I recently came across several sites that either describe how to create your own “iPod Ad Silhouette” (Jennifer Apple, SV Designs, MacMerc & Sitepoint) or others that have a service where they’ll even do it for you (ipodmyphoto & podapic, though it appears that you get what you pay for. ipodmyphoto costs more, but there is no comparison in the quality).

MacMerc’s entry, Attack of the iPod People, appeared to me to be the most detailed, so I used it as my guide. iWillOne additional step if you want this to really look authentic is to get the Myriad Apple font used in the ads. This first attempt, iWill (My 7 year-old William), was admittedly a rush job (My wife and daughter were watching “American Dreams” on TiVo, so I only had about 40 minutes to get it done!). The edges are not as clean as I would have liked (it’s the first time I used Photoshop’s Extract Filter), and even the photo was chosen without much thought (though it was posed explicitly for this purpose). However, despite these self-critique’s, I think it came out quite well. I’m going to try a few more (I do have 2 other kids that want one of their own!), and perhaps I’ll either blow them up to poster size for their rooms, or maybe I’ll frame a set together for the family room.

I’ld also like to give it a try in The Gimp, stay tuned…

- The Goose