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Frequently Asked Questions & Support

This page addresses the following areas of information:

  • How to download and open Fat Strawberry files
  • Understanding the license agreement
  • What uses are permitted for the textures, brushes and shapes on this site.

  • The difference between Open and Restricted license items
  • Web Image Formats
  • Converting textures to use as online images.

    How To Download

    When you see an item you would like to use click on the preview picture (the picture in the box with the strawberry logo on it). This will save the zipped file to your computer.

    What your browser does next depends on how your browser is set up. Typically most 'modern' browsers will save files to the Downloads folder in your Documents or User folder. If in doubt open up your browser settings and have a good look - I promise the information you need is there somewhere!


    How To Open a Zip

    All the files are zipped to make them smaller and faster to download and so your browser doesn't try to be clever and open them (which may be fine for textures, but less helpful for brushes and shapes)

    For Windows Users:

    Your computer thinks zips are a lot like a Windows folder (so you don't need a special program). Once the zip has fully downloaded double click on it to open it, you can now copy the texture to a safe place where you can use it for your project (i.e. My Pictures for example). Once you have copied the file you can delete the zip, or keep it in case you want to use it again later.

    For Mac Users:

    There are a number of programs which open zips on a Mac (i.e. Stuffit Expander, 7zip), however if you use Safari 5 or newer, it will actually open your zip for you automatically (if it doesn't, check your browser settings, you've probably turned the feature off).

    This means once it's downloaded you will find the file in your designated Downloads folder ready to use.

    Alternative Options (PC & Mac):

    For more tech savvy users (and anyone who wants to open other types of compressed archive) I recommend using 7zip. It is free, available for both PC and Mac, and supports a huge variety of formats including .zip .rar and of course .7z.

    There is documentation available from the 7zip website as well as many online tutorials to explain how to install and use this program

  • Download 7zip
  • Google: 7zip tutorials

  • Understanding the License Agreement

    A.K.A. what can you do with my stuff?

    I receive a lot of questions about my license agreement so here is a little more information, along with direct answers to some of the most common questions.

    The Fat Strawberry License Agreement: Terms

  • You may NOT re-publish these textures, brushes and shapes as downloadable textures, brushes and shapes (i.e. competing use)
  • You may NOT claim them as your own work
  • Credit is NOT required ...
  • ... but if you do decide to be kind and add a credit link anyway, please make sure it goes to http://www.fatstrawberry.com and not some other variation of my domain or some other site entirely!

    Aside from the restrictions mentioned above, you may feel free to edit my files however you like to suit your particular project.

  • Open license items are the sole property of The Fat Strawberry. This means that all free and commercial use is allowed within the terms listed above
  • Restricted license items contain elements created by other artists and therefore can only be used for free items only within the terms listed above
  • Please be aware that this restriction applies for public sites which sell content, regardless of whether you personally make money from items you submit. If visitors are being asked to pay for the resulting item then you cannot use a Restricted license texture for it.


    Exporting Web Formats

    All my seamless textures are shared in a bmp (aka bitmap) format. This is an uncompressed, raw format which gives the best image quality, but it is much too large for website publication. If you wish to use a texture for a web background, or similar where it needs to load fast then you'll need to convert it to a more suitable format.

    There are many different image options, but the 3 most common ones are:

  • jpg
  • Provides a good balance between quality and reduced filesize, recommended for large images but will degrade noticably for pink and red colours

  • gif
  • Only supports a limited number of colours so is best suited to small and relatively plain images

  • png
  • Typically produces much larger filesizes than either jpg or gif, but perfect quality

    You will need a graphics program to convert the images. You can use MS Paint, or programs like paint.net as alternatives to expensive programs like Photoshop. Please read the documentation that comes with your graphics program, or you can of course find tutorials and relevant information online.

  • Google Search: Save Images For Web

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