Tutorials, Tips and Tricks!

Andrewgosu

The Silent Pandaren Helper
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715
Here is another simple yet nice trick, which adds a diffused glow to your images.

Load up photoshop and open your image and make a duplicate out of it.

sky.jpg


Now, set the blending option to overlay and use filter>blur>gaussian blur on the duplicated layer. (Around 1.5-3 is enough) And you are done. :D

sky_outcome.jpg


The image has now a more softer look and glow.

sky_outcome-2.jpg


Note: If the image gets too saturated, reduce the saturation a bit. Image>adjustments>hue/saturation.
 

Andrewgosu

The Silent Pandaren Helper
Reaction score
715
Have you ever wondered how they make the very tight, but cool-looking grid on those signatures?

Its rather simple. Open up photoshop and create a new transparent 3x3pix image. Now select pen tool and make 3 dots diagonally. (Use magnification)

border.jpg


Now, define it as a pattern, edit>define pattern.

After that, open your signature and make a new empty layer.

bordeR_image.jpg


Fill it with the pattern, edit>fill>use pattern> your previously saved pattern and change the opaticity to around 20-30%.

bordeR_image2.jpg


After that, flatten the layer and press ctrl+c. Now open a new image, but add +2 pixels to the width and height. (E.g, your signature is 500x150, then you have to create a new image sized 502x152). Now paste your image and fill the background layer with the colour the grid is(im my case, black). Now you have a border, which is essential for signatures.

bordeR_image3.jpg


(If you look closely the last image has 1px border, that the 2 other don't have)(Remember, if you add +2 pixels to height&width you will have a 1 pixel border, if you add +4, you'll have a 2 pix border and so on)

And you are all done. A grid and a border, perfect for signatures.
 

Whitesock

Graphics Help Zone Moderator
Reaction score
358
Backrounds with brushes.

Donereally.jpg

This tutorial will quickly show you how to make a backround like the one shown above.

Note- This was made for the GIMP, but can probably be done in most 2D image editors (Photoshop, Fireworks, ect.)


STEP 1- Create a new image

STEP 2- I usually like to take out my render or image beforehand so I know what colors I'm using. To do this, go to File->Open As Layer and choose your render.

RenderwithNoBackround.jpg

STEP 3- Make the backround a color from your render. I used the blend tool (gradient tool) and used two colors from my render.

STEP 4- Start doing a few basic brushes and add more and more until you get a nice result.

BackWbrushes.jpg

STEP 5- Add your effects. I duplicated the brushes layer, erased some of it, clicked the keep transparency button in the layers dialog, and filled it with one of the colors I used for my backround. I also added another brush with a grid right above the backround. I I-Warp'ed the render and set it to grain merge. I gave a glow behind the render and thought it looked good.

Done.jpg

STEP 6- Add a border.

Donereally.jpg

STEP 7-
Add text while your add it. I didn't add any because it wasn't too much for show.

STEP 8- Save it a your done!
 

Andrewgosu

The Silent Pandaren Helper
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[Tutorial]How to make a planet

How to make a planet

Requires Photoshop


The finished picture.
9.jpg


Start by making a new transparent image sized 800x800 pixels. After that, crab the elliptical marquee tool (m) and hold shift, while making a perfect circle. Set your foreground colour to #804E33 and background colour to black. (#000000). Pick the gradiet fill tool and fill the selection, dragging it from top to bottom at a slight degree.

1.jpg


2.jpg


After that, save this image to your computer and define it as pattern in photoshop. (Edit>define pattern). Now, create a new empty layer and the seletion should still be active. Fill the seletion with the pattern, set the blending mode to soft light and the opaticity to 50%.

Save this image.
planet_texture.jpg


3.jpg


After that, duplicate the layer and rotate the image one horizontally and then vertically. (Edit>Transform). Set the duplicated layers opaticity to 20%.

4.jpg


Select the layer, which had 50% opaticity and the eraser tool with a large brush, about 200 pixels. Change the brush opaticity to 20-30% and start erasing randomly some spots. That smoothenes the surface. Merge the 3 layers together. (Make sure you do not flatten the image, only merge)

Its time to give this a bit more 3d effect. Apply filters>distort>spherize and make sure it is on 100%. Apply this filter again, only set the measure to 35% this time.

5.jpg


Duplicate the layer. Go to the blending options and apply these settings to make the atmosphere.

1a.gif


The colourcode for the blue is #53799C
1b.gif


1c.gif


After that, make a duplicate of your base layer. Then hide the base layer and merge the duplicated layer and the layer with the effects together. This will make your effects just a layer instead of actual effects.

This is how the layers should look like, before merging.
layers.jpg


6.jpg


Now, grab the eraser tool again and set its opaticity back to 100%. Set the size of the bursh to 700 pixels and erase the atmosphere (on the effect layer), what surrounds the black part of the planet.

