Hi Paul, I use free fractal progs and PSP. I mainly use PSP for sigs and frames and such. It can also be used to tweak the colors if nessary. You can also remove the backgrounds and paste into another image. I've just started playing with the PSP plug-ins and there is so much you can achieve, it's hard to believe. Also for fractal programs, check out Paul N. Lee's website and Stephen Ferguson's website! Enjoy, William/paragon5

To me, the thing I strive for the most is to find something different. Apop. is a great program, but so many flames look alike after awhile. I really like the challenge of taking a program that everyone else uses and finding new ways to use that program. Like in Vchira, there is a tab that has a "invert" & "mirror" functions; so many people miss those functions and all the origional fractals that can be created with them. Like you said, the hard part is making it attractive to the viewer. William/paragon5

Hi Trina, try 200x200 pixels, just keep the size down to under 15K. You can use almost any paint program to do that. Keep adjusting the compression until you get the desired size. We use a small program called "A Smaller Image", it works great and is very easy to use. William

Hi Barb, That could be a real hot topic for sure. I grew up on the ocean, so fishing was a big part of my life. Here's something interesting that I recently read. A study in a University somewhere up north( closer to Canada), I'm not real sure which one. I'd have to look the article back up. Showed that fish actually do not possess the proper nerve ending to be able to feel pain. They have autonomic responses, but no pain. Not trying to start anything, just thought it was an interesting fact. William

Hi everyone, William and I are from Trenton, North Carolina. It's a very small town probably about 70 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and yes we can go to the beach at anytime! It certainly is great to meet you all! Vicky

I haven't had any problems viewing the thumbnails or the images, but I did have several problems getting on Renderosity! I also got a message saying couldn't find server! I haven't had any problems today though, so maybe whatever was wrong has been fixed! Vicky

I do a little of both. I think I announce that there is no post work mainly just to let people know! I'm not against post work by a long shot; I don't mind cutting, chopping and flipping a fractal until I get the look I was looking for. As I learn new tricks, I can't wait to try them on my fractals. I'm like a kid with a new toy. Just much older and the toys are a lot more fun! William

Hi Brianna, if you are already addicted to fractals this is the right place for you to be! There are alot of friendly and helpful people on this site! I had never seen anything like a fractal before a year ago, my husband got me hooked and now we fractal together! Hope to see some of your creativity on soon! Vicky and William(paragon5)

I would also like to recommend Sterlingware and Vchira. Both programs are free and easy to learn, just to get you started! I also agree Tierazon is great too! I would suggest the link Dorbledog gave for most of these programs. Good luck to you and happy fractaling! I look forward to seeing you post in the fractal gallery! Vicky(Mrs.paragon5)

#11-3 #14-2 #4-1 Hard to make a choice, I would like to choose them all!

Hi Alison, you are very deserving to have this honor, keep up the good work! Vicky and William

Has anyone looked at the #1 image today? It is a different image! It says it has 38 votes, but I looked at the image and there isn't even 1 comment! Something really screwy going on around here!

Hi Joe, congrats on the featured fractal! You are very deserving, we love all of your work! Well done, friend! Vicky and William

You can try turning the filter radius down. I have mine set on 0.1. It uses a little more memory and takes a little longer to render, but most of the time it's worth the extra wait! William