Graphics Tutorial I - Basic Signatures

[Garrett]

Graphics Tutorial I - Basic Signatures


The thing about tutorials is that they never make a tutorial on what you have to SAY in these things.=__="

All righty! Now, an important part of roleplaying life is the graphics set. This is usually made up of a signature and avatar, although you can add various team banners/random pictures, as well, depending on how awesome your Admin are. [As a rule, it's better not to put any images that have nothing to do with your roleplaying. That's just plain taking up space, which is bad.]




But why, you ask, do I need a graphics set?

You don't need a graphics set, exactly. However, they are a pretty useful method when it comes to introducing your character. After all, it's way easier on you and the person you're roleplaying with if they don't have to check your application form every five seconds to figure out what your character looks like. It saves time, effort, and several thousand bytes.


What's this for, then?

This, my friend, is a basic graphics tutorial made by yours truly. Simply put, it's a step-by-step of how I make my own graphics. You don't have to follow this exactly, but it contains some helpful tips (I hope) that can help you make your own signature/avatar.

It also has Ben Barnes in it. Mmmm. Ben Barnes.<3


Okay! Start!

A note before we begin: I'm using Photoshop CS2 in this tutorial, plus a graphics tablet, so my methods may seem a little rushed. However, I've tried to put this tutorial as close to mouse-using as I can; if you have any questions, just post a comment here. If you have a lower version of Photoshop, I think the effects are basically the same. If you don't have Photoshop, then I'll just say hello. Hello.

Now, then.

The first thing you have to do is set your iTunes/music player/mind to awesomeness.

Yes, I listen to Broadway musicals. They win.

Okay.

To make an awesome sig/avvie, you need basically one thing:

An awesome picture. By awesome picture, I mean a picture that is AT LEAST two (preferably ALL) of the following:

• NOT pixellated (speaks for itself)
  
• NOT a paparazzi/candid picture (try using one of these, and I swear, your sig will look patched-together and uck)
  
• (if you're using more than one picture) PART of the same photoshoot/with the same color scheme (fluidity = love ; random pics stuck together = fail)
  
• AT LEAST 300 pixels wide at face area. (Note: This does NOT include the background area. This is literally the face that we're talking about. Do not, by any means, use a picture that is 300 pixels wide including background UNLESS it's your avatar. This applies to background images as well.)
  
• DOES NOT have both shoulders/arms/part of face cut off. (If you have a tablet and are skilled at recreating missing body parts, go on ahead. By 'arms', I mean ONLY if you can't do your sig without keeping them in the picture. I usually cut them out.XD)
  

That was long, I know, but really, it's helpful if you follow this list. Srsly. It will save you hours and hours of awkward self-questioning such as "WHY OH WHY DOES MY SIGNATURE LOOK LIKE -insert expletive here-?!!;o;"".:'D

Important Points about the above list:

• I recommend using pictures that have your face claim in the same outfit/color scheme/photoshoot because your signature will eventually end up looking very well put-together. Your foreground images need to match your background tone, for fluidity, and you don't want your colors to clash.
  
• Backgrounds? Next tutorial plzthx.
  
• Missing body parts = fail. But sometimes, you can position your pictures artfully enough that OMG IT'S LIKE BRAND NEW. Fiddle around a bit with them, if you want.
  

Whew. That was long. AND WE'RE JUST STARTING OH GOD.
I feel for my fingers. And for your eyes. Anyway.

Image of luv.

Next step:
Pick your poison image and 'cut' it from the main background.

TEE HEE. ... Um. Excuse me.>w>""

So yes. You see how my picture I love Ben Barnes fulfills all of the requirements, right? That's because it's awesome. Now then.

How do I 'cut' the foreground image out? My picture is on a floating layer-- that is, a layer NOT the background layer. (How do I do this? Me being lazy, I go to Photobucket, find an awesome image, then copy it instead of saving, and then paste to my canvas. LULZ.)

I'm so tired someone save me.;o;

Anyway. To remove the background, I usually use the eraser tool, but since I'm being nice and considering your handicap mouse-using limitations, I'm using the Magnetic Lasso Tool for this image. (To be honest, I didn't, I just clicked that for the screenshot, but you get my drift.XDD)

Magnetic lasso adheres to the sides of the area you're drifting your mouse over, and to close the selected area you click your starting point again. You need to be very careful with magnetic lasso. It's very mean. Anyhow. When you've selected your desired area, press Ctrl + C.

You know what that is, of course. This will copy your image (duh), which is on a floating layer, as you recall, and paste it onto your signature canvas.

My signature sizes are 700 x 250 when they start out, and 500 x 179 for posting because I resize the jpeg. NOT THE PSD. The jpeg.

Erase the unwanted areas (a tip: you can stick a layer UNDER your picture layer and fill it with a solid color so you can see what areas you missed in erasing) and add those little bits of hair that got removed by using a small brush (I usually use 1px for this) and the same color of hair.

Note: You can do this with a mouse using the pen tool, but I can't do a tutorial about that because I value my sanity and I have a test tomorrow in Algebra, so if you want you can Google 'Photoshop Pen Tool tutorial' and see what you find.

View for illustration

Okay, once your image layer is properly background-less, you need to duplicate it four times. Why four? Because four times two is eight Because that's just about how many layers I usually use to maintain the effects that I'm going to do.

And yes, I know that in the above picture I only duplicated it three times. But really. Four is best. Now, what do I do with these layers?

For Layer B (the layer above my original image layer), I go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and then put the setting at around 1.8 or 2.

You don't see the effect yet, but you will in a bit. Next, for Layers C and D I set their Layer Settings (the default is 'Normal') to Overlay and Soft Light, respectively. You don't have to do them in the same order, though. It's just how I roll.

That being done, I then select Layer E (the last layer, on the topmost of the Layer window) and lower its Opacity (the thing that says 'Opacity') to about 50%. You'll see the effects that the adjustments will have done to your image.

Not satisfied? Fiddle with the Opacity of the rest of your layers until you achieve the effect that you want. Then, merge Layer D downwards and so on. The last layer you should merge should be Layer E, because I FEEL LIKE IT OKAY.;o;

Anyway, this is what I got from my fiddling:

The edited version is on the left. The difference is actually very slight and subtle, which is good. You don't want to deviate too far from your original image, of course.

NOW FOR THE FUN PART.

Your brushes. You can get a variety of awesome brushes from these sites:

• Brusheezy
  
• My Photoshop Brushes
  
• PS Brushes
  
• DeviantART
  

Just about finished...
You can totally tell I'm getting lazy.

And, voila!! Finished product:

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Violent reactions? Post a reply here and I'll get back to you.



I would like to thank the owner of the Best Villainous Laugh Ever, Papa Ge, because he pwns, period.

[Carmen Denali]

WOAH. So long and so COOL!
You spent TWO HOURS for THIS?! O___O;;;
-adore. adore. bow. bow.-

=)) =)) =))

[Leah Clearwater]

*worship*

[Pierre Saint-Exuperie]

BEN BARNES. *A*

I WORSHIP YOU. I REALLY DO. (And don't make me shut up about it, cuz I won't. )

I'm gonna go and formally establish a religion for you so that your followers (which are a lot, by the way ) will be able to worship you family.

No objections. BLEGH!! >

[Tanya Denali]

AAAAAAWWWWEEESOOOOMMMEE. ;D ;D ;D

Once I install my PS AGAIN, I shall try to create a banner about thingz. Yes, thingz

Garrett is genius. Worsheeeep. xD
_{go ateneo! =)))}