Cool_Freaker

I totally agree. I remember when your sigs just... a month or a bit more ago?, were nowhere as near as good as the ones now. Super fast progress Johnny... , but yeah some of the Pro's are just hardcore - you have no idea how the hell they make stuff. Same. I'm watching everyone else progress, and I can't find the time/inspiration to even do one.

Not bad, I think a little blending of the render with the grunge background would be good... but otherwise the background itself is well textured and has *substance* to it. I think some slightly redder grunge brushing would have helped match with the render's red clothes a bit better.Great way to split text with pixel text in between.. and interesting logo too

Render is a bit overused, but aside from that, good placement and extraction. It needs a border, even a simple 1px black one will do. Also the text needs to be a bit more readable. I understand you want it to blend somewhat with the background, but right now it's perhaps blended a bit too much. Try brushing on top of the render also, to blend that in as well.Good for your first one back... I don't rate usually, I think I'd be too harsh

I'm with you on this one truefusion. The blue is a bit.. bright - ie, it's uncomfortable to look at it.

Wow so many. Johnny, I'm gonna die trying to respond to all of them We've only seen 11 & 16 here at Xisto anyway :(Ok.. um my faves - 2,5,6,10,13 and yeah - gift 3 & 72 - Good font choice, brushing is pretty decent. The sig just flows quite well and whilst maybe not technically outstanding, works well.5 - Interesting semi grunge/tech thing, I like it better than the other similar one (14), as 14 looks a bit bright/bleached. Anyway, it's unique, and the render & text aren't too bad either.6 - I've always like the whole "light" brushing thing. You've made it work quite well - maybe too much . Perhaps a little less brushing/light would make the render and text a bit more visible - though I did still like it.10 - Once again, good use of the whole "light" thing. Works well with the render as it looks like the light is reflecting off. Not too sure about the lines in the middle, but I like the text... good brushing around it - makes it look funky :(13 - Worms is awesome. And that's a great sig. Good use of simple colours - good render placement. It's totally unique, and great use of that filter for the background. My pick of the lot.Gifts:3 - Nice mystical feel with soft brushing, reflected text. The pattern overlay works well too. Good how the render feels part of the sig with the soft brushing round it.7 - Star brushes used well, not too excessive, and the cloudish background is subtle yet effective. Suitable font choice too. Just don't go for how part of the render has lost it's colour and become blue.The others:1 - Bit monotone - background makes text box thing look a bit pixellated - though I like the render :(3 - Once again, a bit monotone, brushing is a bit boring... Render isn't particuarly complex either.4 - Luigi is a bit pixellated round the edges, and his colour isn't quite uniform - a bit patchy. He doesn't really blend in at all with the background (which is a bit boring in itself, with only the beam trailing).7 - Not too bad, nice how the sword is higlighted with the brush strokes. Maybe some more variation in the background would do it.8 - Find the background a bit simple... and then it's just the render with some tech brushes, which don't flow quite as well as some of your other sigs.9 - Works well, actually. Simple, neat, but comparatively, not as good as your others.11 - I've commented on this one before I think.12 - Bit too blue, and the bottom seems a bit bare, even though it's lighter than the rest. Maybe the lighter bit needs to be at the top, whilst the text and darker bit at the bottom? I'm not sure, just didn't go for the placement so much. 14 - Doesn't work as well as 5, too bright in the middle, and the render doesn't blend as well - as it's just on top of the background15 - Better than the Luigi one, but I would think some more background, and better blending of the render would do it. Have his feet somehow brushed over, like they're moving? I'm not sure B)16 - Not much to say, just a bit boring.Other Gifts:1 - Bit too simple - just the grunge type overlay brush on top, can't tell what's in the background. Good font choice though.2 - Text a bit too opaque, and the render needs to be blended in a bit better. 4 - Monotone, I think. Neat and tidy, but looks like other sigs you've made - ie not that unique.5 - Background is too dominant with the patches.. text is hard to read too.6 - Think you went a bit overboard on the glow on text/feature. Magna Carta renders tend to be overused also.

Your best yet Saint_Michael. Awesome render, and really unique background. Well done.Good text effect too - though I reckon the font needs to be even more extravagant to match the rest of the sig. Just a simple border round the rectangular part of the sig would tidy it up too, which is pretty much what Johnny said.

I actually think the lines make it uneccesarily complicated. I'm a mean bugger

Get rid of the lines - it really ruins it. Try getting some colour in the background as well, as white and black is a bit boring, especially when the render isn't particuarly coloured. Perhaps try some blues as well, as the batman you have is blue. Font choice isn't so bad (though still could be better - something more gothic?), but maybe bigger, and more dominating over the subtext. Place them more to the centre too...Add a border... and um you should be good

Better be chocolate chip. Can't stand anything else.

