I thought it would be a cool thread for people to post a graphic and people can give hints and tips about it and such. I don't want this thread to become "OMG that is so good!" Just post positive ways to make the graphic better so that we can become better graphic makers and learn new things.

Good idea. And Bob I really hope you don't get mad at me for this lol but something that bugs me about your banners is how much your airbrush and sharpen the faces. Like in your current one. I think it kind of takes away from it :/

I used to do that A LOT a long time ago haha.

Haha yeah, sometimes I over do it. Thanks for letting me know. I usually do it on pictures that are lower quality and look bad if I don't do it.

i love this idea lol how can i improve my current banner lol =]

Bob this is great. Obviously everyone's banners aren't perfect and could always use some brushing up no matter how good they are. And I do agree with girl in the mirror. It is making Shoshana and Ana looking like they are loaded with make up. :ha:



EDIT: i'm.dancing.through.life, one thing I would say is to lessen the green color scheme. Idina looks like she kinda glowing. :ha:

Yeah, on psp7 there is this airbrush tool that's like a brush but it just blurs it a little bit when you brush over the spot you want and that's what I usually do if there's pixelation or low quality or something.

And I agree w/ Wiz O' Oz. I think you should use less overlay or whatever it was you used, it looks too bright to me.

I'd love some too! Any about my current banner & avatar and the ones I made earlier, like this one:

Just a general tip for newer graphic makers: make sure when you save a banner or icon, save it as a png file. This makes the quality much clearer and not as grainy.

Edit: and yours is good Bubbly; One tip I would say is to try and make your text stand out a bit more and a little smoother...

Casey you way overused the line texture in your current banner/avatar. Set it to overlay and make it a lower opacity.

Bubbly I like the color in both of your banners.
For the Eden/Megan one I would say maybe lighten it a little bit? And for your current one maybe duplicate it as a soft light layer so it's brighter? but I like them both

And yeah, I think the line is a little too bold.

I feel bad giving so much criticism lol.

Thanks Bob & Shannon - I used overlay with an opacity of 10, where do you guys usually set it?

I usually do overlay with 10 or 12, maybe it's just the texture you used? My lines I use are smaller.

I usually set it to 5-8%, and usually use some type of texture to go alone with it so it doesn't stand out so much.

thanks for the tips =]

I'd love some also!

Mehhh Nancy I love yours sooo much. I love the black & white with the color. And the circle. yay.

The only thing I would change is how dark it is in some spots, did you use overlay?

if you overlay or softlight it or whatever you did try to color some of it and make it just a little bit brighter....=] other than that i love the black and white circle thing i've done that many times its cool looking

Any tips on my current banner in my sig, or avatar?

my too i'm not the best in the world :ha:

I would just say to add some colors or brighten it. Maybe play around with hue/saturation/lightness layers. As you can see I like bright and colorful banners hahaha.

Try playing around with your selective coloring Kayla, if you have PS.

:cry: I dont have PS. I WISH I did...but I dont...but thanks though Christy!

I like this thread!

what program are you using? try to blend your images. and dont cloud your pictures so much.

I like this thread a lot. If only I was using one of my own banners. I get lazy and uncreative.

Ok I really don't want to sound mean but I have a bunch of suggestions.

1. It looks like you just took a pink layer and set the opacity really light. Maybe set it to soft light or overlay so it blends better and adds some effect?
2. try to blend the pictures more so they're not so square, I usually set feather to 33.
3. Check the box when youre writing your text that says "anti alias" so it's not as choppy.
4. The border looks a little odd, I would make it blend in a little more.

And A Little Perky, I don't have PS either so look on icont_tutorial for some substitues, thats what I do.

Second attempt:

From to

and to

I also used this texture:

Kayla, around Christina's head, it is really dark. Make sure you erase the other layer/pictures around there so the picture is totally there and not covered up by a feathered end of a layer. [I hope that made sense]

Bob I love your new one. I tried making one from that tutorial thing once but it didn't work out for me haha.

Bubbly that looks really good! Now you just need to work on text I think. (sorry to sound like a nag haha)

*PLEASE DON'T RATE MY BANNER..IT'S A BIT OF AN INSIDE JOKE AND I WHIPPED IT UP KIND OF QUICK*

but i was wondering, if we could use this thread to help with website layouts as well...?

http://www.freewebs.com/only_you_tribute

i made the layout for that^^ site...

No, that's perfectly fine! I'm really bad with text.

I use gimp.

I did set the pink layer to overlay but i'm going to go work on it

Bob, yes, it did make sense. thanks!

girl in the mirror, thanks! I'll have to looking through there sometime!

It's okay, so am I. Shan seriously whipped my text into shape. It was like boot camp.

I have PSP so I don't really know how gimp works. But you used overlay, what did you set it to? (If you remember).

No problem! This is so fun haha.

I love you Mar haha.

lol! a shannon photoshop boot camp...

Hahaha Shan want to whip my text into shape too? I spend like 15 minutes on text everytime I make a banner because I SUCK.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for this Nessa wallpaper I made. I don't really like the way some parts of it came out, and I was hoping someone had an idea.



And also, it would be a big help if anyone had suggestions for this banner, especially for the text.



Thanks!

i think it migh have been 60 somthing i really don't remember and border thing was me trying to cover some text so i wouldn't have to restart lol

^ That random pink line in the middle of the wallpaper is a little out of place... i like the coloring of the text and the choice of font, but you might want to make them stand out a little more.

Nancy I don't think the text on yours is bad haha. Maybe use one of the light colors in the skin or something instead of white though so it goes more, thats what I usually do. And then I put a darker color behind it.

Crissy- I think it's pretty good, I think some of the purples/greens don't really go though. I think if you're gonna put like, a bright different color there you should change the rest of the banner slightly towards that color so it has unity I guess?
And I agree w/ Christy about the line.

I love how I sound like 80 years old.

Crissy, I would make the wallpaper lighter, it's kinda dull right now.

Galindaispopular, I am having a hard time reading your text. Use white or something and a less pixalated font in the future.

Thanks for the suggestions! Yep, I definately see what you mean about the pink line. And I'll try to make the wallpaper lighter and change the colors around a little. I'll post the results once I finish. :mrgreen:

Edit: Whoops, I think I wrote "Girl int he mirror" on the wallpaper instead of "Girl in the mirror." I'll have to fix that, too.

what can u use if u dont have PS? Is there something free I can use? I have never done anything like this before and I am bored lol :ha:

well anything can be free if you want it to be.

But the GIMP is free. Its difficult to learn and there aren't many features, but it's free.

I could probably use some constructive criticism- good thread idea, Bob.

I think the coloring on my banner may be a little too bright and reddish, I hate the font I used, and I'm not crazy about how I positioned the pictures.

I'd agree with what you said haha. But I really like it, it's good!

Maybe use a dark blue exclusion layer to change up the color a little? And I would use a less busy font and put a different color behind it.

i'm a little confused with my blending would anyone care to tell me what i could do to improve this rough draft

Thanks, Shan!

I pretty much ended up using a random font after searching for a while- bad idea. As for the coloring, it might be too late to change what I have now, but I'll have to try that next time since plenty of my things end up too bright.

I posted this in the Giveaway thread, but I've changed some stuff on it.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/Gerr...20images/ya.png

Anyone have any suggestions?

Jenna, this is the best tutorial I can give for blending. Since I can't rememver how to father in gimp, here's how to do it with erasing:
1. Paste a picture into the canvas.
2. Paste another picture into the canvas.
3. Move the second picture so it overlaps the first.
4. Use the eraser tool to erase around the edges.

anything FREE and EASY??