tool like BuzzSumo to find popular headlines that you can use as inspiration. Learn more about writing headlines in our guide:

Design Theory

Writing and Designing a Killer Headline

Brian Casel

4. Focus On Your Main Points

Next, think of the main points you want to cover in your infographic presentation. Think of these as subheads in a blog post. Add the data that supports each point to the outline. You'll use the subheads to show people the different areas of your infographic.

Most people read on the web by scanning. The subheads you use to show different pieces of data need to keep your audience's attention. They'll be looking to see that your infographic delivers on the promise of the headline. So, they get what they expect when they keep reading. If they don't, that's a big turnoff.

Daniel counsels:

"Keep the layout simple and attractive. Create "vertical interest" - a reason for the viewer to scroll down and access more information. This will depend on your topic and content. Infographics are easier to read than text alone, and more visually attractive. Make your fonts and colors easy to read, avoid visual noise."

Next, there's the data, which you'll display via charts, graphs, and some text. Daniel comments:

"Use appropriate graphs and charts to illustrate the data and statistics in your content. There are many options to choose from: pie charts, line charts, bar charts, flow charts, line graphs, maps, tree diagrams and more. Keep it simple: less is more."

It's worth repeating that the "info" part of the infographic is essential, and it needs to be right. Make sure the data you're using is up to date, and if you've got original data, that's even better. Outdated facts and stats won't help your reputation - or your business.

The Company Profile Google Slides Template from Envato Elements has plenty of ways for you to share your data.

Good places to find data include:

government data
academic research
research organizations and foundations
Google Trends and similar sites
company research studies

When selecting data to include in PowerPoint presentation infographics, think about what best supports the point you're trying to make.

5. Select the Right Fonts

Veteran web developer N'Delamiko Bey says it's important to pay attention to typography:

"Because there is usually a lot happening in an infographic, your choice of typography absolutely matters. Choose simple sans serif fonts, and never more than two or three (absolute tops). This keeps your reader's eye focused and maximizes the retention of the information you're trying to deliver. K.I.S.S. in effect always."

6. Use Gamification

Gamification is also a big part of creating an effective infographic, comments Bey:

"The human brain is hardwired for stories and games are stories you tell with your body and mind. Research shows we learn better if we gather and implement the information in gamified situations. If you can find a way to present your infographic with game-like or gamified elements, you're more likely to make an impact on the user and tie your info to their memories and provide value. Make it a game!"

7. Use Color to Reinforce Your Message

Careful use of color can make your infographic presentation even more effective, says Mutenda:

"When creating infographics, it's important to pay attention to content based color variations. Go beyond font and background color contrast. Alternate background colors for different sections to set them apart.

Align colors with the section message. For instance, in a climate-related infographic, sky-blue can be used for a section about the ozone layer, while green can be applied to a section addressing forests and other vegetation cover.

Furthermore, colors induce certain emotions that help drive the point home. For example, using the color red, which is sometimes associated with danger can help to reinforce a statistical message about wildfires."

8. Remember Your Takeaway

Think about the key takeaway you want people to get from your infographic PowerPoint. This is the point you're leading towards, like a conclusion in a blog post or article. While you may not include this explicitly, knowing where you're going will help you to plan your infographic properly.

Once you've collected this information, you can start thinking more about how you'll support your points with visuals.

Simple infographic presentation slides - Nature — Use a professionally-designed template such as the Nature Presentation Template to avoid clutter.

Let's talk design for a minute. While you want your infographic to be packed full of information, avoid clutter at all costs. As I said earlier, make it easy to navigate the infographic by using subheads to highlight different sections. This also works for visual elements. Mutenda says:

"Big font/number sizes can emphasize a key message or statistic and the same goes for positioning.

Make graphics evolve with the information e.g. when using a cartoon for effects of drug abuse, it can start off looking healthy and gradually wither."

One way to make your infographic work better for your audience is to create a visual identity. That means using the same visual elements for the same kind of information. For example, you can vary the icons used depending on whether you're presenting a stat, asking a question, or giving a warning. This improves both the user interface and the user experience.

If you're looking for useful icons and images to illustrate your infographic, check out the graphics on GraphicRiver or Envato Elements.

GraphicRiver search for infographic presentation icons — You can download icons and images from GraphicRiver on a pay-as-you-go basis.

9. Think Mobile

Consider where your audience will be accessing your infographic presentation, advises Daniel:

"Be aware of your target audience and their devices: are they viewing on a phone or tablet as opposed to a laptop or desktop? This is particularly relevant in today's world of on-line meetings, as opposed to in person gatherings. Avoid fine print, i.e., small text that will be hard to read on a cellphone screen."

How to Include an Infographic in Your Presentation

Now that you know what's involved in creating an infographic, here's how you include infographics in your presentation.

First of all, create your presentation in PowerPoint or Google Slides. Read our guide on How to Create Great PowerPoint Presentations (With Top Examples) to help you to do that.

Make the process easier by using a PowerPoint or Google Slides infographic template from Envato Elements or GraphicRiver. Follow our guide to:

Download the template.
Import it into PowerPoint or Google Slides to create your infographic presentation slides.
Customize the text.
Customize the graphics.

Make sure you've got your text, data, icons and images ready to make the customization process simple.

Learn More About Using PowerPoint & Google Slides

Learn more about PowerPoint and Google Slides in the tutorials below:

Find top-quality presentation templates in these articles:

Download Our eBook on Making Great Presentations (Free PDF)

Need more help with your infographic presentations? We've got a helpful resource that'll walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully.

Get our eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. It's available for FREE with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter.

Start Adding Infographic Presentation Slides to Your Presentations Right Away

Now that you've learned how to make infographics you can see how infographics can make your presentations even better.

Try downloading and customizing a template to improve your next public- speaking engagement. Don't forget that you can get infographic presentation templates from Envato Elements or GraphicRiver.

Editorial Note: This tutorial was originally published in March of 2019. It's been comprehensively revised to include new information—with special help from Sharon Hurley Hall.

20+ Creative WordPress Photo Gallery Themes for Simple Portfolio Sites 2021

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 06:42 AM PDT

Sometimes in life, you just want to keep things simple—and the same can be said for your web design. Perhaps you're a photographer, designer, or illustrator looking to build your online portfolio and you want your work to do the talking. Luckily for you, there are plenty of simple WordPress gallery themes that do just that!

Azyn is a new WordPress gallery theme with a modern design.

20+ Top Creative WordPress Photo Gallery Themes For 2021

The best thing about selecting a portfolio gallery WordPress theme from Themeforest is you can make a seriously high-end site quickly and easily even without any web design or development experience. The majority of themes come with rapid support from developers too so if you do have any burning questions along the way then an expert will be on hand.

Get the best WordPress photo gallery themes from ThemeForest.

Read on for my round-up of over 20 creative yet simple portfolio sites for 2021 that come with great photo gallery options.

1. Azyn - WordPress Photo Gallery Theme

Are you looking for the newest WordPress gallery themes? Azyn is a great option for you. This WordPress photo gallery template is packed with features.

You'll get 17 pre-built homepages, 26 album styles, 18 gallery styles and more. This premium WordPress responsive photo gallery theme is compatible with Elementor and WooCommerce.

Don't forget to check the live preview to see how this beautiful WordPress gallery page template looks.

2. Solene - Wedding Photography Theme

A WordPress photo gallery for wedding photography, Solene is a refined way to save those special moments and to showcase the photography. This WordPress theme photo album come with 12 beautifully designed homepages and includes everything required to showcase and sell photographs.

Further, the Solene WordPress photo gallery is responsive meaning that it displays perfectly whether its being viewed on desktop, tablet or smartphone.

3. Blacksilver - Photography Theme for WordPress

The Blacksilver photography WordPress gallery theme is designed with professional photographers in mind. It uses a minimalist yet attractive design approach so that your photos are always in the centre. For successful WordPress photo gallery themes responsive is the way to go. That means the WordPress gallery theme displays optimised for the device on which it is being viewed.

Lazy load images to improve page load times making even large image sets to load the page first and then display the images intelligently as the user scrolls. Choose from pre-defined WordPress gallery page templates to construct a site to showcase your photos.

Blacksilver - Photography Theme for WordPress

4. Pix - Photography WordPress Portfolio

Pix is a WordPress simple gallery theme that's modern a ultra cool. This online WordPress theme photo album comes with 11 stunning demos and is 100% responsive to work with all devices be they desktop, laptop or mobile.

If you're looking for a contemporary WordPress photo gallery theme that's responsive, take a look at this one. A fantastic and stylish WordPress photo gallery.

5. Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme

Vernissage is a responsive photography portfolio gallery WordPress theme that's suited to both professional photographers and hobbyists. This WordPress gallery theme is perfect for fashion photography, wedding photography, agency, photo studio, personal photography or as a general photography portfolio presented online.

The theme comes packed with 12 gallery layouts to show off your awesome photos and projects. You can create unlimited number of photo galleries using different layouts.

Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme

6. Retine - A WordPress Theme for Photographers and Creatives

This theme is a true winner in terms of the flexibility it offers with your photography. You can create a stock photo website where you can sell your work, offer some imagery free of charge, and you can also create a client gallery where you can present your photo sets to clients in password-protected galleries. They can then review and approve photos using an in-built proofing tool.

There are also multiple options for photo albums where you can organize your imagery according to categories and preview each option in the lightbox—and, finally, there are plenty of gallery layouts to choose from so you can really make your homepage your own.

7. Pinhole - WordPress Gallery Theme for Photographers

With an average rating of five out of five stars, this photo gallery WordPress template just had to make the list. Pinhole comes with more than 30 gallery layouts so you're in control of how you'd like to display your work, plus you can create your gallery structure and hierarchy using the native WordPress functionality so no additional pricey plugins are required.

The developers have put speed at the center of this template and by displaying a limited number of photos on the gallery page initially, even galleries with more than 100 photos will load quickly.

8. SceneOne - Photography Theme for WordPress

You can't get much cleaner than this WordPress simple gallery theme, which also has collected an average rating of five out of five stars. It comes with some nice features like AJAX likes, which means you can interact with site visitors and see how much they like your work.

It comes with plugins like WooCommerce so you can quickly monetize your work and MailChimp so you can keep your fans updated with new imagery and deals. The option for a transparent menu is also a good touch.

