You can always count on PsPrint for free resources. Need ideas, links and inspiration? Here’s a host of graphic design tips for specific spring holidays:

• St. Patrick’s Day – March 17
• April Fools’ Day – April 1
• Easter – April 4
• Earth Day – April 22
• Cinco de Mayo – May 5
• Mother’s Day – May 9
• Father’s Day – June 20

Of course, the best design means nothing without good execution.

For St. Patrick’s Day, print green die-cut flyers in the shape of shamrocks.

Use humor in your flyers, postcards and banners for April Fools’ Day.

Whether your customers are Christian or not, Easter symbolizes renewal, so remember that theme when creating postcards and brochures.

Want to do good and get your business name out there? Adopt a highway for Earth Day!

Throwing a fiesta is a fun idea for Cinco de Mayo. Be sure to include lots of bright colors and Mexican icons in your promotional items.

Take a good look at your mailing list when get around to Mother’s Day. Pay close attention to your demographics and keep your marketing tuned in to those clients.

Memorial Day (May 30) and Flag Day (June 14) call for pride. Flags and the use of red, white and blue are obvious, but be sure to keep the right mood and theme for these holidays. Have fun, but be respectful.

Father’s Day may be for dads, but don’t forget that women do a lot of the shopping. Giveaways are always a big hit, but be aware of your clientele when deciding what product to give away.

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Photoshop alternatives. Graphic designers have been depending on Adobe’s Photoshop for almost 20 years, and while it’s a great product, let’s face it: It’s expensive, it takes up a lot of RAM and it can sometimes just be more than what you need. Often I just want to resize a photo, and that’s where programs such as GIMP and IrfanView come in. They take just a second to open up and do your thing, and they’re often free downloads. Photoshop isn’t going anywhere, but it’s good to have alternatives to Adobe products.

Mousepads. I use a trackball, yet I still love my Lady of Guadalupe mousepad.

Free resources. There was a time just a few years ago when entrepreneurs, telecommuters and freelancers were mostly on their own. If they had questions or wanted to bounce ideas of off others, there weren’t many options. But with the explosion of Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, you can amass a following of people to exchange referrals, thoughts and banter. Sites such as Business.gov and PsPrint.com offer a bunch of resources for small businesses – everything from how to start one to how to market it. No more consulting fees or flying by the seat of your pants!

Travel mugs. Could there be a better invention? It keeps your coffee hot, and it keeps you from buying paper cup after paper cup, only to throw them away.

Aeron chairs. These are downright luxurious. Manufactured by Herman Miller, Aeron chairs are ergonomic and adjustable and provide the perfect lower lumbar support that you didn’t know you craved. The mesh also provides circulation. And the chairs are 94 percent recyclable! I’ve been known to steal these from other cubicles – that’s how much I love ’em.

Newly sharpened pencils. They smell good, there’s a satisfaction to the sharpening process and it means the difference between a fine line and a smudged stroke.

IM. Remember when you used to have to get up to communicate with your co-workers, and they’d be away from their desk, so you’d have to sit down, only to get up and return again? Instant messaging has been slammed for eliminating face-to-face communication, but I love it because I can ask a question of a co-worker without feeling like I’m interrupting, and in fact, I can check in to see if the person is available for some one-on-one time.

Snail mail. An actual, physical thank you card beats a hastily typed e-mail any day.

Mix CDs. They’re faster to make than mix tapes and easier to distribute than MP3 playlists. Plus you can design CD cover art. They make cheap gifts and marketing tools!

Coffee. Or tea or energy shake. The morning ritual is comforting.

Keyboard shortcuts. I’ve been addicted to using the Apple key since I started on computers. There are times I don’t even know how to execute certain commands without them. While designing, it’s often faster than scrolling all over the place, especially as monitors get bigger and bigger.

Cute websites. Surfing for puppies on Cute Overload and lolcats on I Can Has Cheezburger has been my equivalent of counting to 10 many times.

Your turn – what do you love this Valentine’s Day?

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Templates. I’ve seen templates for stationery, brochures, newsletters and even logos, and they range in price, edging into triple digits. But PsPrint offers free templates for such important items as event tickets, posters, presentation folders, catalogs and club flyers. If your graphic design skills are limited, free templates offer a quick and cost-effective way to create your own printed materials.

Shipping. I have a rule for myself when it comes to holiday shopping – I refuse to pay for shipping and handling. So many online retailers offer free shipping that I simply can’t stomach paying twice as much for a gift to cover the mailing costs. So look around for the online shops that waive shipping. For example, Amazon offers free Super Saver Shipping for two more days if you want your order to arrive by Christmas, and Zappos not only always ships for free but also offers free returns on your shoe order.

