mOB's FAQ
Since there are constant threads poping up about signature this and graphics that, I made this FAQ as a solution to hopefully 90% of your problems/questions.
1. What is a signature?
- Basically, a signature consist of anything of personal interest such as quotes, pictures, diagrams, etc.
2. What program do you use to make signatures?
- The main graphics programs that our staff use to make signatures are Adobe Photoshop CS and Adobe Photoshop 7.0; Either of which are good programs to do so.
3. How do I make a signature?
- There are many ways in which you can go at this question. You can either talk to an experienced person with your program one-on-one or you can browse through many of our threads on questions people have asked over time. We have our own tutorial section which can be found HERE. You can also visit
www.good-tutorials.com and
www.pixel2life.com for good tutorials to start, progress, and finish your photoshop learning needs. There is also a Sticky in this section where people can help you with any questions you have. That sticky can be found HERE
4. How do I become part of the Graphics Staff?
- When needed, the Graphics Staff would get together and discuss all possibilities. You can not become part of the team by simply asking, you must prove your abilities in Photoshop just by posting your work here reguarly and showing your commitment to the program. You also have to be comitted to this site in order to have the chance to find a spot on the team.
5. What is Sig of the Week?
- Most of your questions about the Sig of the Week can be answered HERE
6. How do you use a picture in your signature?
- To use a picture, you can right click on the actual picture and click PROPERTIES. You should then highlight the picture URL and right click and copy the URL. Next you go to your signtaure box in your profile and copy the URL in that box. After you paste it in there, put the URL in this format:
Code:
[IMG] URL HERE [/IMG]
With those [IMG] tags, your signature should show up. Another method to do this, which is also recomended if you make your own signatures, is to go to an image hosting site such as
www.imageshack.us and
www.photobucket.com and upload your images onto that site and use the code it gives you to copy and paste it into your profile.
7. How do I request a signature?
- You can request a signature from one of our staff by going to the forum we have set up for requesting signatures HERE. When requestinging a signature, please use the correct format which can be found HERE and someone would be happy to promptly assist you.
If you have any further questions and it is a valid question that is not answered in this thread then feel free to make yourself a thread and it will be left open for discussion, otherwise you will be directed here for your needs.
- The mOBSCENE
This tutorial is for people that ask the question about which graphic program should I get and how should I go about getting one. I will not include pricing because the prices for these programs change all the time. But I will include there web sites and other places you could get these programs.
[4-27-05] Started tutorial
[5-20-05] Added more questions
Check back cause more is come soon…
This tutorial doesn’t tell you how to use the programs but gives a summary of each and the different programs out there. If any body sees that I’ve left anything off. Send me a PM and I can add useful info to the tutorial.
Paintshop Pro:
This program would be considered the bottom level of graphic programs. I’ve used it some, but not enough to write up a complete tutorial for it. So if anyone has any useful information on this one. Please PM me with it.
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You know what you want — something that's going to let you create the image you have in mind. Whether it's a photo, graphic, or digital art, Paint Shop Pro 9 is going to help you get that vision out of your head and onto the screen.
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The Good:
The Bad:
The Ugly:
Program Links:
http://www.jasc.com/
The Gimp:
A free shareware program that is modeled after PhotoShop to a degree. I find this program extremely awkward to use after using some of the best graphic software out there. The layout of the program isn’t to bad either.
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GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
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The Good: Being free makes this program a good choice for people that don’t want to spend money on graphics software.
The Bad: The tools are a watered down form of what you would get in Photoshop.
The Ugly:
Program Links:
http://www.gimp.org/
Gimp brushes
Gimp Tutorials
Macromedia Fireworks:
It comes on apple computers. It really is a lesser copy of PhotoShop, harder to use, kind of confusing, but once you get the hang of it, its almost identical to PhotoShop. – Thanks Wabba. As I think back when I was in college we were trained on Macromedia Freehand but not Fireworks. I’ll check this one out and get back to you on the usability.
Quote:
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Design, optimize and integrate web graphics. Fireworks MX 2004 has the tools web professionals need to create everything from simple graphical buttons to sophisticated rollover effects. Readily import, edit, and integrate all major graphics formats, including vector and bitmap images. Easily export Fireworks images to Flash, Dreamweaver, and third-party applications.