SceneOne Photography Theme for WordPress — SceneOne - Photography Theme for WordPress

9. Joker - Photo & Video Portfolio WordPress Theme for Photographers

With 13 predefined homepage layouts and at least 8 galleries available, this is another great option for a WordPress gallery template. The 'grid wall' layout option couldn't be simpler, but coupled with eye-catching photography, it's often exactly what's needed.

This one works well across all major browsers, is multi-language optimized so you can quickly translate any text into your chosen dialogue, plus it's fully responsive so you don't need to worry about your photos not displaying well on users' handheld devices.

Joker - Photo Video Portfolio WordPress Theme for Photographers — Joker - Photo & Video Portfolio WordPress Theme for Photographers

10. Photography Travis-WordPress

For only $15, this is a WordPress photo gallery template that won't break the bank but it comes with loads of high-end features. You can choose between light and dark themes depending on the mood of your imagery, plus you can easily create video as well as photo galleries if you want to bring your site to life.

Perhaps you want to show your product from all angles for example, this is a great feature to enable you to do just that.

11. Kinatrix - WordPress Gallery Page Template

This WordPress gallery page template is packed with so many features it's hard to pick which ones to include! Its protected galleries, fullscreen galleries, and portfolio galleries are all useful additions—there's also good management tools that allow clients to pick their favorite selects quickly and easily.

Fullscreen imagery can be displayed which helps to give the site an added wow factor.

Kinatrix Photography Theme for WordPress — Kinatrix - WordPress Gallery Page Template

12. Photosy - WordPress Photo Gallery Template

This simple portfolio theme is definitely one of my personal favorites, partly because of the option for a split slider on the homepage. You can create a really effective homepage by uploading connected but different imagery, allowing the user to scroll as more images unfold. Photosy also supports video and audio content so you're not limited in terms of the multimedia you want to publish to the world. It's fully responsive, SEO-friendly, and comes with Contact Form 7 so new and current clients can seamlessly get in touch.

Photosy - Photography WordPress Theme — Photosy - WordPress Photo Gallery Template

13. APOLO - Photo Gallery WordPress Template

This WordPress gallery page template that looks way more expensive than it actually is. The 'Masonry Fit Width 3 Columns' option is particularly eye-catching as when you scroll over an image, further details are revealed in a creative asymmetric way.

You can choose between 7 headers and 8 pre-made homepages too which are sure to spark some ideas of how you'd like your own site to look.

APOLO - Premium Portfolio HTML Template — APOLO - Photo Gallery WordPress Template

14. Flying - Interactive Portfolio WordPress Theme

This is a memorable WordPress gallery theme that has its own style. The image gallery on the site's homepage springs to life as soon as it's touched by the cursor and reveals further information about the photo or featured product.

You can also easily sort and filter the imagery in your portfolio according to different categories, so any user can find what they're looking for more quickly.

Flying - Interactive Portfolio WordPress Theme

15. KingSize Fullscreen Photography Theme

With almost 20,000 sales, the KingSize WordPress theme photo album certainly has been tried and tested—and with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 based on 1,745 reviews, it clearly has a lot of fans.

This one comes with 7 galleries and supports all types of images as well as MP4, YouTube, Vimeo, and other embeds. It also offers unlimited colors or skins so you can customize the theme to suit your photography or general branding.

16. LENS - An Enjoyable Photography WordPress Theme

Not only does this WordPress theme photo album ooze style, but it comes with loads of features to help you spread the word about your business. It's social-friendly so includes the Tweets widget as well as article sharing capability on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter—as well as social meta tags and icons.

There are also more than 600 google fonts to choose from and unlimited colors so you can let your creativity go to town and ensure your WordPress gallery theme represents you in the right way.

LENS - An Enjoyable Photography WordPress Theme

17. Almera - Model Agency & Photo Portfolio WordPress Theme

This WordPress gallery theme has been around for some time—it was first introduced back in 2013. That being said, it's updated regularly, with the latest update in May this year, so it's certainly not being left behind.

The developers seem to genuinely understand the needs of its users and therefore unlimited portfolios and galleries are included. It comes with video tutorials which are the first port of call for any questions along the way, plus it collects many top reviews for its customer support.

Almera Model Agency Photo Portfolio WordPress Theme — Almera - Model Agency & Photo Portfolio WordPress Theme

18. Core - Photography WordPress Theme Photo Album

You can't get much cooler than this template which offers a subtle reflection below each of the images displayed. The horizontal slide action forces the eye to pay attention to each of the photos in the gallery, it's a distinct feature as many templates tend to opt for vertical scrolling.

It comes complete with widgets including recent posts and popular posts to help you keep your content fresh.

Core Photography — Core - Photography WordPress Theme Photo Album

19. Photography WordPress Gallery Theme

With 24 demos and more than 70 gallery and portfolio layouts, this is a photo gallery WordPress template with customization at its heart. It's hard to pick a favorite layout as the template offers so much variety—you can either choose to display one image on the homepage or a selection of your best shots. This one also offers the option to add a direct purchase link so visitors can instantly buy after viewing a gallery slideshow.

20. Oyster - Photography WordPress Gallery Page Template

Gutenberg optimized, this template is not only super customizable, it couldn't be easier to use—simply drag and drop content blocks to where you want them to live and away you go.

Again, this is a template that has it all—fullscreen design to show off your favorite pics, it's responsive and retina-ready, it offers light and dark skins, plus it supports fullscreen video. The image flow gallery is a particularly attractive feature.

Oyster - Photography WordPress Gallery Page Template

21. Novo – Photography WordPress Theme

This almost brooding site puts the photography front and center—in fact, it entirely removes other distractions completely. The way the images scroll through the site gives the template a luxurious and high-quality feel. It also offers simple photo optimization to prevent any slow loading times which can negatively impact bounce rate.

Although this one has loads of features so will have a wide appeal, its sophisticated vibe means it would very much belong to an ultra-cool design studio.

Novo Photography WordPress Theme — Novo – Photography WordPress Theme

22. Grand Photography WordPress Gallery Page Template

With the developers boasting more than 100,000 happy customers, if you opt for the Grand template you'll be far from the first to invest in this theme. Also, with more than 144 predesigned galleries and pages, it's easy to imagine how your own WordPress site can look. My favorite gallery option is 'Justified Wide' as it offers the chance to hero a shot while also allowing users the chance to quickly scroll through others to see if any other imagery is more suitable for their needs.

23. Umbrella - Photography WordPress Theme

This template screams cool. Almost looking like it belongs to the pages of a high-end fashion magazine, the full-width imagery naturally scrolls with smooth animations, allowing the users to be naturally guided through the portfolio. Videos are also fully supported.

24. Maroon - Photography WordPress Simple Gallery Theme

A great thing about this theme is although photography remains the focus, there's plenty of room to either add copy to tell your story or play around with the image sizes to best fit the content you have available (or both!). This WordPress responsive photo gallery theme comes with 32 galleries to choose from so you can find the perfect match.

5 WordPress Portfolio Themes Free For 2021

Are you new to WordPress gallery themes? Are you just starting your photography business? If so, maybe you don't want to invest in a photo gallery WordPress template just yet. WordPress portfolio themes free can be a good alternative.

If the budget is tight and you're looking for WordPress gallery themes free download, check Envato's free offerings first. You can try out many premium template files (not always WordPress photo gallery themes) at no cost to you.

Here's the deal:

Every month Envato Elements offers 12 different hand-selected files, (fonts, presentations, videos, and more). Create a free account to download this month's free premium files now.
Or try Envato Market for free. They offer seven handpicked monthly freebies. Log in with your Envato Market account to get this month's premium freebies.

If these free options from the Envato marketplaces don't work for you, here are some WordPress portfolio themes free files. Just remember these free gallery themes offer very limited customization options.

1. Zubin Free Gallery Theme

Are you looking for the best free portfolio WordPress themes? Zubin is one of the latest themes gallery free download from WordPress. This image gallery WordPress theme free features a clean and minimal design.

2. Multipurpose Free Gallery Theme

If you're looking to promote your photography business, try this image gallery WordPress theme free. The multipurpose free gallery theme is great to promote services and create an online portfolio.

3. Photograph Free Gallery Theme

Do you like clean themes gallery free downloads? This image gallery WordPress theme free is a great option. You can create a simple online gallery with WordPress portfolio themes free like this one.

4. Bold Photography Free Gallery Theme

Bold is a modern image gallery WordPress theme free. Themes gallery free download like this feature a sleek and bold design. Build your simple online gallery with this cool free gallery theme.

5. Signify Photography Free Gallery Theme

Minimal WordPress portfolio themes free are great for building a simple online gallery. Signify is one of the top WordPress gallery themes free download. The theme layout is clean and minimal, making it a visually aesthetic WP theme.

Explore More Awesome Creative WordPress Themes

I hope you've liked this selection of premium WordPress photo gallery templates and even some best free portfolio WordPress themes. If you'd like even more WordPress inspiration, here are some cool resources for your next project:

Create Your WordPress Photo Gallery Today!

There you have it, 20+ creative WordPress photo gallery themes to use in 2021. Although I've picked my favorites, there are plenty of other excellent templates to discover over on ThemeForest so do make sure to check it out.

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Maria Villanueva. Maria is a staff writer with Envato Tuts+.

How to Make Professional PowerPoint Presentations (With PPT Templates)

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 05:55 AM PDT

Are you anxious about preparing for an upcoming presentation? You need to present something professionally to gain your audience's trust. Maybe you're using it for a breakthrough in your career.

Motagua Services Slide — In this tutorial, we'll build a professional presentation using the Motagua PowerPoint template.

If you're short on time, this tutorial is the perfect way to get going. I'll share some of my favorite tried and true professional PowerPoint tips. They'll show you how to create presentations. Then, we'll walk through building one together using a professional PPT theme.

Remember: presentations are a skill, and skills can be built.

Inspiring speakers practice and learn their craft. A big part of this is having a professional PowerPoint theme design. A professional design helps you feel confident about your content, such as one of these:

Microsoft PowerPoint

32+ Professional PowerPoint Templates: For Better Business PPT Presentations 2021

Sean Hodge

Guide to Making Great Presentations (Free eBook Download)

Before you read on, be sure to grab our free eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. It'll help you master the presentation process. It takes you from initial idea through to writing, design, and delivering with impact.

Free eBook PDF Download Make a Great Presentation

Now, let's jump into a few quick techniques that'll help up your presentation results. Then, learn how to build a professional PowerPoint presentation quickly using a template.

