Drew
03-17-2007, 04:18 PM
Gimp signature tutorial.
IF YOU FOLLOW THIS TUTORIAL AND MAKE YOUR SIG AND WANT TO SHOW IT OFF, PLEASE POST IT IN THIS THREAD OR 'the sig thread'. THIS IS TO STOP THE FORUM BEING OVER-RUN WITH SIG BASED THREADS. THANK YOU.
My first tut... be gentle...
There are loads of tutorials on the web about making a forum signature (hereon called a sig), but most of them seem to be quite overwhelming, badly explained or presume an amount of knowledge.
This one's different.
I will presume NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE and no expensive software. I will use only free software, and give download links as appropriate.
In short, this is a BASIC tutorial, for someone who wants to make their own sig and doesn't know how, not a 'turn you into a pro' tutorial.
Disclaimer: I am a long way from a pro, and no doubt better people will be along to put me right, or just flame me for being a moron. To these people: It's for the greater good, we're not all graphic designers. I'm just trying to give graphic newbies the help I never got.
Here we go, on with the tutorial.
----------------
Graphics package
You will need a graphics package. I use The Gimp, and I suggest you do too. You can download it here...
http://www.gimp.org
You will need the GTK+ runtime and the Gimp (install the GTK+ runtime first).
The latest release is Gimp 2.2, and that's what I use.
The Gimp has some cool filters too - more on them later.
------------------
Once you have your graphics package installed, it's time to fire up The Gimp. If you've used any graphics packages before, you might find the interface a bit... weird (I did) as you have a load of floating windows, and no background (don't worry, it's not broke).
Looking something like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot1.jpg
Ignore Tux (the penguin), he's my wallpaper (so you shouldn't have him).
You should have:
The 'Gimp toolbox' - looks like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot2.jpg
and the 'Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo, blah, blah' window - looks like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot3.jpg
To start with, you probably want the Layers menu open (that's this one)...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot4.jpg
------------------
Making your first sig.
Step one. Making your new image.
Now the good bit.
Create a new image by going to
File > New
In the new box specify the size (for the TBCS forums, you want it 400 pixels wide or less by 150 pixels tall or less). If the measurement isn't in pixels, click on the box with the measurement unit (mm, cm etc.) and select pixels.
When you click on OK, a new window will pop up, the size you specified with a plain white background.
Step two. Building your background (make your own - or you can find an image you like off the 'net and crop it to suit).
Remember this is going to be a simple sig, nothing too flashy.
All these bits are going to be slightly different for everyone - don't panic if yours looks different to the screenshots.
Most of the menu commands you use from here are using the menu bar in the window with your new image (named something like 'untitled-1.0 (RGB, 1 layer)) - if not I will say.
Create some randomness by going to -
Filters > Render > Clouds > Plasma
You'll get this box...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot5.jpg
If you leave the settings at the default, that'll be fine and dandy, so click on OK.
Now you've got some nice random colourfulness, we can play with it.
Try -
Filters > Distorts > Waves
You'll get this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot6.jpg
Have a play with the sliders and see in the 'Preview' box what you'll end up with. Try other distorts too, and play with the sliders and numbers. You'll find something you like...
When you've finished playing, you should have something that looks like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot7.jpg
The more you play with these filters, the more you'll find. Cool, 'aint they?
If you're happy with the rippley thing (or whatever you came up with) then we'll add a picture of some sort.
I like the Simpsons (Homer is my role model) so I've grabbed me a homer pic off t'interweb and saved him on my Desktop (save your pic wherever you like, as long as you can find it). You'll be best off with a pic that has a plain background - makes it easier to cut out later.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/homer-drool.gif
You'll probably need to crop your pic, to get rid of the bits you don't want.
So go to the Gimp toolbox, and select the knife picture (Crop or Resize), here...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot8.jpg
And click and drag over the bit to want to keep. The cropped (got rid of) bits will get greyed out and the 'Crop' window will pop up (probably right where you dont want it). If the 'Crop' window is in the way, just release the crop handle and move the 'Crop' window out of the way - the crop isn't set yet.
The top right and bottom left crop handles will move the entire crop around your picture, and the top left and bottom right ones will allow you to resize the crop.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot9.jpg
Click on 'Crop' when you're happy.
