tut: Points To Remember!
New layout, everyone!
I wrote these points up at the request of anat_astarte , and I thought I would expand on them and share them here as well!
Note that this is less of a tutorial, and more some good points to keep in mind while photo-shopping. I'm no expert on it, of course, but I'll do my best to share what I know!
This was written primarily for banners, but I'll try and make it fit for icons and walls as well.
WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY
1.images!
First thing's first, find an image. This is probably the funnest part, considering how many images there are on the net.
However, a note about quality!
Pixely images are not good for banners and wallpapers. Take this image of LIng from FMA:
I really like this pic, but the artifacts would be to noticeable without some re-touching. (which is another write up for another day) However, it could work in a smaller size as an icon:
But who says you only have to use one image per graphic? Not me!
A pretty standard one is the fifty/fifty split:
mix it up with some varied splits:
Though I prefer soft blending. (easer tool, soft edge)
(okay, that last one is actually one pic split, shut up)
Hoorah, images!
Composition!
next is composition, which is a little trickier to explain. You'll want the graphic to be eye-catching, but not too busy that the person viewing it doesn't know what to look for.
Here's a particularly egregious example from my earlier graphic-ing days. (not sure of the date)
How I no longer like this banner, let me count the way
-Busy texture
-too may images
-image that should be the focus is too small
so busy does not always equal good, and some times, less is more! Take this wallpaper as an example of the latter: link to AP
and some icon examples:
That's not to say that less is more, or in other words a lot of negative space, is not the only way to go. That would be boring, wouldn't it?
There are several different ways to fill up negative space. Let the image take up most of the space:
or textures and brushes:
So, all in all, the best tip I can give is to experiment, and don't be afraid to try things out of the box every now and then. If something doesn't look quite right, keep working at it!
(though, do give yourself breaks. A rested mind is more creative.)
Text!
Ah, text. Text, text, text, where to begin with you?
Text can be a very frustrating part of the process.
Going back to an earlier example with one of the Ling icons:
It wasn't a walk in the park doing the text. (though that's partly because of my meeding to do each letter as individual letter because I'm weird) The placement was mostly the issue. I kept moving the lettder to the left until I thought it looked decent enough.stillnottotallysatisfied Don't get me wrong, I love doing text.
Getting back on track, there are two ways you can do text: typing it out, and using a texture:
typed:
texture:
(yes, the first one's text did get turned into a texture, but I did type it originally) Another example of text-texture use can be seen in the last icon before the BW banner above.
If you play around with text, you'll probably get a more interesting graphic:
However, as text is a key part of composition, it's important to know when simple is better:
Coloring. Pretty much, it really really depends on what kind of mood you want, (also, different tools for different programs) but these are the basics: (I'm using Photoshop Elements 8, btw)
Color layers: layers filled with one color. different blending modes make different effects. I often use several color layers with different colors and blending modes on an image.
*Note that GIMP does not support a few blending modes that photoshop does, such as exclusion, so be aware of that if you choose to read some tutorials.
Gradients - (layer - new layer, use the tool next to the paint bucket) Similar to a color layer, but with more than one color blending into each other. (think the sky at sunrise/sunset)
If your image seems to get lost under the color/gradient layers, don't panic! In the layers tab, select your base layer (the original image) and go to layer - duplicate layer. Not drag the duplicate to the top of all the layers and set it to overlay, softlight, screen, or whatever brings out the image again.
---base duplicated and set to soft light---
levels/curves/brightness + contrast/hue+saturation/color balance.
Unless it's hidden in some nook I can't find, GIMP does not have adjustment layers, so performing one of these options only effects whichever layer is selected. However, to affect the entire image you just have to go to layer - new from visible. This means you'll have to delete that layer and make a new new-from-visible one if you want to make an adjustment, but GIMP has curves and color balance, which is only in the pro photoshop, not elements. So I think it balances >:
I love adjustment layes. More often than not they save a graphic for me. They pretty much do exactly what it says on the tin:
Levels- Adjusts the RGB, Red, Green, and Blue levels of an icon
Brightness + Contrast: adjusts it's name sack
Hue/Saturation: same. Also lightnesss
example of what an adjustment layer can do:
Before levels:
With levels:
(rgb: 37, 1.28, 255, R: 19, 1.14, 255 G: 0, 1, 247, B: 0, .79, 255)
I suggest you experiment with all these on your own, to discover what settings you like the best.
I believe that's everything! If you'd like to me to go into a bit more detail about something, just leave a comment!