Professional PowerPoint Templates on Envato Elements (With Unlimited Use)

In this tutorial, you're going to learn the secret to professional presentations: you don't have to do all the work.

That's right. The pressure is off. We're going to use a professional presentation template instead of starting from scratch.

Your ticket to creating a professional presentation is to join Envato Elements. It includes the best professional presentation templates. The flat-rate subscription unlocks unlimited assets, including top designs for professional presentations. It's a shortcut to learn how to make a business presentation on PowerPoint.

Elements unlimited professional presentation — Unlock unlimited professional presentation templates with one subscription thanks to Envato Elements.

That's right: you don't have to know how to make professional PPT slides all on your own. A template gives you everything you need. It's a blueprint for success with every placeholder and content block you need. You just open it up and fill it in.

Professional presentation gallery Elements — Check out all the best professional presentation templates you'll unlock on Envato Elements.

Instead of buying a single PowerPoint theme, subscribe to Elements. Choose from thousands of PPT template designs, web themes, professional graphics, and more. Download as many as you want for one low price.

Now, let's walk through building a professional PowerPoint presentation from a PPT template.

How to Make a Professional Presentation in PowerPoint Quickly

You don't have to be an expert to make an amazing professional presentation of your own. The best way is to use a template from Envato Elements. You can customize these in only five quick steps.

For this mini-tutorial, we'll use the Professional PowerPoint Template from Envato Elements.

Template professional presentation — The Professional PowerPoint Template includes over 60 custom slides.

It's a versatile, modern template for all your project needs. This professional presentation template saves you so much time. Download it and follow along with our tutorial. Let's get started:

1. Select Your Slides

A professional presentation template like this includes dozens of slides. Odds are, you won't need to use every single one. Working in PowerPoint, go to the View tab and click on Slide Sorter.

Select slides customize professional presentation — Select the slides you wish to use in your premium professional presentation design with **Slide Sorter** view.

Here, click and drag slide thumbnails to rearrange their sequence. You can also right-click on them and choose Delete Slide to remove unwanted layouts. When you're finished, click Normal on the View tab to start editing.

2. Customize Text

Any professional presentation will include plenty of text. To customize the text in this template, you can work with the built-in text placeholders. To start, click into any text box. Then, press Ctrl + A (Cmd + A on Mac) to select all the text inside.

Text edit professional PowerPoint presentation — Type over the text placeholders in a premium professional presentation so that the slides tell *your* story.

Then, start typing in your own content. The placeholder text will vanish, replaced by the words you type in. Repeat throughout your slide deck, and you'll be on the way to a professional presentation in no time.

3. Insert Images

No professional presentation is complete without some images. These are easy to insert. Find a slide like this with an image placeholder on it.

Photo professional presentation — Images round out your professional presentation (premium) and they're easy to add to placeholders.

Then, browse to an image file stored on your computer. Drag it over the placeholder and drop it into place. PowerPoint will import the image onto the slide, already sized and scaled perfectly.

Looking for beautiful images to use? As an Envato Elements member, you've got access to millions of stunning stock photos included at no extra cost.

4. Build Infographics

Infographics help you illustrate ideas. Plus, they look great and are sure to impress a professional audience. Templates like this help you add infographics to your professional presentation in seconds.

Infographic professional presentation — Use infographics with the pre-built designs in premium professional presentations.

Infographics work like any other slide in the presentation. Replace the text with words and numbers of your own, click and drag to move objects around, and more. It only takes a few clicks, but it helps guarantee you a successful presentation.

5. Change Shape Colors

A pre-built template will include its own default color palette. But you can easily change out individual parts of it. With a shape selected, find the Shape Format tab on PowerPoint's ribbon.

Color professional presentation — Customize your premium professional presentation with your brand's colors.

There, click on the Shape Fill dropdown. You'll see a color chooser menu appear. Browse the theme colors, along with gradients and more. Click on any color to apply it to your shape.

5 Quick-Fire Tips for More Professional Presentations

Let's start off by reviewing five of my favorite professional PowerPoint presentation tips. These are great reminders to start with when you're preparing to speak.

1. Practice Really Does Make Perfect

Practice makes perfect It's a well-known piece of advice for a reason. A well-rehearsed presentation helps you come across confidently and resonate with the audience.

Not all practice is created equally though. Here are professional PowerPoint presentation practice tips:

If possible, rehearse in the same room that you plan to present in. This gives you a sense of familiarity for your presentation.
Use speaker notes in PowerPoint to keep your key talking points in view while presenting.
Use a cell phone to record an audience perspective on your presentation. It helps you understand how you'll appear to your audience.

2. Stick to "One Big Idea"

Many presentations will overwhelm you with data and details. In an attempt to persuade, presenters include too many reasons and talking points.

By the time the presentation reaches its conclusion, your audience may be so overwhelmed with ideas that they'll have missed your most important points.

Presentations

How to Write a Professional PowerPoint Presentation (Discover the Writing Process)

Brad Smith

As a presenter, it's your job to be clear. Stick to the key idea that you're presenting to make sure that your audience doesn't get lost in the details.

3. Don't be Afraid to BLUF

Sharing a big idea is important, but where you put it is also essential. That's why you should put your Bottom Line Up Front, also known as the BLUF principle. Put the bottom line (the key idea) near the beginning of your presentation.

Books and movies take you through a journey that ends with a conclusion. Presentations should give you the answer up front and explain that conclusion with the following slides.

PowerPoint Presentation BLUF Example — Skip straight to the chase by giving your audience the key idea near the beginning of your presentation.

The BLUF principle reminds me to cut to the chase when sharing the most important part of a presentation. Get straight to the heart of the message before your audience is distracted or exhausts their limited supply of attention.

4. Include Professional Presentation Graphics

For professional presentations, your audience might be more analytical than the average viewer. They're more inclined to view PowerPoint charts and graphs and derive meaning from them than talking points.

Professional PowerPoint presentation chart example — A graphic like a bar chart can convey data more quickly than speaking points can.

Graphics and charts are the quickest way to convey a point. Consider using bar charts and line graphs to show trends and key statistics that reinforce your point.

For more bite-sized tips on how to give great presentations, check out Brad Smith's tutorial below. It's got tons of other professional PowerPoint tips. I often read these before I start building a presentation to put good presentation ideas in my short-term memory bank:

Microsoft PowerPoint

60 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips & Tricks (To Improve Your Skills)

Brad Smith

5. Use Presenter View

My final tip is one that enables every other professional PowerPoint presentation tip we've already shared. By using Presenter View, you'll have a view of all the key tools and features in a single view. That means you'll have your speaker notes, a preview of the next slide, and a timer that helps you stay on track.

Most presentations are delivered in rooms with more than one screen. Presenter View shows your presentation on one screen that your audience sees. On the second screen, you'll see helpful information to presenters.

To turn on Presenter View, jump to the Slide Show tab, and make sure that Use Presenter View is ticked. When you start to present, you'll see two different views.

In Presenter View, keep your eye on a few key features as you can see in the screenshot below. Speaker notes live on the right side and help cue up your key talking points. The next slide preview is also a great prompt to help you direct your speaking flow. And finally, don't forget to keep an eye on the timer to stay on track.

Check out the tutorial below to start making the most of Presenter View:

Microsoft PowerPoint

How to Present a PowerPoint Slideshow With Presenter View

Andrew Childress

The Shortcut to Making Professional PowerPoint Presentations

Even if you know exactly what you want to say, building out the supporting PowerPoint slide designs is a serious effort. Opening the app and starting off with blank slides is a major challenge.

Time is always short when preparing for a presentation. Don't build something from scratch or use a limited built-in PowerPoint theme. Instead, use professional PowerPoint templates. You can buy and download these Premium designs, then add your own content to them quickly:

Presentations

The Best New Presentation Templates for 2021 (Top PowerPoint PPTs & More)

Sean Hodge

The real value of these pro PPT templates is the presentation slide design ideas that they include. Use those pre-built designs for ideas of how to present your own content.

In this tutorial, I use the Motagua PowerPoint theme. This is the all-time best-selling presentation theme on GraphicRiver, and it's easy to see why. It's packed with a great looking set of PowerPoint slide designs, which you can work with quickly.

How to Make a Professional PowerPoint Presentation (With a PPT Template)

For this example, we're going to pretend that we're building a slide deck to encourage someone to invest in our company. This could be for your startup company or even for a small, local business to get things off the ground.

Professionalism matters when you're asking for funding. I'm going to highlight five key slide designs that you'll find in decks like these. Even if your presentation idea is totally unrelated, these ideas might help you design your own.

Motagua promo image — We'll customize slides from the premium Motagua PowerPoint template. It's a good example of a professional PowerPoint presentation.

1. Introduce Your Team

It's often said that investors invest in teams, not products. While both are required to secure financing for your idea, the point is that investors often focus on the team and their background.

To do this, I'm going to recommend Motagua slide design #77. This is a slide with four placeholders for your team's photo and descriptions.

Team Pic in professional PowerPoint presentation slide design — Show off the team and their roles to build familiarity with your potential investors.

I almost always recommend that a presentation about a product or service includes the team. Build that level of comfort with your audience so that they'll think of you first when they're ready to invest or buy.

Other Options: also check out slide design #80, ideal for larger teams.

It's not about where your product or service has been, but where it's going. If you're expecting investment or growth in your business, the investors are betting that the future holds more promise than the present.

One idea for showing this visually is to use slide design #149, which is an Arrows Infographic. This is a nice-looking design with many points for how your product may evolve.

Product Vision slide design in PowerPoint template

This is a general-purpose slide that could be used for showing any key points about your business. But the numbers make it ideal for showing a progression. Sharing the vision for your product near the beginning of the presentation is a great application of the BLUF mindset.

Another Related Option: Slide #155, with three simple graphics to drop your own key ideas into.

3. Show Key Statistics in Data With Charts

For startups, one of the most important things to show is your company growth with good data. For businesses that aren't yet earning revenue, investors are betting that a large userbase will eventually lead to customers.

A chart is a great way to tell a story without any bullet points involved. For the analytical minds in the audience, a well-placed chart may be the "aha!" moment that they need to see your vision.

Slide design 138 has overlapping circles that you can show the opportunity for your startup. Use the smallest circle to show your current revenue base. Larger circles can show the potential if you expand to a new market or develop new products.

Overlapping circles in professional PPT presentation template

If your idea hasn't even started yet, consider showing statistics or data on how the need for your product is growing. You could include data about the size of the potential customer base, or the growth of similar services.

