Graphics help and tips.

[sebsy]

Hi folks.

 

Just wondering if anyone could impart some wisdom so I might get quite good at making graphics.

 

Now, I consider myself quite good at cutting pics for kyky, although the fact pics can be downloaded off psd dreams with the backgrounds already cut out makes that quite moot.

 

However, I'd like to be able to do decent graphics for ppv.

 

Take this for example from the psd dreams NOC 2011 thread.

http://i.imgur.com/lQk0n.jpg

 

Now, how would one go about doing something as complex as that?

 

How do they get text that looks that nice on to the pic?

 

All I could ro well on that pic is cutting the workers on to either side of the background, but wouldn;t have a clue how to do the fancy text with the wwe symbol, or how to get the flashy gold vertical lines going down either side of the NOC logo.

 

Would anyone be willing to give some brief tutorials at all as I'd like to be able to do my own personalised graphics for my next diary, but if I can only do poor looking ones I won't bother.

 

 

 

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x387/metalteo96/WWE-6.jpg

 

Another example from the same thread. Now I could replicate that easily, as it appears all I'd need to do would be to cut out a section of the NOC poster as my background and put the worker pics over the top, but I want to be more fancy like in the first example.

 

I haven't the first clue what all the options do on GIMP, and I'm sure 50% of them at least are tools I won't even need to touch. But I want to get good at doing nice looking match graphics like that first pic, maybe even more fancy if I can.

 

 

http://i52.tinypic.com/2il0r9i.png

 

Finally, that's real fancy, with the see through-ish title belts, but guessing I would need many many months of practise to know how to do that?

[FlameSnoopy]

<p>Having used Photoshop since.. forever, I'd advise you to just.. go with it. Let it flow. Try different things. Try different tools etc. I have absolutely no experience with GIMP, having never used it, but I can tell that none of those pictures need real kind of expertise, just experience.</p><p> </p><p>

I have no idea what they look when they were cut, but the second pic seems simple yes. But it's not how much stuff you have in there, but how good it looks. The dudes are a bit smallish but otherwise it's pretty smooth. </p><p> </p><p>

The third picture is actually really easy: the belts have all been cut separately and slapped (may I say randomly) in to the background with reduced <strong>layer opacity.</strong> You can modify each layer's opacity from.. somewhere <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Then the NOC stuff was cut (not very effectively) and slapped to the top of the belts. The stuff in the background is most likely a stolen picture just found in the google pic search. Simple.</p><p> </p><p>

The first is a bit complex and overwhelming for a novice. The background is some kind of concrete / large brick wall that perhaps has had its color changed to a yellow shade to fit with the rest of the pic. The text is not really complex, just a nice font with some overbright (the whole piece is overbright) <strong>outer glow</strong>. WWE logo has been cut and pasted to look like it's part of the font. The NOC logo seems to be messed with <strong>brightness/contrast</strong> settings to make it look "shiny". The shininess in the middle is perhaps already in the picture, but can be done with trial and error using a light gray smooth edged brush and messing with layer opacity. For the gold lines, don't have a clue. Never had to do anything representing gold so haven't tried anything out. Try googling for a "gimp gold" tutorial or something like that and try to mix it in with the line -type. Could also be from a source pic with edited yellow sparks coming out of it.</p><p> </p><p>

So, this is pretty useless yes. What I'd recommend is trial and error, test it out and if you want specific results in a quick time google some tutorials. But that'll only get you the specifics, and not much overall experience.</p>

[Boltinho]

this isnt exactly what you need but it might help some really basic techniques that youre asking about:

 

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509542&highlight=gimp+tutorial

 

To agree with Flamesnoopy the 3rd pic is some fairly easy filters added to pasted pics and text.

 

Add some text and then go to filters/light and shadow/drop shadow and mess about with that.

 

The two vertical lines can be made a few different ways but a nice easy effect thats similar is Supernova. Go to filters/light & shadow/supernova and have a go

 

The best way is just to play. GIMP is a bit overwhelming but you can learn new things easily and quickly

 

good luck

[sebsy]

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

 

I've had a little play around with the supernova thing, but it only produces a blob, I don't know how to get a line like the two in the top pic.

 

Tbh, I really don't think this is something I'm going to get quickly enough to bother with it

[ThatChizzle]

I dont actually use Gimp, I prefer Adobe Photoshop, but anything from Adobe is expensive, so Gimp is a good one to use without having to spend anything heh.

I will say, one of the best things to do, is just mess around with it in your free time, try any and everything just to see what you can make out of anything. Another thing you can do is, on the Internet, there are a lot of tutorials out there, and it makes things easier to learn. I found a couple of sites that have a bunch of tutorials for Gimp.

 

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

 

http://gimp-tutorials.net/

[sebsy]

Cheers for that Mr Chizzle, that should keep me busy for the foreseeable

[snowjorden]

Having used Photoshop since.. forever, I'd advise you to just.. go with it. Let it flow. Try different things. Try different tools etc. I have absolutely no experience with GIMP, having never used it, but I can tell that none of those pictures need real kind of expertise, just experience.

