Critique this sig in progress.

[ShunNakamura]

Well out of curiosity, How about I request some critique on one I have been playing with?

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/3453/fourthcomingbanner5kn.gif

I need to smooth the edges(though they actually don't look that bad on the forum skin I am using), though the exact reason the .gif is so much rougher then what it was in the original format is beyond me; however, that was on my to do list anyways[since the original is a bit rough, though no where near as bad as this looks on lighter backgrounds).

A few other discrepancies also seem to have appeared, but nothing overly major.

After looking at it for a bit, I decided to move the text over to see how it would look, giving me this. Off course that may make it too 'full'. Hmm..

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/4973/fourthcomingbanner21fi.gif

Not sure which I like more. However, from comments I have had elsewhere as well as my own feeling I am leaning towards the original position.

Also was thinking that the middle is too empty. I think I may use a T4C sprite or somesuch somwhere in the middle. Just not sure what/who/how yet. Though that may make the sig too 'full'.


Ah well, I stil think it is at least somewhat better then my two previous attempts. *glances at current sig*.

[Owen Macwere]

well, they are both of not much work. sorry to say that but I kind of can see what you have gone through to make them. see here, the renders you used are not blended well and are too small.
the text is not bad either, but you could have made it smaller that would have looked better.
I like the background it is so nice and well done but the sig needs a border as well, and I have just noticed that the tiger's tail is out of the canvas.
and the corners one is rounded and the other three are sharp.
it is not a bad sig, but it needs work on it

[ShunNakamura]

How much smaller text wise? Just wondering. I want to make sure it stands out more then the 'Hunnuli' by the man. The game is The Fourth Coming and the 'Hunnuli' is my handle on the game.

As for small on the images.... I don't want them to 'overdominate' the sig, though I can see where you are coming from(I have myself played with the size, but can't find a compromise yet, so I left it as I originally had it).

As for outside the canvas. That was on purpose, I love the use of transparancies(maybe too much). This time I tried to make it a bit more subtle. Normally it is in your face, and I thought that seemed tacky so I toned it down.

Now for the corners. Hmm.. I see what you mean. However, I want the one corner(that is currently rounded) to be distinct(this is where I plan for the viewers eye to start at, and then to work around). I cause smoothing the corners would cause a better meshing while still leaving the one corner distinct, yes?

Another idea I was thinking(caused by my love of Transparancy, though I think this will be too much) is to cut out the bit of the background that is currently recessed. Then I might move The man up just a bit(so he ain't sticking out too far), the text(Hunnuli) would move up with him so it is still at his eye level. That would of course depend upon whether or not he was sticking too far out, imo.

As for the background, that is what really took a while, the cutting of it's one corner and the placement of images/text is something I have only been rough planning thus far. So they haven't been worked on at all compared to the background. The blending of the images being one of the points where I was currently stuck on.

[anacacia]

I dunno. The colors Kinda hurt my eyes, but thats all I have to say. Yeah, it does seem that you need to make the sig smaller, or add something in the middle...

[Owen Macwere]

man,^^ That was too much to read.
ok, I see that you were planning all the things you have done to the sig, so it seems. but you have seen that first I looked at it I saw the things you made on porpuse as wrong things. and well it still need a border.
and I think that it still needs alot of work, I am not the best sig maker here. but I started to learn so I can see the sigs plainer now. and I can say that this sig needs work on it before it is used ^^.
forgive me, but you wanted feedback and here you get it.

[ShunNakamura]

man,^^ That was too much to read.
I take it you don't read many of my forum posts?:D

I am always extremely wordy.


ok, I see that you were planning all the things you have done to the sig, so it seems. but you have seen that first I looked at it I saw the things you made on porpuse as wrong things.

I may be new to sig and digital imagry, however, I do understand how to write and how to make posters and the deal without computers. Much the same though process I figured.


and well it still need a border.

What type of border would you recomend(consider the current feel of the sig offcourse, a border shouldn't clash[unless there is a good reason for it]. That much I do know)? And how would I go about it. As I said new, and I am unsure on borders. I believe none of my work has ever had a border set. So you get the picture :P.


and I think that it still needs alot of work, I am not the best sig maker here. but I started to learn so I can see the sigs plainer now. and I can say that this sig needs work on it before it is used ^^.

And I much aggree with the work needed(though I can't do it now, have to go shopping).


forgive me, but you wanted feedback and here you get it.
No forgiveness needed. You indeed did point out many things that needed fixing. True I did have some inclinations towards it, but I was unsure. You have fixed it in so that I will tend to it a bit more to fix it up.

Actually, may I ask how you would go about blending(I saw that you are quite good at that by the example in the contest thingy)? As I said I am stuck there and I got no clue how to do better with the blending.

