[tutorial] full signature tutorial 4 default brushes and filters

[chauronity]

Ok, i was alittle bored today so i decided to make a little tut.
In this we do this, using the default brushes alone. Ofcourse you can use the brushes you want, but they arent necessary at all ... :P

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2325/finalv2colorburn604vy.png



1. Getting prepared

- make a new template with size of 350x100px
- fill the background with black color
- extract the stock and place it a little to either of the sides

[ picture (http://img330.imageshack.us/img330/3677/pic1oftut2zt.png) ]

2. Refine the stock

- To make the stock look better, we must do a little trick. 1st, dublicate it.
- Then place the stock under the main stock
- Add gaussian blur @ 3,5-4.5px .. filters -> blur -> gaussian blur
- Now the stock looks better

[ picture (http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/8523/pic2oftutgblur5ar.png) ]

3. Motionblurrin'

- Dublicate the stock twice (2x), and place the new stocks under the cutted stock.
- Motionblur layer one (filters->blur->motionblur) w/ 100-175px (mine was the latter) and put the angle to 45*
- Move the freshly motionblurred layer to better position with arrows or with draggin with the mouse

- Add another motion blur, 100-265px (mine was the latter) and angle @ -35*
- Drag into good position again
- Erase the another side with eraser (left if you 1st did left with another layer), starting from under the stock. Remove it. Completely =)

- When done, merge the layers by selecting them both; press shift when selecting and press "CTRL+E" once.

*hint* you can also use the smudgin' in this part, but it needs extra careful job and can blow this up. So remember to save it once a while .. and if it goes bad, load it back.

[ picture (http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/8691/pic3ofthetutmblur2ow.png) ]

4. Overlaying

- Dublicate the motion blur layer and place it over the stock
- Gaussianblur it once @ 2,5px
- Put the blending mode to "overlay"
- To make more radical look, dublicate once more - i didnt need to do it in this

*You can do that as many times as you want, just use the eraser into too contrasted places. Simple and works. Just brush the area off =)

[ picture (http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4681/pic3mblurtogblur0fw.png) ]

- Dublicate the stock again and put it to "soft light" over the new overlay -layer
- Gaussiablur with 2px

[ picture (http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5246/pic4stocktogblur8qe.png) ]

5. Brushed details

- Make a new layer under the main stock
- Reset the brushes and load your "special effects brushes" from the brushlist.
- Select brush numero 26
- Adjust the brush properties in the menu to look like this :

http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/139/untitled50rq.png

- When done, brush a line behind the girl ... select a GRAY color (no colors)
- Put the blending mode to "overlay" again

[ picture (http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/1183/pic5defaultbrushing1ks.png) ]

6. Making it flow

- Create a new layer
- Merge all the layers with CTRL+SHIFT+E .. and CUT with CTRL+X. In history, go back to "new layer part"
- Paste
- Add 1,5-2,5 px of gaussian blur
- Put blending mode to "lighten"
- Use the ERASER @ 80% and erase the areas that you want out. And everything over the stock.

[ picture (http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9060/pic6mergelightengblur21pf.png) ]

7. Tweak!

- Adjust the layer with "color balances" (layers-> new adjustment layer -> color balance)
- Enter values that look good into eye ... carefully

Mine were these,
DONT USE these but your own values

( midtones: +93 / +2 / -30)
( shadows: +65 / +16 / -6 )
( highlights: +8 / 0 / -9 )

- Adjust the contrast if needed (layers-> new adjustment layer -> contrast)

8. Final touch! Smart Sharpen

- Merge ALL the layers with CTLR+SHIFT+E
- Then use the "smart sharpen" with values from 100-130 @ 35-40* radius and use the eye as a ruler. (119% @ 37,1 in mine)

[ picture (http://img435.imageshack.us/img435/4956/pic8mergesmartsharpentr5eu.png) ]

Done. Just add a typo and the borders and youre good to go. :333

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2325/finalv2colorburn604vy.png

(to add the borders, make a new layer and select all ->rightclick @ canvas -> stroke -> 1px inside w/ black or white, and done!)

