[Resources] Tips and Tutorial on Graphics

[zZJoennZz]

Hello Kametsu! It's me zZJoennZz, I will give you tips for graphic arts such as signature, avatars, and more like site template.

Lesson 1: [Photoshop Tools]

The major tools on making graphics is Photoshop which is so expensive. So I will explain what is the the Photoshop Tools for.

These tools is found on Photoshop CS5, and I think it can be seen too in other CS

Definition

Marquee Tool

This tool is the first thing on the left side of the photoshop toolbar. The marquee tool allows you to select objects, whether it be an ellipse or a rectangle, and to move them / cut / copy, etc...

Lasso Tool

This is the second tool on the left side of the photoshop toolbar. The lasso tool allows you to crop something from an image (freehand) and to delete, erase, move or even cut them.

Crop Tool

This the third tool on the left side of the photoshop toolbar. The crop tool allows you to crop a part of an image, and to delete whatever else you didn't include in the cropping process. This tool is different from the marquee and lasso tool, as it is not freehand, and will always be a square or rectangle.

Healing Brush

This is the fourth tool on the left side of the photoshop toolbar. It isn't that important, unless you are editing photos / retouching portraits, etc. Basically, what this does is "heals" a part of an image, by using the surrounding pixels. (E.g., if there is a dot on the nose, you can take a "sample" of the skin and brush it over the nose and it removes it).

Clone Tool

This is the fifth tool on the left side of the photoshop toolbar. Again, not too important, and what it does is take a sample of an image and reproduces it again wherever you want on the image.

Eraser Tool

This is the sixth tool on the left hand side of the photoshop toolbar. One of the most used tool, and pretty self explanatory - it erases.

Blur Tool

This is the seventh tool on the left hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It blurs whatever part of the image you want.

Pen Tool

This is the ninth tool on the left hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It is mainly used for vector work, making shapes, etc. It can also be used to cut out parts of an image, or more commonly known as rendering.

Move Tool

This is the first tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. Very simple in the fact that it allows you to move parts of an image around.

Magic Wand

This is the second tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It allows you to select a part of an image, and the wand will also select surrounding pixels that have somewhat the same colour pallete.

Slice Tool

This is the third tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It is mainly used in web designing, and allows to "slice" different parts of the image so that it can be coded properly.

Brush Tool

This is the fourth tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It allows you "brush" as if you were painting.

Paint Bucket Tool

This is the sixth tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It allows you to take a colour and fill an entire canvas with that colour.

Dodge Tool

This is the seventh tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It allows to brush over certain parts of the image and make them brighter.

Text Tool

This is the eighth tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It is simple and allows you to write a series of letters either horizontally or diagonally.

Shapes Tool

This is the ninth tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It has a preset of shapes (eg squares, rectangles, lines, stars, clouds, etc) and allows you to place them on an image in the desired size.

Eyedropper Tool

This is the tenth tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. It allows to click and take a sample of any pixel in a canvas and it will automatically be the foreground colour in your palette.

Magnify Tool

This is the eleventh tool on the right hand side of the photoshop toolbar. The Magnify tool allows you to zoom over a part of an image. The max zoom is 1600%.

Thanks for SolistraSora

[zZJoennZz]

Lesson 2: [Composition]

What is composition? Well, composition is basically the way you arrange all the elements in your signature together. Depending on how you do it, composition can pretty much ruin the signature or make it a masterpiece. Composition can also be thought of as a page layout if you prefer that term

Improving Signature with composition

Well, to improve your signatures through composition is quite simple. Although there are many tips and tricks, I will just list the ones I know or think are the basics.

Rule of Thirds

This is pretty much basic and the one you will most likely hear when asking for other's opinion. The rule of thirds is generally used with photography, but can be implemented when creating a signature. An example can be found below:

This is an animated gif so you have to wait a while to see the complete animation =]

So, the rule of thirds is basically an imaginary grid (3x3) that divides the art. Usually, the main focal or interest would be placed in one of any 4 intersecting lines (see example above). See the tree above? It was placed so it falls right where one of the lines intersects. This makes the whole thing a lot more interesting.

This means that when you are placing your main focal (such as an anime render for example), think about where you are placing it. Does it look interesting in the middle or should I move it a bit to the left to create a better mood for the signature? Of course, that does not mean that you should now place all your renders in the left or right side of the signature. Sometimes, placing it right in the middle can be effective as well, it all just depends on what type of signature you are creating.

Contrast

Another useful tip involving composition is adding contrast. You can think of contrasts as being two things completely opposite each other, but when placed together can create very interesting effects. Examples of these are placing a large teacup right next to a small one, water and fire, or even the colours black and white can create very interesting contrast.

Looking at the signature above, can you guess what makes it have good contrast? As far as I can see, there are two things. The first being the fact that it uses only 2 main colours (the black doesn't really count) which is white and brown. The second thing is the fact that one of them is lying down. This creates good contrast and your eyes automatically go to the brown scrabble lying down, since it is so much different from the other things in the signature.

This also shows good contrast by placing blue against red which creates a more interesting signature.

Lighting

The third (and the last one to be covered with depth) tip is lighting. Now, you might think that this isn't very important, but when used correctly, it can enhance the overall signature and make it interesting to the viewer. Lighting can be easily produced, yet works wonders if you use them in your signature. Not only does it produce a better sense of realism to your sig, it also creates contrast between the light parts of your signature and the darker parts.

Now, the signature above has good lighting. It clearly shows contrast, and it gives of a sense of realism to the entire signature. The light attracts the viewer's eye and leads them to the focal (which is the girl). Note how they also used the rule of third in this signature.

Now this one, its lighting is more simple and is the type you would likely used. Normally, you would usually place the light source somewhere at the top (there are exceptions though). The lighting used here just gives the signature something extra special and creates a better feel.

Of course, those 3 things are not the only way to improve. There are a lot more, and it is up to you to experiment on what looks good and what doesn't. Below is more ways on improving composition:

1. Balance - Is the brushes and shapes in your sig placed evenly or is it all bunched up leaving a wide gap? Think about your render and what works better with it, since the two choices above could work - it all depends on what you are trying to make.

2. Colour - Are you thinking about which colours you are using or are you just randomly picking them out? Colour is important and can help your composition. Choose colours which work well together such as blue and yellow. Are you trying to create a peaceful signature or a crazy one? You would then decide to choose cool colours for the former while warm colours for the latter.

3. Size - Choosing your canvas size can also matter. If you plan on creating something all bunched up together, choose a smaller size. If you want more space to see the background stock image, then by all means should you make it bigger. This is personal preference mostly, but can help with composition too.

[† Irish]

Very in-depth and informative. I love how you explained and gave examples, this is amazing...

[ウェンキ Leki]

Good Job Joen.

Gonna try this Tut.

[zZJoennZz]

Thank you both. I will add more after a while.

[† Irish]

awesome.... thanks for the tips...

[blackrose4diana]

thank you for ur clear tuts

[lcd123]

awesome dude !! great tips

[Alegend1994]

Thanks so much for this tutorial, it has helped a lot.

Hope some more come out soon I can't wait to make better signatures with this information.

[swordandblade]

Nice thanks

[kamonpatza]

Thank you