Hmm.. whatever, just to be show offy I will post up some of the things I have done my self in the past(where I make the backgrounds, text, etc, and just take an image and merge it in). And by past I mean the last few weeks. Most of the time I edit already made backgrounds and text, for these I did the backgrounds and the ilk from scratch.


http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3175/catava4tf.gif
This was one of my first done(or close to it). As you can see I shrunk it down to make my avatar. Once again is evidenced my love of trasnparancy, though I think I got away with it here.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7184/eruruusig2rv.gif
This was my second(or maybe first I don't remember which one came first). Eruruu is a sweet and kind girl. In addition her name is supposed to stand for a flower. Thus the theme and color set was at least somewhat set.

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/9926/aruruusig6ii.gif
This was my third and most recent(except the one the post is about) attempt at building from scratch. I set the background to be more 'childish' or so I hope, because Aruruu is a child. In addition at least the anime says Aruruu, much like, her sister is named after a flower. So that was the theme. I used blue'ish colors cause I think they fit her.
Here though I fear the transparency may have HURT me. and why I am trying to be more subtle with it.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/2332/fourthcomingbanner25fu.gif
Changed the text size up a bit. Made it less generic(the text that is). Tried to do some blending, but I just used the installed software... so likely not all that great. I still can't find an image I want to place in the middle.

Anyways I thought those were too generic(I am sure you can see the formula I followed). In addition I did nothing fancy and followed a very basic path set. So feel free to rip on them(though bear in mind anything other then the avatar won't be worked on from hence on out. The size and everything was wrong for them to be banners).


I think this one I am working on has far better potential. I just gotta manage not to smear it. Anyways if no one posts before now and when I touch it up I will edit in the touch up. hopefully not long after I get back from shopping. But at least I think I have gotten better(at least at the backgrounds).

[Sylvie]

For a border, you should can use just a plain and simple black line. Usually looks nice on things. I think you're getting better at sig making, just practice, practice, practice. You'll get good.

[ShunNakamura]

Something like this?

http://img289.imageshack.us/img289/42/fourthcomingbanner35ts.gif

A quick job, I will do a better one when I get more time, however, figure I may as well see if I understood right.

Ah man!... I why didn't it save it with my transparancy? Grr... must have been playing with something and forgot to set it back last night.

[Owen Macwere]

what with the white thing that appeared all of a sudden??!!
nah, you are so good at backgrounds, I like your ideas for them.
and about the other sigs they are so good, I like the avator it is awesome, but one of the pink sig corners is so sticky work with it more. the blue sig is good, but needs a border I'd sugesst a black 1 pxl border it works well.
well, if this is your first work then it is so good, you wont believe how stupid my first were 0_o.
and about blending it is not hard, just tell me do you use photoshop if so I can tell you how to blend ^_~. and well if you use borders your work would be alot easier, try to find some borders buddy.

[ShunNakamura]

That white thing is because I was in a hurry this morning and when I saved it to a give to upload I forget to double check to make sure transparancy was on. No big deal I got the original with all the layers still on my hd. I don't dump those.

http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/7972/fourthcomingbanner37ah.gif


And the dratted edges are rough again(on a white background anyways). How do I fix that, or do I need to use a png rather then gif or somesuch?

As for what I use I tend to use Corel Paint Shop Pro X for the backgrounds, and I kinda switch between Fireworks and Adobe PhotoShop CS2. As long as I save it with something that has layers that all of them can read I am fine.

Anyways just fixing the transparancy is all I am likely to do tonight/this weekend. Major DogShow I get to work. And today(5am-7:30PM, roughly) out in the sun just about polished me off.

[Sylvie]

The edges are a little ridged, check that you don't have the magic wand (if you're using that) on a setting too high or low. It would be pretty good if you fixed that.

[ShunNakamura]

Does this look any better?

http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/3082/fourthcomingbanner34il.png

I did a bit more with trying to get the border in, plus I changed the text(thanks to voodoochild for the font :P).

I think the edges still need work, and I will try to play with it some more.

Also I made the images a bit more visible, dunno if that makes it better or worse.

And I am still loking for something to dump in the middle.

As a note I saved it as a .png this time, because the dratted .gif's just keep messing with me... the edges on the .gif are horrible, and the colors don't look as good. Don't know what I am doing wrong with it, but heh, .png will do for now.

EDIT- As a note, can I hardcode links into images(such as the T4C text) and have it perhaps recolor that text(or even just add a different color border) as well? I am wondering because many boards don't allow html code in thier sigs.

[Owen Macwere]

the whole sig had definitly became better. the text is so cool yes I took voodoochild advice and downlouded it too^^.
well the border is too crazy if you make it lighter it would look alot better. and well PNg don't save transperancy that's why the white line came back.
as for how to make the edge smoother, you can merge the whole lyers to one that makes them smother. layer>merge visible(or visible merege) don't remember.
as for the middle I don't think you need to put anything there, it is good as it is or the sig would be so messy.
I wish that helpped... work harder ^_~

[ShunNakamura]

Border too strong. Gotcha :P

Merge layers before saving as a .gif. Will give that a try, .png's are too big for many forums so I can't use it in the final anyways.

