[Caael]

W00t! I finally got it installed after months of being too lazy.

http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/5889/narusig1sr3.jpg

Yes, it is my first try. I showed it to some people on MSN and they all liked it. Lets see how you guys react to it.


And I also made my avvie:http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/6308/naruavvieet5.jpg

They werent the best pictures to start off with, and 'fixing' them just made them worse.

I'm taking requests, but I need to know what picture, and what colours to do. Otherwise it will suck.

[Sea of Time]

The sig is great! I can't wait for our Photoshop unit to come along in my Comp. Graphics course. Right now we're working with Flash and it's incredibly tedious and boring. I would agree that the poor picture quality in the avie shows through, but the sig is well done.

[Toasty]

I think the avie's fine. But the sig does look a little plain. Mabey some text would help?

[Caael]

I shall add text right away sir!

Nah, I put text in, and it didnt look great. I admit that it looks plain though. I might have a theme park background in there.


http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/1636/naruavvie2edited2fm9.jpg

It looked better in photoshop, trust me.

This one is my favourite so far, but it wont let me resize it.:
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/3559/naruavviekc3.jpg

[Toasty]

I know why it looks better in photoshop. You need to set it's size when putting it in as your avatar. The one you posted is slightly smaller than the one in your avie. That might help.

[Caael]

Oh yeah ><

Um... I'll go resize it then. Thanks for comments. I doubt i'm good enough for requests yet, so dont give any until you guys are happy with my work.

Photoshop annoys me, because basically you have to set the size to 100x100 ( for avvies)when you make the new page or its incredibly difficult to resize the picture. Sigs are easier, but there's more space to fill.

Why is the board so picky about avvie sizes?

[Lemontime]

Try working with layer styles.. And not the same character every time..

[Caael]

But I like naru! Layer styles? What are they?

I'm a newb to PS, so i'll need help.
Once thign i'd really like to know how to do is to have water. Is there anyway to create water on photoshop, or does it have to be imported in?

My latest: http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8149/narusig2edited2eq7.jpg

Grrr. Paint really messes it up.

Changed it, and it has water. Not sure wether or not it's an improvement.
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4213/narusig3withwaterlh7.jpg

[Toasty]

Hmm, I like the origional better, but use the same border on the second as you did on the first one in your current post. Solid color borders aren't very attractive unless they're really thin. And you should try different characters. It'll allow you to try different themes easier and they'll come out better too.

But as for layer styles, you can change the style of an entire layer to fade a certain way, or react a certain way to other layers and such. I've only had CS2 for a little while, so I havn't experimented with it much. I don't know a whole lot about it though, either.

[Lemontime]

I didn't mean that kind of Layer Style, Toasty.
When you've selected your layer, Go to Layers > Layer Styles > Blending Options. Much around with those.
This might only work on a layer with transperancy.. But try it out!

[Toasty]

Yeah, I didn't explain it well, but that's what I ment. I tried it once, but it didn't turn out. I'll probably give it another shot sometime. For now though, I have to focus on more important things.

[Caael]

sibsag, on Oct 14 2006, 05:35 AM, said:

When you've selected your layer, Go to Layers > Layer Styles > Blending Options. Much around with those.
This might only work on a layer with transperancy.. But try it out!

I use transparent for all layers. Its way easier than having white background.

THanks for positive feedback, I thought the water one looked dodgy.

I already saved it as a JPEG though, so it blends the layers anyway. I can just make another, better one though.

[Toasty]

One thing that I found out, is that if you're doing some earasing and you want it to be really thorough, make a new layer, and fill it entirely with grey. It hsa to be just a bit lighter than a middle shade. Put it behind whatever you're erasing, and it will show very thoroughly if you've erased it all. I've used it many times on my sigs, and especially on the borders.

[Caael]

Anybody got any tips on how to do water? When you have Anime people, real water just dont look right.

[Toasty]

I think it looks fine in your current sig, but FD did a good job make water on fis sig. Though I'm not sure if that's real water or if he made it.

[Caael]

He did do a good job on it. I did it very badly in my current sig though. I didnt do anything to blend it with the background, so it looks bad. I'll get it blended later.

