My very first use of photoshop

[Jay_Jay]

I downloaded the free trail of Photoshop CS3 and made this:

 

 

It looks blurry because i hit 'Print Screen', pasted into MS paint and saved it there.

 

http://www.isarapix.com/pix89/1200507469.jpg

 

 

I know it looks crappy, but that's because i NEVER used photoshop. Do you guys have any links to helpful sites? Also, tell me what you think about it! If it's stupid also say so and why.

 

Even though most of you won't like it, feel free to add it as your signature if you like.

[Deuce Deuce]

For a start, as you point out the quality is bad. Find a high-res view of that pic and actually copy/paste it into Photoshop, as opposed to print screening. It isn't needed.

 

The cutout of Niko is.. alright. A bit jaggy round the edges.

 

It's not bad your first, keep at it.

[Jay_Jay]

What do i save it as in Photoshop? So then i can upload it up on Isarapix.com?

 

Also, when i cut out niko with the 'Magnetic Lasso' i zoom in all the way and it stills looks crappy . When im goin around his body (with the lasso) and i get to the point where i have to scroll down to see the rest of his body what do i do? (because i can't just let go of the mouse and scroll down or else it messes up the picture)

[Berkley]

That's very good for beginnery.

[Deuce Deuce]

 

What do i save it as in Photoshop? So then i can upload it up on Isarapix.com?

 

Also, when i cut out niko with the 'Magnetic Lasso' i zoom in all the way and it stills looks crappy  . When im goin around his body (with the lasso) and i get to the point where i have to scroll down to see the rest of his body what do i do? (because i can't just let go of the mouse and scroll down or else it messes up the picture)

File > Save for Web > Choose filetype.

 

Also, it's never a good idea to use the magnetic lasso. Use the polygonal, and although it may be harder and requires more precision, it will give you a much cleaner cut if you do it right. I don't know where you can find any tips as such, but you'll find as you use it more it becomes easier and easier.

[Jay_Jay]

Thanks Deuce Deuce, your a big help! What tool do should i use for making the 'pasted Niko' NOT look pasted (so it blends in with the background)?

[Ottae]

Thanks Deuce Deuce, your a big help! What tool do should i use for making the 'pasted Niko' NOT look pasted (so it blends in with the background)?

If you learn how to use the path tool, you can go round Niko with that and turn the path into a selection, this will give him a smooth edge. Also, editing the saturation and brightness of him to match up with the picture you're editing it into.

[Deuce Deuce]

Depening on the image, I tend to add a slight black outer-glow to the cutout as I think it makes all the difference.

[Jay_Jay]

Where is the path tool located, i can't seem to find it Ottae...

Also, how do i make clear (invisible) backgrounds? instead of making it black/white?

[Ottae]

Circled in red:

 

 

It creates vector shapes which aren't measured in pixels, but measurements. This means they can be stretched to huge sizes and maintain their shape without being pixelised.

 

It's quite difficult to use if you don't know how, so he's a quick tutorial:

 

Select the pen tool as shown above and in the Paths menu (if you can't see this, go to Window > Paths) and click the new layer button in the bottom right hand corner:

 

 

now click anywhere on the outline of the object you want to cut out, I'll use Niko. Once you have clicked, a small square will appear, this is an anchor point. Now, from here, click another point not too far from the first one along the outline, like this:

 

 

This is your second anchor point. If you haven't guessed it by now, then I'll tell you that you must go round the whole outline like this. The thing about the pen tool though, is that you can bend the line you make. When you create a new anchor, if you keep your mouse button held down and pull down or up, it will bend the line. This means you can go round corners, making them smoothly cut out:

 

 

Now once you have made the bend, you can edit it by clicking and moving the diamonds at the end of the edit lines:

 

 

So now you've gone round the shape, you can select it by right clicking the path you made, and selecting "Make Selection". This will put moving lines round your cut out shape and once you've made sure the layer which your shape is in is selected, you can press copy (ctrl+c) and paste it (ctrl+v) into a new document.

 

And you're done! Hope that helps.

[Jay_Jay]

^^^

WOW! That helped a lot, thanks for taking your time putting up a tutorial for me. Iv'e made another picture (which i'll be using as my signature), but I don't know how to resize it down and do you see those white lines surrounding Niko? I can't get rid of that. Can someone (preferably Deuce Deuce or Ottae) fix it for me?

 

Here is the picture:

 

^^^The black suppose to be Invisible, not black^^^

 

P.S. I your tutorial Ottae!

[Lost-Fender]

 

I can't get rid of that. Can someone (preferably Deuce Deuce or Ottae) fix it for me?

Can't I have a go at it?

 

 

http://www.isarapix.com/pix10/1200548306.png

 

 

To resize the picture, just go to Image > Image Size... and enter your desired width and height.

 

As for the white lines, you can always smooth it out with the eraser tool and the magic eraser tool (right-click over the Eraser tool and select "Magic Eraser Tool" and click over a spot or a place you might want to erase out. Careful, though, as you could end with rough edges using this tool).

 

And finally the transparency, it's just like saving a image, only make sure you save your image using the PNG format. File > save for web... and on the preset drop-down menu select PNG-24 and tick "Transparency". Remember that if your image is too big, you might end up with a large filesize, (the forums' maximum filesize for signatures is 80KB) especially using this format. I'm sure there's a way to make big PNG images without breaking the 80KB limit, but I still haven't figured out how to do it, though.

Edited January 17, 2008 by Lost-Fender

[Jay_Jay]

NO! you can't have a go at it!!

 

nah just playing, that's great, but can you change the borders to balck instead of yellow? or better yet, make the yellow border thiner and a thick black border surrounding it (but make sure Niko's hands is still having the elbow and gun outside of the image )

[Lost-Fender]

Done.

 

 

http://www.isarapix.com/pix25/1200549506.png

 

[Jay_Jay]

Thanks!

 

By the way guys, i been getting practice with CS3 and ill post some awesome sigs for people around the forums (trust me, they are good). If you think you can make them better, feel free to use them (when they're posted)

 

 

[Ottae]

Nice work, looks great.

[Lega_c]

Its good for your first try man..keep it up!

 

ps. anybody know where CCPD went?

[bumster]

Circled in red:

 

 

It creates vector shapes which aren't measured in pixels, but measurements. This means they can be stretched to huge sizes and maintain their shape without being pixelised.

 

It's quite difficult to use if you don't know how, so he's a quick tutorial:

 

Select the pen tool as shown above and in the Paths menu (if you can't see this, go to Window > Paths) and click the new layer button in the bottom right hand corner:

 

 

now click anywhere on the outline of the object you want to cut out, I'll use Niko. Once you have clicked, a small square will appear, this is an anchor point. Now, from here, click another point not too far from the first one along the outline, like this:

 

 

This is your second anchor point. If you haven't guessed it by now, then I'll tell you that you must go round the whole outline like this. The thing about the pen tool though, is that you can bend the line you make. When you create a new anchor, if you keep your mouse button held down and pull down or up, it will bend the line. This means you can go round corners, making them smoothly cut out:

 

 

Now once you have made the bend, you can edit it by clicking and moving the diamonds at the end of the edit lines:

 

 

So now you've gone round the shape, you can select it by right clicking the path you made, and selecting "Make Selection". This will put moving lines round your cut out shape and once you've made sure the layer which your shape is in is selected, you can press copy (ctrl+c) and paste it (ctrl+v) into a new document.

 

And you're done! Hope that helps.

i am very slow and dumb and i follow this and cant even do it