If I ever find a T4C sprite I will give it a go in the middle just to see how it looks. If it makes it messy(which I have had some fear that it would) then it won't stay, but I may as well try should I get an image I want.

[Owen Macwere]

glad my advices are worthy. I am really happy I could be of anyhelp ^^.

and a suggestion why don't you look around at some people's work here there are queit a good sig makers you can learn alot, I did that. I can give you names well, Zeldy, Rye, Genji, Voodoochild, Spiffing Cheese and ~sapphirstar~. they are all so cool.

[ShunNakamura]

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/6015/fourthcomingbanner4copy5cc.gif .gif

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5381/fourthcomingbanner40yi.png .png


The gif still has some edge issues. But it does look lots better then it did previousally as a gif.

However, the PNG is still smoother.

I also decided to see how it would look if I made the images non-transparent and stronger.

In addition I played with the text somemore.


And I have indeed been looking through everyone elses sigs, It was actually other people's sigs that gave me the love I have for transparancies. However, I figured a hands on attempt at a more potent sig would teach far more then just watching(I only learn so much by looking at finished products afterall :P).

And it isn't like this is the only forum I have been posting on. I have asked for critique in many places.

Which reminds me, a couple comments I got I figure I may as well repeat here to see if you guys aggree with them. Bear in mind the comments are meant for the last version of the sig.


http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/3082/fourthcomingbanner34il.png
Old one that the following comments were ment for.


A) My background, while neat looking, is background that makes blending images into it far more difficult then would be wise.

B) My colors are a bit a too bright, is another comment. My issue is that when I try to darken it anymore I just don't care for it's look.

C) The neverwinter text while neat is too thin, and I should find a heavier one.

D) The text colors need to stand off from the background more.

E) The images for how this sig plays shouldn't be transparent.

The other comments were mostly along the lines of what you told me before, that the images a too small, and I should have picked one to focus on.

[Sylvie]

I still have somewhat of a problem with the border. Personally, I think it looks better being black, but If you don't that is fine, I respect your style. The text MAY look better outlined black as well, but I'm not sure. Other than that, I don't see much of a problem. Nice work.

[ShunNakamura]

The text has been suggested to have a black outline multiple times and I plan to give it a shot.

Black border. I can give it a go, I won't know which way looks better til I try.

Edit- Got two hack jobs to look at. Another forum area said I could try to fill the void by arching the text for The Fourth Coming.


http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/1701/fourthcomingbanner4copy2ef.gif
My usual design with black borders.

http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/291/fourthcomingbanner5ij.gif
The hack job with arched text.

With the arched version should I chop up the sig some more to give the whole thing more of an arch?

Someone talked me into shrinking the width. So here is that.


http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/3376/fourthcomingbannersmall1vc.gif

And then I did make one with the arch... but it is bleh imo.


http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/1315/fourthcomingbanner1lg.png

[Owen Macwere]

you are so much improving you know. the one with the arch text is alot better, it fills the space between the pictures. good work and well the black border is alot better than the red because it calms the sig a bet.
the background is too dark, when it was lighter it was better cause now it is taking the glory of the pictures ^^.
but over all it is getting better every day. keep working and you'll gwt to the best shape ^_~.
and as of .Gif it is its problem that it makes the edges rough even Genji the best one here with transperancy you can see the rounded corners in his sig is rough, it is not somthing to learn, that is .gif and nothing can be done to change it. but alas only Gif saves transperancy *_*.

[ShunNakamura]

Well I kinda decided to take a break from the last one. Since I am mostly doing them for pratice I decided to try something different.

So here is my latest(that I through together pretty quickly[so don't expect anything overly fancy).

I am going to have to find more images to use at this rate(or cut some out of those I got left on my comp... I hate cutting out those images :( ).


http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1352/sigbanner26kq.jpg
Because I thought the font wasn't good I changed it. Unfortunately I got very few fonts to pick from that aren't ultra plain.

So I tried this one.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8721/sigbanner28ro.jpg

Which I think looks better.

Edit-

Updated version of the white one, now officially named 'The Ancient One'.


http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/3042/theancientone4zz.jpg

END EDIT
--------
Alright made another just for fun. A darker one.


http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/3351/evilseraph4gs.jpg

Now all I need is a nifty image. And perhaps cut the height a little bit. It may be a bit too tall now for the text... will depend on the image I get I guess.


http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/5645/evilseraph6wl.jpg
upgraded version of the other evil seraph one.

[Owen Macwere]

thsy are so cool, you are really getting alot better all the time. here I will help you in images and brushs and fonts.
for renders go here: http://www.render-world.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=topn&cat=2
and for cool brushs here: http://missm.paperlilies.com/01_brushes.html
and for fonts you know dafont is so cool....
keep going man you are going to be awesume ^_~.

[Pheesh]

they're quite good, definately improving. The largest critism i have is on the picture quality. Not sure what program you're using but I don't see why the images should be looking like that. The pixelated text is the major perpetrator.

It'd also be good to see images in there.

