SIGTAG TUTORIAL 1
Here you have a tutorial requested by cookielaura for a landofart challenge. This was pretty easy to write up since I saved the psd I got to recreate everything step by step, if something doesn't make sense feel free to ask. I use Photoshop CS6, I think it's easily translatable to previous versions, please let me know if it's not. You can also download the psd at the end.
For this sigtag I used these two pictures from Buffy and Supernatural.
1. MASKING
First I masked the background in the picture with Buffy using the polygonal lasso tool. (click on the images to enlarge)
a) Make selection using the polygonal lasso tool and hit the masking button.
b) The selection doesn't have to be perfect cause we're going to fix that hitting on the layer mask twice and then click on mask edge.
c) Here you can see my settings, I usually tweak the smart radius, smooth and shift edge settings.
d) Now you can see it corrects and clean the edges.
I don't recommend using this technique in caps or pictures with lots of details, an accidental double click could set you back to the beginning, but it works fine with simple stills like this one. I normaly use the pen tool or the quick selection tool depending on the picture.
2. BASE
I resized and place the 2 pictures together in a 300x150px canvas, leaving some room on the left to place the text later.
3. GRADIENTS + LIGHTING
Now we're going add some gradient maps and lights to the composition.
a) Copper gradient map soft light 44%
b) Black & White gradient map normal 100%
c) Brightness/Contrast layer. Brightness: +22 / Contrast: +17
d) Gradient fill layer color to transparent. Color: E8E7E6 / Angle: 17,35º
e) Duplicate the gradient fill, angle to -155, 56º, and slightly drag the gradient in the window from the center to the top right corner to take a bit of brightness.
f) Create a new layer on top, merge the layers and set it to soft light. Go to Layer > Merge Visible or CTRL+SHIFT+E.
4. TEXT
Finally, I added a two text layers using the following fonts:
angelus2hot font: Susie's Hand
steamy font: Neutron
PSD DOWNLOAD