One of our SnackTools friends wanted to know how to add an electrified effect on his banner. While we were giving him the instructions, we thought – hey, maybe we should show this effect to all of you! So here is how you can add a little spark to your awesome banners.

It’s something a bit different from the default banner effects you see everyday. Easy to use, but really nice!

Follow these steps for an electrified effect :

1. Log in to BannerSnack
2. Select a size for your banner (custom or preset)
3. Choose an image for the background
   (You can opt between color, image texture or no background)
4. Add text – the effect can only be applied to text
5. Go to Build In/Build Out
   Click on the following effects: BlurryLight/ Glow/NeonTubes

It could be hard to choose, but you can preview each banner effect and select the one that you think fits best. You can also delay the effect or expand duration.

Here’s my electrified banner; I must admit that I played with other effects and duration to increase suspense.

Hey guys! As you probably know by now, I am always on the look out for interesting web related things. I’ve recently started to use a new website platform for my work, and I’m really excited to tell you more. Not to mention it is free and easy to use.
Jimdo is the best solution to create a website or blog. It has many elements, so you can customize your site however you want.

I know that many of you like to post your banners everywhere, so here’s how you can successfully post a banner on this platform.

Step 1: Create a Jimdo account (select a website name)
Step 2: Log in to Jimdo
Step 3: Add a new element
(heading, text, column, photo, forms or other elements of design)

Step 4: Log in to BannerSnack - My banners
Step 5: Click on View – Select the Embed button
Step 6: Copy the Embed code – Paste into Jimdo (the HTML Editor)

Don’t forget to save your work on Jimdo. You can preview the banner changes in real-time and you can edit if you are not quite satisfied.

And for your daily inspiration, here’s a message about what you should do everyday.

Today I thought  it would be nice to talk about something many of us are really excited to use – Facebook Timeline Cover, a cool feature from one of the biggest social networks around.
If you are a passionate Facebook user, you’ll surely want to add the extra spice to your Timeline.

Log in to BannerSnack – New Banner
Next, select a size (the new Facebook Timeline cover is 851×351)
Select a background image and cliparts. Let your imagination run wild.
The only downside for now is that you can’t use effects, only static images.
But, do use the cliparts as they can give a really nice look.

I’ve made some Facebook timeline covers to give you a creative push.

Apply the banner on your Timeline by copying the image to your PC and then upload to Facebook.

Tip: Try to combine the profile picture with the timeline cover to create a nice story from the two images. Your friends will be truly amazed about how cool your Facebook profile looks!

Hey friends!

Last week we’ve talked about how you can add all kinds of effects to objects for cooler banners! I hope you enjoyed the tips on effects you can use when creating a flash banner with BannerSnack. Let’s go ahead and see how you can combine them into a single banner.

A nice combo between the Fade In/ Fade Out banner effects can be really pleasant to watch. Bet you didn’t think it was that simple.

You can add effects not just to banners but to slides as well.
This is a great way to do it if you have many images.
Simple, yet fancy. No need to overload the banner with cliparts.
You can create something great by adding effects to slides.

Hope you enjoyed this short introduction to the secrets of banner effects.
Unleash your creativity and give us a little insight into your work.

Let’s continue our banner effects discovery. Yesterday I mentioned some of the Build Out effects and how great they are, but today I will share even more exciting info.

Iris

The Iris effect give the impression of compression. The corners are drawn to the centre, like a cortex effect. Pretty spectacular!

Stripe

Just as the name implies, the object is separated into tiny stripes until it disappears from the screen.

Scale

Scale is like a bouncy ball effect. It bounces on screen and then it vanishes. Quite trick and playful.

Slide

The slide effect is pulled away on the banner, sliding smoothly up and down, left and right. You have seen this in other banners, as it is highly used.

Square

Tinny squares acting as one make the object disappear from the screen. A puzzle effect that seems tarnished at once.

It’s simple to play with the effect in BannerSnack, but no matter the effect used you’re banner will surely look awesome. Are you a bit skeptical? Just go to BannerSnack and give it a try!

TIP: You should know that some effects can be used for objects (image, clipart, button) and others just for text. Many might not even see the difference first hand, but as the banner plays it’s quite obvious. When creating a banner write a text and select an effect. You will get instructions on this in the brackets, simple as that!

I hope these snack posts come handy in your banner making, and since we’re going through the banner effects playbook, it’s time to move to the Build Out effects.

These effects create the impression that the object (text, image, button, clipart) disappears from the screen. Even though, in preview mode, they look just like the Build In effects, they are the exact opposite. The general purpose of the Build Out is to mark the ending of a slide.

Curios about how you could combine the two? Well… we’ll get to that part in an upcoming post, soon. Until then, let’s see what each effect does:

1. Alpha

The Alpha effect has a smooth transition. It can even create the impression of wiping the screen as it has a clean transition effect, sort of like cleaning the blackboard in school.

2. Blur

The Build Out Blur effect makes the objects fade out bit by bit. The clarity is decreased until the object is completely fogged out.

3. Bars

A pretty creative effect, makes the element look like it’s chopped into bars that take different directions on screen, like an organised explosion.

4. Disc


Remember the clock-wise movement in the Build In effects post? The same movement is present in the Build Out, but instead, the image is wiped away.

5. Flip

I associate the Flip effect in Build Out with an invisible vacuum cleaner that pulls the image inside the banner. I wonder if you think the same.

Tip:
There are specific effects for text and for objects to better highlight each element on the banner.
Hope this put you into a creative state and made you want to play with the effects. Let us know where we can see your work!  

I hope you liked the examples I made yesterday and they shed some light in the area of build in effects in BannerSnack. I didn’t want it to be too much, so I split the article in half. Here’s the second part. Don’t forget to check out the first part, if you didn’t already.

(See part 1 of The Banner Playbook)

Iris

Remember those physics classes where you pour a drop of ink on paper and it instantly expands? Now think of banners as sheets of paper and you can visualize the Iris effect.

Scale

The Scale effect creates the impression that an object is slightly expanded, like a rubber object pulled by an imaginary hand.

Slide

Slide, drop, roll – call it whatever you want, this effect is self explanatory. The object slides from one corner of the banner to the other. Great effect I must say!

Squares

Think about puzzles! Your object is the puzzle, and this effect makes the pieces add up to the final shape.

Stripes


Many stripes displayed one after the other, giving the impression of a torn paper glued back together.

Don’t miss our next post about Build Out effects in banners. I am working on something quite interesting, so stay tuned