5 replies to this topic

[Zagubadu·]

Dusted off the cobwebs on my Photoshop Cs3 after rejoining the Trap17 community. Started off slow couldn't remember a damn thing about it at all. Made this very basic Sig and was hoping maybe some of you guys could give me some tips on how to make actual good sigs. I see Sigs on this forum that make me envy the skill of you guys out there. :lol Also I put some brushes into that folder. They are the same type and all. I found that some of them worked. But then a lot of them did not. Any help on that?

Oh yea it has a story. I call it Dual monitors with uncalibrated colors. So I finally got un-lazy and setup my other monitor. So I could browse the internet while working on this. I got it just the way I wanted it. Brought it over to my main screen. And man I was disappointed. Color went way to dark in some spots it was just a wreck. I never knew how much of a difference it could make but it did.

Edited by Zagubadu·, 19 January 2010 - 12:44 PM.

[truefusion]

Brush work is normally a random process unless it is thought out beforehand. While inspiration can come during the random brushing, if you are going to plan ahead, then you'll of course have to make sure you have the tools to support your idea (let alone knowledge). I am not sure if you remember any popular places for obtaining brushes, but DeviantArt is one of them. But a work shouldn't rely solely on brushes. Re-learning the filters will be useful, but also layer blending.

I agree with you that the sig is a bit too dark. And you say "uncalibrated colors," which i would say, yeah, the sig could use more colors. For this case, i would recommend that you (re-)learn adjustment layers. Adjustment layers allow you to modify the work without making any permanent changes. While sig work may not necessarily be photography, it is still better to have the original pieces in their original state should you choose to make changes in the design.

I have not seen your previous works, so i do not know of what you were once capable of (if you indeed made sigs in the past), but this sig is at least average, and i mean that in a good way, especially if this is your first ever sig.

Text is usually one of the things that is hard to get to work right. Some take the easy route and just leave a dark area on the sig for the text, and apply some matching colors to the text. Following tutorials is good for learning new things, but try not to stick to one design, and try to be more creative. Some people after going through one tutorial stick to the same design in their sigs. That is something i would like to prevent, as it reduces the flow of creativity, regardless of how well the sig may anyway turn out to be.

I'm not sure if you are in tune with the general sig terminology, but "renders" can be used as part of the design of the sig, be it the background or some other effect. A "render" is an external image that normally takes most of the spotlight. In this case, it would be the grim reapers-like image. Normally the effects with rendres are done with filters, but they are also found to be made with brush tools and layer blending.

I'm not sure what else to say, but this should be enough to start you off on a better track.

[Zagubadu·]

truefusion, on Jan 19 2010, 08:16 PM, said:

Brush work is normally a random process unless it is thought out beforehand. While inspiration can come during the random brushing, if you are going to plan ahead, then you'll of course have to make sure you have the tools to support your idea (let alone knowledge). I am not sure if you remember any popular places for obtaining brushes, but DeviantArt is one of them. But a work shouldn't rely solely on brushes. Re-learning the filters will be useful, but also layer blending.

I agree with you that the sig is a bit too dark. And you say "uncalibrated colors," which i would say, yeah, the sig could use more colors. For this case, i would recommend that you (re-)learn adjustment layers. Adjustment layers allow you to modify the work without making any permanent changes. While sig work may not necessarily be photography, it is still better to have the original pieces in their original state should you choose to make changes in the design.

I have not seen your previous works, so i do not know of what you were once capable of (if you indeed made sigs in the past), but this sig is at least average, and i mean that in a good way, especially if this is your first ever sig.

Text is usually one of the things that is hard to get to work right. Some take the easy route and just leave a dark area on the sig for the text, and apply some matching colors to the text. Following tutorials is good for learning new things, but try not to stick to one design, and try to be more creative. Some people after going through one tutorial stick to the same design in their sigs. That is something i would like to prevent, as it reduces the flow of creativity, regardless of how well the sig may anyway turn out to be.

I'm not sure if you are in tune with the general sig terminology, but "renders" can be used as part of the design of the sig, be it the background or some other effect. A "render" is an external image that normally takes most of the spotlight. In this case, it would be the grim reapers-like image. Normally the effects with rendres are done with filters, but they are also found to be made with brush tools and layer blending.

I'm not sure what else to say, but this should be enough to start you off on a better track.

Yes I'm familiar with most Sig terminology. My other work is probably just about the same, average for the most part. Yea what I mean by the colors. Is I did this on my other monitor ( I Have 2 ) And the colors were different it used to be a lot lighter but when I dragged it over to my main screen it got a lot darker. Thanks for the tips.

[evilsmiley25]

That signature is really nice, in my opinion. I am not the greatest at making signatures, but I think mine are alright for an amateur like myself. I want to learn how to make better signatures, though.

[mra550]

you good work and neatly done but maybe you can try adding some more lights to your render I mean a glossy effect?
is that the right term when you duplicate a render and the duplicated one you will use gausian blur and turn its blend mode to
overlay? I don't know the term sorry XD

[Zagubadu·]

Yea I think I saw a Tut on how to do that exact same thing mra550. And yes I do believe it was called a glossy effect. Thanks for all the input guys. And Smiley I happen to think your sig is very well done. Nice brush work. Whats the name of the brushes that are pointing towards your render?