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Ahh, the good ol' noob days. I remember those.
I suggest looking for a good graphics community where you can share your work and ask for C+C (comments and criticisms). That's how I started and it helped immensely.
Unfortunately I haven't been active on a gfx community in ages so I can't suggest any, but I'm sure google can help. :D
Dont give up and dont get discouraged!
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Okay! Thanks for the suggestion. Comments on my work? Don't worry I can take criticisms
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It really depends on what effect you were trying to produce. I dunno what tools you used but keep on practicing and check out youtube for some pretty good tutorials. I just finished an intro class to photoshop/illustrator/indesign and there are a ton of stuff I still don't know. What I do know is that you need to master layers for photoshop and the pen tool for illustrator.
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Eh, deviantArt often has tutorials and brushes and things like that in the Stock Images and Resources section. Of course, it can be of work to sort through everything to find what you actually need. Otherwise, google is your friend, haha. I find the best way to learn is to just say to yourself-- here's what I want to make-- and start making it, and then whenever you can't figure out how to do something, look it up. Also, just clicking a lot of buttons to see what they do has always been helpful to me...
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Clicked on the picture ... way better than I can do already haha. I'm only pro at putting a specific part of the male body into people's hands and near their mouths.
Um, the edges on the character are a bit off/vary. Some areas is just black, others there's a slight highlight outline(the outline shows on the lower right portions of his left arm, torso, and leg.
That is the only real issues I have. The text and background seem a bit off as well, but I'm not really sure since I have no formal art training, so I don't really know the theory behind that sort of thing.
Other than that, just keep working at it. Everything takes time if you want to be good at it.
Edit: These may be pretty old and not exactly what you need, but apparently I still had the links from when I first started using PS. http://elitebydesign.com/how-to-master-photoshop-in-just-one-week/
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I don't know if you wanted it that way, but there are several white pixels around the character, that make it look like a sloppy cut-out.
Also, depending on the effect you want to achieve, you might want to look at color composition, as that really sets the mood of whatever you do.
The letters of the text seem...bland. Left upper corner also isn't ideal in most cases - depending on how much you want the viewer to focus on it. And adding even a small shadow gives it more "power".
x|x|x x|x|x x|x|x
The eye focuses mainly on the two vertical/horizontal lines, if you don't force a focus by other means.
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What version of photoshop are you using?
I have a collection of tutorials in jpeg format, maybe I'll upload them here.
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For basics, i'd suggest you start by learning how each tool and filters.. etc actually work. Too many people just find tutorials and copy them without actually knowing how they're creating what they are.
good places to start would be
http://www.good-tutorials.com/tutorials/photoshop psdtuts.com (a bit more advanced tuts)
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United Kingdom38136 Posts
http://psd.tutsplus.com/ <-- wonderful site
I'd suggest you start working through their great introduction to photoshop as a starting point:
http://psd.tutsplus.com/sessions/photoshop-basix/
It's a (free) 14 part video series with downloadable source files/resources, and teaches you the basic tools and skills that make up the core of your photoshop usage. From there you'll have a decent understanding of how to use photoshop to do a variety of image editing and design tasks, and you can comfortably branch out into more advanced tutorials, or simply use that knowledge to start experimenting on your own to produce a few things ^^
Have fun!
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Thank you for all the input! You're all of great help!
Oh and sorry if it looks like a cardboard cut-out. I'm still practicing blending and rendering techniques. Plus, I have no idea what every tool does atm. Most of what I did earlier were purely the results of trial--and-error.
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hey not bad at all man.
like others have said you really have to go into "attention to detail mode" when it comes to off color pixels along edges. there are many many many techniques you can use to get rid of them. not all of them will work for every situation. its kind of a pick whats best for each type of area your trying to clean up.
the most basic would be a 2 pixel eraser brush and just zoom in and clear them 1 by 1 this is extremely time consuming but effective against straight edges and what not.
try using a burn tool to darken the stray pixels. try messing with settings to get a nice blend. Burn tool is an extremely importantf for painting depth and detail in shapes. it also works really well on gradient areas or soft spread areas that cant be touched with a eraser easily.
Sometimes i use a trick that helps give edges more depth and a softer flow copy paste the entire character ( make sure hes seperate from background - using layers is important!) and use a Gaussian blur filter set it at about 1.5 on the bottom copy you should erase areas of the blurred bottom layer that are more closer to the viewer and have more of a sharper focus in the picture and tweak it untill eventually the backside and far away edges have a softer look and then merge the layers together.
little tiny tricks like these are what make up the bulk of photoshop skills. theres usually always multiple tricks to tackle any problem and employing them correctly often separate a beginners piece from a professionals piece.
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On March 22 2011 06:12 Coagulation wrote: the most basic would be a 2 pixel eraser brush and just zoom in and clear them 1 by 1 this is extremely time consuming but effective against straight edges and what not. While doing so I would highly recommend to work with the layer's mask and not the layer itself.
Here is the tutorial: link (I haven't actually read it, but it looks like a fine article on the matter)
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Google photoshop forum signature tutorials and find ones that you like, then completely copy what they say and do A LOT OF THEM (<---- this is where a lot of people fail, they copy 2 and think they know everything. At least go double digits). Signatures are small, compact, and it's not as overwhelming to see how they put their composition together and why they use certain layers/effects. After that, move on to just learning individual effects that you may want and do a tut or 2 (certainly not as much as sig tuts) on large pieces.
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Alright! I'll update once I finish a newer one. Thanks for all the input. Really I'm browsing 25 tabs at the same time [all tuts] lol
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On March 22 2011 06:36 InRaged wrote:Show nested quote +On March 22 2011 06:12 Coagulation wrote: the most basic would be a 2 pixel eraser brush and just zoom in and clear them 1 by 1 this is extremely time consuming but effective against straight edges and what not. While doing so I would highly recommend to work with the layer's mask and not the layer itself. Here is the tutorial: link (I haven't actually read it, but it looks like a fine article on the matter)
I def agree. A newbie mistake, or more of a work flow mistake, is to alter your original when you should be doing non-permanent alterations. Learn to use masks!
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just dont forget to experiment with your own style and techniques sometimes thats the best way to learn is trial and error. just pick a tool and doodle around with it and try to get different results and see the dynamics that can be applied to it.
some other handy tools to learn generate clouds filter ( to make textures and surface area depth) Pattern filters or clone tool ( to create large areas of texture fast) Masking + area selection ( to edit precise areas of pictures) Blur tool for (creating blurred edges to build depth of field or movement and many other effects.) Layer types (multiply + overlay are 2 most common and very useful) and my favorite is the burn tool. use it for shadows and lighting in a snap.
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my tip is not to read any tutorials yet. dont use any filters or premade effects. one of the most common mistake ppl make in the beginning is trying "to make something cool". Grab a hold on the basic tools, see how brightness/contrast color balance and levels work. you will build on it with time have fun
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-make things into 72 DPI (this is the resolution when u make a new document)
-when u stretch images or do any resizing, if u want to keep it uniformly the same, hold SHIFT while u drag to make an image smaller or larger.
-the "[" key and the "]" are usefull for zooming in and out. there are other shortcuts also but I think this and "v" are used the most. "v" is the select tool
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tip: change the font! keep it simple, small, not too attention-grabbing. this will keep the focus on the stock render. right now, your text is sticking out like a sore thumb.
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