1.) Getting Started
What is a sig?
What is an avatar?
What is an LA?
What programs to download for graphics?
2.) Get Going!
What do I need?
Where do I get Brushes?
Where do I get fonts?
Where do I get renders?
What is a render?
How do you make a render?
What is a stock?
Where can I find stocks?
Where can tutorials be found?
3.) Those Afterward Issues
How do I install fonts?
How do I install brushes?
How do I make patterns?
What is signature/LA classification?
__________________________________________________ ______________________________
1.) Getting Started
What is a sig?
Answer: Sig, which is short for Signature is a graphic image below your posts.
What is an avatar?
Answer: An Avatar (Similar to a Sig) is a small graphic image below your user name.
What is an LA?
Answer: LA stands for Large Art, usually meaning a wallpaper or a large artistic image.
What programs can I use to make these in?
Answer: I recommend Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator for graphics, but GIMP, which is Freeware, works fine too. It just doesn't have all the nooks and crannies the Adobe products have. Click here to download GIMP.
What is this Adobe Photoshop you speak of?
Answer: Adobe Photoshop is the program that allows you to create such graphic images for you to show off and/or your board profile. However, it's not only for making sigs and such, it is mainly a photo enhancer and used for advertising and business.
Where can I get Adobe products?
Answer: You can find them here at Adobe Systems Incorporated where you can buy the products or download a free trial for thirty days so you get the feel of it before you buy.
Wow, there are a lot of versions! Which one of the products is best to get?
Answer: Preferably Adobe Photoshop CS3, but you can use Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Flash Professional for advanced animation *NOT RECOMMENDED FOR BEGINNERS*
I have downloaded my free trial of Photoshop, now what?
Answer: Now you're going to open up Photoshop and get started.
__________________________________________________ ______________________________
2.) Get Going!
What?? I need more information! Now what do I need to start making sigs?
Answer: Ah yes, the most important resources for sigs are brushes, fonts, and renders. Brushes, of course is what makes a background a background and stylish fonts add a special little text effect for your sig/avatar and a render is those characters you see in the sigs/avatars.
And where can I get brushes, fonts, and renders?
Answer: For brushes, go to deviantART.com or Brusheezy.com and for fonts, go to Dafont.com.
What exactly are these "Renders"?
Answer: They're basically a picture that has been extracted (rendered) from a wallpaper/image onto a transparent background. They are created by a few methods such as the following: The recommended tool(s) to use for rendering are the Pen Tool and Channels, though there are the other methods or rendering, however they don't do as clean as a job. Therefor when you render an image, you can use your render for many other options than sig making.
Another type of render is a C4D (short for the program used to make it; Cinema 4D) or Fractal, which are 3D objects used to enhance sigs, LAs, etc. There are many types of C4Ds/fractals with their own style, some that give only certain effects, so you have plenty to choose from. These are also a type of abstract/modeling art.
How do I create a render?
Answer: There are many tutorials on how to render many images of all styles. You can find many tutorials on rendering by searching in the board . (Read step 11 for tutorials)
If you want to create a fractal or a C4D, I recommend for fractals Apophysis and for C4D's, Cinema 4D or 3D Studio Max. Apophysis is free, but you have to buy Cinema 4D or 3D Studio Max or download a trial.
People start talking about these stocks. What are those?
Answer: Stocks are basically high quality images taken by professional photographers. Most usually consist of people in poses that are easy to work with. Stocks are used mostly for large art, but also many signatures.
Computer wallpapers are also known as stocks (images that have yet to be rendered).
Where can I find stocks?
Answer: For high quality photography stocks for LAs and Photo Manipulations, stock.xchng.hu, Stockvault.net, and Free Photos Bank.com are really nice places.
For gaming wallpapers, GameWallpapers.com, Games2Wallpapers.com, 2desktop.com, BestGameWallpapers.com, and GameWallpapers.ru suffice very well.
Alright, I have all the resources, now how do I make a sig and whatnot?
Answer: Find some tutorials on how to make sigs/avatars/LAs. For great tutorials, go here to PSLover.com or here Pixel2Life.com. You can find tutorials for Flash, Illustrator, and C4D at these places.
You can also search on this board. There are many signature tutorials to get you started.
If you are in to LA, you should find these places sufficient: PSDtuts.com, Tutzor.com, and PSHero.com. Be sure that you have basic knowledge of PS before attempting the tutorials on those sites.
Well, I think I'm ready to start making sigs, avatars, and LAs, but I have one more question. How come everyone's sigs look better than mine?
Answer: Well that just takes practice. Keep working with your graphics program and see what cool and new creations and styles you can make.
Those Afterward Issues
I downloaded my fonts, now how do I use them?
Answer: In order to use them, you need to install them. Don't be threatened by the word "Install." It's simple to do really, here's how. *Mac users bear with me, I'm showing how this is done in Windows.*
First, hit the start button and go to Control Panel.