[pek]

Very nice Chauron (:

[chauronity]

Thanks (=

And feel free to try it ... it's far easier than it looks on paper ... really simple (and not by my standarts but by all)

+++

http://img434.imageshack.us/img434/9927/gaaraofthetutorial2wj.png

This sig was made with this tutorial =)

[Remy LeBeau]

Hot tut Chauron :)

Nice job :thumbs

[Just Some Guy]

I tried this tutorial and it didn't turn out at all like it was supposed to. I think the motion blur, brushing, and smart sharpen sections could be a bit more clear...

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a117/PLGaries/vaan.png
Note: Internet Explorer will fail to render corner transparencies.

Then again, I did learn some new techniques, so it didn't all go to waste. :p

[chauronity]

Really nice, i like that a lot ^^
Colors and the flow is really nice


And i kinda agree, they could be more clear. BUT on the other hand, the values depends SO much on the used stocks and the sizes of the signature, so i cant give any *exact* values, just some ranges that are proven to be working.

+

1st motion blur:

- lenght = 90-175 ..
the more there is that, the darker the background will stay. Cos it'll be more transparent => black sees thru more => more black sig :3

- angle = 45-55 ..
this gives a good feeling of lighting to sig, especially if the colors are bright.

2nd motion blur:

- lenght = 200+ ..
longer lenght to make this lighter than the earlier one.

- angle = -35 to -55 ..
exact opposite for the another one, with different angle than earlier.


After that, MOVE the layers to ANOTHER POSITION .. so they'll fill to whole background. Then merge em down with CTRL+E.

++

Brushing:

Anything basically that looks good. =)
But brushing under the stock area usually works the best

++

Smart sharpening -trick

Preview from the box ... when it looks the best, use it. ^^

[Gallic Rush]

I refered someone to this tutorial cuz it's so good ;P

I myself need to make something with it... just to see what I can do :)

[chauronity]

Thanks for the referral (=
And yesh .. feel free to try it ^^

[Gallic Rush]

That's a gooood lookin' sig tutorial... so why doesn't mine look like that?!?!

I'm going to go commit Hara Kiri for thinking I can compete with Chauron :scry
I couldn't even stick to the default brushes... PLEASE DON'T HURT ME CHAURON!

[Just Some Guy]

Results Gallic. Where are the results!? :p

Heh, was kind of tired at the time that I wrote that last post. Thanks for the clarifications, Chauronity. I guess it's just hard because this tutorial is a bit above beginner level despite its seeming simplicity. Since I'm more awake now, specifically, the problems were that:

Motion Blur: When I did the motion blur I wasn't given much room for adjustment since the result had cropped straight edges at the edge of the images. What I did to try to overcome this was use the transform tool to scale the blurred layers. I also had the problem of black showing through so much such that I ended up changing the background to white to hide it. With regards to "Erase the another side with eraser, starting from under the stock. Remove it. Completely", I was a bit confused as to exactly which side I was supposed to erase or if you meant both since it said another. I ended up picking the side that had more color than the other to balance them out a bit.

Brushing: No idea how you managed to pull of such impressive brushing; I kind of just went with something. Confusion arose from "brush numero 26" as the brush labeled with the number 26 was just a spash brush; I just assumed you meant the butterfly since that was the one in your example. I also had no idea how to unlock the color dynamics box so I could select it. It seems that the box later unlocked and selected itself though.

Smart Sharpen: I see where the problems came from here now. It was the lack of units or odd notation (commas for decimals, for example). I confused your values for additional parameters so I was looking for a way to set the angle which meant I had to set the Remove value to Motion Blur. Basically, I just ended up tweaking every value on all three tabs to find something I liked.

As for what I liked in particular, I liked that backdrop glow from step two. It livens up the image quite a bit. I also decided to try out diagonal scan lines for the first time based on your Gaara creation which look rather nice at low opacity. Also learned that you could actually set all three color balances at the same time; thought you could only alter one for each use. And this is the first time I've used Smart Sharpen for anything.

Anyway, hope this helps in any future tutorials you may offer us newbies. ;)

[Feathers!]

This doesnt work so well for real people stocks or larger areas. I get the general idea and its cool.

[Hazu]

Im sorry I suck :scry

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/sasunarulove/Banners/Miyavismkopiera.jpg

[Gallic Rush]

Just Some Guy, I encountered some of the same problems. For the motion blur, just temporarily increase the canvas size and that should take care of that.

