Hundreds of Free Textures for Your E-Learning Courses

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 12:30 AM PDT

Articulate Rapid E-Learning Blog - hundreds of free textures for elearning

There are tons of free textures and background images online. Some good and some not so good. It can be a bit overwhelming looking for textures so I went through some of the free textures and included the ones I think work well for elearning courses.

To save you some time, I looked around and only added textures that are free to use for commercial projects. Of course, it is a good habit to give props to the source of the free file. If you can't give them a link back, at least go to their site and let them know you appreciate the free help.

Which Textures Work Best for E-Learning?

Fortunately no one's written a book on the science of using textures in elearning courses. So for right now, you're free to use any texture you like. But that may change at a future elearning conference.

Articulate Rapid E-Learning Blog - examples of free textures

In either case, here are the main categories that I look for:

Paper: These work well for office-theme courses.
Wood: As Seinfeld says, "Wood is good." Enough said!
Spotlights: Spotlight effects can help pull the eye towards the content area.
Organic Natural: Organic material like rocks, torn paper and vegetation works because they don't have straight lines. It gives you some wiggle room in your composition.
Organic Man-made: Includes organic textures like brick walls and wood planking. They combine the organic look with sectioning or straight lines that work well in screen composition.
Blurs: Blurred textures suggest depth or context without pulling your focus. They also help the content on the screen standout.

As a bonus, while it's not a texture, I do like the why-be-flat approach for screen backgrounds where we combine design elements to create depth and perspective.

Here are two demos from recent posts on simple background images and creating course objectives. They're essentially the same. In one I used a film strip texture. And the other uses a grungy concrete. They may give you some ideas on how to use textures.

Film Strip Texture

Click here to view the film strip demo.

Grungy Concrete Texture

Click here to view the concrete demo.

Free Textures

Here are some free textures that may work for your elearning courses. I tried to only include the ones that allow commercial use. As always with these free resources, be sure to do your own research on terms of use prior to using them in a project.

Free Paper Textures

Free Wood Textures

Free Spotlight Textures

Free Organic Textures

Free Blurred Image Textures

12 Blurred Backgrounds
10 Natural Events Blurred Backgrounds
7 Pastel Textures. Import into PowerPoint and apply the blur filter.

If you do a search online, you'll find all sorts of free textures. So have at it. The key though is that not all free textures are free for commercial use. Based on my research, the ones I've included above are available for commercial use. So you should be able to use them in your elearning projects.

What are your favorite textures and do you have a place to go for commercially free textures? If so, please share the links with the rest of us.

Free Articulate Jam session while we're in Austin on April 18. Details below.

Upcoming workshops for 2013:

April 2 &3: San Diego, CA. Two workshops. Sign up before it sells out.
Day 1 – General elearning tips & tricks.
Day 2 – A hands-on Storyline session.
April 16 & 17: Austin, TX. Two workshops.
Day 1 – Rapid E-Learning Workshop.
Day 2 – Articulate Storyline Workshop
April 18: Austin, TX. Free jam session with the Central Texas Articulate User Group. It's a great time to get answers and meet your peers. Here are the details. Seating is limited so RSVP to reserve your spot.
May 14 & 15: London, UK. How to Become a Rapid E-Learning Pro: Two-day master class filled with lots of hands-on activities.
June: Philadelphia, PA. Details coming.
June 26-27: Portland, OR. BlueVolt eLearning Conference. Join the Articulate community team for a series of how-to sessions using the Articulate elearning applications.
June 12 & 13: Miami, FL. Two workshops. Details coming.
Day 1 – Rapid E-Learning Workshop.
Day 2 – Articulate Storyline Workshop.
September: Greensboro, NC. Details coming.
September: New York, NY. Two workshops. Register here.
Day 1 – Rapid E-Learning Workshop.
Day 2 – Articulate Storyline Workshop. I'll also be presenting at the evening chapter meeting.
October: Baton Rouge, LA. Details coming.
October: Los Angeles, CA. Details coming.
November: St. Louis, MO. Details coming.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

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tremeex

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Hundreds of Free Textures for Your E-Learning Courses

Which Textures Work Best for E-Learning?

Free Textures

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