PODFIC COVER TUTORIAL SERIES: The Basics (Part 1)

[bessyboo]

1. The Basics (Part 1)
   
2. The Basics (Part 2)
   
3. Base Images
   
4. Cut-Outs
   
5. Coloring & Contrast
   
6. Text
   
7. Advanced Techniques: Masks, Blending, etc.
   
8. Complete Cover Walkthrough
   
9. What makes cover art good or bad? A discussion on composition.

Since there seems to be sufficient interest, I'm going to go ahead with my series of podfic cover tutorials. Note that these same

Comments

[akamine_chan]

It's obviously not going to be quite as powerful as its paid brethren...

Totally don't agree with that. It's a common misconception about Open Source programs; they can't be as good as the paid versions. Pretty much anything you can do in Photoshop, you can do in GIMP.

/soapbox

[bessyboo]

I'm sorry, that's my bad, and I am totally familiar with that soapbox because I am allllllllll about the open source ;) I shouldn't presume, since I haven't actually used GIMP in 5+ years, which is practically a lifetime in software time. And actually, that was just long enough to download+install, dick around for an afternoon, decide I liked PSP better, and uninstall--the last time I really used it, like I said, was like 10 years ago, when it was essentially a slightly upgraded Paint with layer functionality XD SO I shouldn't make judgements on it, my opinions are not informed.

I will, however, argue that Photoshop is fairly unquestionably the most powerful program on this list, from a technical standpoint. Whether the average user, or even someone looking to do some relatively advanced things, like I'll get into with some of my later tutorials, actually NEEDS all the extra super-shiny stuff is an entirely different matter ;)

[akamine_chan]

The learning curve on GIMP is really freaking steep, and that's part of the problem. It's free, but if you don't know what you're doing, using it seems to be an insurmountable challenge.

More powerful? Still not sure I'd agree. More user friendly, most definitely, yes. Photoshop has the advantage of allowing you to do thing with the click of a single button, whereas in GIMP I have to do 15 different things manually to get the same results. Or go online and find someone who's written a plug-in for that function. Or write my own plug-in if I happen to enough Python...

I hadn't planned on following the tutorials but I think I'll have to now, just to see if GIMP can handle it. *g*

[cantarina1]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has/is struggling with GIMP! I'm in the midst of that steep curve - except for fonts, I haven't figured out how to do anything I couldn't already do in photobucket's editor - and it's sort of heartening to know there's an end in sight.

[laurie_ky]

I know nothing about graphics, so this is already helpful. I'm going to download GIMP.

Laurie

[snottygrrl]

am excited for these. \o/

just thought i'd put in that adobe has pretty good deals if you're a student. i got my version aeons ago that way and have been periodically upgrading since. they even upgraded from my windows version to mac when i switched.

::pets photoshop::

[fire_juggler]

I am so psyched about these!! Cover art is the bane of my existence and I feel compelled to try to make it, because it's easier to scan for covers on my iPod, and I figure that for that purpose, even a crappy cover is better than no cover at all. I would love to start producing non-crappy covers, though, so ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

THANK YOU!

[trialia]

I'm a Photoshop devotee, though I began with Paint Shop. I cannot get my head around GIMP, it drives me up the wall. But another one for whom cover art is one of the minor banes of my existence, so this will be a welcome tut - depending on how long you take to post all the bits of it ;)

[bessyboo]

My "aim high" goal is to post one once a day until I'm done, BUT realistically, I'll be happy if I manage one every few days. Hopefully I won't go longer than a week without one until I'm done, though!

[trialia]

Mmm, River. :D

Haha, also, thank you. I hope you can manage the rapid-fire ♥