Plain shadowed Backgrounds

[Bob Woolley]

Been around visiting other denominations and I notice some use just plain shadowed backgrounds on their chorus and hymns slides. I know, I am naughty, naughty! But I like to see what others are doing for the Lord and get some ideas.

So this thread will be for just plain backgrounds and if you have any of your own, post them here.

Here is a number of colors of the same background for your use. :basic05

[Christine Kelly]

Bob,
We used to be a church that used plain backgrounds. When I started doing them, I started looking for interesting backgrounds. Now, when I go over the song before setting them up, I try to find a slide that matches the "overall feel" of the song. I have found great ones here at Naznet, and I usually check heartlight for scripture references in the songs. If I can find one there that matches the song, I use that. I can appreciate the "plain backgrounds" but I just love the other ones.

Christine Kelly

[Bob Woolley]

Yes, same here Christine. We do not use the plain backgrounds but a different one that matches the chorus or hymn.

However, these do help in a crunch when nothing is available and graphics can be added to these as well.

Stock.xchng has the best backgrounds but one must reduce them in size 800 x 600 and you must register to get the full size photos. It is good to post a few of your best photos with them as well to help others.

Here is the link...use the search to find a particular background. You will find some Christian backgrounds there if you do a bit of searching...or you can use the tabs above to find various photos. Many can be used for our purposes in video display.

click here > stock.exchng
(http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml?)
The photographer would like to know what they are being used for. Some of my pictures are used in web sites that are used for making money which I did not intend them to be used for. If that was the case, I could have used them myself for that reason. So try and give credit to the photographer in stock.xchg by emailing him or her telling them where it will be used and for what purpose.

[Bob Woolley]

More shadowed backgrounds

[Cindi Hammons]

Bob,

How do you post these to become larger when clicked? I have a lot of backgrounds, but I hate having to resize them all to post them within the jpeg limitations. I'd really appreciate your input.

Thanks,
Cindi H.

[Bob Woolley]

Hmmm....well most are made 1024 x 768 pixels. I keep them under the required file size as shown on the board when you post a file for jpg. The board software will make it the smaller size look on the first click...then if you move your mouse over the slide, you will see the cursor change to a + sign...meaning it is off a larger screen size and of course you click to make it the original size of 1024 x 768.

Some backgrounds are made 800 x 600 pixels, either size will work when imported into PowerPoint.

If the file size is over the limit, I would need to resize or reduce down in a photo program with lesser pixels.

That's about all I know... hope I answered your question?

[Cindi Hammons]

Trying a background using Bob's instructions.

[Cindi Hammons]

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[Cindi Hammons]

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[Cindi Hammons]

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[Cindi Hammons]

Some of those backgrounds were not completely plain, but I added them because they were MOSTLY plain.

Cindi H.

[Doug Kitchen]

Bob or Cindi,
I'm using Doug's account to ask a question and I believe you have the answer. I want to use a PPT slide that has a black background (one of your Easter slides-not sure which one of you posted it). How do I place a very lightly shaded area on the slide so that I can use dark letters for the words I want to appear on the slide? White lettering is hard for some to read on a dark background. Doug highly suggests I do not use that combination. Detailed instructions would be most welcome if you have the time. Thanks in advance.
Lori

[Christine Kelly]

Lori,

I am not Bob or Cindi, but maybe I can give you one way of doing it. I insert a text box, type the words, then right click on on the txt box and go to format txt box. pick a color to "fill" the txt box and move the transparency of the color. That lets your fill color be as light or dark as you want it to be. Then you can change your letter font color if you need to.

I hope this helps.

Christine Kelly

[Doug Kitchen]

Christine,
Thanks...I'll give it a try and report my findings later.
Lori

[Cindi Hammons]

I've never tried it that way, but it sounds easy to me. I make my shadowed boxes in Photoshop 7.0 and then save it as a photo. That way I don't ever have to make the box again...it is saved on the picture background.

Open photo in photoshop.
Use marquee tool to choose your boundary/lightened area
Click Layer tab
Click New Fill Layer
Click Solid color
Opacity--60%
Hit Okay
Choose White
Hit Okay

That is really the only way I know how to do it. Christine's way is easier, but you would have to do it for each slide.

If I can help you with a certain slide, I'd be glad to add a shaded box for you. Let me know which slide you nee this done on and I'll make the changes for you.

Cindi H.

[Christine Kelly]

I do one slide, then copy and paste more slides. I need to change the words, but everything is even then. I guess that is one of my complaints...when PP is run, and their text boxes are moving all over the place on each slide. I will need to try it your way Cindi, thanks.

Christine

[Cindi Hammons]

Lori,

From your email, I think this is what you were requesting. If not, give me some more info and I'll try again. Personally, if I were wanting a dark and brooding atmosphere like you mentioned, I would leave the screen black and use white letters, or even gray letters. The letters really don't light it up that much, and maybe even less than the gray box. Are you planning to use black letters? Try it and see how easy the letters are to read. Let me know if you need anything different.

Cindi H.

[Doug Kitchen]

Cindi,
That was exactly what I was describing. I am more inclined to agree with you about the drama of white print on the black for that evening. I showed Doug the two types (white on black-no box & white on gray box) and he did prefer & agree that the white print on black will be better for the evening service. I do thank you for the extra work you did for me. I appreciate it. This has been a busy but fun day of learning for me!
Lori
PS...to Christine...my friend walked me through your text box coloring method while on the phone so I now know how to do that as well!

[Bob Woolley]

Sorry to be slow in answering. These are my busy days for church work. I think your question was taken care of by Cindi.

It is best to use a "white" colored text on a dark background and a dark text on a light background. The reason why some may find it hard to read could be a number of reasons.

1) They are too close to the screen.

2) The lighting in the church is brighter than the screen because the projector is off a low limuens (under 2000 limuens) low light projector.

3) You are using a font that is not for projection display like "times new roman".

One should use "Halvettblackconditional" font or something similar that is a block type font. If you type in the name on a Google search, you can find it to download. I recommend it as you can see it clearly from any seating direction in the church.

Also there is a way to make your font "stand out" in PowerPoint so it is easier to read. There are a number of steps so I would need to make a new post on the subject. I will explain later so watch for the post. I will try to use some screen shots to explain.

Here is a good link on tips for Powerpoint.:fav18

Click on > " Oxygen Church Media " (http://www.oxygen-multimedia.com/page/02/LAB5)

[Belinda Y. Edwards]

i really enjoyed this thread. Nice backgrounds here. Thanks for sharing.

[Belinda Y. Edwards]

Sorry to be slow in answering. These are my busy days for church work. I think your question was taken care of by Cindi.

It is best to use a "white" colored text on a dark background and a dark text on a light background. The reason why some may find it hard to read could be a number of reasons.

i have found that soft grey works best for us. Perhaps, it is the lighting in our Sanctuary - but white hurts my eyes. It is too sharp.

[Doug Kitchen]

i have found that soft grey works best for us. Perhaps, it is the lighting in our Sanctuary - but white hurts my eyes. It is too sharp.
Belinda,
This is Doug this time. Black (or blue) on solid white can be difficult to read, maybe because our eyes adjust to the brightness?

Anyway, using pictures for backgrounds on choruses is tricky, these gray, white, blue or black boxes really help. The lines and shapes in the picture can make it very difficult to follow the letters so the box needs to cover up the distraction. (I can't tell you how many times I've had to try to read words through flowers and scenery and just couldn't do it).

Thanks for all the help all of you provided. We really appreciated it. Great ideas, great pictures and clear instructions!

I was only 4 miles away in my office, but she got help from canada, nj, ohio... naznet is amazing.

Doug