Stay Essential
EE

[ShunNakamura]

they're quite good, definately improving. The largest critism i have is on the picture quality. Not sure what program you're using but I don't see why the images should be looking like that. The pixelated text is the major perpetrator.

It'd also be good to see images in there.

Stay Essential
EE

The pixilated text is likely my fault. Because I feel the text must fit the theme I use a bunch of effects on it to try and theme it with the background. I think I make them too sharp too often.

Anyways thanks to Owen's magnificent Render link here is a render thrown into the 'Evil Seraph sig'. I tried to keep if fitting and merging, but I don't know if I did it well or not.


http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/7346/evilseraph9hx.jpg

I used a disolving stroke on the image to try to give it a more firey feel and to try to match it better to the background an text. I think I made the stroke too thick so I may have to go back and fix it.

---Edit----

'The ancient one' with a new render.


http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9319/theancientonecopy6iv.jpg
The Colorless version.
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/5608/theancientone7sh.jpg
The colored version.
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/2227/theancientonecolorless2up.jpg
Lighter version.

[Owen Macwere]

I like the evil seraph sig, and yes the stroke is alittle too much, oh and the clours are stealing the render so you got to make it show,how? I made a high quality sharpening tutorial in this forum it is still in the first page of the PS tutorials help. check it there, it keeps the quality high and also sharpen it.
the text is too big also, try to use less attractive text. and it still needs a render I'd suggest a 1pxl of that marron or whatever red is it?.
but you are imroving, practice, practice and practice.... tha's what I do and also I play around with filters and belding modes ^^.
try everything, make mistakes... and correct them it doesn't matter, as long as you are learning.

[ShunNakamura]

Is this any better(killed the stroke, and changed up the font a bit)?


http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1562/evilseraphsimple6wy.jpg

[Owen Macwere]

yep, the text is alot better but the render is still stolen. you got to ease off your background alittle, it is too colourful.

[Sylvie]

I don't think it looks that bad. Its a dark type of signature. How is it too colorful, Owen? Its red and black...

Anyway, I think its fine. My only suggestion would be to make it so the red parts are a little more red, they look somewhat magenta to me.

[Owen Macwere]

nah, I mean the render is not shown very well, so he needs to reduse the colours of the background to let it show. that's what I ment.

[Sylvie]

I think the render is fine.

[ShunNakamura]

Anyway, I think its fine. My only suggestion would be to make it so the red parts are a little more red, they look somewhat magenta to me.

Redder... Glad I saved it with the background in three layers. I should be able to do that.


http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7851/evilseraph20jy.jpg
new redder
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1562/evilseraphsimple6wy.jpg
old less red

[Owen Macwere]

ok,ok. just thought to help. anyway I always like the render to be shown clearly.
and Shun, these are alot better, I like their soft edges.

[Sylvie]

The new one is better if you ask me. I like that signature a lot. Its bloody/dark, and its got a hooded guy with a sword. I like how he pops out from the background, because of the shadow behind his sword.

[ShunNakamura]

ok,ok. just thought to help. anyway I always like the render to be shown clearly.
and Shun, these are alot better, I like their soft edges.

Likely just a difference for style. I think I generally would aggree with you[mostly cause my eyes can't always pick them out if they aren't clear], but this sig I think works without it being shown as clearly.

The softer edges are mostly thanks to your tutorial you pointed me out to :P, I just couldn't sharpen without doing something to an extreme(either too blurry or too sharp).


The new one is better if you ask me. I like that signature a lot. Its bloody/dark, and its got a hooded guy with a sword. I like how he pops out from the background, because of the shadow behind his sword.

I like the new one to, but I will wait til all the balots come in(I use multiple forums so there are a few regulars I am waiting for comments from yet); before I set it down and clean up the extras of all the versions. My sig folder for it is huge.:choc2:

The drop shadow on his sword was a last minute thing I did when I decided to see what drop shaddow would do to the text. I thought it looked better then without it so I kept it.

Thanks for what did the popping out.. I couldn't figure it out. But you are right it is the shadow doing it. Hmm... gotta love it when things come together(even if by accident[assuming you learn from it]).


Now time to play with the Ancient one abit more.

Heh, just did some quick fiddling with it.


http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/2227/theancientonecolorless2up.jpg
The old one(for comparisons sake).
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/1149/theancientone26jj.jpg
The newer version that was the result of my 'playing'.



---EDIT---
An individual suggested I try the Gimp.

Well I got Gimp installed, and I can say popping up all those different items on my task bar is VERY annoying. However, I got a sig I did 90% in The Gimp(I used Photoshop for the stroke(the stroke on the Gimp wasn't doing squat for me) and for the final transparancy when I decided even after stroking it still needed more).


http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/884/rogue9rc.gif
Something real simple to just adjust to the Gimp.
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/1184/rogue1tb.png
Edited



Edit---

I saw an anime with a picture I just couldn't ignore(I so wanted to make a sig from it). Anyways I tried to pull it from the movie file. But I couldn't get anything good. Colors were all blended into one another to the point where I couldn't get a clean cut. I did my best an then said screw it and black and whited the image to make the color discrepancies invisible. I had fun with this one dispite the fact that it likely isn't the best around.


http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/7827/littlegirlthatcould5zp.png

[Owen Macwere]

I love the green sig, it is great. but the second one you could have made the background invisible, and saved it as Gif.
keep working man, you are even giving me idea's...hmmm. *dash to try somthing*.

