DS Ask A Question? (Design Tips + Troubleshooting)

[Firefox]

This thread is for designing tips and troubleshooting. So if anyone needs
help with photoshop or designing anything, this is the place ot ask.

Here are some good websites that will get you designing sigs and avatars
just like the design squad:

Font Downloads:
1. www.dafont.com
2. www.acidfonts.com

PS Tutorials:
1. www.worth1000.com
2. www.good-tutorials.com
3. www.deviantart.com

Websites for Renders:
1. www.gamerenders.com
2. www.clantemplates.com
3. www.planetrenders.net


original post:
I want to make cool sigs and game cases like the design team too. Can
you guys tell me the programs that you use and maybe give me some tips?

thanks.

firefox

[Cera]

Try out Abobe Photoshop, Adobe Elements or Paint Shop Pro.

PSP has a free 30 day trial, and it's really easy to use.

[nouse4aname68]

www.good-tutorials.com

That website has a lot of great step-by-step tutorials to teach you the programs.

[NoUseMercenary]

dafont.com is good for fonts
Photoshop Cs 2 is what I use for making sigs...

[Firefox]

I used cs2 but I don;t understand how to make the cool effects and how to
make the cropped images blend into the background

[Skribble]

Try this site www.pixel2life.com

or even www.deviantart.com

Pixel2life is a great tutorial place for photoshop, and Deviant art (In the resources section) has good fonts, brushes and tutorials. I've made a few tutorials, one was about blending I'll see if I still have it soon.

[NoUseMercenary]

I have not done many tutorials from good-tutorials.com but I heard that it is a good place to learn photoshop and effects

[Coolio]

Yeah if you ever need any help with photoshop, good-tutorials is the place to go

[WhatRuOn]

I used cs2 but I don;t understand how to make the cool effects and how to
make the cropped images blend into the background
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by blend in with the background, but try this.
Make 2 layers, the the cropped image on it's own layer on top of your background layer. Change the Blending options of the cropped image layer.

[surtur]

WhatRuOn is basically right you need to have different layers and i think on CS2 there is a blend option on the layers window maybe default on the right hand side? but you can do it a few different ways that i can think of but the easy way is
you make 2layers you have your background and then the crop you can have it on top of the background might have to duplicate the background and hide the original layer if it is not editable (is that a word?) but then what ever layer you have on top you can change the blending from things like color , negative, opposite , normal and then us the slider to get the desired result ,it will make the top layer more see through just takes practice to get it right i am sure there are many other ways to do this but thats the easy way.

also remember that the less you have in the cropped image the better it will look so go crazy with the magic tool to get rid of any other stuff in the cropped pictures background or else when you blend them you will get some undesirable results.

[Firefox]

can someone tell me how to save an illustrator cs2 file and show the image on these
forums?

[surtur]

just save the original as the CS2 file then save it again as a JPG or what ever else you would like. when you click save as. you should have the option of were to save it and also a drop down menu of what file type to save it as. if you pick JPG it will give you other options like how good of quality to save it as. it will also tell you that when it saves it will have to flatten all layers (so make sure you save the original if you want to be able to change things later.) that is about it. other then that just host it on a free image hosting site and post it on here.
hope that helps i hvent use CS2 for a while so a few things might not be 100% correct but it should be something like that.

[NoUseMercenary]

bump...five word minium

seeing some good posts

[Tribunal]

I was thinking about bumping this too, great thread to find websites and over places to go.

[NoUseMercenary]

I had this thread be made into a sticky. This will be a good place to post tutorials or design tips. Its also a good place to post your favorite places to pick up fonts, renders, ect.

Here are some of mine:

www.dafont.com
www.acidfonts.com
www.worth1000.com
www.good-tutorials.com
www.deviantart.com

[Firefox]

whoa I'm now responsible for 4 stickies :D

[NoUseMercenary]

Yeah...I had Adamba4e make it into a sticky because I thought it would be good to have for all who needed design tips and such.

[Firefox]

Can anyone give me tips on blending?

[Vision.Pro]

Can anyone give me tips on blending?
Using layer masks is probably the best way to go, but requires alot of trial and error before you learn to do it quickly.

So probably the next best thing would be to take out the lasso tool, make a rough selection of the area you want to keep in the picture, feather the selection 5-10 pixels (depending on how deep you want the blend to be) then select inverse (the area you want to cut out) and hit delete.

This is very basic as you can learn to do it with multiple layers and in many different ways, but you have to start somewhere right?

[NoUseMercenary]

Feathering and using the the screen or overlay blend options work the best.

