1541 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

Since there are so many who design signatures and avatars on AD, I decided to start a topic where you can ask and answer questions relative to design. Ask anything about design theory or practice, software, post tips, personal preferences etc and maybe we can all learn a bit from each other.

Who's got a question?

[Ducksfreak93]

Since there are so many who design signatures and avatars on AD, I decided to start a topic where you can ask and answer questions relative to design. Ask anything about design theory or practice, software, post tips, personal preferences etc and maybe we can all learn a bit from each other.

Who's got a question?

5x-3=8+4 ??? Sorry alg really gets at you. I think I pretty well off right now so at the monent I will not have any questions.

[Tomato Assasin]

This is a great idea DK!! I have one..what software do you use DK? and if you use photoshop....how do you create the "lines" (like on a tv) across the sigs that you make. For example in your sig you have them across both your pictures. Also what programs do you use thedux02?

[Dark Knight]

I mainly use Photoshop for sigs. Now how to make the lines, the simplest way in Photoshop:

1. Start with the image you want to lay the lines over.
2. Create a new layer above it
3. Create a second new image 4 pixels wide by 2 pixels high on a transparent background.
4. Zoom in on this image up to 1600%
5. Use the pencil tool at 1 pixel and draw a straight line across (hold the Shift) in the color of your choice
6. Go to Select / All
7. Go to Edit / Define Pattern (click ok)
8. Go the image you started with and do Edit / Fill / Pattern / Custom Pattern
9. From the layers tab select Overlay (or any other of the choices)

You're done.

[Francaise]

This is not a question, just a comment. Great job you guys do, many thanks...........

[DropThePuck]

I'll second your kudos Francaise!

These folks are the best! It's all magic, smoke, mirrors, and hand waving to me.

[MrsBevo]

Ducksfreak, x = 3

I would also like to say thank you for the wonderful artwork you guys have created. Without it, I would be without a signature.

DTP - nice observation of the Power Player situation last night. I thought they weren't supposed to interact with one another, but I guess pointing out the extra ice piles is ok.

[Jennifer1515]

Ducksfreak, x = 3

I would also like to say thank you for the wonderful artwork you guys have created.  Without it, I would be without a signature. 

DTP - nice observation of the Power Player situation last night.  I thought they weren't supposed to interact with one another, but I guess pointing out the extra ice piles is ok.

actually they showed that on the OLN feed last night


oh...and I LOVE my Shane O'Brien sig DK made me

[Duckette]

I have a Q for TA.

How do you get the big Geometrical shapes in your sigs? You've had triangles in the corners, and the thick border. How do you do it? And I only have PSP9

[Aeryn]

DTP - nice observation of the Power Player situation last night.  I thought they weren't supposed to interact with one another, but I guess pointing out the extra ice piles is ok.

actually they showed that on the OLN feed last night

Okay, I hate to take this thread OT...but what the heck are you guys talking about?

[Duckette]

DTP - nice observation of the Power Player situation last night.  I thought they weren't supposed to interact with one another, but I guess pointing out the extra ice piles is ok.

actually they showed that on the OLN feed last night

Okay, I hate to take this thread OT...but what the heck are you guys talking about?

Its ok, I wanna know what they're talking about too!

[Dark Knight]

Please don't take this thread OT. I'd really like this to be someplace where the AD designers can have a Q&A forum.

Thanks

[Ducksfreak93]

Ducksfreak, x = 3

I would also like to say thank you for the wonderful artwork you guys have created.  Without it, I would be without a signature. 

DTP - nice observation of the Power Player situation last night.  I thought they weren't supposed to interact with one another, but I guess pointing out the extra ice piles is ok.

Thanks I just made that one up. Maybe I should of used one from the textbook.

[Tomato Assasin]

I have a Q for TA.

How do you get the big Geometrical shapes in your sigs? You've had triangles in the corners, and the thick border. How do you do it? And I only have PSP9

For the geometrical shapes in my sigs i create lines using the line tool and then fill it in with the paint bucket tool. And for the borders i usually just create a new layer and fill it in with the paint bucket tool and then "hollow" out the middle by selecting and then deleting the majority of the filled out layer to leave a border, or i'll use the line tool and set the lines to be thicker than usual to give it a border. Then i'll sometimes add effects and other features. I'm sorry if its not as easy to do this in you program (im using photoshop cs).

[Duckette]

I have a Q for TA.

How do you get the big Geometrical shapes in your sigs? You've had triangles in the corners, and the thick border. How do you do it? And I only have PSP9

For the geometrical shapes in my sigs i create lines using the line tool and then fill it in with the paint bucket tool. And for the borders i usually just create a new layer and fill it in with the paint bucket tool and then "hollow" out the middle by selecting and then deleting the majority of the filled out layer to leave a border, or i'll use the line tool and set the lines to be thicker than usual to give it a border. Then i'll sometimes add effects and other features. I'm sorry if its not as easy to do this in you program (im using photoshop cs).

LOL It's ok, my mom might let me get CS2 when we move. IDK If she will, but it's something I enjoy and might want to make a career out of

Thanks!!!

[Thind06]

i have adobe photoshop cs2
i was wondering what was the difference between adobe image ready and photoshop?

[PortBeach13]

1. I'd like to say thanks to DK, TA, thedux02 making me awesome sigs. Keep up the good work

2. Is there any software that is free and that I can download? Like can I make sigs etc with a free software?

[Dark Knight]

i have adobe photoshop cs2
i was wondering what was the difference between adobe image ready and photoshop?