[ShunNakamura]

I love the green sig, it is great. but the second one you could have made the background invisible, and saved it as Gif.



Hmm... on the second one(the little girl that could) does have the background somwhat invisible(I know it is cause I have dipsplayed it on other forums that have light background and the appearance of it is different). I think I cropped it too short is part of the problem.

Anyways I didn't save it as a gif because it got real crazy then. I don't know why but it wasn't the edges the colors, shades, and everything went real odd.

Anyways a comparison to the light and dark(the background I use for this forum) backgrounds on it.


http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2064/girlcouldlight5vv.jpg http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/3082/girlcould4rn.jpg http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/7015/littlegirlthatcould28ao.png

So it is transparent... but it is acting kind of weird. Normally I don't see the transparency differ that much between light and dark.
Edit--- I threw another comparison up there. A darker/sharper version that I made to try and make the transparancy more clear.



keep working man, you are even giving me idea's...hmmm. *dash to try somthing*
I will, and can't wait to see what you are trying :P.

[Owen Macwere]

Loved them , they are so cute and about transperancy, it is so good, just look at it, it looks as though the sig's edges are burned.
good work, you are improving so fast, emazing, really.;)

[ShunNakamura]

Well I got a bad render for this one(or at least not good, T4C doesn't got the clearest graphics and all that). But here is a character sig I made.


http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5712/ladyusana5gj.gif

I still have some playing I still want to do with it, but this gets the gist of the sig across.

[Owen Macwere]

I like it, nice try. keep working on it, buddy.

[ShunNakamura]

I like it, nice try. keep working on it, buddy.

I will, but it may be a bit. For the game I apparently need a new handle(new server and some one else has an Usana... not overly surprising , it has been my game handle for 7 years now, so people have seen the name). So before I do anything else I need to come up with a new handle.


However, back to the design itself. Do you think a brushed steel type effect would make it look better(or does it already have a steel-like effect?).

And something about the text bugs me. Though I don't know what. So when I go back to change it, I may play with it more. Also my character has gotten stronger so I may see how the new armor and sheild look on the sig.

[Owen Macwere]

hmmm.. it has a look of steel, but try to use the brush and see what you get maybe it will look better, right?.
and about the text, it looks fine by me, if you don't like it why don't you try to shove it to the corners lower it, try and play with, you will get there.
the sig is fine by me, I like how you cut the background, it is really good.

[Moon Rabbits]

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/1184/rogue1tb.png
Edited


Do NOT change that one bit, it's perfect.

[ShunNakamura]

hmmm.. it has a look of steel, but try to use the brush and see what you get maybe it will look better, right?.


I'll give it a shot next time I open it up :D. However, because it is in the touch up stages it has a lower priority then my others I am playing with(basically this one could very well be considered finished now. I am just being finicky to see what I can do).



and about the text, it looks fine by me, if you don't like it why don't you try to shove it to the corners lower it, try and play with, you will get there.
the sig is fine by me, I like how you cut the background, it is really good.


I think the real reason the text bothers me is cause it appears a bit strong to my eyes. Maybe if the blue was a bit lighter.... of course if it gets too light you won't be able to see it easily... meh. Won't hurt to play since I may need to change the text anyways(I hate it when I rasterize my text... makes it hard to change up later).


And now it is time to unveil my newest sig, inspired by a freind's shirt and by a chanced upon render online.


http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5999/cowsig4ws.gif
Once again I am having some issues with using the .gif format(png has cleaner edges.. but too big). Here it is as a png so you can see what I mean.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2744/cowgirlsigfr5.png

In addition I don't think it would hurt to move the text a bit more to the right(to make it more in the center).

I made this one to test the grass and outer space effect tutorials I had read. Thus it isn't really as themed as most of mine. But hey I am kinda liking it. Now all I gotta do is polish it.

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/6672/jessicaaf7.png
Here is another cow girl one I threw together real quick like.

Edit- Fancified the CowGirl Inn one.
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/7269/jessicashirtxv4.png

Does anyone know of a good way to make the background look more like an old western door to a bar or something(I know you all have seen the likes in westerns(or I hope so)).

Well I didn't make it look like a door, but I did fancy it up somewhate.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6218/jessicafancynl9.png


As to Aisle:

Thanks :D. I don't really plan to edit it any further(particually since my brother is using it as his sig). The only thing I may have possibly done is make the arrow head more pointed(it squares off as now). But it doesn't seem to bother anyone, so heh. I declare it a success and finished.

