Curved Images

[The Fallen Angel]

I am attempting to make some of my own graphics for my forum. However i have hit a major roadblock..

My Goal is to make rounded Head and base images for my site.

My Problem is i am unsure of how to go about doing this to get them balanced evenly. Any help on this issue would be much appreciated. OR any other little pointers that you feel would come in handy.


Example: The Shape would be similiar to that found on this site


I have photoshop 7.0 as well as image ready 7.0 and also Gimp

Thanks for the help

[JJ]

I use PSP, but I think the principals are similar to Photoshop. I have a handy guide for settings that I follow. I just make one of the images like in the graphic below, to the size I want and crop off the part I want to keep.

[The Fallen Angel]

thanks, i am off to give it a shot, when and if i get it i will post it here

[JJ]

Good luck.

[The Fallen Angel]

Thats what i got so far im still working on it though to get it what i want for my new site... First attempt at doing a graphic with a rounded corner.   Any feedback or ideas would be greatly apreciated!

Edit: Now can someone explain to me how to remove the whiteness on the images? for a better look you can see both my finished (well what i thought was finished) Head & Base images on my test board

xjtb.proboards.com

[JJ]

That's one of the major drawbacks working with dark skins, Angel. RaDesign does wonderful work and can probably help you. I cheat, I just use a brush delete those pixels or paint them to match either my skin or the bar. I don't know the secret to wonderful edges, but I bet Rad does.

I'm sure if you take your samples over to Rad he will be able to advise you or even make them for you in the Request section.

Congrats on figuring out the way to make curves.

[The Fallen Angel]

thanks jj for your help. Id rather make my own grapics instead of having someone else make them, ive seen some of RAD's work, heres hoping i can get to that level one day.


I simpy am in search of advice, So RAD if your reading this....any pointers?

[JJ]

I hear ya, Angel. I prefer to be independant myself. In that case, I recommend you look around for some good bars that you like and then alter them to fit your ideas. Please save your bars as a png. Gif files do not save as well on the edges as a png.

Would you consider a gift?

i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/AlsoJJ/Non%20Picture%20Backs/Non%20Picture%20Backs%20119/Bordered%20Backs/BasicRoundedBar102911.png

You can crop it to your desired height and color it like you want. To maintain the edges, if you choose to do much changing, remember when changing width and height, you might want to change the "maintain ratio" option.

Photoshop is a wonderful program, but a bit more complicated that Paint Shop Pro, as well as a lot more expensive. But I know there are some wonderful tutorials available.

Here is one I found that seems pretty straightforward.

www.tutorio.com/tutorial/photoshop-round-corners

[The Fallen Angel]

thank you again, i just downloaded the free trial version of Paint shop Pro, i might consider buying the actual version. Somehow a few years back while i was still in high school i acquired my version of photoshop, im not sure how exactly but i wound up with it. And well Gimps free, seems pretty decent though, missing somethings but definitly has some cool features as well.

BTW, thanks for that bar, i will put it to good use you have been a real Help JJ. its nice knowing people are actually willing to help on this site when someone is looking to gain knowledge. Some of the sites i was on in the past were not as welcoming.

[JJ]

I've been where you are, Angel. When I started this journey six years ago, I didn't even know what a pixel was, had never heard of Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop. Sadly, many of the sites I used for help are now no longer available. That is the nature of the web, they come and go.

Gimp is a good free program, and I have known a lot of people that use it with enthusiasm.

I won't try to sell you on PSP, it is just what I use and what I am familiar with. I was an admin on a PSP site for years, but the owner recently decided to shut down, not uncommon. I think it is hard to keep a site going when there is not a lot of activity. But that owner did me a favor. I had bought PSP at the urging of my son-in-law and to me it was gibberish. I had been using a lot of free online programs. Not all that fancy, but seemed to do what I needed. This gal pretty much challenged me to learn PSP and walked me through the basics on MSN messenger. It worked and I got hooked.

You are right, Angel, not a lot of places offer help like IOD. A lot of sites for Coding, Photoshop and PSP offer tutorials, but no feedback. That's a darn shame, we all learn at different speeds and levels of understanding. Sadly, those few that do offer the support don't last because of lack of participation. So if you are lucky enough to find a really good site that seems helpful, please stay with them and let them know you really appreciate their support.

Enjoy the bar, you've earned it. And I mean that. You did the right thing, reached out. I was glad I could help. JJ

[Deleted]

Oct 29, 2011 20:36:43 GMT 1 The Fallen Angel said:

I simpy am in search of advice, So RAD if your reading this....any pointers?

Hmm, let me see.

If you want to create a partially transparent image, make sure the background color matches the color of the forum your going to place it on. Even better, have three different background layers. One dark (black), one light (white) and the one I mentioned before. Create your image on the fourth (upmost) layer and switch between the background layers to see if there are any unwanted/stray pixels. This way you should have noticed the white pixels right away.

Getting rid of them is harder. Like JJ suggested, you can erase them pixel by pixel with an eraser or transparent brush but it's a tedious job. Personally I use quick shapes to create 'curved images' or 'rounded corners' so I never have this problem. I'm not sure if Gimp or PS7 or even PSP has any quick shapes, since I never use any of these programs. I just stick to Serif PhotoPlus.

[The Fallen Angel]

Thank you rad! ive never heard of that program, I am off to give these images another attempt...

The stray white pixels will die!... either that or really irritate me until i turn them to a gray pixel

[JJ]

Good advice, Rad. I forgot to mention the layer aspect.

Angel, that bar I gave you was black, so I changed it to gray and put it on a black background to see if it had strays and it didn't. As Rad mentioned, that's about the best way to check.

Oh, another important thing. I always take my images through an optimizer. If you have your settings right, you can still get a good image. The smaller an image file, the quicker your site will load for your members. Also, as I mentioned, for a crisp image, save as a .png.

[The Fallen Angel]

.png i definitly have to try that. I only knew that .gif and .psd would work my use. Each for thier own job of course, and thank you again for that JJ i am Going to try that now. An optimizer? what exactly does that do?

[JJ]

Angel, an optimizer reduces a file size by removing bits from the image that the average eye won't even notice. I don't do it with really small precious things, but I used it 80% of the time, especially with photos, and large graphics.

I will demonstrate. First, a picture of some kittens.



Now, I will optimize them, notice the two arrows and the before and after file size. This one is not very dramatic, but sufficient... but wait.



I did a screen shot of that process. And once I cropped it and took THAT through the optimizer, look what happens and the dramatic difference in file size.



And finally, the optimized kittens, none the worse for wear.



As you can see, if you have a lot of graphics, and I do, thousands and thousands of them, they can take up a lot of room in your computer and also at Photobucket. This way, my members are happy with a quick loading site, my computer is happy and I don't use up much space in Photobucket.