Another Option: presentation Slide #57 in Motagua is a bar chart that uses a linear curve to show the progression across the bars.

4. Use Graphic Timelines to Illustrate the Future

Again, investing in a business is all about the future. A timeline can illustrate not only the history of a product, but the future development timeline of the features you plan to add.

Slide 60 is the perfect way to show the road map for the product. You can use the points to illustrate new features you've recently added or plan to add in the future.

Timeline slide in PowerPoint template — Use each of the milestones on slide 60 to mark a new feature or recent addition.

More Options: Motagua Slides #15 through #19 are vertical timeline presentations. They could allow you to focus more on each individual step.

5. Make Your "Ask" Clear

You've built up a vision and you're ready to reach a major conclusion. This could be the make or break moment to inspire action in your audience.

For our example, let's assume that you're going to ask for investment in your company. Near the end of a presentation, you could use a simple slide design like 21 to make the fundraising goal clear.

For startups, this is often expressed as "$x at $x valuation." This means that a company raising $1 million wants to be valued as being worth as $10 million, effectively giving 10% of the company to investors.

Raising funding professional slide design — Raising funding professional presentation slide design.

If you're building a persuasive presentation that's designed to inspire action, you've got to make your "ask" clear. What are you asking the audience to do, if anything?

5 Professional PowerPoint PPT Templates From Envato Elements

We've already checked out GraphicRiver, the pay-as-you-go option to source professional PowerPoint presentation templates. But there's another solution that gives you even more creative freedom to source unlimited presentation designs: Envato Elements.

Envato Elements Professional PowerPoint templates — All these professional PowerPoint templates are included when you subscribe to Envato Elements.

If you want to learn how to make a PowerPoint look professional, studying templates and borrowing the best elements from each one is surefire solution.

Let's check out five of my favorite professional presentation templates from Elements below:

1. Project Professional PowerPoint Template

Managing projects is a key part of most professional careers. When you're showing off your project to key decision makers, it's crucial that you build a professional presentation. This template helps you capture just that, showcasing key project steps that can help you win the support of your peers.

2. Business PowerPoint Presentation

One of my favorite professional PowerPoint tips is to use the same template in all your presentations. This helps you develop a consistent design style that your audience will recognize. Use a flexible template with plenty of versatility like this one for exactly that purpose.

3. Skyfy Professional PowerPoint

Even a professional presentation can have a slick and modern design style. Skyfy is a great choice for professional presentations that show off creative companies, like design agencies, video production studios, photographers, and more.

4. Melbourne Professional PowerPoint Presentation

Melbourne is a clear and clean professional PowerPoint template that any business could use. With a few simple tweaks to the color scheme and placeholders, you can use Melbourne to put your business idea in a beautiful format.

5. Pitch Volume 3 - Professional PowerPoint Template

A pitch deck is a special type of template that entrepreneurs and startup companies will use to get their idea off the ground. A pitch deck has some specifics to it that great templates like Pitch Volume 3 captures perfectly. Drop in your new company concept to launch your new venture into the future.

For even more professional template options, jump over to our guide, 22+ Professional PowerPoint Templates: For Better Business Presentations .

Where to Find the Best Professional Presentation Templates in 2021 (Envato Elements vs GraphicRiver)

Envato Elements and GraphicRiver both offer stunning professional presentation templates with compelling designs for presentations. They're your best resource in 2021. But which site should you choose? What are the benefits of each? Let's take a look:

1. Key Benefits of Envato Elements

Envato Elements has an unbeatable offer: unlimited downloads. As a member, you pay a flat monthly rate. With it, you can download as many presentation templates as you want.

Elements also offers a wide variety of creative assets. You'll find music, stock photos, fonts, and more that you can use in presentations and other projects. They're all included in your membership.

Here are the top professional PowerPoint decks available on Envato Elements:

Elements professional presentation — Best premium PowerPoint professional presentation templates on Envato Elements (2021.)

2. Key Benefits of GraphicRiver

GraphicRiver is a top resource for professional PowerPoint slide decks and other assets. It's part of Envato Market, which serves the needs of creatives everywhere.

GraphicRiver has a pay-as-you-go model. That means you buy individual templates, with no subscription needed. It's great if you're on a budget, or only need one file.

Here are the top professional PowerPoint templates on GraphicRiver today:

GraphicRiver professional presentation — Best PowerPoint professional presentation templates on GraphicRiver (2021.)

Which Site is Best for You?

Maybe you build professional presentations often. Or perhaps you're undecided about your favorite style. Envato Elements offers the flexibility you need. Sign up for Envato Elements today.

Elements home professional presentations — Envato Elements: the only creative subscription you need.

If you only need one professional presentation template for your presentation, jump over to GraphicRiver and find one now.

Learn More About Using PowerPoint Professionally

If you need more ideas on how to build out a better PowerPoint presentation, check out these guides as well, or download our free eBook that follows:

Need Help? Grab Our Making Great Presentations eBook (Free)

You can find more information in our eBook on making great presentations. Download this PDF eBook now for FREE with your subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter.

Making Great Presentations Free Guide Download PDF

It'll help you master the presentation process, from: initial creative ideas, through to writing, design, and delivering with impact.

Go Design Your Professional Presentation Today

You've just learned how to make a professional presentation using some of my favorite professional PowerPoint presentation tips. My top tip for how to make a professional presentation will always be to source templates from sites like Envato Elements and GraphicRiver. It skips you ahead in the process and helps you build the perfect presentation.

Remember: your PowerPoint file just reinforces your presentation. Content trumps style every time. But if you can take good content and put it into a professional theme, you reach your audience better.

What are your best tips for creating a professional PowerPoint presentation? Let me know in the comments section.

Editorial Note: This tutorial was originally published in April of 2019. It's been comprehensively revised to include new information—with special help from Andrew Childress.

How to React to Touch Events in Flutter

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 02:44 AM PDT

Almost every app will need some sort of user input. Usually your app will need to respond to touch events.This is a small guide to touch events, especially for starting Flutter developers.

When it comes to gesture recognition and reaction to touch events, Flutter offers incredible widgets for new developers. You can make any widget in your app respond to touch events by just wrapping it in one of these touch recognition widgets.

Whether you are a developer just learning more about the management of touch events on Flutter, or a professional looking for a quick recap, this post will get you up to speed.

How Does the Gesture System Operates?

Essentially, the gesture system in Flutter operates on two distinct layers. The first layer stores the raw pointer events that describe the physical details like location and movement of the pointers in use like the styli, mice, and touches in general.

Above this, we have the layer of 'gestures'. This interprets the pointer movements as meaningful semantics and adds a context to the pointer movements.

A Quick Touch Events Glossary for Beginners

Touch events cannot be handled unless you understand semantic gestures and pointers. The pointer is the hero in this arena! You'll see how this is literally true below.

Before we explore the reaction of individual elements, let's have a look at the features involved in the case:

Pointers

Pointers represent raw data related to user interaction with the screen in question. There are four different types of pointer events:

PointerUpEvent: The pointer has stopped interacting with the screen.
PointerDownEvent: The pointer is in contact with the screen at a specific location.
PointerMoveEvent: The pointer has moved to a new position on the screen.
PointerCancelEvent: The input of this pointer is no longer directed towards the app in progress.

When you engage the PointerDownEvent, the framework will examine the app to determine the widget located on that specific point on the app's wireframe. The PointerDownEvent will be dispatched to that widget and the widgets above it to the root of the component tree, and so too will any events that follow the down event on that particular path.

Gestures

As mentioned earlier, gestures represent the semantic actions such as tap, scale and drag that are easily recognized from multiple individual events emerging from a pointer activity. A single gesture could possibly incorporate multiple touch events, each handling a unique milestone of the gesture like the drag start or drag end!

Here are the most common types of gestures involved in Touch Event Management on Flutter:

Tap Gestures

onTapUp: A pointer triggers a tap on a particular location on screen.
onTapDown: A pointer might cause a tap has been contacted on screen.
onTap: When pointer previously triggered onTapDown also triggers onTapUp, causing a tap.
onTapCancel: When the pointer triggering onTapDown will not cause a tap.

Double Tap Gestures

onDoubleTap: The user taps the screen at the same position twice in quick succession.

Long Press Gestures

onLongPress: A pointer remains in contact with the screen on the same location for a longer chunk of time.

Vertical Drag Gestures

onVerticalDragStart: The pointer contact screen to probably move vertically.
onVerticalDragEnd: A pointer that had previously been in contact with the screen during a vertical movement ends contact with the screen on a similar velocity as the movement itself.
onVerticalDragUpdate: A pointer that is in contact with the screen moves vertically in the same direction.

Horizontal Drag Gestures

onHorizontalDragStart: A pointer contacts the screen to potentially move in the horizontal direction.
onHorizontalDragEnd: A pointer that was previously moving horizontally with contact to the screen, with a specific velocity, loses contact altogether.
onHorizontalDragUpdate: A pointer in contact with the screen moves horizontally from the onHorizontalDragStart.

Pan Gestures

onPanStart: a pointer has contacted the screen and can potentially move on the X or Y axis. This callback leads to a crash when onHorizontalDragStart or onVerticalDragStart have been set—there is no way for the event system to disambiguate between a pan or a drag.
onPanEnd: a pointer that had been in contact with the screen and was previously moving at a specific velocity loses contact with the screen. A crash is caused when the callback is set at onHorizontalDragEnd or onVerticalDragEnd.
onPanUpdate: A pointer that is currently is contact with the screen and moving in either horizontal or vertical direction. Crashes are only experienced when the callback for onHorizontalDragUpdate or onVerticalDragUpdate is set.

Understanding Gesture Disambiguation

Multiple gesture detectors can be present on any given location on the screen. All of them follow the cues from the stream of pointer events that flow past. In an attempt to recognize specific gestures, the GestureDetector widget determines specified semantic gestures according to which callbacks have been set. Meaning, if you set a certain callback on the GestureDetector, the widget will try to interpret the pointer events in terms of that type of gesture.

The framework disambiguates gestures in the gesture arena. Each type of gesture has a recognizer which competes in the arena, examining the pointer position and movements events that come in. The recognizer which corresponds to the input gesture wins by following a few rules:

A recognizer is free to declare defeat at any time and leave the arena. When only one recognizer is left, then it wins!
A recognizer can declare victory at any time and force others to claim defeat.

