Linkware Websets

One of the things that I miss about the old web is all the wonderful graphics that were used in personal webpages. I think they all had an awesome look, from the pages that looked like a graphics directory threw up on them to the ones that had a very tied together look because they were created using a coordinating webset. This also makes me nostalgic because my mother was an artist at heart. One of the things she got really into was creating graphics using Paint Shop Pro and other programs.

I've found a bunch of sites that have "linkware" graphics. This is what I remember from my first foray onto the web. People would create coordinated sets and sometimes they sold them but sometimes you could get them for free. Here's a really neat blog posting from One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age that goes a little bit into the history of web graphics for personal sites evolving from a hot mess to coordinated sets.

Most of these sites have not been updated for a decade or more but there are still active ones out there. I'm not entirely sure if all of these websets will be functional. Many of them were made for a different resolution, use deprecated HTML and might have other issues. If you're good at HTML/CSS and really like the look of something, I'm sure there's a way to rework it into a modern framework.

I have recently cleaned up the listings. They are alphabetized now, the descriptions have been reworked so they aren't so wordy, spellings have been standardized (I had both "websets" and "web sets" - now it's just "websets") and I've listed more thoroughly categories and themes. Hopefully this will make it easier for you to search for something - sorry, no fancy tags or anything like that. You'll have to go old school and CTRL+F (Windows) or Command+F (Mac).

• 4YEO.com - Backgrounds (animated and static), buttons, holiday graphics, web page elements, page sets, themed graphics, page titles.


• Ambographics - 21 pages of desktop wallpaper backgrounds (1024x768). 28 pages of seamless tiles - click on the tile and it will open up a series of that basic tile styled with different colors, lighting, etc. Button blanks, small buttons, bars and a miscellaneous section that has animated buttons, a charm bracelet set (the elements look like those square Italian charm bracelets that were all the rage about 10 years ago) and other assorted graphics.


• Angel90h7 graphics - Websets, backgrounds, seamless background tiles, animated graphics, divider bars, snow globes and lots of other goodies.


• Aspirations to Sweetness - very cool websets, many of them jeweled. My mom would have gone bananas for these. The sets are either side bordered or framed and come with a notice that they were created in 1999 for an 800x600 resolution and are "stylistically antiquated". You can right click and download the page elements.


• Blackat's Free Web Graphics - Themed websets, tiled and bordered backgrounds, buttons, bullets, bars, clip art. Web sets come in the usual categories: Holidays, Occasion, but also Movie, Basketball, Football, Horror. Graphics zip files can be downloaded or you can copy images.


• Boogie Jack - Background tiles, border backgrounds, blank buttons and banners, image bullets for lists. The backgrounds are pretty cool and there are pages and pages of them.


• Carol's Place Graphics - Mix of both left bordered sets and background tiles. Subject matter is a little of everything - Seasonal, Holiday, Angels, Fairies, Celestial, Nancy Drew, Toys & Games, Doves and a lot more.


• Carol's Websets - Most of these websets are of the nested layers type in themes of Holiday, Inspirational, Floral, Seasonal, Kitchen, Scenic, Wedding, Animals, Country, Babies, Assorted, Animated.


• Castleberry Arts - Linkware websets in many themes: Angel, Animals, Artist, Christian, Country, Cute, Floral, Hearts, Nature, Victorian, Miscellaneous. Also backgrounds, calling cards and a section for holiday graphics.


• CatStuff Graphics - I used this site back in the day when I had my first personal site. There are SO MANY CAT GRAPHICS - animations, bordered and tiled backgrounds, blinkies, care buttons and banners, clip art, icons, lines and dividers, web page sets, navigation buttons, menus, image maps and mouseover buttons.


• CGD Designs - 90 websets in varying styles - lots of big-eyed fairies or girl characters. Navigate through the websets by clicking the Next button on whichever set you are currently looking at.


• Charm's Graphics Shack - Backgrounds and bordered sets in holiday and every day themes, welcome signs, lines (including some cute ones that I haven't seen before, like a divider line that's one of those balls with the stretchy string that you try and hit with a paddle), "pics" which I think is just clip art and snow globes.


• Crystal Cloud Graphics - Websets, graphics. The site "specializes in religious, spiritual and esoteric web theme graphics." Sections include world religions (Hinduism, Judaism, Taoism, Islamic, Christianity, Buddhism), Other Religious and/or Cultural Traditions (Egyptian Pantheon, Celtic Tradition, Greek Pantheon, Native American, Goddess, Wiccan) and Miscellaneous Themes (Angels, Astrology, World Peach, Ecology, Religious Holidays).


• Domynoes - websets, suites (web sets with a splash page), journal pages, one Halloween themed interface set. Sets have a link to a zip file which appears to be in working order.


