Art Boba's Banners and Avatars: Constructive Criticism Wanted

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]I?ve recently begun to create banners using free downloads of PaintShop Pro 8 (Which I use to create frames) and Animation Shop 3 (Which I use to compile the frames into an animation). Both are Jasc Software products and so far they?ve both preformed admirably.

Below are some of my better banners that I created using the free time left to me while OtakuBoards was down for the V7 update. I?d appreciate any comments you might have as well as tips for using either of the two programs mentioned above.

Thanks, and happy viewing!

-Boba[/color]

[Epitome]

[size=1]Personally, I only like the Master Card rip off one. The first 2 are just way too plaing and in the American flag one, the text doesnt stand out well. The first one, WAY too plain. Add some picture too it or something. Like I said, the 3rd one isnt that bad, especially for just beginning. The 4th one, I dont like. I think you could have done a much better job cropping the pictures and used a little more background rather than just black BG with pictures overtop. And the last one isnt bad except for the fact that it is too small and the picture quality is low. And also the black BG thng again. So maybe experiment a little more with BGs and Ill think you'll do just fine. ^_^[/size]

[Kinetic]

[size=1][color=royalblue]I love the mastercard rip-off and the "Vote Bush in 2004" banners :p You use the animator alot (obviously), but maybe sometime you'll move onto flash. Flash is a very powerful program once you learn how to use it.[/color][/size]

[Boba Fett]

[quote name='Kinetic][size=1][color=royalblue]I love the mastercard rip-off and the "Vote Bush in 2004" banners :p You use the animator alot (obviously), but maybe sometime you'll move onto flash. Flash is a very powerful program once you learn how to use it.[/color'][/size][/quote]

[color=green]Thanks. The Mastercard rip-of took forever (Mostly editing the Mastercard Logo) , and PoisonTongue helped me with the shield generator frame. It?s also going in my signature when James (or whoever) fixes the signatures so that they can support over 150 characters.

As for Flash, I don?t have it on my computer. I?ve seen it in use and it looks rather complicated. I figured I?d wait until next year and take a course in flash animation that our school offers. Until then, I may attempt to get some kind of free Flash download and fool around with it. I find that?s how I learn to use things best; instruction manuals take too much time. [/color]

[quote name='Hataki Vash][size=1']Personally, I only like the Master Card rip off one. The first 2 are just way too plaing and in the American flag one, the text doesnt stand out well. The first one, WAY too plain. Add some picture too it or something. Like I said, the 3rd one isnt that bad, especially for just beginning. The 4th one, I dont like. I think you could have done a much better job cropping the pictures and used a little more background rather than just black BG with pictures overtop. And the last one isnt bad except for the fact that it is too small and the picture quality is low. And also the black BG thng again. So maybe experiment a little more with BGs and Ill think you'll do just fine. ^_^[/size][/quote]

[color=green]Yes, you have good taste. I too like the Mastercard one the best.

As for the first two, the Howard Dean one could definitely use some work. As you mentioned, more pictures would be nice. I just had a very hard time fitting a large amount readable text into a 500x100 banner along with images.

Now that I look at it again, changing the first frame of the Bush banner is a must. Your comment about the readability of the text was spot on.

I like the fourth one, the Episode III teaser, as far as the text goes anyway. But yes, I should work on my image cropping as well.

The avatar picture quality, in my opinion, was decent. Could you elaborate on that a little more?

As for black backgrounds, I?ve definitely overused them. I should probably try some lighter colors and some white ones with other colors tinted in. That, and multiple layers. While I?m at it, I may as well look into varied image transition.

One final thing. Do any of you know if there is a way to resize an image without degrading the image quality? I?ve had a lot of difficulty with that?

Anyhow, thanks for the comments. I?ll leave you with an RPG banner I made for Lynx (Sorry in advance for the black background, I made this yesterday).
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