Layers Cake

Adobe Photoshop 7One sure sign that you’re getting old is when you notice yourself stubbornly refusing to move up to newer versions of your software. For instance, I’ve been using Adobe Photoshop version 7.0 more or less since it was first released. And though this version was released five years ago in 2002, and though I own a full version of Adobe Creative Suite ( newer, but no spring chicken, itself), it’s still the version that I prefer to launch every time I sit down to work in front of my Intel-based iMac.

I realize that, compared to more recent editions, version 7.0 is quite feature-limited. But in some ways, I prefer those limitations, especially its inability to nest layer folders. I know, that’s a little nuts, but I find that being restricted to a single level of layer folders helps me keep all the constituent layers in my files organized. I’m the kind of obsessive nut who likes to properly name every layer in my files, and to keep them neatly organized; I’ve found that nesting those folders works against that.

Most of all, I stick to Photoshop 7.0 because it’s fast. It boots up almost as quickly on my aging 12-in. PowerBook G4 as it does on my much newer, much faster iMac, which lets me work on the same files whether I’m at home or at work. I’ve long considered the secret to using Adobe software to be to run older versions on newer hardware, and this is my primary evidence that doing so works.

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Making Your Site Look Like Mine

Even with all the email that I receive, I’m still the kind of person who finds it very difficult not to reply to a message that someone has sent me, especially if the sender has posed a question of some kind. As a result, I often find myself writing familiar replies to queries that come in over and over, from different people. These are generally earnest questions about the way I work, where I draw inspiration from, advice on design, etc.

I’m more than happy to provide answers and to give something back in my small way, but it’s becoming a harder and harder job to pull off. I have a continual backlog of emails flagged for follow-up, and catching up feels like a kind of treadmill sometimes.

So I’m going to start, here, publishing an occasional series of blog posts covering answers to some of those frequently asked questions. When I get around to it, I’ll collate them and post them in an evergreen spot on the site.

The question I want to tackle in this inaugural post is commonly posed something like, “Can I use the design of Subtraction.com for my site?” Variants include, “Can I make a WordPress theme (or similar template) from your design?” or, “I just redesigned my site and it looks a lot like Subtraction.com, do you mind?”

The answer to the first two questions is “no,” and the answer to the last is, “yes.” But with comments.

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