How to Create Your Own Header

There's so many great resources for style & fashion bloggers out there.  IFB, this from Pretty Shiny Sparkly, and so many more all have great tips for you and your blog!  However, very few get into the nuts and bolts of how to actually make your blog awesome.  I've learned a lot about blog design through trial and error, and googling my little heart out trying to find the answer.  I'm hoping to do a series of posts to share what I've learned.

Designing my own header was one of the first "advanced" things I learned to do on my own. I made it using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.0.  This tutorial will tell you how to make a header from scratch.

First, go to File -> New -> Blank File.  You will then be presented with a box that looks like this.

Choose a name for your file, as well as the width and height.  These are the dimensions of my current header.  It might take a bit of playing for you to figure out the proper size of yours, but keep trying!

You will then want to select the text tool.  Click on any spot on your blank file and begin typing.

Choose a font, size, and color (which I forgot to mark. It's next to the 72pt box) from the top.  You can always highlight your text and change it later.  Once you have it typed out, move it around to where you want it.

Now that it's perfect, go to File -> Save As.  If you want it to have a transparent background DO NOT FLATTEN IT FIRST!  Be sure to save it as a PNG or GIF.  JPG does not support a transparent background, and you won't be able to open a PSD later.

It will then ask you this.  Say "ok". :-)

When you close photoshop it will ask you if you want to save.  Say "no".  You already did.

And that's it!  Now you have a header with a transparent background! :-)

Please ask any questions down in the comments so we can all learn together! If you have something you'd like me to cover next, please let me know!