**i edited by this hints. :] i became better. i'm just telling. if it's non-sense to you, [b]MODS[/b] can lock or throw this away. :] [b]Fact: Most sigs are crap because of one or more of the following; 1. Poor Lighting 2. Depth 3. Text 4. Failure to create a focal point 5. Poor effects 6. and Contrasting[/b] [b]1. Poor Lighting:[/b] Im gonna tell you how to fix these problems. For your lighting there are many ways to come up with successful ways of creating a light source, for one, you can use a simple 100-300pxl soft brush, brush in corners, or even behind the focal and erase what comes up onto the focal point. There are many many other ways to create a light source, another for instance is what i like to call a "Natural lighting" light source, say there is light on the side of a charactor's face (if using a render) i would take a small soft brush and brush to the side of the render to create the effect of it being on that side of the face, and or body. What not to do = If there is natural lighting on the left side of the face, and shadow on the right, Never put the light source where there is a shadow, this will make it look completly un-realistic, which in most sigs, is what you are going for. To create a shadow and natural lighting (if you want) you can use the Burn and Dodge Tools. But when using those, use a small soft pxl brush. [b]2. Depth:[/b] Depth, a solvable problem when many MANY people face and neglect the proper tools to fix. Ask any GFXer what there favourite tool is (which automatically comes with PS), and most will say Gaussian Blur, and or Sharpen. Two Amazingly simple, and useful tools that in many sigs I see no trace. you can find the tools where you will find dodge and burn, and to blur/sharpen the whole sig, you can go to the tab at the top of photoshop and select from there. What I would suggest as will every one else, blur the background a bit, and sharpen the focal, but Not to much, too much blur/sharpen can resualt in a horrible sig. [b] 3. Text:[/b] On to Text, it can take anywhere from 1 month to 1 year to master text. Realy Realy Realy hard to do, you can ask any one. For Starters, id say keep it simple, keep it small, to the point, and around the focal but not on it (unless that is how you want it, and where it'll create the best effect) Avoiding adding multiple layers of text unless you know EXATLY what you are doing. [b]4. Failure to create a focal point:[/b] One of the most common things I see, which also ties into Depth. The dreaded focal point. In most cases its easily solved with the blur/sharpen method I already told you about. Well, pretty much all cases, thats all you have to do. But in special cases where there is say, 2 people in the picture, but you want only one to be the focal, and you also dont want the other guy lost into the background. Blur him, but with a less of blur as the background, and skip the sharpen on him. This will show that, the one guy is the focus of the sig, but hey, but dont forget about the man right here, not as important as the focus, but important non the less. [b]5. Poor effects[/b] Effects. This takes work, and imagination. You can use the "Natural" method i told you about, and you can use a wide span of tool. For instance, you can use Brushes (custom, or pre-set brushes), you can use Smudge, you can change settings, you can add in effects from other signatures. You can also the the tabs at the top of the screen to make a statement, which is what GFX is all about, Making a statement. [b] 6. Contrasting[/b] Wow, this is more difficuilt, for contrasting, you can use the burn/dodge method for this one, dont leave too much negative space, and try and keep all the colors the same theme. [i]All in all I hope this helps you in your sig making journey. If any one has something to add, be my guest.[/i]

Last edited by forsakendoll (2010-03-10 00:25:34)