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Lucent's Signature Tutorial Thread [Lots of pics]

Discussion in 'Tutorials' started by Lucent, Dec 22, 2010.

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  1. Lucent

    Lucent Ghost in the shell of a former Drama Queen Forum Legend

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    NOTE: This is a large thread with several pictures, note that it may take a while to load if your connection is poor.
    EDIT: I left out a very important step involving blending, be sure to re-read the edited in text (red) at the render blurring step if you have already done the guide once.

     Okay, I've decided to go ahead and make a simple, easy to follow signature tutorial that almost anyone should be able to do, so here goes.

    First of all, we have to clear up some things before I start -


    • My guide is written for Adobe Photoshop, you may not be able to follow it well with another image editing program unless you are already fairly familiar with said program. I use Photoshop CS5, but I'm sure if you have an old version it won't be that different.
    • I will not and more importantly cannot provide Photoshop for you, if you want it you're going to have to get it by your own means (whether that be legitimately paying or..not).
    • I am not at all amazing at making signatures, nor do I claim to be :p, this guide is simply to help out those who may like my style or want something easy to do.

    With that stuff being said, for making signatures you'll want to know where you can get things like brushes, C4D's, renders, etc.
    I personally recommend the following sites to use whenever you need resources for anything.

    • deviantART - This place is my personal favorite, I go here almost any time I need brushes and stuff. You can also look up signature tutorials here. Just simply search for what you want (ie: "grunge brushes", "signature tutorial") and you can usually find them fairly quickly. I always sort by most popular, all time.
    • Planet Renders - The title should be self explanatory, you can get most renders here in the render gallery but you can also find tutorials, resources and what not on the forums.
    • FringeFX - I don't use this one quite as often but its very good for whenever you need stock pictures.
    Now, shall we begin?

    First, create a canvas for your signature, I personally use 410x160, but it can vary depending on your preferences so feel free to choose a different size as long as it doesn't violate forum rules. I almost always use transparent as my background but that is also something you can change by preference.
    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
    <html><head>
    <title>403 Forbidden</title>
    </head><body>
    <h1>Forbidden</h1>
    <p>You don't have permission to access /api.php
    on this server.</p>
    </body></html>


    For this signature, I'll use this render.

    Now I'm going to find a stock on deviantART to use as a background. Go to deviantART and on the left you'll see categories, go to Resources & Stock Images > Stock Images.

    In the theme of winter, I'm going to use this as my stock background.
    Whatever you choose, simply copy and paste it onto your canvas and re-size it/move it until you think it looks decent.
    To easily re-size it you can press Ctrl+T, hold down shift while dragging it by the edges so it gets perfectly re-sized as opposed to looking stretched from lowering the height and not the width or something like that.
    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
    <html><head>
    <title>403 Forbidden</title>
    </head><body>
    <h1>Forbidden</h1>
    <p>You don't have permission to access /api.php
    on this server.</p>
    </body></html>


    Now as the next step, I blur the signature a bit, later on it helps to blend things up a bit.
    Right click the layer that represents your background (should be layer 1) and go to "Duplicate Layer".
    [​IMG]

    Once a copy is made, make sure you have that layer selected then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
    I personally set it to 3 pixels for this tutorial but its up to you really.
    [​IMG]


    After that step is done, the signature will be looking a bit too blurred, but don't worry, now we'll mess with the opacity a bit.
    Above the layer selection you should see "Opacity", you can set this to make the picture semi transparent so its only partially showing a blur effect over the actual picture. It mostly comes down to preference, but for this I set the opacity of the second layer to 57.
    [​IMG]

    Now duplicate the render 5 times. Yes, 5 times.
    [​IMG]

    Now you'll need to have some brushes downloaded, you can use whatever you want but we'll now be smudging the layers. You may need to right click the Blur/Sharpen tool to select it.
    [​IMG]

