Basic Tutorial

[Cashew]

*cough* Alrighty. I've been getting a lot of questions about tagging ('how do you do this/that'), so here's a tutorial on the making of a relatively basic tag. The thread IS a little image heavy, so watch out.

Keep in mind that this intended for PHOTOSHOP. But the same general rules apply to most programs (creating a border, for example, may not be done the same way).

This is very general, and I don't plan to go super indepth about certain techniques. This is just an overview, intended for beginners.
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First you've got to pick an image. Here's mine:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial1.jpg

If you don't like Sailor Moon, tough shit, 'cause this is just a tut. Kay. So this image is a little big for my purposes, so I shrank it a bit, and cropped it to this:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial2.jpg

Because I didn't want a plain white background, I cropped away the white, leaving a transparent backing for Sailor Moon, here.

Many people would say that one of the toughest things about a tag is making a good background. There are different tricks for easy backgrounds (clouds, random brushmarks, a lightened version of the subject), but the one I used is enlargened text.

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial3.jpg

It's easy-peasy. Just pick a swirly font, set it at a huge size, like 300, and type a single letter. Do this multiple times with different letters. Then, if you're using photoshop, you can move the font layer, rotating it to suit the composition. Here, I used three letters, and merged them into one layer. I also threw in some random brush pattern to fill the space.

Stick this layer behind the subject:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial4.jpg



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Now, some people would stick a border and some text on this and let it be. And if you aren't feeling ambitious, that's fine. But you can still do more with it.

Here:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial5.jpg

I dodged the font, and then:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial6.jpg

I burned in the highlights, darkening and creating a nice effect with the background.

At this point, I felt that I needed something more on the right-hand side to balance out the tag. So I threw in an upside down 'K':

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial7.jpg

This is where blending options come in handy. Obviously, that 'k' looks awkward. You COULD lower the transparency %, or you could change the layer to 'linear dodge.'

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial8.jpg

All the layer blending options create different effects, and a person really has to play around with them to understand how they all work.

Now, the background looks a little flat. This is fixed by playing with the brightness/contrast and hue/saturation:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/tutorial9.jpg

[Cashew]

Flatness is also lessened with dodging/burning in the background:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/10.jpg

and in the foreground, I burned in the shadows:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/11.jpg

I also burned away most of the shadow along the left-hand side edge from the scan.


After this, you can still add to the background. These lines will enhance the positioning of the writing:

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/12.jpg

Play around with the text until you find an appropriate font and positioning.

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/13.jpg

Here, the color makes the font difficult to read, so we can play with the blending options to make it stand out more.

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/14.jpg

I added a gradient overlay to the text, as well as a shadow, outer glow, and stroke. Also, the subject has been given a blue shadow and slight outer glow to help her blend with the background.

[Cashew]

Once everything's in place (subject, text, background), you really should add in a border. It helps to give the tag a more finished look. It's super easy!

Create a new layer on top, select all, right click, 'stroke.' Pick an appropriate color, and choose the size. I usually use 1 pixel, but in this case, I used two.

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/15.jpg

The layer is made more transparent, and in this case set to linear dodge. A solid border is usually best.



Now, this tag is rather large. It's about 480 pixels across. So I shrank it down to 400 pixels, and that's a finished tag.

http://brokenyouth.net/cashew/tutorial/16.jpg



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And questions? Comments? If I wasn't clear about something, or you want to know how to do something, ask! If I know, then I'll try and help you out. And if I don't know how... I'll find someone who does. :)


DISCLAIMER: This is only ONE way of doing things. It's MY style, I guess. It's obviously not a rule book. Play around! It's the only way to be truly original!

[Bravehearter]

Damn.. Shes Good.. Shes Damn good.

[Spatula]

You're awesome. For serious.

*goes off to play with Photoshop*

[ckgirl]

Um, all I have to say is WOW, you are good!

*Wishes she had Photoshop so she could be like Cashew*

[Androk is God]

where do you get your fonts?

[Cashew]

Mostly from dafont.com.

But I've sometimes gone to fontfreak.com and 1001freefonts.com.

[Burro]

1001fonts.com has some good ones too.. Looking good Terri, keep up the good work.

[Captain America]

I'm sorry to speak about issues that aren't relevent to your topic, but a friend of mine invited me here, and I think he did a good job of my pictures
I can't find him now, and he saqid he left
his Name was Jai or dragonjai...
I can't find his posts or email him
Im sure I'm at the right site...just let him know Im here
By the way, i like waht I read...alot of energy is here

[Exculvala]

great tutorial

lil question here:

how do you get the source? I mean you dont use SAI or any other tool and use your own sketch then scan, upload on SAI then edit?