My First (still needs work)

[Cursed One]

Ok ladies and gents i am very new to using photoshop and making sigs n all that and i need some advice on what to do with this to make it better.
I know it aint great or anything like the pros but its my first step towards there so i need some advice on what to change and direct instructions on how to =P
Please Dont Harshly criticize me its only my first just getting used to the basics

Here it is =P (dont get how to make a boarder yet (using CS2))

[Cursed One]

Might i add they are the very very basics

[Swindler]

keep the text nere the focal point.. and to add a border just make a new layer -> CTRL + A -> Edit > Stroke -> Choose border color and how thick it should be 1-3 px is good.

[cin]

its not a bad sig, definitely not for a first time.

i like what you did to the background, was probably part of a bigger
image, with the girl already in it. still, its good that you blurred
or smudged up the background a bit. gives us the idea that the girl
is closer to us than the rest of the sig is.

imo you overdid the blurring a bit, or perhaps the stock (original
picture) was like that, but it might have looked better if the girl
in the picture was less blurred than the background. i mean, her left
arm blurred to blend her into the picture is allright, but now the
whole looks a bit overdone.

i miss a real lightsource. it would bring a lot more depth into the
sig if we could clearly see from which side the sun is shining. work
a little with Filter -> Render -> Lighting effects (if you play around
with that option for a day, you know all there is to know about it ;]).
then, to add more feel of lightsource, select the girl in your render
and pick the "Dodge" tool to lighten up her light side, and the "Burn"
tool to darken her dark side. both of these tools are in the left tool
menu. i think standard its set on Burn (a hand with the thumb and fingers
coming together at the bottom), but you can just left-click it to pick
an other option.

the text, its not really that bothering because its not that huge and
its not put away in the corner. sure, its close to the corner, but its
not in the corner. next time, however, like hejsan said, try to
also play around with the text a bit. look at different text styles,
perhaps try out hejsan's or snudge's or brokensaint's style. it all
helps in finding your own style. text on a sig can make a huge difference
on if a sig is success or fail, but since this is your first, i'm guessing
you're willing to put some time into finding everything out.

hope this helps out a bit.
people will fill me in if i forgot anything. ;]

<3

[Cursed One]

i am amazed at the feedback i must thankyou both very very much and with the details on how to do it all will help me so much,

just a few query's,
- about the boarder in the new layer do i merge them after the boarder is made?
- With the overdoing the blurring how do you think i could add more effect without all the blurring?
- Also i don't have alot of brushes and fonts may i please get links?


Thankyou in advance to everyone that helps out (every bit helps)

[cin]

just a few query's,
- about the boarder in the new layer do i merge them after the boarder is made?
you don't HAVE to merge any layers. if you save it as a .psd it will keep the layers,
if you save it as .jpg or .png, it will automatically save the visible layers, so it will
save whatever you're looking at on your screen.
you can, if you want to have all on one layer to play around with, make a new layer on top
of all your other layers. on that layer, go to Image -> Apply Image. this option will smack
all visible layers on to one layer. you will still have your seperate layers backupped, but
you can work like its one complete picture. if you fail on that top layer, you can always
hide or delete that layer, and you're back with your regular piece with all the seperate
layers.

- With the overdoing the blurring how do you think i could add more effect without all the blurring?
you could select just the girl, then pick the "Sharpen" tool, take a big soft brush to
sharpen with, low opacity, and try sharpen the girl a bit. usually, you have a seperate
background and focal (so you would make/find a background, smack a girl in there instead
of making a sig, starting with a complete picture [girl on background]. the way with the
seperate background and focal point is easier to work with in some ways because its easier
to blur the background. a thing thats easier about the way you did it, making a sig out of
a picture that has both background and focal in it, is that its way easier to blend in the
focal, because it already belongs with the background.
so basically, you can first select just the background and blur that, or you can blur all,
then sharpen the pieces you don't want to have blurred. one warning though, try out the
sharpen tool a bit before you start sharpening your signature. its really easy to oversharpen,
which will make the sig look pixelly and ugly >.<

- Also i don't have alot of brushes and fonts may i please get links?
i get my brushes from DeviantArt. you can browse there for pictures as well. lots of
members here are signed up at that site, and use it for inspiration.
Brushes: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/ ... psbrushes/
Fonts: http://www.themeworld.com / http://www.dafont.com / http://www.1001fonts.com

most of this is also to be found in this section's sticky (link below).
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=45762

[Millenium]

Welcome to the AC hun! You did an amazing job on your first sig! I'll make detailed comments later but I'll try to answer the questions you have

1. I would suggest you not to merge the border layer. This is because if you find something wrong with your sig, you can always go back and edit it.

2. Do you have the blur on a seperate layer? If so, hide the blurred layer and work with the rest. What you can do is New Layer -> Image Apply Image and start smudging and put that layer on different blending modes. If you meant you didn't want the focal blurred, take a moderate size soft brush and (on the blurred layer) erase over the girl. If you don't have blur on a seperate layer or just merged all the layers together, which is what I fear you might have done, um...>.> youll know better next time

2. DeviantArt.com is where I get most of my brushes. Do a search by Photoshop Brushes and you should be find. Fonts, I just google fonts and there are plenty of good fonts out there.

Good luck!

[_Angels]

i tho the orange was veryy cool smudged at first look i tho it looked like flames

very nicely done for ur first one

[Cursed One]

atm im having trouble applying brushes

edit:But Google helps

[HOLLAstir]

If you are having any problems feel free to PM me, or add me on MSN: Hollastir@hotmail.com

[Cursed One]

To be honest i could not see what else to do with this picture (with my low knowledge of PS) here is all i could think of doing i added some lighting but i dont think it came out to well and i figured out how to obtain and add brushes but non of them seemed to just fit in with the picture, oh and i added a boarder and made the text closer to the "focal point"

And after hard thought with my brother (he has limited knowledge aswell) we decided to whack a boarder and leave it as it was. (but if anyone can do their thing to it and what their name on it and show me what the pictures potential is please do. )
The Original

This is The Outcome


oh and the girl in the picture is a good friend of mine ^.^