[Owen Macwere]

oh, my god these new sigs are great. I like the gif foramtted one.
the cowgirl, I don't know how to make that door ^^. but it looks awesome anyway.
you are inproving so fast. GJ man.

[ShunNakamura]

oh, my god these new sigs are great. I like the gif foramtted one.
the cowgirl, I don't know how to make that door ^^. but it looks awesome anyway.
you are inproving so fast. GJ man.

Thanks :P. As for the door I asked all over. I haven't gotten answers back yet, however, if I learn how to do it I will definately remember to share :D.

[Owen Macwere]

Of course you will remember to shre it, 'cause I will give you a sweet warning if you don't :p

[ShunNakamura]

Well while I wait for an answer to come in on the door idea(I have posted it in multiple places) I will make other sigs. As for the door, It looks like I may need to contrive something myself.... which I fear is still above my head. I may have gotten better, but that door(at least how I want it) is going to be a very complicated effect(or so I imagine).

well here we go, I wanted to make a bigger sig for a change. Though I had to scale it down due to filesize restrictions for many forums I visit(this one included).


http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/5098/sakuraloveru2.png

amazingly enough the .gif is bigger then the .png in this case. Usually it is the otherway around for me.

--Edit--
Gah... Almost didn't bother posting this one. It didn't turn out like I wanted it to. But heh, maybe it isn't as bad as I am seeing it as, or perhaps one of you will be able to spot where I went astray.

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2417/warriorpv6.gif

[Madonna]

A great many of your signatures tend to lack a bottom. They seem just to be cut off after a certain height and there is no closure. This "cutting off" holds true to several of your signatures in regards to how your images are not complete, rather an object may stick out from the center part of signature and flow out of it, yet then they just abruptly halt. If you follow your own borders, you should often note that your bottoms (and to a smaller degree, your sides) don't have them.

Examples:
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/1184/rogue1tb.png
What happened to the bottom of the arrow? The bottom of the thief? In a signature where these two elements are inside of a box and flow in with a larger image, this would be fine, but as they stand alone with a transparency, no.

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5999/cowsig4ws.gif
I don't get why a cowgirl would be stuck in tall grass, but I like it anyways. Nice work on following the girl's curves, the grass, and then you just cut off the other half of the moon. I would agree that it doesn't necessarily need a bottom border, but the moon?

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2417/warriorpv6.gif
I dislike this image as a whole. If the background is to give an impression of a room where you would meet the knight/swordsman, then it only got across after I stared at it for a minute. The walls do not line up properly height-wise, as the back wall looks too short to match up with the side walls, and the corners where the walls meet are not as straight as they should be. The floor is too detailed when compared to the walls. The 3D effect on the text is nice, but makes the right side of the words a bit of a pain to read; maybe a thicker outline to help stable that or reduce the contrast? And, finally, you lack a bottom.

In general, I do like your image choices, the effects you use, and your editing skills. I think you'll do fine when you more and more of your signatures, images, and works look more "whole" or "complete". Right now, not so much.

[ShunNakamura]

Well I have recently(read last few minutes) found out why the bottom nevershows. Stroke doesn't like doing it's thing for me unless I got 3 or more pixels open around the whole sig. I generally only do that at the end. So doubtless occasionally I forget to give a border to the whole thing. Trying to get that more pat down.

As for the En Garde one, I knew it had issues, however, I couldn't spot them all on my own. I'll try some of what you said.


http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8306/cowgirlsigyk5.png

Border on the side of the moon? like this? Not very visible on this dark background of a forum.

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7015/rogueck0.png
Rogue... any better here?

--Edit--

En Garde, New and Improved

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/8223/warriorsr8.jpg
The text.... I think my border I added to it made it go really wrong. Also I haven't cut out any transparancy yet. Maybe I will maybe I won't.

[Owen Macwere]

hmmmm... the moon cowgirl looks fine to me. the ne with the arrow, I agree with Her majesty's you need to draw the rest of the arrow.
for that one you changed, i don't like it, sorry ^^, the background is not one of your best and you made very good backgrounds before it.
as of the pink one, it is so cute, I like it and like the way you cut it, good work.

[ShunNakamura]

hmmmm... the moon cowgirl looks fine to me. the ne with the arrow, I agree with Her majesty's you need to draw the rest of the arrow.

The rest of the arrow... That I 'might' be able to do. The issue being the background on this one was tiny to begin with. I already had to stretch and shape it far more then I wanted to get the current shape. Also the render of the rogue. That is the 'whole' thing. And originally I figured it would look odd if with a full arrow and him chopped off at the knees.

