There are several companies and individuals on the internet that sells high resolution textures and it’s usual that they cost big money, but when the budget is low we need to start searching for alternatives. Finding free textures isn’t easy, and even with the resolution of today’s cameras the free textures out there are just of very bad quality. But today I want to share a nice resource where you can find high quality textures for free and you’ll be able to download them without any registration.

According to the few file’s info and EXIF information, the textures from the site High Resolution Textures are created using a Canon EOS 400D, a pretty nice digital camera in the prosumer market.

There are many very nice textures to choose from. This is a resource that must have a place in our bookmark.

Icons are one of the most important but disesteemed part of a website and/or an application. You know where to quickly click when you see a graphically descriptive icon in the right place. Sometimes developers opt for just search a term on Google images and then grab/copy an icon. Other developers opt for the expensive solution and hires a graphic designer to create the icons, but what if you can get hundreds of high quality icons for free? That’s exactly what you can get on ICONS etc.

You can get a compressed ZIP file for the icons group you need without any registration. The compressed files has lot of icons in PNG format with transparency, which is perfect for almost any design work.

It is undeniable that one of the most important element in a successful graphic design has something to do with the font type you use to spread the message and sometimes, when you need to find the right fonts you don’t have it on your local system. Here is where AllMyFonts comes to help you. With more than 128,000 free fonts in TTF format, AllMyFonts.com is one of the biggest fonts resource you can find on the net.

AllMyFonts service started few months ago as a personal project to organize those 128,000 fonts, then the site gone online but in a few days our shared hosting service deactivated it due to the high load. The site then has been removed and after few months of code optimization and caching it’s online again on a big server that guarantees an efficient and fluid service.

AllMyFonts bring you an excellent preview system where you can type any text for a given font to see how it looks. Downloads are completely free without registration of any kind. We also offer a search engine to browse all the fonts.

Note two important things. One is that AllMyFonts is on heavy work at this time, we are classifying in categories all those fonts and the other thing is that AllMyFonts is part of our site’s network. Despite these two details, I think that it perfectly fits to have a post here because its free nature and its graphic related service.

We hope that you enjoy and have fun using this big and great resource considering the very big work that we put on the site’s engine code and the hardware resources needed for this site to work properly.

What about a website that offers tons of graphic related resources? ShareCG is one of them, with thousands of resources in categories like tutorials, 3d models, materials, textures, animations, software, plugins, photography, poser stuff among others. All these resources for absolutely free and uploaded by their authors.

You must register to be able to download, but it’s worth the extra time registering if you can put your hands on so many wonderful resources.

free-PSD is a website that offers awesome templates in PSD format for absolutely free with the only condition to put a link back to their site, pretty fair considering the high quality of the templates offered.

No registration required to download any file. The PSD files are of very high quality in a professional grade and they are even sliced so you can save as separated images to build and customize your own variation of any template.

The templates can be found at free-PSD.com and they are well organized in “colors” categories. Just be sure to browse their template archive in the “free pdf templates” menu at the top right sidebar.

Just few examples of what they offer:

Free is good and better yet when the freebies are of high quality. Searching the web I found a website with a great collection of 105 logos and they offer free PSD sources with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. There are some very nice logos that can inspire you for any design.

The site Shaboopie is the today’s star for offering such great free resource with direct downloads links.

Here is a small preview of these beautiful logos:

Hope you enjoy this resource.

When it comes to free resources is very difficult to find something of high quality, not impossible, but hard to find. FreePSDFiles.net is one of those resources that when found you’ll be visiting over and over again. Why? Because they offer free PSD files that will make you happy. FreePSDFiles.net carries lot of graphics, all of them available for free (no registration required, thank you) and the best of all is that any file is in native PSD Photoshop format.

Categories are, among others, 3D renders, backgrounds, buttons, icons, illustrations, objects, site templates, textures, web elements and many others.

A very clean and friendly web design makes this site a pleasure to browse. Each image includes a short description and vital file info like resolution, file format, file size, item in the set, author and the obvious download button.

Very recommended resource for designers and graphic artists.

Ho Ho Ho Ho!

Look who’s here ready to give away these amazing WordPress E-commerce Themes. Tokokoo at your service. A group of professional designers with many a year experience in working with WordPress, is ready to give you your long yearned Christmas presents: 3 bundles of 3 Premium E-Commerce WordPress Themes in each bundle.

Check out their Twitter, Facebook, and website to know more about them.

1. AppCloud

A 960 grid system theme with sleek tones of blue, white and a bit gray. Points out the gadgets and more usability so users can obtain information they need faster and more easily.