In the list, you should see a folder with a green "F" in it and says Fonts. Open that folder.
You should be given a huge list of your current fonts. Don't be intimidated by this; you don't have to do anything weird.
With that open, simply drag the font file you downloaded from your desktop or where ever into the font folder and bam, you're finished!
Okay, but how do I install brushes?
Answer: You don't exactly install these, all you do is put them in a folder so Photoshop can recognize them. Here's how. *Again, bear with me GIMP users. I have Photoshop*
Go to My Computer and select your Local Disk drive.
Open Program Files.
Open Adobe > Adobe Photoshop > Presets > Brushes.
Now simply drag your brushes file you downloaded into the folder. If Photoshop was open, restart it, and the brushes should pop up when you go to change them (in the side box).
I downloaded some cool rock textures, but I want to make them a pattern. How do I do this?
Answer: This is more simple than it sounds. Here's how:
Open your texture in Photoshop.
Switch to the Paint Bucket Tool and change the option on the above toolbar to Pattern.
Load one of the default Photoshop patterns that fits the context of your texture.
Go to Edit > Define Pattern...
Name the pattern what you want and hit OK and there you go! *Be sure to save the patterns file when you're done!*
Every time I post a sig/LA, people are saying my work is novice. What is the meaning of this?
Answer: The term novice is used to classify your skills at graphics. Here is a list of terms and their meaning:
Novice: This classification means you're a beginner. Your graphics are simple and easy to make. Nothing really complicated was put into it. Those new to graphics usually start as this for you're still trying to get the swing of things.
Moderate: This classification means you're above basic knowledge. You're beginning to work with flows, special effects, and the use of filters and layer adjustments. Usually people begin pen tooling and using color related C4Ds for added effects at this stage.
Intermediate: This classification means you know your stuff. You are using advanced techniques to add effects, such as clipping masks, textures, smudging, displacement filters, etc. You know how to make your effects flow with your stock/render properly and know how to add in the right kind of text. Most people begin manipulating images at this stage.
Professional: This classification means you practically know all the whistles and bells to making graphics. You manipulate photos into beautiful artistic LAs with style and symbolism. You make your own GFX portraits consisting of realistic backgrounds, people, and imaginative characters. You vision a scene in your head and paint it directly in your graphics program. Only those who are highly experienced in graphics make it to this stage.
What is a sig?
What is an avatar?
What is an LA?
What programs to download for graphics?
2.) Get Going!
What do I need?
Where do I get Brushes?
Where do I get fonts?
Where do I get renders?
What is a render?
How do you make a render?
What is a stock?
Where can I find stocks?
Where can tutorials be found?
3.) Those Afterward Issues
How do I install fonts?
How do I install brushes?
How do I make patterns?
What is signature/LA classification?
__________________________________________________ ______________________________
1.) Getting Started
What is a sig?
Answer: Sig, which is short for Signature is a graphic image below your posts.
What is an avatar?
Answer: An Avatar (Similar to a Sig) is a small graphic image below your user name.
What is an LA?
Answer: LA stands for Large Art, usually meaning a wallpaper or a large artistic image.
What programs can I use to make these in?
Answer: I recommend Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator for graphics, but GIMP, which is Freeware, works fine too. It just doesn't have all the nooks and crannies the Adobe products have. Click here to download GIMP.
What is this Adobe Photoshop you speak of?
Answer: Adobe Photoshop is the program that allows you to create such graphic images for you to show off and/or your board profile. However, it's not only for making sigs and such, it is mainly a photo enhancer and used for advertising and business.
Where can I get Adobe products?
Answer: You can find them here at Adobe Systems Incorporated where you can buy the products or download a free trial for thirty days so you get the feel of it before you buy.
Wow, there are a lot of versions! Which one of the products is best to get?
Answer: Preferably Adobe Photoshop CS3, but you can use Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Flash Professional for advanced animation *NOT RECOMMENDED FOR BEGINNERS*
I have downloaded my free trial of Photoshop, now what?
Answer: Now you're going to open up Photoshop and get started.
__________________________________________________ ______________________________
2.) Get Going!
What?? I need more information! Now what do I need to start making sigs?
Answer: Ah yes, the most important resources for sigs are brushes, fonts, and renders. Brushes, of course is what makes a background a background and stylish fonts add a special little text effect for your sig/avatar and a render is those characters you see in the sigs/avatars.
And where can I get brushes, fonts, and renders?
Answer: For brushes, go to deviantART.com or Brusheezy.com and for fonts, go to Dafont.com.
What exactly are these "Renders"?