7.jpg


8.jpg


After this all has been done, create a new layer on top of all the layer. Hold ctrl and press on the base layer to make the same sized seletion as the planet is. Apply filter>render>colouds and filter>render>difference clouds on the top most layer. Change the blending mode to colour dodge.

9.jpg


You are all done.

I added a black background and this one is 800x800.

10.jpg


I should add a note, that this is not exactly my tutorial. I found a similiar one awhile ago, but I don't know the link. I relied on my knowledge when re-writing this one. This is made my-style. :D
 

Whitesock

Graphics Help Zone Moderator
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358
Simple to Advanced Backrounds for Beginners
Part 1


This will show you how to make simple backrounds, and then move up to more advanced backrounds.

This is for the GIMP too, but most if not all can probably be done in photoshop.

This part will teach simple brushed backrounds. You will probably want to download a brush from here before continuing.

To instal a brush put the .gbr files starting at your GIMP folder...
share->gimp->gimpversion*->brushes

*-gimpversion will be a number. Probably 2.0 for most people.

_________________________________________________________________

Step 1- Open a new image. This shouldn't be too hard, but it's File->New if you are new to GIMP. I'm using a 400pixel X 120pixel canvas, but you can use any size.

step1.jpg


Step 2- Take a brush with the foreground color being black and brush around, but leave some white spots. I like to make a new layer for each brushing. To do that go to Dialogs->Layers and click the page at the bottom. A layer is like a 100% transparent piece of paper that you can draw on. It helps because if you need to change the brushing later on you don't have to erase a chunk of your image.

Step2.jpg


Step 3- Now we'll brush with another brush in white on another layer over the black brushing layer.

step3.jpg


Step 4- Now that looks fine and dandy, but lets add some color! Go to Image->Flatten Image to make it all one layer. Then go to Layer->Colors->Colorize. Play around with the settings until you get something you like. If you want the color, but it only is present with a low lightness, then go to Layers->Colors->Brightness-Contrast and turn up the contrast setting a bit (that's what I did)

step4.jpg


Now you have a brushed backround! Save it somewhere for future use (we'll be using it later for sure).
 

the Lumpy

►►►
Reaction score
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This is a very beginner tip, but I'll post it anyway:

text.jpg



Oh, and some advice on file types...

If your picture has only a few colors (like an icon or avatar might), you'll want to save it as a GIF. GIF files use indexed color, so they only store the information for colors that exist in the picture. So, if you had an avatar that consisted of only white and black, you should definitely save it as a GIF.

If your picture is more like a real photograph, and has many colors and/or smooth transitions between colors, use JPEG. JPEG files store information about changes between colors, which works well for pictures of real people/things. JPEG, for example, would NOT be a good format for a video game sprite sheet, which has only a few colors and no smooth transitions.

For anything else, I'd use PNG format. PNG is nice because it supports multiple levels of transparency (GIF only supports transparent/not transparent).
 

Nigerianrulz

suga suga how'd you get so fly?
Reaction score
199
Tip for Editing your sig(For Photoshop)

Heres is just a little something to the beginner(maybe advanced).
After completing your pieace of art you feel like something is missing? The art is sharpened too much? Made a mistake at text placements or choice of font?
Well if you save your art as PSD (Photoshop files the first one in the different choice of file you can save) you can edit every layer you made. Then you can improve your art until its perfect to your choice

**Warning** If you post this on forums or on websites other people can save it and edit it to be their so beware
P.S. what you can do is save it into JPEG./PNG./GIF. so they cant steal your work and give more better quailty
 

w/e

Boaroceraptorasaurus-Rex
Reaction score
274
I updated the post one.
How to make a good signature was wrong in many ways.
 

mase

____ ___ ____ __
Reaction score
154

Pineapple

Just Smile.
Reaction score
576
Making Emoticons!
The Pineapple Way

Made with Photoshop 6

In this tutorial I will show you how to make a cool emoticon! The Pineapple way :) .

Step 1: Make a new document. Use the size 100 pixels by 100 pixels with a transparent background.

-New Document
-100px squared
-transparent

emotorial1.jpg


Step 2: Change over to the Pencil tool and change its size to 1 pixel, then change the colour which you are using to black (#000000)

-Pencil (1px)
-Black

emotorial2.gif


Step 3: Draw the outline of your emoticon. Include the eyes, nose, anything that would be outlined.

-Draw outline

emotorial3.gif


Step 4: Now make a new layer and fill in with the right colours for each part of the emoticon, in this case I'm making a golden batman symbol, so i only need 1.

-New layer
-colour in emoticon

emotorial4.gif


Step 5: Now, make a new layer (Make sure all layers are under the outline!) and change your colour back to Black (#000000) and set the opacity of the layer to 70%. Now do the darkest parts of the shadow.

-New layer
-Opacity 70%
-Black
-Draw Dark Shadow

emotorial5.gif


Step 6: Make yet another layer, and this time set the opacity to 50%. Now draw in the mid-shadow for your emoticon.

