Simple Forum Signature Tutorial

[oopzz]

Okay...this tutorial is so simple to do. I use it constantly because it can be variated. Make sure you get yourself some really cool brushes to use http://www.deviantart.com. If you want really nice effects, download the Metallica, Scratch and Fractal Brushes. With those three, you can't go wrong. Find yourself an image/stock. It doesn't matter what kind for right now. Just get something that will move you right along with this tutorial. You can find something totally cool later: Okay, lets get started:

Heres the image I used from one of my render packs:



1. Open up a new document with these settings then click okay
Width = 400
Height = 125
Color Mode = RGB Color
Background Contents = White

You should have something have a blank white document.



2. Depress the letter "D" to make sure you have default settings. Now you want to duplicate your layer by going to Layer>Duplicate Layer . Click okay once you get the popup box.

3. Here's where you start brushing on your Background copy. So, select your Brush Tool and start brushing. I used Fractal, Metal & Scratches and got the following result. You don't want to do too much brushing. You will see why later.

Heres my result:



4. Now get your render. It may be a little too big so you would need to scale it down a little. Go to Edit>Transform>Scale. Holding down your Shift Key, grab one of the ends and start making it smaller.


Now using your Shift Key and your Magic Wand Tool, start selecting the background from the Captain. You should get marching ants. Now click Select>Inverse. Go to Edit>Copy Click on your Background Copy and then Edit>Paste

You should have something that looks like this:



5. Go to Edit>Transform>Scale and make sure the image covers the entire document. Use the Shift Key and then grab the edges and stretch it across until you see nothing but the Captains image.



6. In your layers palette make sure Layer 1 is highlighted (the stretched Captain)
Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur with the following settings:

Angle = 0
Distance = 70 (You can work with this setting. You may like more blur eventually)

Click Okay. Now go to your layers Palette and change Normal to Overlay and you should get something similar to this (depending on the amoung of brushings):



7. Almost done. Now get your render again. Scale it down and use your move tool to move it to you signature document. Move it around a bit to where you like it. That's all to it. As you see, it depends on the type brushes you use and how much emphasis. You can experiment using this same tutorial.

Heres what I got after I played around with the Background copy layer by adding more brushings to make it look better.



Now if you're not happy with the way it looks, add your text. Go to Layers>Flatten Layers if you are done with your creation. Save as a .gif document.



Later, by using this very same signature, I will show you how to use various effects to make it look even better.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please look for others (sliding out)