A Small PS Tutorial - By Jax
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:01 am
1st of all this is a tutorial for noobs and if u r a photoshop pro please dont flame at me. THIS IS FOR PHOTOSHOP NOOBS.
So to begin with, choose a nice render, there are sites like planetrenders or simplegfx which have a pretty good collection of renders, and for fonts u can go to dafont.com and download good fonts for free. Now get a pirated version of photoshop(get a good edition, not an out-dated one)(pirated cause u wont be using it professionally, so no need to buy CD pack)
Now that u have the render of ur choice downloaded and also installed photoshop u are ready to begin.
there are 3 major parts to a siggy as far as we are concerned right now.
a)Background(this has to flow with the render)
b)Render itself(this is the main image, or the pic that makes ur siggy)
c)Text(this has to blend with the image)
a) Background: There are different ways to make a good background, for beginners, i guess the easy way is to just create a new file(ctrl+n as usual) set the size as 350x125 or something(rectangular). Then on the background layer(1st layer) just put in a gradient filter using the gradient tool. then u can add layers and draw some lines, ripple or wave em(this is found in filter>distort>wave/ripple) and screw around and then add color masks to make em look like mordern art(even though the background will look real sucky this will help u learn all the effects etc.)
Here's a pic i made that way -
here in this pic u can see that everything is mixed up n crappy* but U will learn how to use the tools. This is very important later on.
the second way of making a background is using the render itself, u can try this once u know how to use all the tools etc. 1st extarct the render(i will xplain this in renders part) after extracting the render copy it and then come to ur new file(ctrl + n) and make the file dimensions as explained above. Shout "weeee"(this wont make a difference
)
Anyways after u create the new file make a few layers and paste the render and press ctrl+t and move it around and make something like a jig-saw puzzle, like if u consider all the layers u have made and different part of the original sized render around it, it should kinda fill up the whole background., now u can smudge(using smudge tool) or blur(filter>blur) etc. and make the background look cool. this method is a bit difficult to understand but once u learn it is an easy way of making a background that flows with ur render. Here's a siggy in which i made the background using the render itself
As u can see, i made te background with the design of his armour itself.
I will post more pics and also effects in later tutorials, now i hope u have learnt enogh to create a decent background.
b) The render: 1st when u open the render they normally keep a background color of sky-blue or flouroscent green so it is easy for u to extract it. Go to filter and extract, there u get a kinda small window, use the marker tool to mark the outline of ur image and then fill the outline with the paint-bucket tool and click on ok, ur render will be cut out from its background. ur render is ready to be on a siggy, u can press ctrl+a n copy this and then go to ur file(where u hav created abackground) create a new layer and paste ur render, then press ctrl+t and re-size and re-position it and voila! the siggy is almost ready. there are very detailed ways in which u can further blend the siggy to ur image but this will be just fine for now.
c) text : the easy part, just click on text tool in a new layer, choose font and size, type out stuff and then u can choose the layer to overlay or something to make it look realistic. thats it, u'll have a decent siggy, go to save as and save the image as a PSD(for future mod) as well as a JPEG.
u can create a lot of siggy's like this with these simple methods(there are a lot of special effects etc which i'll deal with later on)
here's a really simple one( and funny too)
Hope this tutorial is helpful and hope u understand it, if u have any queries please feel free to ask i will try to explain it to the best of my knowledge.
P.S: please dont spam this thread.
So to begin with, choose a nice render, there are sites like planetrenders or simplegfx which have a pretty good collection of renders, and for fonts u can go to dafont.com and download good fonts for free. Now get a pirated version of photoshop(get a good edition, not an out-dated one)(pirated cause u wont be using it professionally, so no need to buy CD pack)
Now that u have the render of ur choice downloaded and also installed photoshop u are ready to begin.
there are 3 major parts to a siggy as far as we are concerned right now.
a)Background(this has to flow with the render)
b)Render itself(this is the main image, or the pic that makes ur siggy)
c)Text(this has to blend with the image)
a) Background: There are different ways to make a good background, for beginners, i guess the easy way is to just create a new file(ctrl+n as usual) set the size as 350x125 or something(rectangular). Then on the background layer(1st layer) just put in a gradient filter using the gradient tool. then u can add layers and draw some lines, ripple or wave em(this is found in filter>distort>wave/ripple) and screw around and then add color masks to make em look like mordern art(even though the background will look real sucky this will help u learn all the effects etc.)
Here's a pic i made that way -
here in this pic u can see that everything is mixed up n crappy* but U will learn how to use the tools. This is very important later on.
the second way of making a background is using the render itself, u can try this once u know how to use all the tools etc. 1st extarct the render(i will xplain this in renders part) after extracting the render copy it and then come to ur new file(ctrl + n) and make the file dimensions as explained above. Shout "weeee"(this wont make a difference
) Anyways after u create the new file make a few layers and paste the render and press ctrl+t and move it around and make something like a jig-saw puzzle, like if u consider all the layers u have made and different part of the original sized render around it, it should kinda fill up the whole background., now u can smudge(using smudge tool) or blur(filter>blur) etc. and make the background look cool. this method is a bit difficult to understand but once u learn it is an easy way of making a background that flows with ur render. Here's a siggy in which i made the background using the render itself
As u can see, i made te background with the design of his armour itself.
I will post more pics and also effects in later tutorials, now i hope u have learnt enogh to create a decent background.
b) The render: 1st when u open the render they normally keep a background color of sky-blue or flouroscent green so it is easy for u to extract it. Go to filter and extract, there u get a kinda small window, use the marker tool to mark the outline of ur image and then fill the outline with the paint-bucket tool and click on ok, ur render will be cut out from its background. ur render is ready to be on a siggy, u can press ctrl+a n copy this and then go to ur file(where u hav created abackground) create a new layer and paste ur render, then press ctrl+t and re-size and re-position it and voila! the siggy is almost ready. there are very detailed ways in which u can further blend the siggy to ur image but this will be just fine for now.
c) text : the easy part, just click on text tool in a new layer, choose font and size, type out stuff and then u can choose the layer to overlay or something to make it look realistic. thats it, u'll have a decent siggy, go to save as and save the image as a PSD(for future mod) as well as a JPEG.
u can create a lot of siggy's like this with these simple methods(there are a lot of special effects etc which i'll deal with later on)
here's a really simple one( and funny too
)Hope this tutorial is helpful and hope u understand it, if u have any queries please feel free to ask i will try to explain it to the best of my knowledge.
P.S: please dont spam this thread.