[Coolio]

So probably the next best thing would be to take out the lasso tool, make a rough selection of the area you want to keep in the picture, feather the selection 5-10 pixels (depending on how deep you want the blend to be) then select inverse (the area you want to cut out) and hit delete.

I, for one, never knew this so thanks for that

[Firefox]

thanks alot for the help, I try it :D

[Firefox]

Sorry to double post but, I put a textbox in cs2 and I am typing in it but I can't see
the text. Help would be appreciated

[NoUseMercenary]

So you dont have to double post...just edit your last entry

[Firefox]

I just fixed the problem, listening to all your tips I made this:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/5848/untitled1copy1hq.jpg
tell me what you think! :D

[Pink]

Too much text IMO. But if you are going use that much, make the text smaller that way it doesnt overshadow the entire sig.

[Coolio]

Does anyone know the killzone font?

[The House]

Does anyone know the killzone font?

ya me too, I been looking for that too. and does anyone know where I can find the Playsation 3 font?

[Firefox]

Does anyone know the killzone font?

ya me too, I been looking for that too. and does anyone know where I can find the Playsation 3 font?go to dafont (link on first post) and search spiderman and you should get it :D

[Skribble]

As for the Killzone font, either get a font called Disintegration, or I think "Impact" then modify it with the damage and erase bits etc.

[Firefox]

thanks, skribble! I have been looking for that for ages :D

[The House]

OR you could get a font called Base 02.

[Thorzilla]

Hey there:
I needed some help.
Once i had photoshop, but my PC had to be formated and i dont know where my PS is now.
So, can someone please change my signature from png to jpeg with photoshop please? (paint is NOT a good option to do this)
http://galeon.com/equipoalpha/sign.PNG
Thanks
OVER.

See ya!

[turkmen117]

what is the canvas? i'm using one of the sites you shoved and i'm making glossy chrome text effect. i'm stuck because it sais


click on the canvas and select "Fill".


thank you

[Firefox]

isn't the canvas the toolbar on the left with all the lasso button and stuff on cs2?

are you using photoshop?

[Coolio]

what is the canvas? i'm using one of the sites you shoved and i'm making glossy chrome text effect. i'm stuck because it sais


click on the canvas and select "Fill".


thank you

Can you give me the link?

[Vision.Pro]

the canvas is the image your working on

[Firefox]

Can anyone give me tips on how to reduce the kb without reducing the quality?

here's the image if anyone can do it for me:

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1846/soldieronecopy26jm.jpg

[Vision.Pro]

http://img309.imageshack.us/img309/1915/hockey1fr.jpg

19kb

[Jman21stc]

what is the maximum size for an avatar?

[Skribble]

100x100px and 20KB filesize.

[Firefox]

Vision, can you put a frame and change the kb of these two sigs?


http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/1196/soldierone4bs.jpg

and...

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/752/soldierone29oy.jpg

thanks :D

[turkmen117]

the canvas is the image your working on

ah thanks

when working on my future signature i thought i would use the gradient tool (photoshop) as alot of people do. i have three pictures and i have also added layer masks for all of them. and i have chosen "white to transparent" as gradient. but it still doesnt work.....the hole image just gets brighter.

if you understood that, could you please help me?

edit: problem solved, i forgot to activate layer mask, hihihihi

[Firefox]

thanks vision, now I know how to make frames :D

[Pink]

Wondering if anyone could help me with a sig im trying to make... How do you put a gif file (video) on to a sig? Ive opened both the sig file (saved it as a gif) and the small gif video file in image ready and fooled around with everything but i cant seem to get it to work.

[Perfect Sin]

Kind of what like PBM did with his avatar?

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/st00pidm0nk3y/avatars/sutekidane.gif

[Pink]

nvm i figured it out last night however the size of the sig seems to be very big in size now (1+mb) trying to figure a way to get it to a manageable size.

[Vision.Pro]

save it as optimized and lower the amount of colors used and use dithering to help lower the size

[NoUseMercenary]

Well actually dither will up the file size by a fraction, but use dither if you decide to use web snap....Using web snap will lower the quality but will also lower the file size.

[Firefox]

can someone tell me how to do animations on sigs?

[Vision.Pro]

do you have imageready?

[Firefox]

yes, I am getting it next week.

[Vision.Pro]

ok, then that's all you need. i suggest looking for tutorials on optimizing and animating though. but it's pretty simple when you figure it out

[ozone]

I can't seem to get text to conform around a circle so that it appears to be inside of a ring. Imagine Vision.Pro's av with text all around the outer border. How can I achieve this on my own in PS:CS2?