Answer: They're basically a picture that has been extracted (rendered) from a wallpaper/image onto a transparent background. They are created by a few methods such as the following: The recommended tool(s) to use for rendering are the Pen Tool and Channels, though there are the other methods or rendering, however they don't do as clean as a job. Therefor when you render an image, you can use your render for many other options than sig making.
Another type of render is a C4D (short for the program used to make it; Cinema 4D) or Fractal, which are 3D objects used to enhance sigs, LAs, etc. There are many types of C4Ds/fractals with their own style, some that give only certain effects, so you have plenty to choose from. These are also a type of abstract/modeling art.
How do I create a render?
Answer: There are many tutorials on how to render many images of all styles. You can find many tutorials on rendering by searching in the board . (Read step 11 for tutorials)
If you want to create a fractal or a C4D, I recommend for fractals Apophysis and for C4D's, Cinema 4D or 3D Studio Max. Apophysis is free, but you have to buy Cinema 4D or 3D Studio Max or download a trial.
People start talking about these stocks. What are those?
Answer: Stocks are basically high quality images taken by professional photographers. Most usually consist of people in poses that are easy to work with. Stocks are used mostly for large art, but also many signatures.
Computer wallpapers are also known as stocks (images that have yet to be rendered).
Where can I find stocks?
Answer: For high quality photography stocks for LAs and Photo Manipulations, stock.xchng.hu, Stockvault.net, and Free Photos Bank.com are really nice places.
For gaming wallpapers, GameWallpapers.com, Games2Wallpapers.com, 2desktop.com, BestGameWallpapers.com, and GameWallpapers.ru suffice very well.
Alright, I have all the resources, now how do I make a sig and whatnot?
Answer: Find some tutorials on how to make sigs/avatars/LAs. For great tutorials, go here to PSLover.com or here Pixel2Life.com. You can find tutorials for Flash, Illustrator, and C4D at these places.
You can also search on this board. There are many signature tutorials to get you started.
If you are in to LA, you should find these places sufficient: PSDtuts.com, Tutzor.com, and PSHero.com. Be sure that you have basic knowledge of PS before attempting the tutorials on those sites.
Well, I think I'm ready to start making sigs, avatars, and LAs, but I have one more question. How come everyone's sigs look better than mine?
Answer: Well that just takes practice. Keep working with your graphics program and see what cool and new creations and styles you can make.
Those Afterward Issues
I downloaded my fonts, now how do I use them?
Answer: In order to use them, you need to install them. Don't be threatened by the word "Install." It's simple to do really, here's how. *Mac users bear with me, I'm showing how this is done in Windows.*
First, hit the start button and go to Control Panel.
In the list, you should see a folder with a green "F" in it and says Fonts. Open that folder.
You should be given a huge list of your current fonts. Don't be intimidated by this; you don't have to do anything weird.
With that open, simply drag the font file you downloaded from your desktop or where ever into the font folder and bam, you're finished!
Okay, but how do I install brushes?
Answer: You don't exactly install these, all you do is put them in a folder so Photoshop can recognize them. Here's how. *Again, bear with me GIMP users. I have Photoshop*
Go to My Computer and select your Local Disk drive.
Open Program Files.
Open Adobe > Adobe Photoshop > Presets > Brushes.
Now simply drag your brushes file you downloaded into the folder. If Photoshop was open, restart it, and the brushes should pop up when you go to change them (in the side box).
I downloaded some cool rock textures, but I want to make them a pattern. How do I do this?
Answer: This is more simple than it sounds. Here's how:
Open your texture in Photoshop.
Switch to the Paint Bucket Tool and change the option on the above toolbar to Pattern.
Load one of the default Photoshop patterns that fits the context of your texture.
Go to Edit > Define Pattern...
Name the pattern what you want and hit OK and there you go! *Be sure to save the patterns file when you're done!*
Every time I post a sig/LA, people are saying my work is novice. What is the meaning of this?
Answer: The term novice is used to classify your skills at graphics. Here is a list of terms and their meaning:
Novice: This classification means you're a beginner. Your graphics are simple and easy to make. Nothing really complicated was put into it. Those new to graphics usually start as this for you're still trying to get the swing of things.
Moderate: This classification means you're above basic knowledge. You're beginning to work with flows, special effects, and the use of filters and layer adjustments. Usually people begin pen tooling and using color related C4Ds for added effects at this stage.
Intermediate: This classification means you know your stuff. You are using advanced techniques to add effects, such as clipping masks, textures, smudging, displacement filters, etc. You know how to make your effects flow with your stock/render properly and know how to add in the right kind of text. Most people begin manipulating images at this stage.
Professional: This classification means you practically know all the whistles and bells to making graphics. You manipulate photos into beautiful artistic LAs with style and symbolism. You make your own GFX portraits consisting of realistic backgrounds, people, and imaginative characters. You vision a scene in your head and paint it directly in your graphics program. Only those who are highly experienced in graphics make it to this stage.