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The Good:
The Bad:
The Ugly:
Program Links:
http://www.macromedia.com/
Corel Photo-Paint:
One of the best graphic/image programs you can get for the money. This great program is over looked by many of the designers out there today. I can say that this program has one of the best scaling components that I’ve seen in any program. Basically it makes much smoother images after you reduce or enlarge the base image.
The Good: Great image manipulation features with great list of customization tools to each brush and filter.
The Bad: The text features and manipulation isn’t as good as PhotoShop.
The Ugly:
Program Links:
www.corel.com
Adobe Illustrator:
The best vector art program on the market. This program would make your wallet cry but well worth the money. Basically it’s used for drawing graphics that are infinitely scalable. This program is used in almost all art studios that I’ve ever been to.
Quote:
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Adobe® Illustrator® CS2 software gives you new creative freedom that lets you realize your ideas quickly and powerfully. Instantly convert bitmaps to vector artwork and paint more intuitively. Save time with intelligent palettes and optimized workspaces. Plus, tight integration with other software allows you to produce extraordinary graphics for print, video, the Web, and mobile devices.
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The Good: Makes great templates to pull into PhotoShop for coloring and raster editing.
The Bad: Raster image manipulation is not a top priority with this program so I wouldn’t by it for that purpose.
The Ugly:
Program Links:
http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/main.html
Adobe PhotoShop:
“The Cadillac of graphic software” This program is worth every dime you spend on it. Has so many features with it that it can be used in almost an infinite amount of ways.
Quote:
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Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 software, the professional image-editing standard and leader of the Photoshop digital imaging line, delivers more of what you crave. Groundbreaking creative tools help you achieve extraordinary results. Unprecedented adaptability lets you custom-fit Photoshop to the way you work. And with more efficient editing, processing, and file handling, there's no slowing you down.
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The Good: The top of the line art program with many top of the line filters and manipulation tools.
The Bad: Scaling problems have always rubbed me the wrong way this program.
The Ugly: Takes some time to figure out what does what. I’ve found that adobe instructions read a lot like stereo instructions.
Extra Info: For sig making, the best program to get is either Adobe Photoshop v7.0, Adobe Photoshop CS, and the
new Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Program Links:
Purchase:
HERE
Review:
HERE
Dictionary:
Raster: A digital image, that uses individual little blocks to make a bigger picture. (.bmp, .jpg. .gif, .png, etc.)
Vector: Digital art consisting of lines and curves to make a graphic and is infinitely scalable. (.ai, .cdr, .eps, etc.)
Frequently asked questions:
Question
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Big Red 11
I have illustrator and PhotoShop. Which one is better to use for sigs?
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Answer
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Originally Posted by Bigmike8119
PhotoShop will be better at making sigs, but (a big but at that) Illustrator and PhotoShop can be used together to make some wonderful sigs. For example in my survivor sig I drew all the circles, skull and put in the text using illustrator. Then I imported in the .ai file into PhotoShop and added the textures and background. So each program has there uses and the only thing I can tell you is just try using them both out and see what you can do with them. But to make your basic grunge/abstract sigs I’d stick with PhotoShop.
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Question:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by aLLstar
Here's my problem, open up a new file it has to be less than 500x100 or i can't use all the filters and my 2nd problem is i click filte > render > clouds and it say not enough Memory (RAM)
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Answer:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by The mOBSCENE
Goto http://www.majorgeeks.com/download351.html and download that program. click on MajoGeeks 4 and wait for the download. This helps speed up your computer by a lot compared to what it is running at now by clearing some of the RAM that doesn’t need to be used. Also, goto your task manager and figure out some stupid programs that should not be running and close them out. |
Question:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Big Red 11
What is the purpose of rasterizing text layers?
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Answer:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by The mOBSCENE
Rasterizing a text layer makes it completely editable to anything. anything that you can do with a normal render and brushing layer, you can now do to the text. When you use other tools such as the line tool, you will also need to rasterize this layer before making your edits.
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Special thanks and credit are due to:
Wabba
MOBscene
This tutorial is for the exclusive use of socom3.com. For use of this tutorial please contact the socom3.com graphics staff or BGDesigns.
Thanks Bigmike8119
Linear Mode