 

This honestly says it all. This is the best advice I could give someone, and dude did it for me. Just wanted to say how sound this first response was.

[sebsy]

Hi folks, been a while since I have tried to do anything with this and looking to get to grips with it soon for my forthcoming diary.

 

Had a little play, but just really struggling to figure things out.

 

http://shareimage.ro/images/ngl9a9a6jgr5ajraiww.png

 

This is over on the psd forums. Now this looks really simple but I wouldn't have the first clue how to do that in GIMP. I know how to put things in to pictures so putting the logo on the background wouldn't be a problem, it is the background itself. Would I even be able to create that background using GIMP or is it just a picture someone has taken off google images?

 

Could anyone possibly just post what I'd actually have to do to make that background if it is indeed something makeable and not just something the creator has pulled off google images?

[paulskln]

Hi folks, been a while since I have tried to do anything with this and looking to get to grips with it soon for my forthcoming diary.

 

Had a little play, but just really struggling to figure things out.

 

http://shareimage.ro/images/ngl9a9a6jgr5ajraiww.png

 

This is over on the psd forums. Now this looks really simple but I wouldn't have the first clue how to do that in GIMP. I know how to put things in to pictures so putting the logo on the background wouldn't be a problem, it is the background itself. Would I even be able to create that background using GIMP or is it just a picture someone has taken off google images?

 

Could anyone possibly just post what I'd actually have to do to make that background if it is indeed something makeable and not just something the creator has pulled off google images?

 

the background looks like a material texture..in gimp-filters-artisitc-clothify-have a play around with things

[jhd1]

Could anyone possibly just post what I'd actually have to do to make that background if it is indeed something makeable and not just something the creator has pulled off google images?

 

It probably was taken from Google Images, but it doesn't stop it being 'makeable' (after all, someone must have done it at some point).

 

Basically, start off with a bluish-grey background. Use a soft brush with a black colour to darken the outsides of the image on a new layer and turn down the opacity slightly.

 

Create a new layer and fill it either black or a darker shade of the background. Use the circular marquee tool to create an oval selection (wider than it is tall) that is markedly wider than the image space, and aligned so that the bottom of the oval is level with the middle of the image. Delete the selection (in GIMP you need to cut [ctrl-x]) away from black/darker selection. Set this layer's opacity to somewhere between 20% to 50% opacity. That will give you the darker shading that runs along the lower half of the image (below the curved line).

 

Then, either find a suitable brush, or a greyscale image of brushed metal and place this as the uppermost layer. Set the layer type to multiply and, in theory, you should get the scratched effect showing through.

 

EDIT: This took about three minutes to do - if I'd have taken my time it would be more accurate, obviously.

 

http://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/jhdTEW/TestImage.jpg

[sebsy]

Thanks jhd, that's what I was after, someone detailing the steps for me. Has helped me find a few things out.

 

Only problem is, when I put the brushed metal picture I found on and lower the opacity is fine, but when I change it to multiply it just disappears?

 

I am selecting the brushed metal image and cutting it, then going back to the image I'm creating and clicking new layer (set as transparency) and going to edit-paste, then lowering the opacity, is that right? Just like I say if I change it to multiply it disappears.

[jhd1]

I am selecting the brushed metal image and cutting it, then going back to the image I'm creating and clicking new layer (set as transparency) and going to edit-paste, then lowering the opacity, is that right? Just like I say if I change it to multiply it disappears.

 

Are you using GIMP? If so, make sure your pasted selection is actually set to be a new layer. For some reason (on mine at least) you have to create a new layer after you have pasted the image into the file you are working on. It's easy to tell, because the layer name will be in a different format to the rest of the ones in the file.

 

That's the only explanation I can think of. Just so you know, multiply effectively makes the white areas transparent. Screen does the opposite, and makes black areas transparent.

 

Let me know if that fixes your problem.

[sebsy]

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n31/sebsyboy/zigryd.png

 

 

Right had a little play around and come up with that.

 

Ziggler and Ryder seem to stand out a bit to me, but if I lower the opacity, the backgrounds show through. Perhaps I just need to tone down the brightness of them before I paste onto the background?

 

Just going to be a bit of trial and error from here I think, don't think that is bad for a first proper effort

[jhd1]

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n31/sebsyboy/zigryd.png

 

 

Right had a little play around and come up with that.

 

Ziggler and Ryder seem to stand out a bit to me, but if I lower the opacity, the backgrounds show through. Perhaps I just need to tone down the brightness of them before I paste onto the background?

 

Just going to be a bit of trial and error from here I think, don't think that is bad for a first proper effort

 

Looks good. If you have the black shadowy outline on a separate layer then perhaps move that to the top?

[sebsy]

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n31/sebsyboy/zigryd2.png

 

Ah yes, looks better now, cheers.