For example, suppose you want to recognize vertical and horizontal drags. Recognizers for each direct will enter the gesture arena as soon as they receive the first event event. They will then observe the movement in terms of logical pixels in any given direction.

If the move event proceeds mostly vertically, the vertical recognizer will declare victory due to the logical pixels crossed and hence the gesture will be interpreted as a vertical drag on the screen. The same series of events can be repeated for horizontal drags too.

If you only want to recognize horizontal drags, then it doesn't matter whether there is a vertical component to the movement, only the horizontal movement will be recognized.

Coding Touch Event Processing In Flutter

When working in Android, you can respond to buttons taps by binding OnClick through the setOnClickListener. But when it comes to Flutter, you have the choice of two different methods of adding a touch listener.

If the widget supports the use of listeners then you can pass a callback function to process the event. Here is a sample of code for onPressed and RaisedButton parameter:

class BodyWidget extends StatelessWidget {        @override    Widget build(BuildContext context) {        return RaisedButton(          onPressed: (){            print("Click!");          },            child: Align(            alignment: Alignment.center,              child: new Text("Button", softWrap: true)            ),          );        }  }

And this is how it would look in your app.

GestureDetector Example

However, you'll often want to use a listener that is not already supported by the widget. When a listener is not directly supported by the widget, you can wrap that widget in GestureDetector and pass the handler to the onTap parameter instead. Here's how:

class SampleApp extends StatelessWidget {    // This widget is the root of your application.    @override    Widget build(BuildContext context) {      return MaterialApp(        title: 'Flutter App',        theme: ThemeData(          primarySwatch: Colors.blue,        ),        home: Flutter_App(),      );    }  }    class Flutter_App extends StatefulWidget {    @override    State<StatefulWidget> createState() {      return _State();    }  }    class _State extends State<Flutter_App>      with SingleTickerProviderStateMixin {      @override    Widget build(BuildContext context) {      return MaterialApp(          title: 'Flutter App',          theme: ThemeData(primaryColor: Colors.blue),          home: Scaffold(              appBar: AppBar(                title: Text('Flutter App'),              ),              body: Center(                child: GestureDetector(                    child: FlutterLogo(                      size: 200.0,                    ),                    onTap: () {                  print("Tap");                  },                ),              )));    }      @override    void dispose() {      // Resource release      super.dispose();    }  }

And this what the app will look like:

onTap action on a widget with GestureDetector

Animate on Double Tap Example

Here is another prime example of a touch event reaction for a double tap on the Flutter logo that causes a visual rotation.

onDoubleTap action on a widget with GestureDetector

Wondering how to listen for the double tap event? This is how:

class SampleApp extends StatelessWidget {    // This widget is the root of your application.    @override    Widget build(BuildContext context) {      return MaterialApp(        title: 'Sample App',        theme: ThemeData(          primarySwatch: Colors.blue,        ),        home: AnimateApp(),      );    }  }    class AnimateApp extends StatefulWidget {    @override    State<StatefulWidget> createState() {      return _AnimateAppState();    }  }    class _AnimateAppState extends State<AnimateApp>      with SingleTickerProviderStateMixin {    AnimationController controller;    Animation<double> animation;    CurvedAnimation curve;      @override    void initState() {      super.initState();      // Create AnimationController object      controller = AnimationController(          vsync: this, duration: const Duration(milliseconds: 2000));      curve = CurvedAnimation(parent: controller, curve: Curves.easeIn);      // Create Animation object through Tween object      animation = Tween(begin: 50.0, end: 200.0).animate(controller)        ..addListener(() {          // Note: This sentence cannot be omitted, otherwise the widget will not be redrawn and the animation effect will not be seen          setState(() {});        });      // Perform animation      controller.forward();    }      @override    Widget build(BuildContext context) {      return MaterialApp(          title: 'AnimateApp',          theme: ThemeData(primaryColor: Colors.blue),          home: Scaffold(              appBar: AppBar(                title: Text('AnimateApp'),              ),              body: Center(                child: GestureDetector(                  child: RotationTransition(                      turns: curve,                      child: FlutterLogo(                        size: 200.0,                      )),                  onDoubleTap: () {                    if (controller.isCompleted) {                      controller.reverse();                    } else {                      controller.forward();                    }                  },                ),              )));    }      @override    void dispose() {      // Resource release      controller.dispose();      super.dispose();    }  }

Final Thoughts

Reacting to touch events on Flutter is not as complicated as one would assume. Understanding the nature of widgets and their ability to listen is the first lesson you need. And all else follows smoothly from there.

How to Check Your WordPress Version

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 02:00 AM PDT

It is always good to know the WordPress version that is running on your websites for a variety of reasons. WordPress regularly releases updates that add new features to the CMS and patch up any vulnerabilities in the previous versions.

In this quick tip, we will tell you about different methods that you can use to check the WordPress version of your website.

Why Should you Check your WordPress Version?

Knowing the WordPress version running on your website can help you quickly figure out how to troubleshoot some common problems.

You have probably installed a few plugins along with the core WordPress files on your website. Sometimes, WordPress will make changes to the core files that will break the functionality of installed plugins. Similarly, some plugins might not work with very old versions of WordPress. Therefore, you can decide whether to update your plugins or core WordPress files right now or wait a bit to ensure that everything is compatible.

How to Check Your WordPress Version?

There are four different ways of checking the current WordPress version installed on your website as long as you are logged into the admin dashboard.

1. Under "At a Glance" in Admin Homepage

There should be a widget titled "At a Glance" on the home screen of your WordPress admin dashboard. It shows you some basic information like the number of posts, pages and comments on your website.

You can also find information about the current WordPress version and activated theme inside the widget.

2. On All Admin Pages

You don't necessarily have to go to the dashboard homepage to check the WordPress version.

The current WordPress version is also listed in the bottom right corner of every page in the admin dashboard. You might need to scroll down a bit to find it in some cases but it will be there.

3. On the "About WordPress" Page

When you are logged into the WordPress admin dashboard, you will notice that there is a small WordPress logo in the top left part of the screen. Hovering over it will open a list of menu items with About WordPress at the top. Clicking on it will show you the currently installed WordPress version in big letters.

You can also find a lot of other useful information like addition of new features in the current WordPress version on this page.

4. Check the Updates Page

You can go the Dashboard > Updates in order to check the WordPress version installed on your website. The page also gives you the option to update the WordPress core as well as any plugins or themes that you might have installed.

Just update the WordPress version from this page if you are currently running an outdated version.

5. Check the Generator Tag

This method can help you find the WordPress version of any website even if you are not the admin just by looking at the source code of a page from the website.

You can get the source code of a webpage by pressing Ctrl + U. After that, just look for a meta tag with its name attribute set to generator. The content attribute of the tag will show you the installed WordPress version on the website.

However, this method doesn't always work. Most website owners remove this information because letting random people know the WordPress version installed on your website can be a security risk—especially if you are running an outdated version.

We would also advise you to remove this tag if you can see it in the source code of your own website.

Final Thoughts

In this tutorial, you saw how to quickly check the installed WordPress version on your website either from the admin dashboard or from the front-end. There are a few more methods to check the WordPress version of a website but the ones listed here are the most beginner-friendly and can't mess up your website.

Google Drive Plugins for WordPress

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 01:53 AM PDT

Are you looking for a way to back up your website files in the cloud, where you can easily access them if anything goes wrong?

How about displaying your documents and files and making them easily accessible to visitors to your website?

A WordPress Google Drive plugin serves multiple purposes. You can use it to back up your files or you can use it to display selected files to visitors on your website.

If you have a WordPress website, Google Drive plugins are the fastest and most reliable solution. They are user-friendly, easy to install, and highly customizable.

On CodeCanyon, you'll find some of the best Google Drive plugins for WordPress.

Bestselling Google Drive Plugins for WordPress on CodeCanyon

If you sell digital products, then grab one of these Google Drive plugins and save all your files in one accessible location.

1. Bestselling: Use-Your-Drive: Google Drive Plugin for WordPress

If you're looking for a comprehensive, all-round backup solution for your document files, photos, images, and media that can also display your files beautifully, then you should consider Use-Your-Drive.

This innovative, user-friendly Google Drive plugin for WordPress comes with tons of features including a file browser, audio player, video player, the ability to search files by name and content, and integration with WooCommerce.

It has an organized admin panel, with easy one-click setup and updates. It also comes with a powerful shortcode builder that allows you to integrate Google Drive into your pages and posts without coding skills. The shortcode builder has preconfigured modes for easy setup.

2. Out-of-the-Box: Dropbox Plugin for WordPress

If you primarily use Dropbox, the Out-of-the-Box plugin is your best choice. This Dropbox integration plugin is user-friendly, highly customizable, innovative, and displays your Dropbox files in an attractive format.

No coding skills are required to set it up. You can link your Dropbox account with just one click. From there, you can start adding shortcodes on your pages and posts.

3. BeDrive: File Sharing and Cloud Storage

Let's say you're interested in creating your own self-hosted file sharing and hosting website. You can earn money with a built-in premium subscription system, create different plans for users to subscribe to, and control how much storage space each plan has.

You can do this in minutes, without any knowledge of coding or server management. You just need BeDrive. BeDrive is lightweight, with lighting fast performance and page load time out of the box. It is fully responsive and will work on desktop, mobile, tablet, and other devices.

You can easily store user upload files on many different cloud services and providers, including Amazon S3, DigitalOcean, and Dropbox storage.

BeDrive is fully translation ready and can be easily translated to any language from the admin area.

4. Embed Any Document Plus

Embed Any Document Plus - WordPress Plugin

Embed Any Document Plus lets you display (embed) your documents easily in your WordPress website, page and posts. Your visitor don't need additional software installed to view the contents. Neither do they need additional browser plugins like Flash or Acrobat reader.

With just one click you can easily embed your Google Docs files and documents hosted in Google Drive, DropBox and Box.com to your WordPress website.

5. Share-one-Drive: OneDrive Plugin for WordPress

If you use OneDrive or OneDrive Business to share documents with your clients, you won't go wrong with Share-one-Drive. It provides OneDrive integration for WordPress and displays all your files in a beautiful way.

It is user-friendly, highly customizable, innovative, and doesn't require coding skills. It displays great on every device: smartphone, tablets, or desktop. Your clients can preview, download, and even create their own private folders.

Adding Share-one-Drive has never been easier. Its powerful shortcode builder allows you to rapidly and effortlessly integrate your Google Drive into your pages and posts. It loads lightning-fast!

