Good Sources To Learn Cs? how did you learn CS

[snlildude87 0]

Okay, I've decided, after seeing a bunch of good sigs on the net, especially some from a kid named "Johnny", that I want to learn this whole Photoshop dealy. I know sites like good-tutorials and pixel2life are good places to start, but often, the tutorials there stink. I mean, all they show you are step by step processes on how to make your sig, but they don't tell you why they're doing it that way.Where did you guys start on learning the ways of the CS? Did tutorials do it for you? Did you use books? I need sources of which I could leech so I could receive awesome criticisms like you, too.I've also seen talks about "renders" and "brushes" around here....what are those?Thanks in advance!!

[Johnny 1]

Okay, I've decided, after seeing a bunch of good sigs on the net, especially some from a kid named "Johnny", that I want to learn this whole Photoshop dealy. I know sites like good-tutorials and pixel2life are good places to start, but often, the tutorials there stink. I mean, all they show you are step by step processes on how to make your sig, but they don't tell you why they're doing it that way.

 

Where did you guys start on learning the ways of the CS? Did tutorials do it for you? Did you use books? I need sources of which I could leech so I could receive awesome criticisms like you, too.

 

I've also seen talks about "renders" and "brushes" around here....what are those?

 

Thanks in advance!!

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Well, at first (such a long long time ago) I just grabbed google images, slapped it on a background, added some text, and boom, that was my sig/banner/whatever. That was a very bad way to go. So, I'll tell all the steps I make in making my wonderfully delicious sigs (btw, thanks for the props )

 

Whoo boy, this is going to be harder than I thought...

 

1. Plan your sig. What do you want it to look like. Colors, render (that's an image, of say a celeb or a game character, or a chair, or whatever. You don't NEED a render, but I tend to go with them.), brushing (use brushes to make your sig more lively. You don't necessarily need this either.), effects (lightning bolts, sparklies, grids, tech, etc.), text (your name, name of site, etc.), border, and misc. other details.

 

2. Start by choosing base colors and brushing. Decide what color your background will be (Start with black, and add white brushing. These can change later in the sig.) Then start brushing it up (resources for brushes are at the bottom). Be sure to choose something that actually looks good, and not just a bunch of brushes put together. The brushing is the most critical step of a brushed sig.

 

3. Add the render. Take your render, and add it to your brushed background (http://forums.xisto.com/topic/9968-adding-a-render-to-a-sig-add-renders-to-your-sigs-in-photoshop/ is the link to my tutorial on adding a render), and if you want the render blended into the brushing, do this(http://forums.xisto.com/topic/9970-render-blending-how-to-blend-a-render-to-your-sig-in-photoshop/) or if you'd just like it to keep it as it is, continue.

 

4. Color your sig. Depending on if you want to blend the render with the brushing or not, add a color balance overlay above your brushing layer, or your render layer. Modify all three settings until you get to the color/hue/brightness/whatever you want. There's more advanced stuff you can do with color, but I'll get to that later.

 

5. Add text. Add your name or whatever you're going to add to your sig. This is also a crucial step, because bad text can make even the best sigs "value bin" sigs. Choose a good font that goes with what you already have in your sig. Then double click the text layer, and choose some nice effects to add to it (I often choose a outer glow and drop shadow, sometimes stroke, and sometimes bevel or color overlay. I rarely use the other settings, but they're all pretty nifty to use once in a while.) If you want your text to also blend with your background, you can change the transparency level to however you see fit. If you want your text to appear "behind" your render, or part of your brushing, move it under that/those layers.

 

6. Add extra effects. I often use "sparklies", grids, or things of that nature to spruce up a sig. If you want, ask me how to do these, and I'll be glad to tell you, along with some neat tricks you can do with them.

 

7. Add a border. Borders aren't ALWAYS needed in sigs, but in a VERY good majority of them, they do make them look a lot better. You can do a 1-px border, with just a single color, a two-px border, with two colors, a three-px border with a "sandwiched" color, or other different more advanced borders like "tech" ones. (http://forums.xisto.com/topic/9867-tech-bordered-sig/) Try different styles, as one might suit your sig better than another. Borders are highly modifiable, and believe it or not, they make a big impact on a sig.

