I will use my most recent St. Patrick’s Day theme as the example. Whether you use Photoshop, Gimp, or any other graphic program to create your designs the concept is pretty much the same. Each new process is a new transparent layer.

Step 1: Determined the size of theme.

Depending on your screen resolution, most build their themes to be the size of their viewing resolution. I know, I know, they all say to use the 1024×768 size because its still the most popular resolution in use on the Internet, but that size really restricts what can be done graphically with Twitter backgrounds. 1024×768 leaves a whopping 115 pixels on the left, right and 83 on the top to play with, which is just unsatisfactory to me. I personally use 1920×1080, the resolution I view.

Step 2: Created Background Color

Simple gradient…dark green to light green.

Step 3: Add Sky

Created new image. 1/3rd the height of original. Added curve to image.

Step 4: Add Sun Burst

Done with Filters, Light & Shadows, Gradient Flare

Step 5: Add Clouds

Done with Brushes

Step 6: Add Rainbow

This part is a bit more difficult. Briefly I Used Gradient Flare again edited until desired effect.

Step 7: Add Mountain

Here I used brushes to add the land effect, then used Light-Shadows for lighting effect, then more brushes to create the trees.

Step 8: Add Photos – Leprechaun’s, Pot of Gold, etc…

Simply dropped in photos with transparent backgrounds.

Step 9: Add Text

Used “Happy” font with perspective and brushed clovers. Each word is separate with drop shadows to stand out a bit.

Step 10: Add Bling!

Added all kinds of flowers, grasses, clovers, stars, glitter, etc. to produce final result.

Final tweaking of the image complete. Upload into Twitter by going to settings, design, change background image, browse for file, click open , click save changes. You can also alter the background, sidebar, text and link colors to match. You may download this free theme at CustomTwit.com. It is currently the “Featured Theme”. Click the thumbnail to download the full version. To download full version, simply right mouse the image, click “save as”, give the image a name and store on your hard drive. Then login to Twitter and upload the image without “tile” checked. Enjoy!