6. WP Cloud Saver: WordPress File Sharing Plugin

WP Cloud Saver helps you share files stored stored in your Dropbox, Google Drive, or other cloud services. The plugin has WooCommerce hooks to automatically integrate Google Drive, or Dropbox save buttons on your order page. This way you can easily sell downloadble products. It is translation ready and comes with a handy shortcode generator tool.

7. Super Backup and Clone: Migrate for WordPress

Super Backup Clone Migrate for WordPress

Super Backup &nd Clone plugin is a trustworthy backup solution that allows you to back up all your WordPress and non-WordPress files immediately to your own cloud, or to the same server, for safe-keeping and easy restoration.

You can choose your backup schedule—hourly, daily, weekly—and it will do everything automatically. You have access to the backup logs, so you can keep track of what's going on.

In addition, you can run straight cloud migration from multisite to multisite, multisite to single site, and single site to multisite.

This versatile plugin links to cloud destinations like Google Drive, Amazon S3, OneDrive, DropBox, Rackspace, and more.

8. Bulletproof YouTube Videos

Bulletproof Youtube Videos - Backup to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Amazon S3, FTP

If for some reason YouTube suspends your account, you'll lose all your videos. However, you can easily recover them if they are backed up. Bulletproof YouTube Videos allows you to backup your YouTube videos to cloud storage solutions like Google Drive, Dropbox FTP, OneDrive, and Amazon S3.

9. FileTrip

FileTrip is a WordPress plugin that's flexible, scalable, and very easy to use. It lets you upload and forward files instantly to Dropbox, WordPress, FTP, and Google Drive.

This Google Drive plugin for WordPress is responsive and can work in multiple browsers elegantly. Users can upload their files from mobile devices including Android, iPhone, and iPad.

FileTrip easily integrates with most famous file builders including Caldera Forms, Ninja Forms, Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, and more. It makes building custom forms to collect information bonded with digital files a lot easier.

In addition, FileTrip can use a Dropbox channel to automatically create Dropbox sub-folders corresponding to the uploaders.

And one cool detail: you can send media files concurrently to any cloud destination: Google Drive, Dropbox, and FTP.

10. CloudFiles: WordPress Media Library Folders Cloud

CloudFiles is an advanced WordPress library management plugin that allows you to create, rename, delete, and move folders to neatly organize thousands of uploaded files into folders. It has an embedder and viewer that works with .pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, and more.

It works well with list mode, and you can even upload directly to cloud subdirectories. It also works with Elementor, WPBakery (Visual Composer), and Gutenberg.

There are also features to synchronize photos, videos, and documents from Google Drive, One Drive, and Dropbox to save hosting storage space.

It is translation-ready and compatible with WooCommerce and other third-party plugins.

11. Lets-Box: Box Plugin for WordPress

Lets-Box is a Box integration plugin for WordPress that displays your Box files in a beautiful way. Your content will look great on both desktop and mobile sites whether it is a file browser, gallery, upload box or a media player.

The plugin perfectly integrates into the WordPress user system allowing you to select which user roles should have the permission to view, download, upload, rename, delete files or folders.

You can easily and securely share documents via Box with your clients. The user folders feature allows your clients to preview, download, and upload documents to their own private folder. You can link your WordPress users manually to their own folder or let the plugin handle this for you.

Lets-Box integrates nicely into WooCommerce, and it allows you to select your digital products from Box.

12. WordPress Cloud Manager

With WordPress Cloud Manager, you can access your cloud drives like Google Drive, Dropbox, and S3 directly from your WordPress dashboard and share the folders to your users in the front-end.

You can allow your users to upload files, set file size and file type restrictions, and assign different users to have different permissions.

Your users can view and/or edit documents, images, video, and audio files. The plugin comes with a built-in text editor, image editor, and office document viewer. You can also choose to get notified via email when a user uploads a file to their folder.

13. Leopard: WordPress Offload Media

This plugin copies files from your WordPress media library to Amazon S3, Wasabi, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean Spaces, Bunnycdn storage and rewrites URLs to server of the files from that same storage provider, or from the CDN of your choice.

3 Free Google Drive Plugins for WordPress

It's difficult to find completely free versions of Google Drive plugins. Free versions have enough functionality to get you started and going up to a certain point. Then, as your needs expand, you have to switch to premium versions.

The plugins below hold back some features for their premium versions, but the free versions of the plugins have enough to get you started.

1. Google Drive Embedder

Through a popup box, the author can access their Google Drive and select documents to embed directly into their posts or page. In addition, you can easily display native Google docs and other file types such as PDFs, Word docs, videos, images, and zip files.

2. UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin

The free version of UpdraftPlus is fully functional. You can back up your WordPress files and database, restore from backup, schedule backups, backup to remote storage, get basic email reporting, and browse backup content in WordPress.

You can also back up to Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP, S3, Rackspace, and email.

3. Image & Video Gallery from Google Drive

Using this plugin is very straightforward. Once the plugin is installed and configured, you can add a Google Drive gallery to any page or post. You can select any folder in your drive or a shared drive, and the plugin will convert that into a gallery, displaying any photos or videos in a page or a post on your website.

Any folders and their subfolders will also be displayed in the gallery as nested galleries.

Get Your Google Drive Plugin Now!

Google Drive plugins make it easy to back up and display your website content. CodeCanyon offers some of the best Google Drive plugins available that will help your business succeed.

Free Course on Essential WordPress Plugins

Essential WordPress Plugins is a free online course here on Envato Tuts+ that has invaluable information on the best free plugins for WordPress. These are the plugins you'll find yourself installing over and over on every site you create.

One of the great things about using WordPress is the vibrant plugin ecosystem. There are many thousands of WordPress plugins that promise to improve every aspect of your site. With the right plugins, your WordPress site will run more smoothly, get more visitors, and be less likely to face problems.

In this free course, Envato Tuts+ instructor Rachel McCollin will teach you how to install and configure free WordPress plugins for backup, security, caching, and SEO. You'll see how WordPress can be made far more powerful and secure by the addition of a few key plugins.

FREE

WordPress

Essential WordPress Plugins

Rachel McCollin

20+ Best Free WordPress Blog Themes

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 12:46 AM PDT

So, you have a fantastic idea for a new blog, but the prospect of shelling out for a professional WordPress theme is daunting, especially if you're operating on a limited budget. If all you can spare is money for hosting, then a free WordPress blog theme is going to be an ideal option for you.

Instead of spending a lot on a theme you can't really afford right away, you can instead opt for a free theme that allows you to display your blog content in a stylish way. And often, free themes are still chock full of features that unless you want to add some advanced functionality at a later date, you might not even require a premium theme.

Top Sources for Free WordPress Blog Themes

WordPress theme directory — Free WordPress blog themes on the WordPress.org

When you're hunting down free WordPress blog themes, there's no need to panic. Honestly, WordPress.org offers up plenty of free options to pursue. The official WordPress theme directory is chock full of outstanding theme options that you can download and install on your website immediately and without spending a penny. A great aspect of this is you'll find many themes listed here are "lite" versions of the premium themes. So if you eventually want to upgrade, that's often a possibility as well.

Free WordPress theme on ThemeForest — Free WordPress themes on ThemeForest

It's also important to note there are free WordPress themes available on ThemeForest that rotate out on a regular basis, so that's well-worth checking out, too.

Best Free WordPress Themes for Blogs

If you find you need more features than what's offered in the free themes detailed here, there are tons of premium blog WordPress themes available as well on ThemeForest. And you'll find they fit a variety of budget needs. With that caveat out of the way, let's explore our list of some of the best free WordPress blog themes.

Premium WordPress blog themes on ThemeForest

1. Twenty Twenty-One

First on our list is the Twenty Twenty-One theme. It's the current default theme that comes with WordPress when you first install it and works with the built-in block editor, Gutenberg. It's pretty bare bones but that's precisely its appeal, allowing your content to shine. It has a soft color scheme, simple features, and a complementary layout.

2. Astra

Next on our list is Astra. This speed-optimized blog theme for WordPress is free and powerful, allowing you to create any kind of site you want, from the personal blog to the online shop. It's super lightweight, SEO optimized, and compatible with all the top page builder plugins currently on the market. It works with top plugins as well.

3. Go

Another theme you should consider is called Go and is described as a Gutenberg-first theme that offers a slew of straightforward features that make it easy to create a beautiful blog website with minimal effort.

4. Inspiro

Inspiro is another free blog theme that offers a straightforward design and layout for creating a website that's heavy on photos and videos. It includes fullscreen areas for supporting videos, page builder integration with popular choices like Elementor and Beaver Builder, and you can even use it to build an aesthetically-pleasing portfolio. And for a free theme, it really is loaded with features like WooCommerce support.

5. OceanWP

OceanWP is another great option that offers a lightweight website theme that you can customize to suit your specific needs. It offers everything you need to build a blog with proper SEO optimization and page builder compatibility. However, it also includes features and tools for creating a corporate site, portfolio, or WooCommerce online store.

6. GeneratePress

Or you could consider GeneratePress, another lightweight WordPress theme that places a heavy focus on speed and functionality. This theme is performance optimized and works seamlessly with Gutenberg. It also offers compatibility with top page builder plugins as well including Elementor.

7. Hestia

Hestia is another blog WordPress theme that offers a modern design suitable for a wide range of websites including personal blogs, online stores, and niche business sites. The one-page design offers a variety of options including eCommerce integration, portfolio options, parallax effects, photo galleries, and more. Plus, it's compatible with Elementor and is SEO-friendly.

8. Ashe

Or you could consider Ashe, another minimal blog theme that offers a bit of a rustic style that can be used for personal blogs, photography sites, portfolios, and more. It can be customized to suit any niche and even includes WooCommerce integration, a fullscreen slider, and an Instagram slider widget. Ashe works with page builder plugins, too.

9. Chic Lite

Chic Lite is another WordPress theme that is well-suited to building a blog. It possesses a feminine design that can be used personally and professionally. It also includes several customization features like unlimited colors, Google Fonts, and Instagram integration.

10. Signify Dark

Another free WordPress blog theme you might want to consider is Signify Dark, which offers a darker and moodier design than some of the other blog themes on this list. This is a child theme of Signify, which has a corporate style. This theme can be used for personal and professional uses and includes a wide range of features including a portfolio, testimonials, sliders, featured content, and more.