 

8. Finishing touches. Add any extra effects you'd like, change/delete/add parts to your sig, etc. Play around until you find something that thoroughly completes your sig. Sometimes skipping this entirely is also the best route.

 

9. Experiment. Watch others. Read tutorials. I've found that just playing around in Photoshop can produce some pretty neat results (a lot of my stuff I've found on my own), and also, sometimes I'll just check out gfx sites, and see some different styles, and get plans for my next sig. There's some things you can only learn by seeing others do it first. Also, tutorials have been a big help for me. Believe it or not, I didn't know ANYTHING about renders or brushing or borders or blending or any of that stuff before I started reading tutorials. There are TONS of tutorials out there, and some are very unique, and give totally new ideas and shortcuts and such.

 

10. Most of all, have fun. You CANNOT just sit there and make sigs just because. You have to have fun doing it. I would definitely not have the patience to spend an hour or two on a sig if I weren't having fun making it. Don't force yourself, just do it.

 

11. I know all of this is still REALLY confusing. Like I said, this is just the basic concept I use in making my sigs. Feel free to ask me more about certain parts on AIM/Yahoo/MSN (where talking is faster) and I'll be glad to help figure something out. I'm absolutely sure you can't fully complete these without extra information. I'll try to answer questions to the best of my ability, but lots of times in making my sigs, I'm just snowballing, so I can't walk you through my entire thought process. All my contact info is in my profile.

 

Sources:

Brushes = http://www.deviantart.com/ (Browse, Resources, Photoshop Brushes)

 

Renders = http://www.gamerenders.com/forum/ (Gaming and anime renders, you can just do a google search for render sites if that's not your style.)

 

Tutorials = http://www.good-tutorials.com/ or http://www.pixel2life.com/ (Believe me, most tutorials listed on those sites are quality stuff. They hand-pick what goes on there.)

 

Fonts = http://www.dafont.com/de/ or http://www.1001fonts.com/

 

Hope that helped a little bit. I'm not really that great at teaching this stuff, but I do try. Laters.

[Cool_Freaker 0]

If you're just starting books are good to learn the different functions and features of Photoshop CS - and generally help in getting the basic gist of it. Once you're past that stage though, you're better off playing around and looking up specific tutorials. I've found in books it tends to go on more about photograph touch ups and stuff, which aren't really used for signatures (though good to know nonetheless).

 

Renders - basically just pictures that have been cut out, and are used in a signature/wallpaper

Brushes - in Photoshop there's a brush tool, which can take many different shapes and styles. You can download custom brushes which allows you to create many different textures/styles/whatever

 

I learnt pretty much through reading some easy tutorials, then trying them, then pretty much just mucking around, seeing what does what. You don't need to be particuarly skillful at Photoshop to make things look good, it's more about having an eye for it - placement, size and colour co-ordination are critical, and is something only you can develop to your own taste. Play around as much as possible, there's always the undo button, and Photoshop allows quite a lot of undos. Experiment on new layers to avoid mucking up your good ones.

[Damann 0]

almost everything i figured out by myself scince i saw other people doin it... the only thing i learned from tuts/other people is how to use actions,the pen tool, annnnd a few other styles of sigs

[Johnny 1]

almost everything i figured out by myself scince i saw other people doin it... the only thing i learned from tuts/other people is how to use actions,the pen tool, annnnd a few other styles of sigs

140792[/snapback]

That's funny, because I don't ever use the pen tool or actions.

[alexia 0]

you can learn photoshop here
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[Johnny 1]

you can learn photoshop here

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

143310[/snapback]

Actually, you can't technically LEARN photoshop from P2L, you can just learn different techniques, methods, and styles basically. But, it is useful, and I already suggested it. X.x

[mobious 0]

another tip is practice, practice and practice... the more you do stuff the more you get better.

[Johnny 1]

another tip is practice, practice and practice... the more you do stuff the more you get better.

144061[/snapback]

Absolutely. The more you do a certain element of a sig, the better you get at it, and the quicker you can do it. You also start to see how things are going to turn out, even before you apply a certain element.

[Phyre 0]

I pretty much learned how to use PS myself. The first thing's i created were just abstract images that I learned to do from tutorials from various sites. Just a bunch of filters thrown together. I've only starting creating my own stuff recently. Trial and error as well as experimentation helped me greatly