Freecycle. Have you ever lost yourself scrolling through Craigslist or eBay, finding treasures you didn’t know you need? Freecycle is like that but better, because it’s all free. You simply join a local group and find things that people want to get rid of. Some of it’s junk, of course, and could be useful in a Burning Man project, but you’d be surprised at how much valuable stuff people give away: computers, household appliances, baby items, firewood, etc. In addition, Freecycle is a great opportunity for you to get rid of that old filing cabinet or oversize suitcase taking up space in your closet. And you can feel good about keeping junk out of landfills!

Advice. I can’t imagine starting up a business, say, 30 years ago, before the Internet was so prominent in our lives. These days you can do a search and quickly find everything from legal advice to reviews of vendors to price comparisons. Businesspeople have had to find a new way to promote themselves, so they tend to give out a lot of free advice on the Internet. Whereas 20 years ago you might have paid a consultant hundreds of dollars per hour to learn how to build your company, nowadays you can find tips online. Check out PsPrint for a bounty of free articles on topics such as small-business marketing, graphic design, tips for new businesses and how to be environmentally friendly.

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Here are resources to get you started.

Naldz Graphics has 45 Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop tutorials, including how to design a Christmas-themed website and greeting card; how to create a Christmas tree, ornaments and a Santa Claus hat; and how to make entire wintry scenes with snowflakes, falling snow and snowmen. There’s even a tutorial for how to create text with snow effects and a pretty girl in a Santa suit.

Have a photograph in which you want to make the holiday lights really pop? The MCP Actions Blog has a tutorial for how to enhance those lights using Photoshop. An image like this would look great on your company’s holiday card!

Phases Design Studio has 25 Photoshop and Illustrator brush sets to create snowflakes, pine trees, ornaments, glitter, ribbons, cookies, a Nativity scene, wreaths and penguins. Yes, penguins = winter.

GraphicRiver has holiday vector illustrations by Kai Loon that include candy canes, bells, a Star of David, snowmen, elves, presents and holly.

The Graphic Design Blog reminds you to dress up your own blog and desktop, so it has 25 Christmas icon sets, including mistletoe, stars, reindeer, a gingerbread man, gift tags, stockings, snow globes and a sleigh.

Kaboose has Kwanzaa clip art, and BillyBear4Kids.com has Kwanzaa icons.

Finally, I wasn’t a fan of any of the Festivus tutorials I came across. If anyone wants to clue us in on how to design a Festivus pole, please do!

Still in a “Bah, humbug” mood? Make yourself a holiday mix to boost your spirits!

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Thousands of free high-resolution photos are available for use, and downloading them is quick and easy.

• Stock.xchng (www.sxc.hu)
• Morgue File (www.morguefile.com)
• Open Photo (www.openphoto.net)
• Official PSDs (www.officialpsds.com)
• Photogen (www.photogen.com)
• Twice Pix (www.twicepix.net)
• Image After (www.imageafter.com)
• Stock Vault (www.stockvault.net)
• Nations Illustrated (www.nationsillustrated.com)
• Freerange Stock (www.freerangestock.com)
• Free Pixels (www.freepixels.com)
• Bigfoot (www.bigfoot.com)

What websites do you use to get free high-resolution photography?

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Coloring skin and body in Photoshop and how to mimic the natural play of light upon the body.

How to create a professional Twitter background – a quick-and-easy tutorial for customizing your Twitter page.

Remember how fun watercolors used to be?  You can recreate a watercolor effect with Photoshop!

Pop art a la Lichtenstein – really cool stuff for the poppy designer!

Very, very cool Photoshop tutorial on how to transform a woman’s photograph into an eerie doll face and more.

How to design a website using the 960 Grid System, an oft-employed web design technique that looks great. This tutorial includes a free 960 GS download so you can quickly deploy an original 960 design.

A tutorial that covers how to make a DVD cover with Photoshop.  The techniques used here could also be applied to movie posters.

Dioramas are cool, especially when you combine several images and blur/focus PS techniques to highlight your subject.

Want to master the Photoshop warp tool?  This tutorial shows you the way…

Paint splashed over the face of a photographic subject – nice. What’s really neat is that this liquid Photoshop technique can be used in many, many design applications.

Yet another awesome website design tutorial.  This has a clean Web 2.0 feel that many designers like to emulate.

A very unique and creative – yet clean and easy-to-follow – website design.  The techniques employed here are invaluable.

Learn how to use the Photoshop mask tool to create this model effect from a photo.

When the outer glow blending option doesn’t quite cut it – use these tips to achieve an outstanding glow emanating from your subjects.

Super cool fallen angel tutorial that shows you how to blend a woman and a bird on a textured background.

What are your favorite Photoshop techniques?

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.