I'll give it a try though once I get done with a poster I am working on. I think the poster is coming along nicely so hopefully I'll be done with it tonight(though rendering a 22inch by 28inch object can really put the beat down on your computer).


for that one you changed, i don't like it, sorry ^^, the background is not one of your best and you made very good backgrounds before it.

heh, I am trying something new there. Something I have been wanting to do is make my own graphics for a game I am going to code. And I need to put everything in a room. So I did this too try and get the feel for placing things in the room(as well as how they need porportioned).


as of the pink one, it is so cute, I like it and like the way you cut it, good work.
It is one of my favs :love:

[Owen Macwere]

Well, you can still complete the arrow and shove the render downwards alittle so his knees go down ^_-.
well, you are moving along excelent. and I can't wait to see your poster <3.

[ShunNakamura]

True :p . but I was more thinking that with the arrow complete it would through it off(one thing complete the other cut off. But meh won't know til I try, either way I showed the person I made it for your guys' coments and he won't be changing to the upgraded version, so you can guess that it isn't a high priority for me at the moment).


As for the poster here is a link(it is 300kb or so[even after I shrunk it to easily fit on a persons screen] therefor I won't just post it straight in the thread, I'll make use of ImageShack's linkage thing for a change) to the background for it currently. What I got left is I want to make a tree on the right side(so that not all of it's trunk shows in the poster) and have it's canopy stretch almost to the moon. Also most of the canopy won't be visible due to it being cut off up top but it will still be like 4 inches thick(bear in mind it is 22inches tall, the poster, so four inches shouldn't be too large, while still not being too small, I hope).

Also due to requirements I will have to cut out the bottom right corner by so much. That is where the name goes(this is a 4-h poster by the way).

well after much talk(as usual) here you go (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=posterbgpreviewjj1.png)

[Owen Macwere]

Wow, nice poster, did you draw that moon? it is great. and you will put the tree on the right side ha? it will look very nice.
good work.
SP: Ehm... due to double deleted post my thread is not updated, can you take alook I posted a new sig ^^, if no trouble.

[ShunNakamura]

Wow, nice poster, did you draw that moon? it is great. and you will put the tree on the right side ha? it will look very nice.
good work.


The moon I used PaintShop Pro to make/draw/render/whatever you want to call it. Just like I did with the CowGirl Moon Sig. I followed much the same procedure except I 'improved' upon it in areas I thought the CowGirl's moon was lacking. By your response I assume I succeded :p

Anyways I use Paintshop because my default install of it has a bunch of built in tools nifty for a moon(particually one of the Marble Brushes, though I don't remember it's number...).

What I do for the moon is I draw a circle(not a filled in one, just the outer lines) on a new layer in the place(and size) I want it. I then set my foreground color to a light blue and my background color to white. I use a Foreground to Background gradient that has a built in transparancy(not sure which one it is but it was a paintshop default) set up so the white works to highlight the rest of the moon. I then use the magic wand set to opacity to select the circle outline I made and delete it. Using the foreground blue I then Use the marble brush to make highlights all around the edges of the moon. These leaves an ugly trasnprancy in the middle.

To fix this I play around with various brushes. I found a single click of a large spill brush in paintshop fills it in nicely. I then Gausian Blur it at .... well I don't remember the exact it was 6 or so pixels or maybe more due to the size of the poster.

At this pint it is nice, but you can see the stars through it. Using the magic wand set to opacity I select the moon I have made. I then shifted to the stary background layer and cleared that area of it. Now you can see the transparancy behind the moon. I then set my foreground to black and my background to white. From here I used a solid gradient set up so the white would highlight the underside-rightside of the moon.


There you go, now you got a moon.(not a good tutorial. if I get time and there is interest I will write up a good detailed one with examples etc). However due to how I use my programs it will likely be unfollowable if I do the whole sky(I make the sky background in gimp, the grass in photoshop and the moon in paintshop. :tongue:). However the basic idea and methodology should be the same I hope.


Edit- I just had to throw this in, unless I really mess up on the tree the poster background may become my new desktop background :D.

[Owen Macwere]

Thank you, I will try that ^^. nice tutorail.
and if you finish it I would be more than happy to set it my desktop too... good work Buddy ^_-.

[ShunNakamura]

Thanks, and I will try to write a true tutorial(I am pretty good at them once I set my mind to them[usually], I just spend several hours on them, so I gotta get some free time first) later when I am less busy.

also because elsewhere I have people telling me the link isn't working properly I will post it here directly.... It shouldn't be too big for anyone's screen.(the original you must still folow the link to... I don't want to bog this down too much.

I HATE trees!


http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7523/posterbgtreell0.png

Can anyone give me tips on making a better tree... I really don't like that crappy one I got going right now. Anyways, the tree stands out too much so for now that is what I will work on(since I can't think of any way to make it look better in design itself.

Also I must say I do fear it may be too 'crowded' for a poster(though I won't find out til I actually try).

[Madonna]

I think you missed my points, ShunNakamura.

The Rogue one is not so much better because it is still just part of an image. If the rogue ended at the knees, it would have been a good idea to either construct his legs and use him as you did, or scrap the idea and use the rogue in a more contained signature. A transparent signature is too open for an incomplete image. What you have fits more into a banner rather than just standing alone.