[FlamingDuck]

If you want to make water, try going to Filter>Render>Clouds, then, depending on the style you want, you can go to either Filter>Sketch>Chrome, with the settings at Detail 5, Smoothness 4, or, if you want something a little more wavy looking, you can go to Filter>Sketch>Bas Relief with Detail 13 and Smoothness 3. Then, hit Ctrl+Alt+U and check the colorize box and add color. (You can get some really nice colors by hitting Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer, color it, then setting that duplicate to either Overlay or Soft Light in the Layer Stlye menu. Try playing around with them.) I haven't really found a nice, all purpose water, yet, so play around with different Filters and brushes and stuff. To give the feeling of depth, you may want to try hitting Ctrl+T, then pulling the bottom box up so it looks like its goes off into the distance. Also, play around with the Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, espescially on the Chrome one.

For a view of underwater, I'd recommend just creating a bunch of layers with different gradients on them, then just changing the Layer Stlye or Opacity to create the feel you want.

I hope that helped.

Oh, and as for blending, try Ctrl clicking on the layer you want to blend, then go to Select>Inverse, then Select>Feather. Try setting it to around 6, and if thats too much, set it lower and if its too little, set it higher. And most importantly, EXPERIMENT! Add gradients, brushwork, whatever you feel makes it look better.

[Caael]

Thank you SO much FD. You have saved my life. Not really, but that is a huge help.

Edit: The Bas relief one worked better for me.

Here it is: http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8466/riverofbloodyl1.jpg

I also did another Naru sig. The water looks alright, but I cant get it to blend with the sky.
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/7172/narusig4ol8.jpg

[Toasty]

I like how your new sig turned out, but if you we're going for water, it could use some work. As for your rver of blood, it really does look like red water. Good job.

[Caael]

I do prefer the Bas Relief to the chrome technique. At the moment I am trying to make ocean+ sky= Horizon. The smudge and blur brushes are my Gods. I will post them when I get internet back on the other computer.

I'm also trying simplified water, that actually has more processes to it than the FD ones, but it turns out simpler and works better with Anime people. I should do a water mood board.

[Somia]

The river of blood looks more like a river of strawberry juice (<3), it's juat the colours not dark enough, otherewise it's good.

As for the ocean, the effect only applies to the surface of the water, not the side like that, next time you're on MSN I could show you how to colour the surfaces properly. You just gotta remind me.

Anyhow, can't wait to see your newer works.

[Caael]

Heheh, it is pink actually. I'll darken it. If I cant get the simplified water to work, i'll just use the bas relief one. Its effective and simple.

The current sig I have is kind of an optical illusion ( unintentionally) The sea is meant to go into the horizon, but the water looks like a side on view throught a glass or something with the writing submerged. ( I really like how the writing came out though)

Anyway, thanks Somia. It'll be a great help.

[Toasty]

Yeah, it kinda does. One thing when makeing a horizon though, you need to make the water look farther away as you get closer to the horizon. Don't forget that (though I'm sure you already know).
Anyway, I gave my hand at the chrome technique. The only thing I don't like, is the slight grey tint to it since you have to color over it lightly to get the right color. If only it would do the effect withought turning it grey. It came out pretty nice though. =D

[Caael]

One way to do that, which I have found out it to just put lighting effects there.

Internet fixed: picture time

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2148/waterhorizonfu1.jpg

Realistic water for this one. Horizon, alright, but I've done better

As in this pic:http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/1134/naruwatermb0.jpg This isnt quite finished, as Naru appears to be floating, and there is no border, and also the water isnt done.

[Toasty]

Yeah, one way is to do lighting effects, but you could also make the waves closer together as you get closer to the horizon. That's how a real ocean would look. You can then add lighting effects on top of that for an added effect. Thoase are pretty good, but for the second one, I'd suggest moving Naru's head closer to the bottom. That way it won't look like it's floating.

[Somia]

That looks more better, one thing thought, it's too light. And there just something about Naru that doesn't blend in well.. o.o

[Caael]

I'll slightly change the hue for naru to make her fit in more. She doesnt actually need to be there, it was just a water test at first, but I just felt like putting her there.

Heres the finished thing: http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/3365/naruwateredited1jpgedited2cw2.jpg

I know its bright, but thats cuz I need the reflection on the water. Well, lets hear comments.

[Toasty]

To fix the lighting, move the sun up, and don't make the reflestion so wide at the horizon. Also, if you have clouds reflecting on the water, don't. The cloud's reflection aren't vital, and it would make it look to bright. But it does look better.

[Caael]

The clouds arent reflecting in the water. I'm going to give water a break now, i'm very bored of it.