Help me, help myself

[Dratai]

Go with the flow... there's no way around photoshop effects/text... always make a background layer with the forum post color. It makes testing much faster.

You can look up on http://www.deviantart.com/ for Tech Brushes, there's plenty of them. Just don't abuse them, and don't just stick them together. Add shapes of your own, erase some, etc.

I don't currently have photoshop, though, as this is a moderately new laptop on which I just couldn't be assed to get it yet, because I normally hand-draw everything I do, rather than rely on effect brushes.
My favorite program is 4.5 openCanvas because it I like the way it handles my tablet strokes. (especially since I suffer from severe tremors, it's the most smooth and clean approach for me.) After that comes SAI, because it has some effect brushes, but it also has a very deep adjustment setup. It's a more art-minded engine than photoshop, in my eyes. Photoshop is picture fixing, firstmost.

Then again I'm not very familiar with photoshop because the few times I used it, I couldn't get used to the brushes and settings. (for that matter I couldn't find the settings I wanted to adjust)

But aye, I could use tech brushes, if you recommend that..
I was mostly looking for tips on how these things should look, honestly.
Such as how other people make the layout for them, things like giving them a "screen" style look.

Edit: Thanks for the hint though. Even if I have a stick up my ass, sometimes