Custom Made Sig and Avatar [7]

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  1. Posts : 2,523
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       #471

    JaidynM said:
    To all GFX Team members.

    I got the Photoshop trial today, as I'm doing Visual Media for school. I then thought, why don't I start using it for making sigs/avatars etc? My question to you is, how did you start learning to use Photoshop? Also, do you recommend Photoshop or any other software? Did you use tutorials or just have a play around with it to get the feel of it?
    Hi Jaidyn,
    It's a combination of playing around with the software yourself and following tutorials. If you are completely unfamiliar with Photoshop (CS or Elements), then you will probably feel rather lost (I did). Once I started reading up on tutorials, I could concentrate on individual features and their functions and later decide which ones I wanted to use for which kind of sig.
    Also, I have a very good friend who is a Photoshop fan, plus my GFX mentors over here ;-D If you have...
    1) friends or know people who are Photoshop fans and can "mentor" you
    2) where to download which tutorials (there are different levels: beginners, intermediate etc.)
    3) a lot of passion, patience, time and stamina (you also have to be ready to get frustrated every now and then)
    ...then you'll enjoy Photoshop. Be careful: it is highly addictive once you get the hang of it, and you might end up sitting late at night until your eyes are as square as your screen. Make sure you do not let the joys of Photoshopping distract you from focusing on school and on "real life" ;-D

    About programs:
    -Adobe Photoshop CS is the leading and most popular image editing program out there. You can get a student version of this package - the "normal" non-student version is horribly expensive.
    -Adobe Photoshop Elements (which I use) is the watered-down version of Photoshop CS. It does not, for example, have the highly cherished Pen/Bezier Tool. I use it in combination with:
    -GIMP. GIMP is said to be almost as powerful as Photoshop CS and is a cross-platform program. And: it is free of charge :-D
    GIMP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    The most recent version is 2.6.11; when you open/use it for the very first time, you will have to get used to the user interface, which consists of three separate windows. A single-window-interface is foreseen in version 2.8, but it is unclear when this version will be released (end of this year or beginning of 2012). Once you get used to GIMP, you will be very happy with it. I love it )
    -CorelDraw Graphics Suite X5. Corel is one of Adobe's main competitors; I do not like it that much, to be honest; I find the UI a bit complicated; but other GFXers like Archie or Nick have perfect mastery over both CorelDraw and Adobe Photoshop, so they'll be able to tell you more.
    -Paint.NET. A free and popular program (especially for beginners) for Windows users only. You need to have Microsoft NET Framework installed (hence the name). I do not have any experience with it, but I have often seen it recommended over here.

    Uhm...That's all I can think of for now My co-GFXers will definitely give you some more valuable input.
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  2. Posts : 6,857
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 (desktop)
       #472

    Athene said:

    Hi Jaidyn,
    Be careful: it is highly addictive once you get the hang of it, and you might end up sitting late at night until your eyes are as square as your screen. Make sure you do not let the joys of Photoshopping distract you from focusing on school and on "real life" ;-D
    Wise words there written by the young lady from Switzerland.....I hope Jaidyn heeds them.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 2,523
    -
       #473

    Lol, thanks, Randy Seriously, it really is addictive ;-D
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  4. Posts : 8,398
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64/Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64/Ubuntu 11.04
       #474

    Darkelk said:
    Learn by fooling around on it, once you get an idea of what you want try a tutorial. Hands on learning is the most fun. :)
    I totally agree. It's just that when I got into Adobe Flash, playing around didn't help at all. It was so confusing I went straight into tutorials. Hopefully, PS isn't the same. :)

    noobvious said:
    Athene said:

    Hi Jaidyn,
    Be careful: it is highly addictive once you get the hang of it, and you might end up sitting late at night until your eyes are as square as your screen. Make sure you do not let the joys of Photoshopping distract you from focusing on school and on "real life" ;-D
    Wise words there written by the young lady from Switzerland.....I hope Jaidyn heeds them.
    I sure will.

    Thanks a bunch, Athene. Your post was incredibly helpful, I would rep you but I have to 'spread it around'. I've bookmarked the page though so I can rep it when possible.

    I do have a friend that is very good at Photoshop so I might ask him to help me out. But to start with, I might just have a play around. I'll see what advice your 'GFX mentors' too.

    I might also see if I can burrow a school laptop. All of the school PC's and laptops have PS CS5 on it so I might be able to use that if I really get into it.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 2,523
    -
       #475

    Thanks for the kind words, Jaidyn, I'm glad I could help a bit I forgot to mention that Nick also uploads great video tutorials on youtube for us GFXers :-D You can find his channel over here:
    poomanuk's Channel - YouTube

    Lots of the tutorials are for CorelDraw, though, but I think most of them can be followed in Photoshop CS as well. I'm sure Nick will tell you more: he's currently helping me patch up my wonky font "skills" ;-D
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #476

    JaidynM said:
    To all GFX Team members.

    I got the Photoshop trial today, as I'm doing Visual Media for school. I then thought, why don't I start using it for making sigs/avatars etc? My question to you is, how did you start learning to use Photoshop? Also, do you recommend Photoshop or any other software? Did you use tutorials or just have a play around with it to get the feel of it?
    Nick has made some video tuts poomanuk's Channel - YouTube

    TripWire mag has many illustrated one too, this one is for text, but follow the links. 140+ High Quality Categorized Photoshop Text Effects Tutorials - tripwire magazine
      My Computer


  7. Arc
    Posts : 35,373
    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview 64-bit
       #477

    Darkelk said:
    I know this is an odd request, but I'd love you forever if you made me a nice signature with an elk on it.
    Prefferably a dark theme haha.
    How is this haha. Anyway thanks for a sig request I have never seen a request for a long time.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 2,523
    -
       #478

    Beautiful sig, Archie :-D He's going to love it I'll make one for you too, Darkelk, that way you can rotate your sigs a bit ;-)
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  9. Posts : 160
    Windows 7 64 Home Premium
       #479

    Arc said:
    Darkelk said:
    I know this is an odd request, but I'd love you forever if you made me a nice signature with an elk on it.
    Prefferably a dark theme haha.
    How is this haha. Anyway thanks for a sig request I have never seen a request for a long time.
    Thankyou very much Archie, it looks amazing :)
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 160
    Windows 7 64 Home Premium
       #480

    Athene said:
    Beautiful sig, Archie :-D He's going to love it I'll make one for you too, Darkelk, that way you can rotate your sigs a bit ;-)
    That would be great thanks :)
      My Computer


 
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