I think TA can answer that question better, but ImageReady is used mainly for gif animations. Right TA? Maybe you can talk a little about how you do animated gifs?

[Jennifer1515]

i have adobe photoshop cs2
i was wondering what was the difference between adobe image ready and photoshop?

I think TA can answer that question better, but ImageReady is used mainly for gif animations. Right TA? Maybe you can talk a little about how you do animated gifs?

how about MS Paint....

[Duckette]

i have adobe photoshop cs2
i was wondering what was the difference between adobe image ready and photoshop?

I think TA can answer that question better, but ImageReady is used mainly for gif animations. Right TA? Maybe you can talk a little about how you do animated gifs?

how about MS Paint....

I can answer that:

MS Paint = CRAP

PSCS2 = AWESOME!

[Jennifer1515]

i have adobe photoshop cs2
i was wondering what was the difference between adobe image ready and photoshop?

I think TA can answer that question better, but ImageReady is used mainly for gif animations. Right TA? Maybe you can talk a little about how you do animated gifs?

how about MS Paint....

I can answer that:

MS Paint = CRAP

PSCS2 = AWESOME!

hey now thats what i "doctor" all my stats sheets with...ha ha ha
but maybe because Im doing good if I can figure out how to start my computer

[Tomato Assasin]

i have adobe photoshop cs2
i was wondering what was the difference between adobe image ready and photoshop?

I think TA can answer that question better, but ImageReady is used mainly for gif animations. Right TA? Maybe you can talk a little about how you do animated gifs?

Photoshop is mainly just the doctoring of images and imageready has most of photoshops features while it lets you create links, rollovers and animations, and it optimizes your graphics for the web. The software actually creates HTML pages for you, and includes all of the necessary code, such as table definitions, image maps, links, and JavaScripts, to implement a website.

More on the differences between photoshop and imageready can be found Here

How to use Imageready for animations

I use it for animations and to do this you open imageready and straight away you'll see a toolbar at the bottom that says 'animation' on it. This is the main thing that you will use to make the sig (assuming thats what your animating) animate.

To get your .psd file in imageready either open it in imageready or you can do that by going 'file', 'edit in imageready' or by clicking on the bottom button on the far left ('tools') toolbar in photoshop. Now once your file is open in imageready, the only real toolbars and features you'll need to use are the 'layers' and 'animation' toolbars.

In the animation toolbar you'll notice that the file you have opened in imageready is being shown as a small picture under the number 1 in the animation toolbar. This is frame no.1 and is the first frame in the animation. Under the picture in this toolbar you should see something like a number with sec written beside it. This is the amount of time the frame will be shown in the animation. This can easily be changed by clicking on the number and then choosing another amount of time. Below this are 8 buttons.

The first is one which probably says forever on it. You can use this to choose how many times it repeats in the animation (once, forever or a selected amount of times). I have never used this feature as usually you'll want the animation to repeat forever.

The next four buttons are used to play,flick through, pause and rewind the animation you have made. This very useful as it previews your animation and it shows how fast each frame is shown in the animation (for example you may have made a mistake on how fast you want one frame to go and it can easily be shown when you play the animation).

The next button should look like 4 circles. This button is used to make an animation between two frames (e.g. fading one frame to the next. for example in the selanne avatar i made for jason, you may notice that from the picture with selanne in the team photo it fades from that to his name. That is done through the use of this feature.) You can choose how many 'fading' frames you have as this can lead to a small or large fade. When you choose this option you'll see quite a few other options. Basically i use the amount of frames option and thats about it, i just leave the others as default. To use this you should select the frame (by clicking on it) that you want to have previous frame fading to.

The next button looks like a square and is the new frame button. This basically duplicates the one you have selected and makes you a new frame for your animation.

The frame following this one looks like a trash can and deletes the selected frame when clicked. These are basically the only things you need to learn for making animations in sigs.

If you want to create a sig or avatar that simply skips from one picture to another without any other effect you should create a new frame for each picture or pictures you want in each individual frame (by choosing whether they are shown in the layers toolbar or not), so for one frame select the layers you want shown in it and then in the next frame do the same (remember to deselect the layers you don't want in the new frame).

If you want to animate from one frame to the next use the 'fading' button which is mentioned earlier. There are lots of different ways to use this feature.

To save your animation as a gif you go 'file', 'save optimised as' and then name it something and then you have your gif and animating sig.

So basically to learn to use imageready in the way i've said, you should make a photoshop file with lots of contrasting layers and then put it into imageready and muck around with all the features in the animation toolbar, just go through them all and you should get the hang of it in no time because other than the animation toolbar its basically the same as photoshop.

If you have any questions about how to make a certain animation or anything else, just ask and i will be glad to help.

[Dark Knight]

Awesome TA! Thanks for taking the time. I'm going to practice this sometime.

[Tomato Assasin]

Awesome TA! Thanks for taking the time. I'm going to practice this sometime.

No problem!! I actually wrote this as a reply to TMDM who wondered how to use imageready as well, so it was a good idea that you made this thread, so it could be shared Yeah i recommend that you do try it, its great fun!!

[jojo983]

I love this thread! Thanks for posting the helpful guides DK and TA. When I finish my 5 assignments and my 2 exams I will start trying stuff out.