And I didn't understand the erase part either so I just skipped it and masked certain layers when needed.

And I have no fucking clue how his default brushing came off that well either >.> Mine sucked balls so I went to non-default :P

Smart sharpen I found negated the problem of the black background since it made the motion blur so bright (if you used the right settings). I am probably going to use that feature a whole lot more in the future so I guess I need to give Chauron uber-reps...

**Reps Chauron**

Oh and here is what I made...

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/7407/joankartright0gi.png

EDIT: Chauronity, it's a lot easier if you create a new layer and then go to Image>Apply Image rather than doing all that merging and junk.

[Freakness]

Oh well few things I didn't understand .
First of all - When did the background colour change from Black to whatever it is ?...
Secondly, I didn't understand what did you say with the erase after the motionblur .

Thirdly, I really didn't understand what you said about the history and copy paste bla bla . No idea .. :\

[Gallic Rush]

Freakness, the black was just covered up. I'm guessing he used some massive motion blurring and didn't leave any open spots showing through. But in his Sasuke one and some others you can see it coming through. Personally, I suggest finding a dark color that suits the overall background as opposed to sticking with black.

As for the motion blur erasing part, it is easier just to layer mask the areas that you don't need. It's not a critical step unless there is some thick over-laid areas that need attention.

And the history thing with the copy and paste is not the best way to achieve that result. Instead, make a new layer and go to IMAGE-->Apply Image--> and hit ok. By doing this you create a new layer that is everything visible. So, essentially you will be able to modify what you currently have done as a whole.

[Just Some Guy]

Aye, I found that Apply Image is more effective. Yet something else I learned. :p

[Gallic Rush]

Photoshop can do every common function... it's just a question of finding out where the hell the short cut is xD

As a side note, I find that stocks with bright and vibrant colors work best with this tutorial. The flatter or less varied the colors of the stock, the worse this technique is going to work or the more work is going to be required to make it come out decently.

GL to all :woo

[Miso]

Thanks for the tut, Chauron.

As some others I had problems with the motion blur. It doesn't look very random in my sig. And the brushing didn't work very well either. Instead of "overlay" I had to use "Screen" to make it even visible.
But other than that your tutorial had some nice tricks in it.

My outcome:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/XMisoX/Giveaways/testsig.gif

[Vile.47]

Uhh, how do I get decent stocks with no extra backgrounds? Or how do I remove them from backgrounds? Sorry n00b question.. >.<

[pek]

Eraser tool is your friend. So is the magic wand for some.

[Vile.47]

Oh... but um, how do I use them.. *sobs*

[chauronity]

Well, try it out and you'll see soon how it works ^^

But erasing goes so easily .. just pick a brush in size of 10-20px and start erasing the stuff off -- click over some part and that'll be removed

Magic wand again is a tool which selects the certain area of same color/saturation/pattern -- click once, then press "delete" button once and that area disappears. ^^

[.Naptha]

Finnaly got round to using this tutorial! :3

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3525/sasuke5bq.gif

-- messed up my extraction wasn't exactly perfect (:doh) and i messed up on the border. How do you get yours so nice and rounded at the edges? :cry

[chauronity]

Looks nice, i like that sig .. flow is excellent and butterflies look fine -- Nice job (=

And if -- for some reason -- you dont feel like using the butterfly brushes, well .. using any smudge brushing is fine -- using em gives different looks and creates variety to style ^^

For those rounded borders there's a tut (to one method) in this very same section, try it perhaps?

[.Naptha]

Looks nice, i like that sig .. flow is excellent and butterflies look fine -- Nice job (=

And if -- for some reason -- you dont feel like using the butterfly brushes, well .. using any smudge brushing is fine -- using em gives different looks and creates variety to style ^^

For those rounded borders there's a tut (to one method) in this very same section, try it perhaps?

Thanks for the advice mate. :)

[Gene]

Great tutorial. Mine didn't come out as good as everybody else's though.


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f195/meh2222/chuar.jpg



My bg sucks....