Obviously, you don't want the ugly white background, so lets get rid.
Click on the Magic Wand in the Gimp toolbox here...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot10.jpg
This will select all contiguous regions of a similar colour. In english, thats all pixels that are next to each other and a similar colour.
When the Magic Wand is selected, the toolbox will display that tools options, like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot11.jpg
You want Antialiasing on, and Feather edges off (or you'll get a faded white line around your selection).
When you click on a part of the background, it should select all the similarly coloured pixels. If it's not selecting enough, slide the Threshold slider (in the bottom of the Gimp toolbox) to the right a bit and if it's selecting parts of your picture you want, slide it to the left.
You should end up with a selection similar to this (might be hard to see)...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot12.jpg
Now we want to cut out the pic, but we want to make the bit we cut out transparent. To do this, we need first to add an Alpha channel.
We do this thus -
Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel
No, I don't know what an 'Alpha Channel' is either. But it allows us transparency, so it's our friend.
Now we cut out our selection, with the cut out bits being transparent (shown by a grey chessboard pattern).
Edit > Cut
We should end up with something like this.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot13.jpg
Note I didn't do between his hairs... yeah, I'm a n00b.
Now we got the pic we want, it needs resizing, to make sure it fits. Now, some people like to resize the layer once it's on the background, but I like it to fit first time (and I like smaller images, my PC is a POS).
So we go to -
Image > Scale Image
And we get this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot14.jpg
The chains between the dimensions indicate that the proportions will stay the same (if you adjust the height, the width will be automatically adjusted so that the pic doesn't get stretched).
I adjusted the height to 150 pixels (to match our background) and clicked on 'Scale'. Now it should fit perfectly onto the background.
Now we need to cut out the pic, and stick it onto our background. We do this thus:
On the 'Homer' pic:
Select> All
Edit > Cut
Now Homers gone.
On the 'Background' pic:
Edit > Paste
Now we can move Homer around by clicking and dragging on him, or anchor him by clicking off of him. I always put him on another layer so that I can play more with him later. Do this like this -
Layer > New Layer
IF YOU FOLLOW THIS TUTORIAL AND MAKE YOUR SIG AND WANT TO SHOW IT OFF, PLEASE POST IT IN THIS THREAD OR 'the sig thread'. THIS IS TO STOP THE FORUM BEING OVER-RUN WITH SIG BASED THREADS. THANK YOU.
My first tut... be gentle...
There are loads of tutorials on the web about making a forum signature (hereon called a sig), but most of them seem to be quite overwhelming, badly explained or presume an amount of knowledge.
This one's different.
I will presume NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE and no expensive software. I will use only free software, and give download links as appropriate.
In short, this is a BASIC tutorial, for someone who wants to make their own sig and doesn't know how, not a 'turn you into a pro' tutorial.
Disclaimer: I am a long way from a pro, and no doubt better people will be along to put me right, or just flame me for being a moron. To these people: It's for the greater good, we're not all graphic designers. I'm just trying to give graphic newbies the help I never got.
Here we go, on with the tutorial.
----------------
Graphics package
You will need a graphics package. I use The Gimp, and I suggest you do too. You can download it here...
http://www.gimp.org
You will need the GTK+ runtime and the Gimp (install the GTK+ runtime first).
The latest release is Gimp 2.2, and that's what I use.
The Gimp has some cool filters too - more on them later.
------------------
Once you have your graphics package installed, it's time to fire up The Gimp. If you've used any graphics packages before, you might find the interface a bit... weird (I did) as you have a load of floating windows, and no background (don't worry, it's not broke).
Looking something like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot1.jpg
Ignore Tux (the penguin), he's my wallpaper (so you shouldn't have him).
You should have:
The 'Gimp toolbox' - looks like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot2.jpg
and the 'Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo, blah, blah' window - looks like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot3.jpg
To start with, you probably want the Layers menu open (that's this one)...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot4.jpg
------------------
Making your first sig.
Step one. Making your new image.
Now the good bit.
Create a new image by going to
File > New
In the new box specify the size (for the TBCS forums, you want it 400 pixels wide or less by 150 pixels tall or less). If the measurement isn't in pixels, click on the box with the measurement unit (mm, cm etc.) and select pixels.