    Select any brush you want, set it to about 40-60 pixels and then go to "Brush" in the brush palette.
    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
    <html><head>
    <title>403 Forbidden</title>
    </head><body>
    <h1>Forbidden</h1>
    <p>You don't have permission to access /api.php
    on this server.</p>
    </body></html>

    Then you'll need to set the scattering and shape dynamic effects. This comes down to preference so feel free to change it how you want, but heres the settings I personally use.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Now smudge the hell out of all the render layers EXCEPT FOR THE BASE RENDER. You must have one version of it unedited.
    [​IMG]

    For each layer you get smudged, set the layer to either Darken, Lighten, Overlay, or Soft Light. I tend to prefer Soft Light and Overlay.
    [​IMG]

    Duplicate the base render and drag it to the top, then set it to Lighten. This will make it so that even with all the smudge effects over the base, you can still preserve some of the color and detail of the render with a semi-transparent one on top.
    [​IMG]
    If this isn't enough for you, you can play around with it and even bring the base render to the top.

    Duplicate the base render layer one more time and drag it to the very top. Remember when we blurred out the background layer? Do that for the new layer as well. I set the opacity to 70. Now, take a soft brush around 5-20 pixels depending on what works for you set to Erase at about 10 opacity. Now you want to gently erase some of the blur around the eyes or face (focal area) of the render. If the opacity is too high on this step or you just erase the hell out of it, it wont blend in well with the rest of the blurred area, so be sure to take your time. What this does is puts focus on the focal area of the signature to draw attention to it.
    The text in red is edited as I messed up while writing this and left out this step. My apologies, please go over this step again if you've already used the tutorial once so you can properly see how it works.
    [​IMG]


    Now make an adjustment layer and set it to black and white.
    [​IMG]


    Add another adjustment layer but this time go to gradient map. This is the part where you really just want to fool around yourself until you find the coloration you like the most. Play around changing the gradient map inbetween Overlay and Soft Light, and change the opacity if you need until you find a perfect fit for you.
    I personally had to play around a lot here to make the render more visible.
    [​IMG]

    Now make a new layer above all the rest and go to Image > Apply Image.
    [​IMG]

    Then select the layer and go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen.
    Its usually best to only do this step once.
    [​IMG]

    Finally, add in text. You can find good fonts at dafont. I usually use Geosans Light for my text.
    Try to keep it simple and small and fit it in with the signature well.
    I personally like to play around with blending on my text by setting the layer to Overlay and going to Blending Options (right click the layer) but thats up to you.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    And to finish up the signature, add a new layer again on top and go to Image > Apply Image. Once thats done, go to Edit > Stroke. I always set it to 1 pixel, black, and "Inside".
    [​IMG]

    My final result is this:
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2010
    Lucent, Dec 22, 2010
    #1
    snic, Lucent, Minaki and 19 others like this.
  2. Adieu

    Adieu Respected Member

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    ...we can has post now?


    You made this for me didn't you? :3
    Very nice though, I'll have to try it sometime
     
    Adieu, Dec 22, 2010
    #2
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  3. chicotte

    chicotte Well-Known Member Forum Legend

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    Try "
    " next time ;P nice tuto btw O;
     
    chicotte, Dec 22, 2010
    #3
  4. CakeBaker

    CakeBaker Sports Enthusiast

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    what is a lucent...?

    good tutorial though. I miss your amazing sigs, you should make me a new avi sig combo D:
     
    CakeBaker, Dec 22, 2010
    #4
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  5. Deadlychants

    Deadlychants Rainbow kittens Forum Legend

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    I skimed it since I don't have a lot of time. I see a lot of helpful hints, including resizing. Which is what I lacked a lot on.