[Vision.Pro]

first rasterize the text layer then goto edit: transform: warp and either use one of the default arc settings or do it on your own by positioning the dots around the circle to get a perfected effect

[Firefox]

okay, guys I have seen your sigs and they all look so good, can you give tips on blending? and how do you do all the "effects" such as Coolio's below?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/What_the91/cooliosamus.jpg

[Tribunal]

I'm probably wrong but,
#1. That doesn't seem like a fantastic blending sig, other than the end of the gun barrel.

#2. If I'm not mistaken the yellows particles that he has on the sig are just little 1-4px sized dots with an outer glow added to the layer.

#3. Again not sure, but with the text I think he multiplied the layer and used a huge spread smugger brush to bush it appart.

Just my guesses.

[Firefox]

what about the background?

[Tribunal]

vigerous layers of black and white brushes, grunge, abstract. And the beam I think was made by a brush set called Make_Your_Own_Beam. Aside from that Coolio will have to tell you everything else.

[Silas]

Hey,
i know this is a thread for eople having a ilema about using Photoshop but i was wondering if you could help me.

Heres My Dilema:

I tried the free trial of Photoshop (Firefox gave me the link) and was getting quite good at it, the only problem is now that i'd like to upgrade to the full package. Unfortunately i do not have enough money to buy it (I have heard many estimates, the largest being £750) I can't afford this kind of money and was wondering if anyone could provide information of a cheaper alternative to photoshop that had similar features?

Thanks for your help, even if there is no cheaper package!

[Vision.Pro]

use a keygen and serial to unlock an activation code, which can be found on many websites, that i'm not allowed to say.

[Tribunal]

Thats the illegal way to do it.

Risks of getting caught are low, however the price is either jail time, or 10-100x more money in penelties.

[Vision.Pro]

no ****, but didn't he ask how to do it without paying money?

[Tribunal]

He wanted to know a cheaper way. So if he felt like stealing I thought I would point him out to what could happen.

Not all of us are theifs you know.

[Coolio]

okay, guys I have seen your sigs and they all look so good, can you give tips on blending? and how do you do all the "effects" such as Coolio's below?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/What_the91/cooliosamus.jpg
I made the beam with brushing. I started off with a plane backround of a little bit of brushing and some colour and done a lot of smudging and blurring of the render. Messed around with the blending options. With the text I just done what tribunal said with a default leaf brush. Oh and the yellow particles are brushing.

[Silas]

:lol: I could do it that way but i'm not going too, i'm just looking for an alternative package that isn't quite as hard on my wallet.

Thanks for the tip though Vision.Pro! :wink:

[Firefox]

how do you do grids like my sig below, and how do you do the background on
lp_chris XII's sig? (seen same background many times like in coolios halo sig)

[Vision.Pro]

a grid is just a pattern overlay of a square

and in chris' sig it's a cheesy waterpaper filter in photoshop.

[Firefox]

how go you do all the patterns?

[Vision.Pro]

what? i think the answer to what you are saying is by going to blending options>pattern overlay

[Tribunal]

Thats where tutorials come in handy.

[Coolio]

To get the grids after you've defined the patern crate a new layer go to edit>fill>use pattern>custom pattern

[Firefox]

can someone give me a tutorial on how to do "3d effects"...?

such as skribbles design squad tag...

[Vision.Pro]

skribble tag is flat, so i don't know what you are talking about, unless you are talking about the highlight he has which is just done with the pen tool, fill white, and set blending mode to soft light

[Skribble]

Actually Vision, I used the circular selection tool. :lol:

But anyway, that's the only thing making my DS banner 3d, ooh + a very subtle Inner Bevel.


To make a grid, make a new image.

9 x 9px

Zoom in fully. (Using ctrl + plus key)

Get the pencil tool, with 1px.

Now click the left hand side at the bottom, hold shift and drag up until you've made a thin black line along the left edge.

Then at the top of that line, click + hold shift, then drag across to make a thin line across the very top of the image.
_ _ _ _
|
|
|

Then Edit > Define Pattern. Name it whatever.

Go to the image you want to use the pattern on, create a new layer.

Select the area you want the pattern to be in. CTRL + A to select the whole image.

Edit > Fill > (Choose Pattern) then find that pattern > select it > OK.

Now you need to lower the opacity, probably around 15% but it depends on the sig, also you can change the overlay.

[Coolio]

Can anyone point me in the direction of some tutorials that teach how to make robotic things such as visions avatar and old sig?