• Dragon Moon Graphics - Was this a game? A book? Both? I'm not sure but you will find 19 background websets and 9 backgrounds created with Adobe Photoshop, Bryce 2, Corel Photo Paint and Paint Shop Pro at this site. If you're into adoptables, follow the link to the main page and they have a large selection of click and takes which appear to be related to this game/novel/whatever it was.


• Echo's WebMagic Free Graphics - Numerous background tiles, both abstract and not, and border sets in various themes including Zodiac and Elements (earth, fire, water, air). There are links to sort sets by color or theme. Also buttons in various sizes and colors.


• Fantasy Graphics - Left border websets in a variety of science fiction and fantasy themes including: Fantasy/SF RPG (Herridon, Magefire, Northmarch, Alpha Bangaris, The Broken Lands), Planet Sign, Zodiac, Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z.


• Freshette's Holiday Pages - Themed websets for Holidays and Seasons. Graphics- butterfly, hats, animated, bumblebee, ladybug.


• Full Moon Graphics - this isn't a forgotten site like so many of these are. The owner was moving on to another venture but she said she'd keep this site up for posterity. Lots of page sets here, some of them with a really unique look.


• Green Goddess Graphics - linkware websets created using artwork from various artists. Not all of her links appear to be working - several of them go to the same page on her site (looks like a template page maybe). Also, the download files are hosted at a site I'm not familiar with - ripway.com - and my connection keeps getting reset when I try to get to it. This may be one site where, if the style interests you, just view the page source and see how it's done.


• Graphic Gifts - Snowglobes, calling cards, background sets, adoptions.


• Graphica Medii Aevi - a collection of medieval-themed background sets and web graphics.


• Graphics by Kelly - Websets, backgrounds, buttons and bars, clip art, animated globes, PSP frames, animated cursors. Webset themes include Floral, Country, Children, Left Border, Double Border, Triple Sets, Top Border, Miscellaneous


• Graphics by Mindy - Web page button sets, left border backgrounds, tile backgrounds and websets.


• Graphics by Shawna - This website is referenced in the blog posting I link to in the intro paragraphs to this page. These are old school websets that were created as a coordinated suite with matching elements such as buttons, bars, graphics and so on. Categories are: Angel, Animal, Country, Designer, Executive, Fantasy, Flower, Genealogy, Fresh Flowers, Holiday (including Ramadan/Eid), Jeweled, Kids, Masculine, Miscellaneous, Nature and Victorian.


• Guinea Pig Graphics - If you like guinea pigs, then this site is for you! Guinea pig backgrounds, snowglobes, websets, blinkies, all sorts of guinea pig graphics including a selection in various colorations - natural, glittery and fancy colors and patterns.


• Halley Creative - 8 websets and a variety of backgrounds. If you hover on the background, the whole page changes to that particular one.


• The Inspiration Gallery - Incredibly robust collection of wallpapers and borders with matching backgrounds in a variety of subjects and styles. Borders and mini-borders come in: Acanthus Leaves, Angels and Cherubs, Animal Kingdom, Arabesque, Architecture, Art Noveau, Country Charm, Floral, Ivy and Laurel, Leaves, Other, Space, Transparent, Scenery, Swags, Victorian Keepsakes, Fruit, Just for Kids, Masculine, Novelty, Sports. Wallpapers come in: Acanthus, Country Charm, Damask, Floral, Ivy and Leaves, Marble, Moire, Mottled, Parchment and Weave.


• Iron and Ivy Designs - Huge variety of page sets including interface sets.


• Jade Cat Graphics - Websets, bordered backgrounds, buttons and bars.


• Jade Leaves Design - I found this site following links from another old graphics site. Unfortunately, this only exists in the Internet Archive but fortunately, the download links and graphics all seem to be there! I was absolutely entranced by her "Magic Carpet" web sets. I don't know why I like them so much but it's a cool riff on using frames and one that I haven't seen before.


• Julianne's Background Textures - 50 background "swatch" (or tile) overviews arranged by color and pattern.


• Kittekat Design - Linkware websets. Categories are Babys, Toddlers, Fantasy, Elephants, Animals, Colours, Flowers and Miscellaneous.


• "lil bit country graphics" - Webset themes which include Holidays, kids' themes like Cars and Space and cutesy country themes like Chickens, Gingham and Cozy Country Home. Also background tiles, adoptables, a few blinkies, and an assortment of various graphics.


• Links Central - Dividers, backgrounds, websets, page sets, bordered backgrounds, tiled backgrounds, award frames, web set buttons. Seasonal, Holiday, large selection of various graphics. Page set previews will look like colored squares with nothing in them but once you click on them and it opens to the page, it's all there.