It's quite easy. Yes, you do make everything on one picture. Usually though, it's best to do each bit on a separate layer, and then if you want things like rollovers it's much easier. Once you've got all the actual "layout" things done, you'll have to slice the image. That is - cut up your image so each bit loads separately. Slice in useful bits, ie cut each button out by themselves, and cut the whole banner. Basically, use your brain when slicing - don't make slices too big nor too many small ones.Slicing can be done in either Photoshop or ImageReady. You'll have to import to ImageReady either way, and there you can "Save for Web". It will then save all the images and HTML to a folder, so when you open the page all the images have been put into tables and it looks just like your unsliced image.

Since I don't know what Johnny said I'll um just let you know what I think :rolleyes:The transperancies don't really work - mainly because the render is cut off on the top right there. Since it's in the "transperant area", no part should be cut off, as in transperancies, it's supposed to be outside and open, without *borders*.The text should really be on top of the background, rather than the render. A fancier, scarier font would be better also. Perhaps a different colour, and normal opacity.The reaper looks just a tad too blue also? I guess the culmination of greys and blues just don't work for me. Anyway, looking forward to your next "lady" sig

Well, it's certainly an interesting effect you got with all those filters :rolleyes:Try a border, and with the text, don't outerglow so much. Maybe change the colour of the glow, or change the size. Right now it looks too "default" like

Just a tad monotone also. You should try have the render and/or text slightly (or extremely) different so they stand out more.

Rain is a common first animation for PS users. Perhaps give that a try next time instead

HmmZ pretty much nailed it. Try for some more colour contrasts and stuff also. A popular filter which is commonly used for background is clouds... so go Filter > Render > Clouds. What you get is quite easy to change and manipulate to suit your purposes.Gradients are good for colour variation also, so perhaps give them a try.

I thought any existing old IPB installations from 1.x were available for continued usage, though there was to be no more distribution of the software, so no new forums from the old 1.x are *supposed* to be made. There was a version of 2.0 which was unlimited Trial, but I'm guessing any of those would be deemed illegal.

I think you need to move the Levels tab more, as it's really a bit too thick for a thunder bolt. Give it another go, and maybe try with the car in front

Not bad, though 244kb is quite big considering the simple animation. If you look up some tutorials, I'm sure there's ways to have several bolts of lightning come down at different times giving it a more random feel.I would recommend a border - it can be simply a 1 px black line, but it helps to define the edges, and gives it more of a finished look. Try some fancier fonts also, if you don't have any go to Dafont. Perhaps make the lightning bigger, or get a render in there to fill in the space, as the background itself doesn't have enough contrast to stand on its own without another feature. Good work though, it has definitely improved greatly

HmmZ said DeviantArt - http://www.deviantart.com/ - look under Resources/Photoshop Brushes Yep, it's pretty good brushing on that. I have no idea what the render is though , and don't particuarly go for the border. And as Johnny said, fix up the font/size of text... but otherwise it's a good improvement over your other ones HmmZ.

It's great Johnny! Thanks a bunch - people probably just don't know what to say - hence no replies :(You're right about the colour bars, they just look a bit out of place in the first one, and probably draws your attention too much to the background because of the contrast. Love the font on this one though

Problem with PNG is that IE can't (or at least used to) see the transperancies. I have a feeling it may have been updated... But I have to agree, the settings are much easier, and don't have the screwy edges you sometimes get with GIFs. I do know some people who are great with their GIF matte settings though, and you'd swear it was a PNG - just goes to show it can be done.

HmmZ, took me a while to see the animation - I was just looking and saw the eyes move or something - creepy, until I realised it was a tear.As you said the leg just looks a bit funny there, although if you think about it, it's infact quite feasible, and in terms of width, I don't think it's too large. Try to get some different colours in there though, it's seeming a bit monotone. Make the text more of a feature, this sig could do with some fancy font, making it more of a feature, rather than just being there. The border isn't sitting too tight with me either - it's probably just me, but I like to try and have borders somewhat even on all sides.All in all though, it's getting there

Not too bad in general. One big tip - don't bevel everything in your graphics, it generally gives a cheap/n00bish impression. The font you chose, generally doesn't look too good with that kind of bevel, though some do. Same with outer glows. Don't have it on default on everything; play around with the colours and size.Try some brushing as well - DeviantArt has a good range

Quite nice Johnny. I don't particuarly go for the text, somehow, hard to pinpoint what, maybe the font.I like how the background looks like some sort of land mass, and the abstract feature in the middle really works with the render. Great stuff.

Looks a bit weird in the daylight like that , meh, I guess it's possible then