-New Layer
-Opacity 50%
-Draw Mid-Shadow

emotorial6.gif


Step 7: Guess what? Thats right! Another layer! But this time opacity is set to 20% and you draw the light shadow in.

-New Layer
-Opacity 20%
-Draw Light Shadow

emotorial7.gif


Step 8: A new layer! This time opacity needs to be set to 50% and change the colour to white (#FFFFFF). Now you draw in your highlights.

-New Layer
-Opacity 50%
-Draw Highlights

emotorial8-1.gif


Step 9: New Layer. Set the opacity to 20% and colour in the inner highlight.

-New Layer
-Opacity 20%
-Inner Highlight

emotorial9-1.gif


Now you just use the crop tool to select just your emoticon and cut the extra away. and you are left with something like this!

emotorial10.gif


Wait, its ugly! Its hard to tell when your zoomed in! So zoom out often to check it out! Just a few fixes and:

emotorial11.gif


Here is another thing i made with this technique:

GHChristiegif.gif
 

PurgeandFire

zxcvmkgdfg
Reaction score
509
Simple Light Reflection

Simple Light Reflection

Introduction:

Are you having trouble creating light reflection on objects? Well, this is the tutorial for you.

In this tutorial, I will teach you how to create basic light reflection on simple shapes.

Can't we just use the Gradient Tool?

The gradient tool is helpful, yes. But it doesn't always have fantastic results. Especially when dealing with spheres. It is more blunt and less round.

Necessary Tools:

  • Adobe Photoshop CS2 or Higher
  • Adobe Photoshop Basic Knowledge

Part 1: The Sphere

Let's create a simple sphere with light reflection. In this example, the light will come from the northeast angle.

  • Step 1 - Open Adobe Photoshop CS2. Click "File | New". Then set the properties according to the picture below:
    photoshopfilenew2bl3.jpg

  • Step 2 - Cover the whole entire image with a gray brush for the background. In the example below, the hexadecimal color value is: "#959595"
    photoshoplightbackgrounvr2.jpg

  • Step 3 - Right-click the "Rectangular Marquee" tool then select the "Elliptical Marquee" tool.
  • Step 4 - Click and drag along the image to create a circle.
  • Step 5 - Fill in the image with a brush. In this case, I'll use a light grayish color. The hex value is: "#b6b6b6".
    photoshopspherecirclebahx4.jpg

  • Step 6 - Grab the "Burn" tool. Set its exposure to 100% and softly brush it around the left and bottom area of the sphere.
    photoshopsphereburn1hv9.jpg

  • Step 7 - Grab the "Burn" tool again. This time, set its exposure to 80% and softly brush it around the previous burn.
    photoshopsphereburn2gd2.jpg

  • Step 8 - Set the burn's exposure to 60% this time and softly burn around the previous burn. As you might of noticed, we're making a small kind of gradient. If your southwest area is falling behind, go over it a couple of more times.
    photoshopsphereburn3kw5.jpg

  • Step 9 - Set the burn's exposure to 30% and softly brush around the previous burn. It's ok if the colors don't blend that well.
    photoshopsphereburn4ga3.jpg

  • Step 10 - Set the burn's exposure to about 7% and softly brush around the previous burn again.
    photoshopsphereburn4ga3.jpg

  • Step 11 - Now, finally. Grab the dodge tool and set its exposure to about 10%. Then softly brush around the previous burn. Also, dodge the upper area of the sphere to have it coming from the north also.
    photoshopspheredodge1nt1.jpg

  • Step 12 - Now, set the dodge's exposure to 40%. It will rapidly increase. Then slightly dodge around the previous dodge.
    photoshopspheredodge2cj1.jpg

  • Step 13 - Now, set the dodge's exposure to 70% and softly brush around the previous dodge.
    photoshopspheredodge3zs7.jpg

  • Step 14 - Woot! We've reached the lightest point. Set the exposure to 100% and fill in that little hole.
    photoshopsperedodge4oe4.jpg

  • Step 15 - Amaze at your work. We're not completely done yet. Go to "Filter | Blur | Gaussian Blur". Set the blur radius to "16.8" then click "OK". Now, really amaze at your work:
    photoshopsphereblurwv8.jpg

  • Step 16 - Deselect the circle marquee then notice the pixelation on the sphere's border. To fix this, grab the blur tool and set its exposure to 100%. Then set the brush size to "13" and slowly brush around the figure. Then you're finished!! Amaze at your art. Here is my finished product:
    photoshopspherefinishedjq3.jpg

------------

Here is my first try at this. To tell you the truth, I didn't know what the heck I was doing when I did this, but it is much better than the one I did in this tutorial:

photoshopspherefinishedje8.jpg


----

I hope this helps! :D

[Note: I may add more reflecting light shapes in this tutorial]

DO NOT RIP!!
 
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