Theme detail page
Live demo

2. Kelontong

The dark Mac style online store for application sites. This theme gives yourself a break you don’t have to understand any codes to modify your store, while you can sell more of your products

Theme detail page
Live demo

3.  Bangkoo

Bangkoo is a WordPress e-commerce theme for online furniture and home products stores. Using this theme you can remarkably sell any of your used/new tables, sofas, chairs, beds, home decorations, fancy gifts and more.

Theme detail page
Live demo

4. Disco

A breathtaking and hip theme you can use for your DJ music showcase packaged with WordPress e-commerce plugin.

Theme detail page
Live demo

5. DangDoot

DangDoot is suitable mostly for major/indie music recording companies, bands, musicians, music products affiliates, music event organizers or simply online music stores.

Theme detail page
Live demo

6. Kakileema

If you want to sell cool apparels like t-shirts, caps and any other youngster-styled fashion thingies, this is the perfect theme for your online store.

Theme detail page
Live demo

Ready to find out how you can get them?

• Go to Tokokoo website, and pick out the theme you like best.
• Tell us here which one do you like best and why you chose it before December 31, 2010 00:00 CET. Don’t forget to mention your Twitter ID and valid email address.
• Follow Tokokoo’s Twitter to get their latest update and promotions
• That is all. Hey it’s Christmas, everything should be done in the simplest and most fun way.

Here’s how the winners will be chosen:

• There will be six (3) random comments to get our 3 bundles selected on December 31, 2010
• Make sure you’ve provide your Twitter ID and email address correctly, that way we can easily contact you to give you your Christmas present.
• We only accept one comment per email address. Using the same email address for multiple commenting will not be considered.
• Don’t forget to share this news to your friends via Twitter, for example: Get a free bundle of Premium #WordPress e-commerce themes for FREE only on @smashingshare. Follow @tokokoo now http://bit.ly/f1YIVZ
  

Ho ho ho ho!

Design: The Most Important Element for Websites

Design is the big thing these days, both on the web and in multi-media. Of course, down through the ages, design has always been important, whether one is speaking of the Sistine Chapel or Ford’s Model T or even film posters.

In today’s world, we are inundated with good and bad design through many different avenues, including the aforementioned movie posters, billboards, television and most recently, the Internet. Most of it we take for granted, yet design is a key factor in the making or breaking of any product or event.

For a professional and attractive web presence, excellent design is crucial. If you want your website to be taken seriously then good design is the key element on which to concentrate your efforts. So, whether you are a professional designer or an amateur developing your own website, there some great resources in the Internet world, that you definitely should become acquainted with.

Design Resources

When the Internet was younger, quality design tools were not only mind-blowing, they were also pretty expensive. Many of the staples of design are still at our fingertips and although they have been around a while, they have stood the test of time and are certainly great products. Obviously, one of the most well-known and useful tools for design is Photoshop. This incredible and popular design tool is famous for great image editing capabilities. Of course, Adobe Illustrator is always a fantastic design tool and is especially useful when using or creating vector illustrations.

Free Resources

Nowadays, one can still buy these renowned design tools but luckily there are also some open source alternatives that are free, And if you are willing to work through any free alternative’s digital process, which can sometimes be a little less user friendly, they may be just what you are looking for. One popular free program, similar to Photoshop, is Gimp. Inkscape is a program that is similar to Adobe Illustrator and is also a free alternative that is excellent for creating vector illustrations.

Speaking of vector illustrations, Dezignus is another resource for free (that’s right FREE) vector illustrations. The site has an incredibly large selection available for downloads and is continually increasing its available inventory.

You Want Color? You Got Color!

If you are looking for great color, and support in making your site’s colors work, then the best choice is Colourlovers.com. This site will provide the help you need to make your site color scheme attractive. Another superb source for design tools to complement the color is deviantART.

Don’t Forget the Fonts

And of course, the use of typography and the various fonts should be your No. one concern when planning your website, so do not neglect this important aspect of design. Dafont.com is a font resource website that has an incredible array of free and easily accessible fonts. This site is a must for all designers.

So, there is your list of some great design resources on the net. Now you have no excuse to not create a fabulous site!

Sonia Mansfield is the content editor for PsPrint and editor of PsPrint Blog

SmashingShare presents a round up of free inspirational art, photography and illustration wallpapers by Justin Maller, a creative freelancer and art director.

About Justin

Justin Maller is a freelance illustrator and art director based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been creating digital art for over eight years, and has produced professionally in both a private and studio based capacity for the last three. He is represented by Jeremy Wortsman of the Jacky Winter Group.