    Thanks for the tutorial, I'll try and post an outcome tomorrow. :)
     
    Deadlychants, Dec 22, 2010
    #5
    1 person likes this.
  6. Lucent

    Lucent Ghost in the shell of a former Drama Queen Forum Legend

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    Bleh spoilers, the warning at the top is the spoiler :p

    And yes you can post now, but i have to rewrite a huge chunk of the tut because the forums were giving errors and some of it got gobbled :p

    EDIT: Fixed, added in the missing stuff, I may have missed a few spots though so if anyone sees something that doesn't make sense, feel free to point it out and I'll attempt to clarify.
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2010
    Lucent, Dec 22, 2010
    #6
  7. Punish

    Punish AntiEnemy Forum Legend

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    Hard Work to Make 1 Signature we need Learn More More i Try to Make but i Disrupted at 3rd Step :mad:
     
    Punish, Dec 22, 2010
    #7
  8. Dimitra

    Dimitra 安心。 Forum Legend

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    Awesome one<33
     
    Dimitra, Dec 22, 2010
    #8
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  9. Cropolite

    Cropolite No regrets D:

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    You still owe me a new avatar. >:
     
    Cropolite, Dec 22, 2010
    #9
  10. ~VilletteSonia~

    ~VilletteSonia~ Forum Troll

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    i can make my own sig now... ^^
     
    ~VilletteSonia~, Dec 22, 2010
    #10
    1 person likes this.
  11. Adieu

    Adieu Respected Member

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    Following this guide I made...

    [​IMG]

    I didn't use the black and white filtered layer, I thought it looked better with color. Not bad for my first try e.e;

    also I had to render the guy myself, not to good at that yet either. Practice practice...
     
    Adieu, Dec 22, 2010
    #11
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  12. Lucent

    Lucent Ghost in the shell of a former Drama Queen Forum Legend

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    Thats quite nice, and yeah sometimes it just looks better with color ;o

    The only thing I'll point out is you might want to look for some new fonts, or even try to use simple ones like Arial.

    Edit: awesome job if you rendered it yourself ^^
     
    Lucent, Dec 22, 2010
    #12
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  13. Adieu

    Adieu Respected Member

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    Yeah I didn't have any good fonts installed and /lazy to find any so I just went with that for now, I'm gonna borrow font packs from the internet :p
     
    Adieu, Dec 22, 2010
    #13
  14. Adieu

    Adieu Respected Member

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    Messed with the font a bit, then decided on Kanji since it would look better with the sig he has..

    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
    <html><head>
    <title>403 Forbidden</title>
    </head><body>
    <h1>Forbidden</h1>
    <p>You don't have permission to access /api.php
    on this server.</p>
    </body></html>


    I like this one more
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2010
    Adieu, Dec 22, 2010
    #14
  15. Koishi

    Koishi Well-Known Member

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    That looks pretty nice Adieu ^.^
     
    Koishi, Dec 22, 2010
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  16. Adieu

    Adieu Respected Member

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    Ty <3

    I'm gonna be experimenting a lot over the next few days.. just takes me a bit to render my own stuff e.e
     
    Adieu, Dec 22, 2010
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  17. Koishi

    Koishi Well-Known Member

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    Still adding Kanji in it, such a nice idea~
    I guess it would make the text look alot better..
     
    Koishi, Dec 22, 2010
    #17
  18. Adieu

    Adieu Respected Member

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    To the top for this guide, made my current ava and siggy following it.

    :3
     
    Adieu, Dec 24, 2010
    #18
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  19. Deadlychants

    Deadlychants Rainbow kittens Forum Legend

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    Thought I would place my outcome. I thought the render looked better in color, for me. So I used the eraser tool, with a soft brush and just went over it. I couldn't find a font that fit too well, so I'm pretty disappointed with that. But this tutorial has a lot of great pointers and tips, especially for beginners like myself.

    Eitherway, here's my outcome:

    [​IMG]
     
    Deadlychants, Dec 24, 2010
    #19
    Lucent and (deleted member) like this.
  20. Adieu

    Adieu Respected Member

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    Very nice! I agree about the fonts, which is why I started using kanji ._. it just looks a lot more... classy?

    Oh well off to more rendering e.e;
     
    Adieu, Dec 24, 2010
    #20
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