Okay, I see Photoshop CS2 is really addictive!
After receiving great advices from![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
o_yannik, I played with several pictures to see what I can do, and I ended up making 2 more BSG banners. I'm still a long way to go from being good at this, but I had a lot of fun playing with the pictures and CS2.
After receiving great advices from
o_yannik, I played with several pictures to see what I can do, and I ended up making 2 more BSG banners. I'm still a long way to go from being good at this, but I had a lot of fun playing with the pictures and CS2.In this first one, I wanted a banner with Lee in his flightsuit. So I made this one "Apollo God in the Sky." With this banner, I've also experimented with using the Gradient Tool on the background:
Next, since I've always wanted a father-and-son banner, I made this one "Commanders of Battlestars - Father & Son." With this banner, I experimented cropping the Galactica from the original promo picture slanted so that it can fit within the banner:
(Hmmm... I think I'm going to use the father-and-son one at The Adama Realm)
Edited to Add:
It's now Thursday, and I'm on my lunch break right now. I just finished with another Lee banner I started late last night. I wanted one with Lee in his double tanks. With this one, I played with the idea of simple background and not stacking the pictures together. Compare to the other banners I made, this one is very simple to make and I spent very little time on this:
Next, since I've always wanted a father-and-son banner, I made this one "Commanders of Battlestars - Father & Son." With this banner, I experimented cropping the Galactica from the original promo picture slanted so that it can fit within the banner:
(Hmmm... I think I'm going to use the father-and-son one at The Adama Realm)
Edited to Add:
It's now Thursday, and I'm on my lunch break right now. I just finished with another Lee banner I started late last night. I wanted one with Lee in his double tanks. With this one, I played with the idea of simple background and not stacking the pictures together. Compare to the other banners I made, this one is very simple to make and I spent very little time on this:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
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Hey, could you share yannik's tips on getting the background out? I obviously need some pointers in that area ;)
From:
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You can read yannik's tips directly down below at the comment section of my journal entry My First Attempt at Making Banners (http://xwacky.livejournal.com/5506.html).
One of her tips I found particularly helpful at this time is that when erasing the background around the edge of the image, set the eraser to a "soft brush" mode instead of a hard "pencil" mode. She also gives other great tips in her comments, but I'm still working my way to do more things with Photoshop.
When I erase the background, I first use the Background Eraser Tool with the Limits set to "Find Edge", and "Protect Foreground Color" button checked. I start off with a higher Tolerance level, and work my way down till I get the right tolerance that won't take away my foreground color. Once I use the Background Eraser Tool to get rid of as much background as I can get, I switch the Tool to Eraser and use a soft brush as yannik suggested. I use the eraser brush along the edge of the foreground to separate it out from the background. After that, I switch the Eraser Tool to use a hard pencil eraser to wipe out the unwanted background.
From:
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From:
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I'm nowhere near your caliber, but I'm experimenting with and learning about the features of CS2. I'm particularly satisfied with that Galactica in the background--I tried very hard to fit it in the banner. I was very happy that I finally (by accident) figured out that I can crop it from its original picture at an angle. :)
From:
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What do you mean?
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Notice how the Galactica is at a 30 degree angle? Well, when I crop, I first centered the cropping box (say, 165X400 px) in the middle of the Galactica. Then I move the cursor toward the corner of the cropping box. If you get the cursor at the right place, it will change from an arrow cursor to a rotation cursor. Just grab the corner with the rotation cursor and you can rotate the cropping box to the desired angle. Viola!
And here's my cropped Galactica:
From:
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From:
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I'm in awe of people who can actually do stuff like banners and icons. I've tried to play with PaintShop but I just don't have the patience...
From:
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I'm just started learning how to use PhotoShop CS2. Previously I downloaded trial version of PaintShop Pro. I find PSP very hard to use, and it crashes on me all the time. I have to say PS CS2 is much better for a beginner like me.
From:
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Composition. I’m amazed how quickly and how well you understood the basics of composition. All those banners are great, but... my favorite is the one not posted here – the Aviator one. The faces and glasses are aligned in arc there, in a dynamic non-symetric arc. GREAT JOB.
Also the “Commanders” one is lovely composed. I’m curious how it would look if you switched the places of the “small” Adamas – Lee to the left, and Bill to the right (just do not mirror them, morroring faces never works (the monkey face ;) ). I’m not saying it would be better, and maybe you tried and chose this way – I don’t know. But I’m curious.
Galactica in the background is great, but... Have you tried this “layer” feature that allows you to change the opacity of the picture? This is the way I made this icon. Scaled the face, made it b&w, and then changed opacity to some 40% (I don’t remember exactly). Doing this trick with the background creates some cool effects (check Stilettos’ “Pegasus”).
From:
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I'm still light years away from truly understand compositions and know what to do about it when I attempt to create my own graphics. That's why I'm staying away from WP for now.
I'm thrilled you like the Aviator one, but I'm afraid you've given me too much credit--it was quite a fluke on my part. But I just learned an invaluable lesson from what you pointed out from that banner!
The only way for me to switch the smaller Adamas would be mirroring the picture because that's how they posed for the promo shot. LOL But I'm curious why mirroring faces never work? I did notice that whenever I "flip" a picture, the face did look awkward. But I didn't know why. I reasoned it was because I was so used to seeing the face(s) in one way, however from what you've said here, it sounded there's a technical reason that "flipping" is bad...
BTW, I did play with the opacity of the reddish cloud layer in that banner to make the Galactica appear "inside" the cloud. I don't quite understand the difference from changing the "Opacity" and the "Fill" of a layer. They seem to have the same affect on the layer...
From:
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I'm thrilled you like the Aviator one, but I'm afraid you've given me too much credit--it was quite a fluke on my part.
A lot of good in graphics comes from intuition. “The fluke” on your part is actualy a good sign. Of course you can acheive all that with knowledge, but if you have a feel, you’re one step closer already.
The only way for me to switch the smaller Adamas would be mirroring the picture because that's how they posed for the promo shot. LOL
LOL. Didn’t realize that, I thought they were from two promos and you pack them up together.
But I'm curious why mirroring faces never work? I did notice that whenever I "flip" a picture, the face did look awkward. But I didn't know why. I reasoned it was because I was so used to seeing the face(s) in one way, however from what you've said here, it sounded there's a technical reason that "flipping" is bad...
It’s exactly what you reasoned. Human face is not symetric and you’re used to seeing it this way and not another. There is that mirror trick (RL, not graphic), where you put two mirrors at 90º angle, and you can see yourself the way other people see you. How weird do you look? Or when you’re looking at your family faces in the mirror. Weird too. That’s the way human brain works and you can’t go around it.
I don't quite understand the difference from changing the "Opacity" and the "Fill" of a layer.
You got me here. I’d have to open Photoshop, what is not going to happen today... :(
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