[Azazel.]

I'm gonna show you new guys a thing or two about PS.

I'm using PS 6 , so this should translate pretty well into the newer versians.
This post is for BASICS. This is just to help with the general methods I use.

Most everyone has a different way of doing the same thing , so if you know short-cuts or hotkeys thats great. For this I will be only using the mouse.

First off , I will show you how to make a basic sig.

Single picture and text.

Understanding the ballance , and how you should aprouch the basic questions about where the text should go , how the picture should be altered I will also try to show you guys but alot of that is instinct.

Take what you learn and re-arange it , try different methods of the same thing.
Once you find what works for you , it will become easy.

So lets get started , we will be making this sig:

[img]http://www.daplayazclub.com/uploads/pilly.jpg[/img]

Now the first thing you will need is the source pic :

[img]http://www.daplayazclub.com/uploads/pillybase.jpg[/img]

Now right click on this picture and save it with your other collection of pictures.

Open this image in PS and take a good LONG hard look at it.

Ask yourself , what can be done to make this picture come alive?
How can I use this picture and NOTHING else and make it stand out?
You should notice right off the bat that the image in my sig and this one are quite different.

Here is what we are gonna do:

Go up to Image> Adjust > and chose Brightness and contrast.

Play with the contrast some , we want the color to come alive! But be careful , we don't want it too strong. The picture will look overdone , and not real.

Now that is just not enough......

Go to Image > Adjust > Hue and Saturation.

Play with the saturation , once again be careful not to over do it. We don't want a neon sign , we want life in the picture.

Once we have the picture how we want it , we can import it to the sig.
Now the way I do this is I have one of my old sigs open too , and I just drag it right on top of the old one.

You could also have a new sig created for the picture , or just crop it to the desired size.

Now you should have noticed the wonderful little sprinkles of light.....

We will now make those. Trust me it's easier than you think.

Select your sig , just click on it , go over to the right and add a new layer.
If you don't know how to add a new layer , just go up to windows > show Layers. A window will apear on the right that has a small version of your sig in it.
To create a new layer you need only click on the folded corner icon on the bottom. It's the 5th one , right next to the garbage can.
Hitting that will create a new layer called Layer 2.
Click the brush tool , and select a small non-fuzzy brush.
Now make your color white and add a few little dots to your 2nd layer.

Now pop down to the bottom of the layer pallet , and hit the little circled F.
Thats the first one in the row that we made a new layer with.

A little list apears , select outer glow and play with that until you see a similar look to that of my sig.

Doesn't take much....lol.

Now you are basically done. All you need is text.

Chose something that will show up well , and that can be seen without having to add a glow or stoke to bring it out.

Ok , thats it.

Here are a few things you should remember:

Ballance : Make the sig ballanced , don't try to crowd to much in there. Don't make everything on one side of the sig without helping the other side out too.
A good way to check this is , close your eyes ..... bring a different picture to mind. Now open them and look at your sig.
Did your focus go to one side and stay there without looking at the other side?

Background , or source picture. : Try to find pictures that have some " life " to them. it is easier to give a little life than alot of life to a picture. Try to find pictures that you have never seen before , or things that interest you simply by there appearance.

Creativity : Try to use your brushes and Layers more than you use the Filters tab. Try new things even if they fail , you will only learn by trying new things.

Now if you read all this , you have proven to yourself you want to learn.

Ask any questions that come to mind. The guys at AA may give you a hard time , but they will always help you learn.


Rob.