[Rivaloo]

I can definitely say on the surface it helps to break down profile creation down into 3 main elements from layout to effects and dimension.

I use an editor called gimp and its open source/free to dl and is ideal for consolidating elements and rendering transparent pngs ect.

But now that you mention it, perhaps you might enjoy the journey more discovering how to sculpt it you're self :P

One word of advice is you can type nothing in window boxes color field for them to be transparent over you're background image which most people 'burn' their own window scheme into. Also helps to reference existing profiles too in the top 100 aaas for ideas if you click around 8)