Art My First Photoshop Attempt

[Riku]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=1][COLOR=Navy]Well, Ive always had Photoshop for sometime now, but I've never been taught how to use it. XD :animeswea So, this one Yuna banner was my first attempt at making stuff from photoshop and I want to keep practicing so that I can do some other cool stuff with it.

It was my first attempt, so I know it sucks and no one's ever taught me how to use it, but I know some tools and what they do. So, without further ado, this is my firt banner that I ever made:

[IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/CloudsOnly189/ff10-2-yuna21copy.jpg[/IMG]

Kinda pixilated, I know. Heh heh...

Please tell me what you think about it and tell me what else I could do to it. Remember, this was my first try by myself, so, I know it's bad.

Plus, I'll also be adding other works when I make them. XD[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[sakurasuka]

[SIZE=1]I definitely agree with everything Chabichou said. Moving the stock over to the far left and opening up the banner by making the text more prominent would be a great idea. Also, if you like that particular gadient/color scheme, then I'd suggest making a layer underneath and brushing it with black and white brushes, then setting the gradient as an over-lay, rather than making it the background by itself.

Reguardless of what you do, I think that brushes or some sort of effect on the background is a must for this type of thing, unless you are simply going for plain/clean looking, and for that I'd obviously suggest a white or cream BG. Similar to my current banner =P

The pixelation isn't terrible, but it never hurts to bring out the text some, maybe add a quote. Have you checked out any font sites? My recomendation would have to be [URL=http://www.dafont.com/]DaFont.com[/URL].

It's certainly not bad for a first shot, and I hope to see alot more of your work in the coming months =)[/SIZE]

[Ezekiel]

[SIZE=1]I agree with all of the above.

Like to add my two cents, too, if you don't mind. =)

[B]Suggestion 1:[/B] Don't save as a JPEG file. This may be a personal thing, but I hate them with a passion. I know it saves on how much space you use but I often find that JPEGs lower the quality of a high resolution graphic, making it look pixelated. Like the way your text is, for example. Save the file as a PNG, it uses a little more space, but preserves the quality.

[B]Suggestion 2:[/B] Have a look at some tutorials or just sit down and mess with a blank canvas. That's what I done, it's fun and lets you discover things about your program.

[B]Suggestion 3:[/B] Don't be confidened by things like bass pallette colours and gradients. When I first started making banners I used what PSCS gave me and they were looking plain, but as soon as you start messing with filters and brushes it works wonders.

[B]Last Thing:[/B] The edges of your image look rough, which is bound to happen until you're used to extracting things. I suggest using a smudge tool or soften (blur? I can't remember what Photoshop calls it). The tool will make your edges look smooth and blend in with the background.

That turned out being more than I planned, but I hope it helped. =/ Remember, experimenting is the best way to learn.

Like the others I'm eager to see what new graphics you come up with. If you ever want any pointers or suggestions, feel free to drop me a PM. ^_^[/SIZE]

[Riku]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=1][COLOR=Navy]Yeah..I thought it looked kind of boring and plain. I did do this without experimenting, so..yeah. XD

Anyways, I made this banner and avatar set for my friend and I did way more stuff than on the Yuna one. I made little green twinkling stars, changed the colors of the background, did a ripple effect on the background and added a little sparkle. I think it's little better than the Yuna one:

[IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/CloudsOnly189/gc_13035121075786E38copy.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/CloudsOnly189/Banner_Link.png[/IMG]

As you can see, I kinda saved it before you told me about it, Imi-san, so it's still pixilated, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Heh.. I'll work on the Yuna one when I get a little better. It's slowly coming... but
it's coming. XD

Oh, and I was also wondering if anyone knew how to make a line border for your pictures in Adobe Photoshop 7.0. I don't know how, so if anyone could help me, that would be great. XD[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Syk3]

Looks like your link is messed up. If you didn't know.. well, just giving you a heads up. lol

[Retribution]

[size=1]As for the border, I'd recommend following these steps. [B]First[/B], create a new layer that's on top of everything. This way, you don't permanently mess up your image if you feel like editing your picture later on. [B]Second[/B], have the [i]Marquee tool[/i] selected. The Marquee tool is the dotted box icon, which I think appears in the upper left hand corner of the tool bar. [B]Third[/B], hit ctrl + a. The box should be expanded around the entire image. [B]Fourth[/B], right-click anywhere on the image, and go to [i]stroke[/i]. [B]Fifth[/B], select the thickness of the border, and check the inside box - do this only if you want the line to show up as a thick line. Check center if you want it to be a 1px border... and you never use outside very much. I hope that helped.

As for your image quality, there could be a few problems, not just the file type. It could have to do with a few things.

[B]First[/B], it could be a problem with the stock image you used to begin with. Remember that blowing things up really reduces the image's quality - I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but it pays to keep it in the back of your mind. If you really need to resize something, go to Free Transform on the layer, then hold down Shift as you drag the box - this will keep it in proportion and reduce the amount of pixelation.

[B]Second[/B], it might be your extraction technique. When you use the magic eraser, make sure your tolerance isn't up too high, or you'll take out a bit too much than you intended. If need be, you can always zoom in very closely and erase the sharp corners. It really helps sometimes when the magic eraser just won't cut it.

[b]Third[/b], be sure that when dealing with your layer, Anti-Aliasing is OFF. If it's on, your quality might haunt you. However, with some images, it's been if Anti-Aliasing is on - it's your judgement. Anti-Aliasing can be found on the top toolbar that seems to 'morph' as you change through different tools, if you get what I'm saying.

[B]Fourth[/B], when dealing with text, there are a few ways to go astray as far as quality is concerned. First, you might be trying to use a font that's hard to read in the first place, and then scaling it down too small. That really hurts the visibility. More likely, however, is the fact that your text settings (see the top when you click the text tool) might be a little off. The drop-down menus there can really make a difference when text quality is concerned - try changing the mode from "None" to something like "Strong."

[b]Fifth[/b], you may want to try a trick I picked up to improve an image from a pale scrap to something vibrant and interesting. Duplicate the image you'd like to improve, and with the layer on top, change the blending mode to something like Overlay, or Soft Light (experiment with different modes). You should see an immediate improvement in image quality.

[b]Finally[/b], it just might be how you're saying. I'm a JPEG-er til the end, and no one's really complained about my image quality. Make sure that the image quality is cranked up to 12, and nothing less. Make sure anything that lets you have higher image quality is checked off. Don't worry about size - it's always better to have a larger image that's awesome quality than have a small image that looks terrible.


I really hope you keep making graphics, and you can PM or IM me for clarification on these steps, or any other help with Photoshop. Good luck![/size]