• Marvelicious Free Designs - Websets, bordered backgrounds and tiled backgrounds in many different themes: Angels, Holidays, Floral, Wedding, Pets, Children, Denim, Music, Jewel, Kitchen.


• Octagamm's Ball Boutique - In addition to balls both small and large, you can also find a large variety of buttons, bars, alphabets, backgrounds, animations, ovals, cubes and words.


• Per-medjed Designs - Linkware websets in various themes: Historical, Ancient Cultures, Cultural, Floral and Nature.


• Rainbow Row Graphics - Websets in various themes - Cross Stitch, Country, Children and Teens, Jeweled, Floral, Victorian, Contemporary Artists, Holiday, Miscellaneous. The cross stitch sets are really neat. She doesn't go into detail as to how she made them, just says the images have been "manipulated" to look like cross stitch pieces and they do! There's also a selection of background tiles, printables (labels, tags, bags and boxes, etc) and a selection of really cute adoptables (although they've been watermarked with either a grid or SAMPLE).


• Ritual Myth - Linkware websets, several with roll over mouse interfaces. There are sets inspired by fantasy worlds, science fiction, steampunk.


• Robin's Web - Backgrounds, theme sets, animations, psychedelic tiled backgrounds, holiday separates.


• Sets by Andy - Themed websets - Holiday and Miscellaneous but which lean heavily to floral. Various backgrounds - tiled, butterfly, floral and textured.


• Silver and Gold and Thee - Websets in a variety of themes but heavy on the religious/inspirational. Categories include: Inspirational, Miscellaneous, Friendship, Scenery, Romantic, Children, 50s, Patriotic, Ladies, Animals, Memorial, Floral, Holiday, Humor, Seasonal and Christmas. There are also banner links for sets made in different years and also archived sets.


• Silvercloud's Designs - Many websets available in themes including Dragons, Kittens, Jeweled, Unicorns, Floral, Mermaids, Angels, Fairies. Some sets are bordered and some are multilayer backgrounds.


• Sonja's Designs - Numerous websets in various styles including Seasonal and Wedding. Tile sets, table sets, double borders, backgrounds.


• Stargazer's Galaxy - Page sets, buttons and bars, calling cards, and adoption graphics. Page set themes include: Anniversary, Wedding, Birthday, Floral, Christmas, Fantasy, Top Borders.


• Stormi's Touch Web Creations - This site has both websets in a variety of themes and over 20 pages of background tiles.


• TC Designs - Websets in a variety of themes with download links for a zip file that appears to be working. Also desktop wallpapers, buttons and bullets, avatars, clip art. Make sure you scroll down - on my browser, at least, there's a large chunk of white space before you get to the graphics.


• Until Then Graphics - Linkware websets in 46 categories, including Holidays, Seasons, events (Graduation, Anniversary, Birthday, etc), Animals, Scenery.


• Welcome to the Web Diner! - 29 web page templates in various themes such as Holiday (including Kwanzaa and Chanukah which is nice to see because I rarely see winter holidays other than Christmas represented) and Kids. Also, a variety of mainly art deco alphabets and botanical icons.


• Webbnutt Designs - themed websets, tiled backgrounds, web page button sets, a gif collection. Webset themes include: By the Sea, Floral, Gems & Jewels, Holiday, Patriotic, Scenic, Special Occasion.

• Diabella Loves Cats - Vintage cat graphics, cat calling cards, and a whole lot more.


• DymunArt Creations - This link takes you directly to the webset selection, which is linkware. But check out the rest of her site. She has some tutorials, other clip art and graphics which aren't complete sets, and I'm not sure what a scrap kit is in reference to web graphics but she has those, too. Her latest blog entry was from January 2024 so I think even though this looks pretty old school it's kept up-to-date.


• Gerlinda.com - this is one of the few old school graphic websites I've come across that seems to be current. Her sets come as a zip file with all the elements included. She has both Holiday and regular websets.


• GifCities: The GeoCities Animated Gif Search Engine - This is a project from the Internet Archive. They attempted to archive as much of GeoCities as they could. There are bazillions of graphics here!


• Glitter Graphics - All the glitter, all the time. Great selection of glittery graphics.


• Graphic Garden - This site has a few free websets and a whole lot of graphics for sale. These are really cute teddy bear sets. There are also a lot of free printables - recipe cards, note paper, stationery and more.


• Regina's Design Sets - 24 pages of websets in all themes! There are also "gifts" - pretty little badges you can download.


• Websets by Lynn - I was surprised to find something current in the webset offering department, but maybe I shouldn't have been. These are reminiscent of the old school 90's and early 2000s websets. You can also find backgrounds, buttons and other graphics.