daibatzu

Thanks a lot. The gradient plugin is excellent, the tutorials on glass orbs equally so. Which leaves just one thing, reflections.

Hello, thanks a lot for the replies. I'm not really looking at this from the perspective of a particular app, but just to learn a certain skill. So yes I do agree graphics aren't the most important part of an application. Currently trying the tutorials you suggested.

Hello all, this is my first post. I've spent most of my development life writing desktop applications but I've recently begun experimenting with web based application. Now, I know you've all probably heard about web2.0, I think the graphics used for these sites are sort of different. They are glossy and more appealing to the eye and I would really like to learn how to create them. I settled on Paint.NET after trying out the GIMP, Photoshop and many others (like the simplicity of it) and would like to use it create these effects instead of another program. If you could kindly look at these websites: http://jadedpixel.com/ (the rss tag looks really shiny) http://shopify.com/ http://www.blinksale.com/learn/ notice the reflections, the gradient, it looks glossy and alive. If anyone could post a tutorial on how to do this with paint.net i'd be grateful. I'm quite new to graphics design, a complete novice so any help will truly be appreciated.