When you click on OK, a new window will pop up, the size you specified with a plain white background.
Step two. Building your background (make your own - or you can find an image you like off the 'net and crop it to suit).
Remember this is going to be a simple sig, nothing too flashy.
All these bits are going to be slightly different for everyone - don't panic if yours looks different to the screenshots.
Most of the menu commands you use from here are using the menu bar in the window with your new image (named something like 'untitled-1.0 (RGB, 1 layer)) - if not I will say.
Create some randomness by going to -
Filters > Render > Clouds > Plasma
You'll get this box...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot5.jpg
If you leave the settings at the default, that'll be fine and dandy, so click on OK.
Now you've got some nice random colourfulness, we can play with it.
Try -
Filters > Distorts > Waves
You'll get this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot6.jpg
Have a play with the sliders and see in the 'Preview' box what you'll end up with. Try other distorts too, and play with the sliders and numbers. You'll find something you like...
When you've finished playing, you should have something that looks like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot7.jpg
The more you play with these filters, the more you'll find. Cool, 'aint they?
If you're happy with the rippley thing (or whatever you came up with) then we'll add a picture of some sort.
I like the Simpsons (Homer is my role model) so I've grabbed me a homer pic off t'interweb and saved him on my Desktop (save your pic wherever you like, as long as you can find it). You'll be best off with a pic that has a plain background - makes it easier to cut out later.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/homer-drool.gif
You'll probably need to crop your pic, to get rid of the bits you don't want.
So go to the Gimp toolbox, and select the knife picture (Crop or Resize), here...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot8.jpg
And click and drag over the bit to want to keep. The cropped (got rid of) bits will get greyed out and the 'Crop' window will pop up (probably right where you dont want it). If the 'Crop' window is in the way, just release the crop handle and move the 'Crop' window out of the way - the crop isn't set yet.
The top right and bottom left crop handles will move the entire crop around your picture, and the top left and bottom right ones will allow you to resize the crop.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot9.jpg
Click on 'Crop' when you're happy.
Obviously, you don't want the ugly white background, so lets get rid.
Click on the Magic Wand in the Gimp toolbox here...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot10.jpg
This will select all contiguous regions of a similar colour. In english, thats all pixels that are next to each other and a similar colour.
When the Magic Wand is selected, the toolbox will display that tools options, like this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot11.jpg
You want Antialiasing on, and Feather edges off (or you'll get a faded white line around your selection).
When you click on a part of the background, it should select all the similarly coloured pixels. If it's not selecting enough, slide the Threshold slider (in the bottom of the Gimp toolbox) to the right a bit and if it's selecting parts of your picture you want, slide it to the left.
You should end up with a selection similar to this (might be hard to see)...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot12.jpg
Now we want to cut out the pic, but we want to make the bit we cut out transparent. To do this, we need first to add an Alpha channel.
We do this thus -
Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel
No, I don't know what an 'Alpha Channel' is either. But it allows us transparency, so it's our friend.
Now we cut out our selection, with the cut out bits being transparent (shown by a grey chessboard pattern).
Edit > Cut
We should end up with something like this.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot13.jpg
Note I didn't do between his hairs... yeah, I'm a n00b.
Now we got the pic we want, it needs resizing, to make sure it fits. Now, some people like to resize the layer once it's on the background, but I like it to fit first time (and I like smaller images, my PC is a POS).
So we go to -
Image > Scale Image
And we get this...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/turboturtle555/Screenshot14.jpg
The chains between the dimensions indicate that the proportions will stay the same (if you adjust the height, the width will be automatically adjusted so that the pic doesn't get stretched).
I adjusted the height to 150 pixels (to match our background) and clicked on 'Scale'. Now it should fit perfectly onto the background.
Now we need to cut out the pic, and stick it onto our background. We do this thus:
On the 'Homer' pic:
Select> All
Edit > Cut
Now Homers gone.
On the 'Background' pic:
Edit > Paste
Now we can move Homer around by clicking and dragging on him, or anchor him by clicking off of him. I always put him on another layer so that I can play more with him later. Do this like this -
Layer > New Layer