[Bass]

Kickass tutorial, Chauron. :thumbs


Here's my result.


http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/3568/roy14ya.png

[.Kira]

i suck at this:cry but this is what i came up with
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e217/narutox150/hereyagochuaron.jpgthere the redhttp://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e217/narutox150/fnishedblue2.jpgthere was the blue,http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e217/narutox150/fnishedgreen2.jpgand that was the green what do ya think lol,plz tell me the one you like most red blue or green im gonna use in my siggy:amuse o and thanx chuaron!!!!!!!!!(p.s. done this on photo filtre its cheap):P

[Anego]

nice tutorial. I got the point. but in practice, situation might different and must trick it in different way. but again, this tutorial rocks! :)

[debil]

Nice tut, here's my result:
http://www.mitglied.lycos.de/d3bil/urahara.png

The typo isn't that great :\

[Tatsuki]

thats a nice tut chauron.

btw, where do you get such nice stock =O loike the gaara one

[Aman]

First and worst sig ever! :knk

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5847/sasukecopy3bq.jpg

[MasterFox]

Here's mine:
http://www.5images.com/uploads/cef6cfa258.png for some unknown reason it has this pixely effect that won't go away.
I did another, but it turned out real bad.
edit: i'll go check that edges tutorial now

[Jaz]

Sweet tut, i made a sig with Sakura according to your instructions but i was displeased with the outcome, so posting it here is pointless.

[Snoopy]

well here's my results:
V1
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d200/palmereap/kerryomis.png
V2
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d200/palmereap/kerryomis2.png
V3
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d200/palmereap/kerryomis4.png
V4
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d200/palmereap/kerryomis5.png
V5
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d200/palmereap/kerryomis6.png
V6
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d200/palmereap/kerryomis7.png

[NoCKM]

Hey i just want to ask what photoshop you guys use to make sigs? I really wanna try making em.

[NineTailsNaruto]

ya i agree with NoCKM i wanna make some of my one sigs i just need the right photoshop...

[Lightning]

in the very beginning should the stock already be in the template?
also when u erase the another side, what do u mean by that. do you mean erase the main stock. If so, when i try to erase the main stock, it doesnt erase, just nothing happens. also when i try to shift select to select both of them, they dont switch.

[chauronity]

^ dont erase the main stock at all, erase part of the filtered (read: layer that was motionblurred) layer.

And you can apply the effects/filters to uncutted stock too, whichever feels better. But remember to extract the *main* render/stock properly.

[Lightning]

o so your saying that you erase the picture in the motionblur but not the effect? also when do you move the pics onto the template if you do. also, regarding the part when you press shift and select, do you select the pictures themselves cuz its not working. And if you have to move the stocks onto the template, nothing comes up when i try to move it to the black. I also mentioned that when i do the first blur,(starts with a G), when i set it to 4.5 it got very, very, VERY blurred and nothing close to what you got as a result, can you plz help me? btw, i am using photoshop

Thanks if you reply,
Byakugansan

p.s. if you want to PM me the reply that's okay too :)

[nabbe]

Very nice tutorial, thanks alot oceanrain

[Lightning]

nvm, having some help, i figured it out :)

[Rival39]

Hey, awsome tut. the only part i had problems with was the motion blurs. it think it was because of the render i choose, but what ever. it helped me a lot and i learned a buttload of new things. thanks.

[Echibi]

Nice tutorial <3

edit: actually did my first sig with this :) eventho I ain't that good it turned out fine IMO

[InfiniteChakra]

nice tutorial, even tho i added my lil twist to it. o did i say thanks for the tut? thanks!

[Ryuuken +]

the motion blur part is no explained good enough, because im doing it right now and when you say, "duplicate the staock twice and then put it under the cutter stock" are you saying the original stock or the one we did with gaussain blur?

but good tut non-the-less

[Tantheman]

really nice tutorial man, some parts I didnt really understood and I did some stuff differently but Great job on it though..

heres mine.
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4712/shikamaru3cg5.jpg

[sasukerules]

what software is this for? photoshop?

[Rockafeller]

Nice tut.
My outcome:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e188/yue54/Whoosh2.jpg
It kinda looks different.

[4th Mizukage]

All i need to get is a good border & font
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2989/untitled1oa2.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[miina]

Favorite tut! :dance
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o41/miinamuyo/sig-1.png

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o41/miinamuyo/sasukesig.png

[sindragon]

plz man i am stupid and dum so i need it to be easier can u tell me where toget template and wth u doing casue me being dum cant understan u ppl..srry not being rude:amuse