11. Yummy Recipe

Next up is Yummy Recipe, a WordPress blog theme designed for food blogs and recipe websites. This theme is optimized for mobile devices and SEO and works seamlessly with the Delicious Recipes plugin. It also includes plenty of customization options with regard to fonts, colors, and sections.

12. Fairy

Another free theme worthy of your consideration is Fairy, another minimal blog theme that is Gutenberg-ready and includes a wide range of customizer settings you can play with. It also comes with custom widgets for authors, sliders, banners, and social icons.

13. Polite Blog

There's also the Polite Blog WordPress theme, which features a masonry layout and a blog page layout. It's minimal in design and offers a simple way to present your content to the world. It also includes an off-canvas sidebar, a featured slider, promo boxe, and footer widgets. It's actually the child theme of Polite, with a blog-specific focus.

14. Phlox

Next up is Phlox, another free WordPress blog theme that adds a lightweight theme to our list here. This one is highly customizable and can be used for sites outside of blogs, too, like magazines, agencies, businesses, and food sites. It integrates with WooCommerce and includes 30 widgets, RTL support, and 19 demo sites that you can import with a single click. It also works with the top page builder plugins like Elementor and SiteOrigin.

15. Personalistio Blog

Another option is the Personalistio Blog theme, which is perfectly suited for lifestyle bloggers but could be customized to suit just about any niche. The theme itself is well-optimized for SEO and for speed and offers a great combination of performance and design appeal. Customization options are plentiful, too.

16. Oh My Blog

Next up is Oh My Blog, another minimal blog design that's ideal for personal and professional blogs alike. It offers a dark color scheme that could suit modern website designs well. It has a lot of typography options to choose from, too, and looks good on all devices. You can use this theme for corporate blog if it suits your niche though it would likely work best for a personal blog or even a small creative business.

17. Velux

Velux is another free WordPress blog theme worthy of consideration. It's actually a child theme of Primer, offering a more sophisticated and luxurious design than the standard theme. It's a great choice for upscale blogs, fashion sites, or even luxury eCommerce shops.

18. Redefined Blog

Redefined Blog is another free theme on our list that's well worth a look. This theme is described as a great option for magazines and offers the features and customization options for online publications -- as well as a blog. It's actually a child theme of the broader Refined Magazine theme and serves as a lightweight option for building a blog in any niche. It includes a one-click demo import, nine custom widgets, SEO optimization, a variety of page and post layout options, column support, and it's Gutenberg-ready, too.

19. PhotoFocus

Or you might want to consider PhotoFocus, a free WordPress theme with a photography focus but that prioritizes multipurpose features. It would be ideal for an image-heavy blog, a freelance portfolio, or any other creative website. It comes with a variety of customizable sections like featured content and featured slider, hero content, and header media support. It's also been optimized for performance and speed, making it a great choice for media-heavy blogs.

20. RebeccaLite

There's also RebeccaLite, a blog theme that offers a stylish design that can be used for both personal and professional websites. This theme is mobile-friendly (of course) and is also SEO-optimized, so your published blog stands a greater chance of being seen. The design itself is minimal and modern but manages to remain interesting.

21. Flash

Or, you might wish to consider Flash, which is yet another multipurpose blog theme we think you should consider. This free WordPress blog theme is quite versatile and comes with a variety of demos that you can install with a single click thanks to the ThemeGrill Demo Importer Plugin. It also integrates well with the SiteOrigin Page Builder Plugin and WooCommerce, too, so you can take your website from standard blog to online store, portfolio, or generally a more feature-rich web experience for your visitors.

22. Bard

The last free WordPress blog theme on our list here today is the Bard theme, which is designed for personal blogs and multi-author blogs as well. It is billed as a multipurpose theme that can be used for any industry or niche and features a mobile-friendly and SEO-optimized layout as well. It comes with loads of features as well including a fullscreen slider, hero header, column support, Instagram sliders, and it's Gutenberg-ready and GDPR compatible.

Launching a Blog Has Never Been Easier

And there you have it! This in-depth look at some of the best free WordPress blog themes will hopefully help you find a design that works for your next project. And remember that ThemeForest does offer new free themes each month to browse as well as a wide range of premium blog themes to consider as well.

Regardless of which theme you choose, good luck as you dive into creating your next blog!

How to Create an Inflated 3D Frilly Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop

Posted: 28 Jun 2021 12:00 AM PDT

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

Photoshop's 3D depth maps are a great way of creating unique 3D mesh shapes. This tutorial will show you how to use pattern fills, 3D tools and options, and adjustment layer settings to create a shiny, frilly 3D text effect. Let's get started!

This text effect was inspired by the many Layer Styles available on GraphicRiver. For a quick and easy way to achieve this effect, why not check out the Foil Balloon - Photoshop Action below. Otherwise, follow along with this tutorial to learn how to customise your text from scratch!

What You'll Learn in This Photoshop Tutorial

How to transform a 2D text layer into 3D.
How to create a frilly text effect around your letters using Photoshop patterns.
How to do a balloon effect on text Photoshop look using adjustment layers and lighting.
How to create a foil balloon text effect look using 3D material settings such as 'metallic' to achieve a reflective surface.

Follow along over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

What You'll Need

To create a Photoshop balloon text effect and to follow along with this tutorial, you'll need your own version of Adobe Photoshop along with some assets. The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:

1. How to Create a Text Work Path

Step 1

Create a new 1250 x 800 px document. Then create the text using the font Shintia Script, and set the Size to 350 pt.

Step 2

Right-click the text layer and choose Create Work Path.

Step 3

Pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). In the Options bar, click the Path operations icon and choose Merge Shape Components.

2. How to Create a Frill Pattern

Step 1

Pick the Rectangular Marquee Tool, and create a small selection on one of the text's edges. This will be the repeating unit of the frill pattern, so the size of the selection is the size of the frill pattern unit.

Once you create the selection, create a new layer and name it Pattern.

Step 2

Pick the Gradient Tool, and set the Foreground and Background Colors to White and Black.

Then, in the Options bar, choose the Foreground to Background gradient fill, and click the Reflected Gradient icon.

Click-drag from the center of the selection to one of its top or bottom edges to create the gradient fill.

Step 3

With the selection still active, go to Edit > Define Pattern, type Frill for the Name, and click OK.

Press Command-D to deselect.

3. How to Stroke a Path With a Pattern

Step 1

Hide the Pattern layer. Create a new layer below it and call it Frill.

Step 2

Go to Edit > Fill, and change the Contents to Pattern. Choose the Frill pattern you've just created. Check the Script box, choose Place Along Path, and click OK.

Step 3

This will open the Place Along Path options and settings.

Pattern Scale: 1 (Change this if you want to change the size of the frill.)
Spacing: 0 (This makes sure that the pattern fill units don't overlap.)
Check the Adjust spacing to fit box.
Angle from path: -90 (This makes the pattern fill follow the path's direction without being rotated.)
Distance from path: 0 (This will place the fill exactly on the path.)
Uncheck the Alternate patterns box to avoid creating patterns on both sides of the path.
Scale progression: 100 (This makes sure that the fill maintains the same size along the stroke.)
Uncheck the Skip symbol rotation to ensure that the pattern units follow the path's direction.
Color randomness: 0
Brightness randomness: 0.5 (This will change the brightness of the pattern randomly, which makes it more dynamic.)

Step 4

Once you click OK, the path will be stroked with the pattern fill. Command-click the text layer's thumbnail to create a selection.

Step 5

Make sure that the Frill layer is selected, and then hit the Delete button twice to get rid of the work path and the inner part of the frill. Deselect when done, and in the next step, we'll start creating the frilly text effect.

4. How to Create 3D Layers

Step 1

Select the text layer, rename it to Text, and go to 3D > New 3D Extrusion from Selected Layer.

Step 2

Select the Frill layer, and go to 3D > New Mesh from Layer > Depth Map to > Plane. What this does is create a 3D mesh by pushing the light areas forward and the dark areas inward.

Step 3

Select both 3D layers and go to 3D > Merge 3D Layers.

5. How to Work With the 3D Scene

Step 1

To access the 3D mesh settings and properties, you'll need to open two panels: the 3D panel and the Properties panel (both found under the Window menu).

The 3D panel has all the components of the 3D scene, and when you click the name of any of those, you'll be able to access its settings in the Properties panel. So make sure to always select the tab of the element you want to modify in the 3D panel before you change its settings in the Properties panel.

Step 2

If you select the Move Tool, you'll find a set of 3D Modes for it to the right of the Options bar.

When you choose one of those, you can then click and drag to perform changes (on the selected element in the 3D panel).

Use those modes to change the Current View into an angle you like.

6. How to Adjust the 3D Mesh Settings

Step 1

Select the Text 3D mesh tab in the 3D panel, and then, in the Properties panel, change the Extrusion Depth to 5.

Step 2

Click the Cap icon at the top of the Properties panel, and choose Front and Back from the Sides menu.

Change the Bevel Width to 1 and the Contour to Half Round, and change the Inflate Strength to 15%.

7. How to Scale a Depth Map Mesh

Step 1

In this section we'll start to create the balloon text effect. Select the Frill 3D mesh tab, and pick the Move Tool to get the 3D Axis.

The arrows at the ends of the axis move the mesh, the part below them is used for rotation, and the cubes are used for scaling. The cube in the center is used to scale the object uniformly.

Use the Z Scale cube to scale the Frill mesh down along the Z axis.

Step 2

You can scale the mesh up or down any time before rendering the scene, so don't worry about getting a perfect size now—just scale it to make it look more like a frill.

8. How to Reposition 3D Meshes

Step 1

Change the Current View to Front from the View menu in the Properties panel.

Step 2

What you need to do next is scale and move the Text mesh until it fits inside the Frill mesh.

You can use the 3D Axis for that, or, for a more precise result, you can enter numerical values under the Coordinates tab in the Properties panel.

You can also click the Scale icon to choose the Uniform Scaling option if needed. Just make sure there are no overlapping or empty areas left.

Step 3

Once you're done, select both 3D mesh tabs, and change the X Rotation Angle to 90.

Step 4

Select each mesh separately, and then click the 3D panel menu icon and choose Move Object to Ground Plane.

Step 5

Go back to the Default camera view, and move it around to make sure everything looks good from different angles. You might need to move the Frill mesh a bit upwards so that it is in the center of the Text mesh.

9. How to Create a 3D Material

Step 1

Select the Frill Material tab, click the Diffuse texture icon, and choose Remove Texture.