Download Page

All Images are Copyright Justin Maller

It’s completely free to download, just click here for the

Download Page

The popularity of facebook has skyrocketed in the past 24 months and without requiring any introduction, facebook along with all it’s add-on services and value now play a huge role in any online business marketing strategy. Many businesses today are buying facebook fans to propel their facebook page popularity overnight through guaranteed facebook fan services.

Growing your facebook fan base will allow your business to reach a larger audience at the click of a button and today premiumfans.net is offering SmashingShare visitors the opportunity to win two 75,000 Guaranteed Facebook Invites. Many business

Two lucky winners will receive the Impressive Rocket Package of 75,000 Facebook Invites from premiumfans.net.

PremiumFans.net Introduction

If your looking for the premium online resource for buying Facebook fans, then look no further. Here we use our advertising Know-How to bring more fans to your Facebook pge, resulting in more traffic and more sales.

What we do: We target thousands of REAL Facebook fans and send them to your fan page. The facebook fans that you receive will interact with your page and you will gain a valuable customer base on the most popular social networking site in the world.

Start promoting your fan page now, gain the respect and fans that you deserve! Buy facebook invites now !

Enter to win one of two – 75,000 Facebook Invite Packages

- retweet and facebook share this giveaway

- post a comment

Entries close December 11, 2010, Winners will be announced and contacted directly via email on Monday, December 13, 2011.

As most SmashingShare readers are aware, our website has grown dramatically in 2010. Our audience has grown to over 2,000,000 unique monthly visitors, social media following has tripled and our overall network exposure has doubled.

The staff at Suite48 wanted to end the year off on an awesome note, so as a gratitude of our success in 2010, SmashingShare has teamed up with several reputable online companies to present a number of great giveaways in the month of December.

Keep following SmashingShare on twitter, facebook, digg and feedburner.

As a graphic designer, you are always searching for new ways to make your designs stand out from the crowd.. As cutting edge as your designs may be, however, they are nothing without equally as wonderful fonts to complement them.

Thankfully, you don’t have to spend a fortune to begin building up a font reserve. In fact, many top-notch font developers are generous enough to share their creations for free. The following are the 9 best resources to get free fonts online to help you begin developing a font arsenal.

1. DaFont

The DaFont website is organized by font category and popularity. One perk of DaFont is you can preview your text in a specific font without downloading it.

2. Font Squirrel

FontSquirrel is a well-organized website with a wonderful selection of fonts allowed for commercial use. The fonts on FontSquirrel are neatly organized, and most are downloadable directly through the FontSquirrel website.

3. 901 Free Fonts

Similar to DaFont, 901 Free Fonts offers a wide range of free fonts if you have time to sift through the various categories. The licensing terms vary between the fonts so check the terms of any you are considering using.

4. Fawnt

The main perk of using Fawnt is you don’t have to sort through thousands of fonts to find one worth downloading. Rather, Fawnt features about 50 high-quality free fonts that are worthwhile for high-quality designers like you.

5. TypeNow

TypeNow is a little more tedious to sift through when searching for free fonts but is a worthwhile outlet that provides some high -quality options. Check out the website’s themed section to download great free fonts based on the typefaces of popular movies, products, and more.

6. FontSpace

FontSpace includes more than 14,000 fonts so you will need some extra time to sort through them all. However, many of the fonts are high quality and are easy to download, which makes this a worthwhile resource.

7. UrbanFonts

The UrbanFonts website includes a wide range of free font options and is fairly straightforward to use. The website’s homepage includes a listing of featured fonts to avoid sorting through the various categories.

8. YourFonts

YourFonts takes a unique spin on the idea of free fonts and allows you to make a typeface out of your handwriting. Even if you don’t intend to use the handwriting font in your designs, it can still be a good time waster.

9. FontStruct

Of course, not everyone has naturally beautiful handwriting that would make a perfect font. If this sounds like your handwriting, then FontStruct is a better option that allows you to digitally construct a typeface.

While there are many free font resources online, these are the top 9 proven best options. Hopefully by using the above resources, you will find a variety of fonts to incorporate into your designs and make them better than ever.

ThemeWarrior and SmashingShare have teamed up to present this great giveaway. Comment and you can win one of 10 free standard package of Picture Box WordPress Theme from ThemeWarrior.

ThemeWarrior allows you to build amazing sites with WordPress. The themes are professionally designed and easy to use and manage! ThemeWarrior will rock your wordpress world!

Enter the Givewaway!

1. Visit ThemeWarrior

2. Retweet and Facebook Share this Givewaway

3. Post a comment

This contest will run until November 26th. Random selected entries will be selected and notified on November 29th via email.

Show off your best shots with Picture Box, our first WordPress photography theme. We put our best effort to create this powerful and well designed theme, Picture Box will show you how powerful WordPress default gallery feature really is and yet we make it even cooler with jQuery awesomeness. Click here for complete theme details.

