hi, first of all i apologuise if i'm in the wrong place

i want to know how to go about creating my own bitmaps. is there software that enables me to do this? if so where can i get it. i've had a good look on this site but as i have no idea what im looking for it doesnt really help

Certainly you can. You need a graphics program. It can be as simple as Windows Paint, but for a better job you'll need a better program. Paint Shop Pro, Adobe, MacroMedia Fireworks and many others are quality programs. A forum search for graphics programs should yield results. Word of warning, the learning curve is steep, people make a living as graphics artists. I've played around quite a bit and wouldn't call myself anything but a hack in this regard.

thanks jim

i'll give it a go! one more thing. i did a quick search on google and found there is a program that allows a normal picture (ie dvd cover)to be converted into a bitmap file. any ideas on whether getting a program like that would be better?

Don't know, but even Windows Paint will allow you to save a picture out as a bitmap file. When saving, select 256 color bitmap as your file type. In addition, you can save DVD covers from the internet (from Amazon etc.) as bitmaps as well, right click, save picture as, and select .bmp. You can then resize using Windows Paint as well. Getting a bitmap isn't really the problem, it's finding a program that will do a good job of resizing and giving good results Paint may not yeild a satisfactory image.

EDIT: If interested in creating your own, you might also check out Daniel's article here: [Link: remotecentral.com], on graphics.

There is a very good FREE package that a lot of graphic designers use. Its called GIMP.
It has all the tools you need to create very good bitmaps or edit ones you find to suit yourself. Google it.
I use this to do my editing but sometimes I find it easier to use Microsoft Paint to do some basics .