The Photoshop Tips Collaboration Thread

[Draco Straybyrn]

This is not so much a tutorial as it is a giant index of tips for people who are learning photoshop (or other programs, for that matter). If you know anything about any version of photoshop and have tips to share, take a post here and use it as your index.

 

Good reading:

 

What everyone MUST know about images.

 

Photoshop Background Tutorial

 

Tips:

 

- DO NOT EVER BRUSH WHORE. This is when you use the same brush over and over. It looks really bad. REALLY bad.

 

- Use clean render cuts. If you can't find a good render, pull out your trusty polygonal lasso and go to town.

 

- Layers are there, use them. Don't do everything on one layer... you'll regret it later. Every time you switch colors, use a new layer. Same with adding a new image.

 

- Black & White works well with Color Balance. It's okay to do something in black and white, because you can use color balance on it later to color it.

 

- Don't spend too much time on avatars. The best way to do a quick avatar is to crop part of a banner, add text, and add a border. Ding, avatar.

 

-

It is pretty cool. Can you help us with text now?

Text + Outer Glow + Anything else you want = Text

 

In addition to that' date=' you can set the text layer to overlay, color dodge, etc. for a a nice effect.

 

Reserved posts:

 

- Kizzi/Phoenix -Check-

- OldMaster -Check-

- TKill93 -Check-

- 72Night -Check-

[s']- Sanji The Perverse -Removed due to stubbornness-

 

LET ALL OF THESE PEOPLE POST BEFORE YOU POST. THIS IS AN INDEX, AND THEY NEED THEIR SPOTS.[/s]

 

THREAD IS OPEN TO POSTING.

[Tkill93]

Reserved, Ill work on this post later

[Jerry OldMaster]

If I'll find something interesting, I'll post it here.

[Kizzi]

Well, uh, reserved? :/

 

1. If your sig has too much focal, and is way too abstract for your liking, make a new layer, and fill with any color. Set the layer mode to Hue, and lower the opacity.

 

2. Make a gradient, then use the smudge tool with scatter / jitter, and maybe a textured effect.

 

3. If your render is slightly iffy, there are 2 ways to solve it:

a: Use inner AND outer glow on the render layer.

b: Select the transparent area and go to: Select >> Modify >> Expand, set it to about 3 pixels and delete

[72night]

O_o Ok, reserved..

 

Ok, here is one..

 

Like most people, I hate looking at graphics that only have brushes and a render slapped on it.

{Well, I think that's called copypasta, so ya...}

 

There are many different ways to make backgrounds instead of using brushes. Like, take my sigs as an example, I never use any brushes for the background, but more for the renders or to add a extra flavor to the sig.

 

One way to make a background would be to experiment with Gradient.

Another would be to actually use the render(s) for the background. You can take a render and duplicate that image. Take one layer and create Illusions. Place the original layer on top of the altered one.

 

If you use brushes for the renders or more details, it sometimes creates a better result then if you use the brushes for the backgrounds.

 

Don't be a brush whore. ;)

 

 

Ok, here's another one.

 

If you want a specific type of image in you sig, and you need it rendered, you don't always have to have a perfectly rendered render.

 

If you are good at blending/erasing renders, you can even start out with a non-rendered image.

 

^_^

 

Don't waste too much time on renders! You'd want to use more time on the perfection of a sig instead the thing that's in it!

 

^_^ Hope your Friendly n00bish Graphic Artist helped! ^_^

[Draco Straybyrn]

Due to Sanji's... stubbornness.. this thread is now open to posting.

[Cyber Altair]

I can help you all. i will try and post some tut's when i find some free time.