On October 27, 2010 we launched a wordpress theme giveaway presented by our friends at MOJO-Themes.com

The winners have been randomly selected and will be contact in the coming days by MOJO to claim their prize.

Winners are….

Nikola Lazarevic

Mars

Amir B

Thank you to everyone who entered, make sure to subscribe to our RSS feed and get notified of upcoming contests.

SmashingShare is teaming up with Inkd to give away 5 sets of premium business cards! 5 randomly selected winners will receive a set of 250 matte or glossy business cards from the Inkd library. Winners can use any of the great design templates on the site or even upload their own! The cards also come customized with all of your contact info, so you can start handing them out right away!

To Enter:

- Go to the business card templates page on Inkd

-Tell us which design you like the best by tweeting the link of the page @Inkdtweet.

-Follow @smashingshare and @inkdtweet and stay tuned!

Entries close on November 12, 2010, winners will be announced on November 15, 2010.

About Inkd

Inkd is an online marketplace for original print design. With the best quality design templates, online printing, and custom logos, you’ll be sure to receive head turning design quality without the head turning price. Inkd is the place where creative businesses go to stand out amongst the crowd. Get noticed today with Inkd!

Our friends at RidgePark real estate are looking for a new logo for their company, in exchange they are offering to pay the cost of advertising on smashingshare.com for 1 month.

Who is RidgePark?

Ridgepark is a real estate company which manages, leases and develops real estate properties worldwide.

Winning Entry, What do you get?

- a feature post of your website, products and services on smashingshare
- lifetime link back in the post
- shared with 2400+ facebook fans and 3300+ twitter followers and mailing list

How do you enter?

- post a comment “enter me”
- share this blog post via facebook and twitter using the share links
- post a link to view your logo entry (either public or via email to info@smashingshare.com)

Have a question about what to design? Just email us! We’ll fill you in!

Entries are being accepted until November 1, 2010.

Mojo Theme Marketplace

MOJO-Themes.com is a hungry and growing buy/sell theme and template marketplace for a variety of platforms including WordPress. MOJO-Themes was created to bring some excitement and variety to the market. We felt that through offering exceptional customer service and products we could bring some much needed MOJO to the blogging community.

Items throughout the marketplace are extremely affordable. Some starting at just $5 and go up to $100+ for higher end themes such as “Magento Themes”. Items are priced on difficulty, features and use of the file.

BUYERS
Whether you’re a new blogger looking for a fresh look for your blog about root beer or you’re a developer looking for a theme to customize for a client, we’ve got something for everyone.

SELLERS
Our Marketplace is FREE to join and we allow you to start uploading your work instantly. MOJO themes sellers make 50%-80% on every item sold. Increased exposure and expanding your portfolio, all while making a significant amount of money are just some of the benefits of selling through MOJO themes.

———–
Today we’re excited to offer the Smashing Share readers a special treat by giving away 3 fantastic WordPress themes.

How to enter the giveaway.

1. Tweet this giveaway

2. Facebook Like this giveaway (using the button above)

3. Post a comment “We love Mojo Marketplace”

Entries close November 3, 2010. Winners will be announced  November 5, 2010.
Winners will need to sign up for a free account at mojo marketplace so the download can be added to your account.

Here is an example of some popular wordpress themes at Mojo Marketplace.

FOLIOSTUDIO – WORDPRESS MAGAZINE THEME

RED FRED – PORTFOLIO AND BUSINESS WORDPRESS THEME

SIGNAL 8 MAGAZINE – WORDPRESS THEME

LAMBERT – WORDPRESS THEME

AROI – CAFE AND RESTAURANT WORDPRESS THEME

PINCI PORTFOLIO AND BUSINESS – WORDPRESS THEME

LE NEWS – WORDPRESS THEME

APOLLO – WORDPRESS THEME

DIGITALIS – BUSINESS AND PORTFOLIO HTML TEMPLATE

On September 27, 2010 we launched a wordpress theme giveaway presented by our friends at Tokokoo.

Tokokoo is by far the easiest way to build your online store. With Tokokoo wordpress e-commerce themes, your able to open your business instantly, sell your products easily.

The winners have been randomly selected and will be contact in the coming days by Tokokoo to claim their prize.

Phil Stringfellow, Stephen Van tuyl, Goran, Julien L and Michael M, all of which will receive full developer license to a premium theme of your choice.

Thank you to everyone who entered, make sure to subscribe to our RSS feed and get notified of upcoming contests. Don’t forget to enter our current giveaway SmartPress Online Printing Services Credit.