I wrote these points up at the request of anat_astarte , and I thought I would expand on them and share them here as well!
Note that this is less of a tutorial, and more some good points to keep in mind while photo-shopping. I'm no expert on it, of course, but I'll do my best to share what I know!
This was written primarily for banners, but I'll try and make it fit for icons and walls as well.
WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY
1.images!
First thing's first, find an image. This is probably the funnest part, considering how many images there are on the net.
However, a note about quality!
Pixely images are not good for banners and wallpapers. Take this image of LIng from FMA:
I really like this pic, but the artifacts would be to noticeable without some re-touching. (which is another write up for another day) However, it could work in a smaller size as an icon:
But who says you only have to use one image per graphic? Not me!
A pretty standard one is the fifty/fifty split:
mix it up with some varied splits:
Though I prefer soft blending. (easer tool, soft edge)
(okay, that last one is actually one pic split, shut up)
Hoorah, images!
Composition!
next is composition, which is a little trickier to explain. You'll want the graphic to be eye-catching, but not too busy that the person viewing it doesn't know what to look for.
Here's a particularly egregious example from my earlier graphic-ing days. (not sure of the date)
How I no longer like this banner, let me count the way
-Busy texture
-too may images
-image that should be the focus is too small
so busy does not always equal good, and some times, less is more! Take this wallpaper as an example of the latter: link to AP
and some icon examples:
That's not to say that less is more, or in other words a lot of negative space, is not the only way to go. That would be boring, wouldn't it?
There are several different ways to fill up negative space. Let the image take up most of the space:
or textures and brushes:
So, all in all, the best tip I can give is to experiment, and don't be afraid to try things out of the box every now and then. If something doesn't look quite right, keep working at it!
(though, do give yourself breaks. A rested mind is more creative.)
Text!
Ah, text. Text, text, text, where to begin with you?
Text can be a very frustrating part of the process.
Going back to an earlier example with one of the Ling icons:
It wasn't a walk in the park doing the text. (though that's partly because of my meeding to do each letter as individual letter because I'm weird) The placement was mostly the issue. I kept moving the lettder to the left until I thought it looked decent enough.stillnottotallysatisfied Don't get me wrong, I love doing text.
Getting back on track, there are two ways you can do text: typing it out, and using a texture:
typed:
texture:
(yes, the first one's text did get turned into a texture, but I did type it originally) Another example of text-texture use can be seen in the last icon before the BW banner above.
If you play around with text, you'll probably get a more interesting graphic:
However, as text is a key part of composition, it's important to know when simple is better:
Coloring. Pretty much, it really really depends on what kind of mood you want, (also, different tools for different programs) but these are the basics: (I'm using Photoshop Elements 8, btw)
Color layers: layers filled with one color. different blending modes make different effects. I often use several color layers with different colors and blending modes on an image.
*Note that GIMP does not support a few blending modes that photoshop does, such as exclusion, so be aware of that if you choose to read some tutorials.
Gradients - (layer - new layer, use the tool next to the paint bucket) Similar to a color layer, but with more than one color blending into each other. (think the sky at sunrise/sunset)
If your image seems to get lost under the color/gradient layers, don't panic! In the layers tab, select your base layer (the original image) and go to layer - duplicate layer. Not drag the duplicate to the top of all the layers and set it to overlay, softlight, screen, or whatever brings out the image again.
---base duplicated and set to soft light---
levels/curves/brightness + contrast/hue+saturation/color balance.
Unless it's hidden in some nook I can't find, GIMP does not have adjustment layers, so performing one of these options only effects whichever layer is selected. However, to affect the entire image you just have to go to layer - new from visible. This means you'll have to delete that layer and make a new new-from-visible one if you want to make an adjustment, but GIMP has curves and color balance, which is only in the pro photoshop, not elements. So I think it balances >:
I love adjustment layes. More often than not they save a graphic for me. They pretty much do exactly what it says on the tin:
Levels- Adjusts the RGB, Red, Green, and Blue levels of an icon
Brightness + Contrast: adjusts it's name sack
Hue/Saturation: same. Also lightnesss
example of what an adjustment layer can do:
Before levels:
With levels:
(rgb: 37, 1.28, 255, R: 19, 1.14, 255 G: 0, 1, 247, B: 0, .79, 255)
I suggest you experiment with all these on your own, to discover what settings you like the best.
I believe that's everything! If you'd like to me to go into a bit more detail about something, just leave a comment!