[Ricokillercon]

Is there a photoshop for dummies out there?

I just got photoshop and have no idea how to use it...

How do you resize stuff with photoshop? is my first of many questions

[Tribunal]

Click on the links on the first page of this thread, tutorials are on most of those sites.

Ctrl+t will allow you to resize an image.

[Ricokillercon]

I think i just wasted 600 dollars...

I am trying some of the tutorials now.

[Tribunal]

I think i just wasted 600 dollars...

uh... no?

Once you learn it, it will become your best friend. You can eventually start to make money from it also.

[Ricokillercon]

I am starting to watch some of the tutorial videos now...it looks very complicated...

Money where? :shock:

[Tribunal]

Like freelancing for websites, by designing Templates for them and etc. You probably wont earn alot, but it's better than nothing.

[Ricokillercon]

I am gonna use Lynda.com to learn how to use photshop...its 11 hours of training videos...just for the essentials.


Where do i put new brushes i downloaded?

What is photoshop elements?

[Coolio]

put them in a folder somewhere then open photoshop and go to the brush tool. On the top bar thing click on the arrow where you select your brush and then theres another little arrow on the right side of it. Click on that and go to load brushes. FInd where you put your brushes and you got em. As so:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/What_the91/Untitled-1.jpg

Well that's how I do it I don't know if there's a quicker way

[Ricokillercon]

Thank you....visual aids are the best :wink:

I've watch the first hour or so of the tutorial...i know the basics woot.

How do i get rid off the white background of my render? I am having trouble doing this quickly without having to erase it manually?

[Vision.Pro]

if it is completely white use the magic wand tool and click on the white, which will select it then hit delete. This sometimes leaves the edges too pixallated, so you might want to smooth or feather the selection by 3 pixels or so. The best way to get rid of any background is to use the pen tool and magnify your image to 400% and just take your time working your way around the image you want.

[therza]

How do you guys do scanlines? I can do the horizontal ones with the photoshop filter but anything more complicated I create the lines in illustrator (using the blend feature) and then import them. But I'm sure there's an easier way?

[Coolio]

How do you guys do scanlines?

http://www.good-tutorials.com/search/query/scanlines/1/10/popular

[A-D-L]

Hmmm... Well I have a quick question, I don't have the programme but I want to know if it can do something I like.

Basicly, can any Photoshop create a vanishing point and make everything kinda blur into it, vortex like. If anyone can answer this it would be great.

[Coolio]

Hmmm... Well I have a quick question, I don't have the programme but I want to know if it can do something I like.

Basicly, can any Photoshop create a vanishing point and make everything kinda blur into it, vortex like. If anyone can answer this it would be great.

Short answer yes, long answer....yes

[A-D-L]

Brushes = Help.

Some one explain exactle what I do and where I click to download brushes and acctually use them. I have a new set but I can't figure out how to get them to work.

[Firefox]

This is how you do it:
(btw, that is my screen :lol:, I have CS2 as you can see (just got it) :P )

1) click on the brush symbol>click on the little embossed arrow
http://img274.imageshack.us/img274/8643/untitled11qb.jpg

2) click on load brushes and select the brush file you want to upload
http://img274.imageshack.us/img274/8892/untitled23yf.jpg

[A-D-L]

I'll give it a go. I dunno, i've tried so many times and I don't know how. I'll say if it works firefox.

[The House]

All of the sudden whenever I brush something it brushes more than once and I only clicked it once. anybody know what the solution is?

[Tribunal]

On the brush drop down window (upper top right... also the right way to select brushes :lol: ) when you choose a brush make sure none of the boxs on the left extension window are marked.

[NoUseMercenary]

How do you gyus get that glossy reflection look in text and images??? I mean I think I know how but I like the way you guys do it....

[Firefox]

are you talking about this?
http://www.gfxgamers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1253

other links:
http://www.visualdesigncore.com/tutorials/photoshop/Perspective-Text-with-Reflection/
and
http://www.depiction.net/tutorials/photoshop/reflection.php

[The House]

I need help with GIF. files, How do you put a GIf. file into a JPEg picture? I know that you have to use ImageReady.

I need some tutorials for this.

[Legend Killer]

I usually just open the Gif file in PS CS2 and then save it as a JPEG file, but I would really like to know if their's an easier way also. :?

[The House]

I usually just open the Gif file in PS CS2 and then save it as a JPEG file, but I would really like to know if their's an easier way also. :?

I tried that and it before it opens it says, ''you can only view this in one frame, saving over this file will result in loss of information.''