Do the same for the Opacity texture.

Step 2

Select all the Material tabs you have for both 3D meshes, and use these settings (the color values used are in RGB):

Diffuse: 81, 173, 13
Specular: 232, 223, 186
Shine: 85
Reflection: 16

10. How to Add a Bump Texture

Step 1

Select the Text Front Inflation Material tab. Click the Bump folder icon, and choose Load Texture to open the Front Bump Pattern image.

Step 2

Click the Bump texture icon and choose Edit UV Properties.

Step 3

Adjust the Tile values based on how many creases you'd like to have in the material.

Step 4

Lower the Bump value to 1, or you can use any other value you like for a more intense result.

11. How to Save a Camera View

Step 1

Choose a camera view you like for the final result.

Step 2

Then, click the Current View tab, and choose Save from the View menu.

Step 3

Type in a name for the view and click OK.

Step 4

This will add the saved view to both the 3D panel and the View menu.

You can now change the camera view to check that there are no issues with the meshes or the materials, and go back easily to the saved final view after that.

12. How to Adjust the Lighting

Step 1

Making adjustments to the lighting is extremely important, especially if you want to create that foil balloon text effect look. Select the Infinite Light tab, and choose Spot from the Type menu in the Properties panel.

Step 2

Click the Point to Origin icon to fix the light's initial direction, and then click the Move to View icon to see it within the camera view you have.

Step 3

Change the Intensity to 10%, the Shadow Softness to 30%, the Hotspot value to 26.2, and the Cone to 47.

Then, check the Light Falloff box, and change the Inner value to 350 and the Outer to 1000.

Keep in mind that you can choose any other values you like based on the result you want to achieve.

Step 4

Move the light around until you get a result you like, using the Move Tool, or the Coordinates values.

Step 5

Select the Environment tab. Click the IBL texture icon, choose Replace Texture, and load the Lights image.

Step 6

Change the IBL light's Intensity to 60%, and the Ground Plane's Shadows Opacity to 50%.

Step 7

Move the image until you get a result you like. This is an important step since the texture affects the final result quite a bit.

13. How to Create a Ground Plane Mesh

Step 1

Create a new layer on top of the 3D layer, call it Ground, and fill it with White.

Step 2

Go to 3D > New Mesh from Layer > Postcard.

Step 3

Select the Current View tab, and choose the original 3D layer's name from the View menu in the Properties panel.

Step 4

Merge the Ground layer with the original 3D layer. It is important to have the original 3D layer below the Ground one, because when merged, the top layer inherits the bottom layer's lighting.

After merging the layers, change the Ground mesh's X Rotation Angle to 90, and move it to the Ground Plane.

Step 5

Move the plane until it fills the scene, and scale it if needed to do so.

14. How to Create a 3D Background Material

Step 1

Select the Ground material tab. Click the Diffuse texture icon, and choose Replace Texture to open the PlywoodPainted0078 image.

Step 2

Click the Diffuse texture icon and choose Edit Texture.

Step 3

This will open the texture's file.

Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Hue/Saturation.

Step 4

Change the Hue to -20, and the Saturation to -80.

Step 5

Add a Levels adjustment layer, and change the Gamma value to 1.5.

Save the changes and close the texture file to go back to the 3D document.

Step 6

Remove the Opacity texture, and use these settings for the Ground material:

Specular: 199, 199, 199
Illumination: 17, 17, 17
Shine: 20

Step 7

Adjust the UV Properties of the Diffuse texture.

15. How to Create Normal Maps

Step 1

Normal Maps basically help fake the illusion of depth and detail on a 3D object by using RGB information that corresponds to the X, Y and Z axis in the 3D space.

To create one, click the Normal folder icon at the bottom of the Properties panel, and choose Generate Normals from Diffuse.

Step 2

This will open the Generate Normal Map box, where you can use a copy of the Diffuse texture to create a Normal Map.

Choose Default Lights from the Lighting Preset at the top. Then you can choose Cube Wrap from the Object menu at the bottom, since it resembles the Ground Plane the most.

After that, you can click-drag in the preview area to rotate the object and see the result from different angles.

Change the Blur to 2.5 to soften the details, and the Detail Scale to 20% to make them less prominent.

Play around with the values until you like the result you get, and click OK.

Step 3

Adjust the Normal's UV Properties to match the Diffuse's. If you don't like the result, you can remove and regenerate the map using different values.

16. How to Create Frill Pieces

Step 1

Create a new layer on top of all layers, call it Pieces, and pick the Pen Tool.

Select the Path option in the Options bar, and start creating short work paths around the text.

Click once to add points, click-drag to create curves, and press-hold the Command key, and click outside the path to separate it from the one you'll create next.

Step 2

Fill the work paths with the Frill pattern as you did for the text stroke. Then convert them to a 3D layer, change their camera view, and merge them with the original 3D layer.

After that, scale them down, and apply the same Frill material to their mesh.

17. How to Render a 3D Scene and Adjust the Final Result

Step 1

Once you're done modifying the scene, go to 3D > Render 3D Layer. The rendering might take a while, but you can stop it any time by pressing the Esc key.

After the rendering is finished, right-click the 3D layer, and choose Convert to Smart Object. This will prevent any accidental changes on the 3D layer.

Step 2

Add a Levels adjustment layer, and change the Shadows to 20 and the Highlights to 250 to enhance the contrast a little bit.

Step 3

Add a Selective Color adjustment layer and use these settings:

Yellows

Cyan: 30
Magenta: 20
Yellow: 10
Black: 9

Greens

Cyan: 35
Magenta: 10
Yellow: 35
Black: 5

Whites

Black: -30

Step 4

Add a Gradient layer, and use a Transparent to Fill Color gradient, with the colors #727571 to the left and #181e14 to the right.

Change the Style to Radial, and the Scale to 200.

After that, change the layer's Blend Mode to Soft Light, and its Opacity to 25%.

Congratulations, You're Done!

Congratulations! And that's how to do the balloon effect on text Photoshop look using patterns and different 3D settings. In this tutorial, we created a text layer and used it to create a simple work path. Then, we created a gradient pattern and filled a stroke with it to create the frill.

After that, we converted the layers to 3D meshes and worked on their settings and materials as well as their scene's lighting and angle.

Finally, we added a ground plane and more frilly pieces, rendered the scene, and used a couple of adjustment layers to finish off the effect.

Please feel free to create your own Photoshop balloon text effect images and leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes on the Envato forum.

Top 5 Foil Balloon Text Effects

Want to create a foil balloon text effect but short on time? Head on over to Envato Elements, where you can download many different Photoshop Text Effects and Actions. Here are five of my favourite designs.

Foil Balloon - Photoshop Action (ATN, PDF)

Create a beautiful foil balloon effect using this quick and easy Photoshop action. This design is perfect for party, birthday, anniversary and other celebratory designs! Apply this effect on almost anything, including text layers, vector shapes, pixel layers, and more!

Foil Balloon Type (PSD)

Foil Balloon Type is a ready-made pack containing all the letters from A to Z and all the numbers. All included in six high-resolution (300 DPI) PSD files that you can easily use by dragging and dropping into your own projects and designs.

Foil Balloon - 3D Lettering (PNG, PSD)

This foil balloon 3D lettering pack contains high-resolution renders (each around 1500 x 2000) with transparent backgrounds so you can easily drag and drop them into your own projects. Perfect to use for any posters, advertisements, web or print projects. You'll have access to layered PSD files, each with ten different effects such as shadows.

Foil Balloon Text Effects (PSD)

Foil Balloon Text Effects contains four different text effects that you can use to experiment with various fonts (thin, italics, bold, and serif). Also included in the pack are nine patterns, each with three colours to choose from (black, yellow, and light grey).

Foil Balloon Letters Set (PSD, PNG)

The Foil Balloon Letters Set includes a collection of high-quality, isolated 3D letters. All 26 letters come with transparency in a PSD or PNG format so that you can easily include them in your own projects and designs. The colour is fully editable, so feel free to use your own colours!

Photoshop Freebies

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Envato Tuts+ Tutorials

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More Great Video Production Resources for Professional and Beginner Creators

Boost Your Video Marketing With the Envato Guide

Download Free Video, Music, and Templates From Mixkit

Make a Motion Graphics Video Online With Placeit

Envato Elements: Unlimited Downloads

More Articles to Help You Create Great Event Promo Films

How to Quickly Make Great PowerPoint Presentation Title Cover Slides (Video)

The Five PowerPoint Cover Slides to Build

How to Use Templates for PowerPoint Title Slides

The Logo Slide

The Big Question Slide

The Introductory Slide

The Roadmap Slide

The Team Slide

5 Quick PowerPoint Title Cover Slide Design Tips for 2021

1. Go Bold

2. Create Your Own Layouts

3. Embrace Minimalism

4. Add Kinetic Typography

5. Be Specific

5 Top PowerPoint Title Cover Slide Templates (For 2021 Presentations)

1. VERA PowerPoint Template

2. STYLE - Multipurpose PowerPoint Template V50

3. IPSUM - PowerPoint

4. Livy PowerPoint

5. Conference PowerPoint Presentation Template

More Top PowerPoint Templates

Keep Learning

Make Great Presentations ( Free PDF eBook Download )

Start Using PowerPoint Cover Pages Today

Twitch Channel FAQ: Things You Should Know

How to Customize Your Twitch Channel

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Learn More About How to Customize Twitch Channel Content

Create Twitch Panels, Custom Twitch Banner Designs, and More in Your Browser

1. Create Custom Twitch Panels Online

2. Customize Your Own Twitch Banner Online

3. Customize a Twitch Offline Video Banner for Your Stream

4. You Can Even Create Your Twitch Avatar Online Too!

How to Customize Your Twitch Stream

Step 1

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Want to Learn More About Twitch Streaming Software?

Want to Learn How to Make a Twitch Stream Overlay From Scratch?

Check Out These Custom Twitch Stream Overlays

1. Customizable Twitch Stream Overlay

2. Horror Survival Gaming Twitch Stream Overlay

3. Colorful Online Twitch Overlay Maker

How to Make Custom Emotes for Twitch

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Want to Learn More About Making Custom Twitch Emotes?

Twitch Emotes You Can Customize Right Now

1. Cute Animal Custom Twitch Emotes

2. Funny Reaction Custom Twitch Emotes

3. Customizable Character Twitch Emotes

How to Add Custom Emotes to Twitch