As for the cowgirl signature...no, you are missing the other half of the moon. Cutting out half of an image looks strange and out of place:
http://www.akusui.net/_lynxius/_leech/missingthepicture.png
You can see what I'm saying, yes? A full, uncut moon is best.

The En Garde one still misses a bit. An image to illustrate the advice:
http://www.akusui.net/_lynxius/_leech/warriorsr8-le.jpg
The walls still do not match in heights; the lighting on the walls are uneven and do not match up, not by any angle. If the light is coming from the front of the image, the darker tones of the side walls would end at the top of the darker brown on the back wall. Also, the shadows of the text and the character would also stretch out behind them, rather than at any angle. Consistency goes a long way.

[ShunNakamura]

I think you missed my points, ShunNakamura.

The Rogue one is not so much better because it is still just part of an image. If the rogue ended at the knees, it would have been a good idea to either construct his legs and use him as you did,

I doubt I can construct the legs... It was hard enough to add a shirt to the girl in my current sig(her vest didn't cover as much as I would prefer). I doubt I could make a persons legs.



As for the cowgirl signature...no, you are missing the other half of the moon. Cutting out half of an image looks strange and out of place:
http://www.akusui.net/_lynxius/_leech/missingthepicture.png
You can see what I'm saying, yes? A full, uncut moon is best.

hmm.. prehaps... however, I never planned the image with a full moon to be visible on it. And you are the only one who has commented on it that way. That and I know I picked up cutting the moon off elsewhere. I'll go read around, likely I did too hard of a chop off or some such.



The En Garde one still misses a bit. An image to illustrate the advice:
http://www.akusui.net/_lynxius/_leech/warriorsr8-le.jpg
The walls still do not match in heights;


Can you be a bit more specific? is it still the back wall that is too short? etc. Or is it because I didn't cut it into a trasnparancy like last time?

anyways I will work on the lighting.. but me and it don't like each other llast I checked :D.

Edit---

Any better now?


http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/4880/warriornb9.gif

[Madonna]

http://www.akusui.net/_lynxius/_leech/warriorsr8-le2.png

[ShunNakamura]

http://www.akusui.net/_lynxius/_leech/warriorsr8-le2.png

Thanks.. that is what I needed, I think. Anyways I didn't blend it the best, however, I did try to get the wall sizes right.

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1171/warrioroc2.png

It is still a bit too tall[on the side] from what you have drawn,

[Madonna]

I meant your lighting on the walls was wrong. If you look are your previous versions of the same signature, there is a gradient of light and dark on the walls. Everything below the red lines should be all the similar in how dark they are because of how the lighting works, while it lightens up above the red lines.

[ShunNakamura]

Ahh... I see... Well I will go fix that up then :D

Anyways An update on my poster it looks like this so far. and yeah, I know ugly tree.


http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6408/posterfurthervc9.jpg

[Owen Macwere]

who said the tree is ugly, no it is very good, and I like that wolf in the moon, you did a great job there. but the tree track (or however you spell that0_o) needs you to work on it alittle bet more. nice poster, good work.

[ShunNakamura]

who said the tree is ugly, no it is very good, and I like that wolf in the moon, you did a great job there. but the tree track (or however you spell that0_o) needs you to work on it alittle bet more. nice poster, good work.


Thanks(almost said tanks :p) but the tree trunk is what I was referring to. I just can't seem to get it right.

Edit-- I will be posting a seperate thread on it in a moment(rather then hijacking my sig thread for my poster, I will put it in art to get more critique. So look Here (http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?p=1781653#post1781653) for it.

[ShunNakamura]

Back to sig banners now!:D


http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9288/myonlyfriendal1.jpg

I wanted to try the fading text thing... I think I may have over did it though:rolleyes2.

Anyways that image there was *bleep* to cut out. The artist had blended it so well with the back ground that I needed to be zoomed in at about 500% just to tell the creatures thiner hairs from the background. The dratted Magic wand was useless too. Anyways, it probably wasn't that good of a cut.

[Owen Macwere]

you cut it very well. and yes i agree you over did the fading text. but over all it is a nice sig.:)

[ShunNakamura]

Well I redid it somewhat(to kill the overdoing it).


http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7931/myonlyfriendjt8.jpg

The bonus is the text is easier to read :D

[Owen Macwere]

yes it looks better now, but I just wish to know, why do you love your text to be sooooooooooooo big, smaller text work better buddy;) .

[ShunNakamura]

I like to be able to read the text. I have Horrendous eyesight when it comes to anything further away then I usually hold a book(my nose is usually buried in it, if you get my drift). My eyedoctor tells me that my book reading has ruined my eyesight for anything but reading stuff at that range. Because of this I have a VERY hard time reading the text that some of you guys use, if I can read it at all.

Anyways, new one!


http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/8585/pleaseqn6.gif

Nothing too fancy here, I just found that picture adorable. At least this one was far easier to cut then the last one :D.

[Owen Macwere]

I am sorry, really didn't mean to say that.
your new sig is very good, the edges are very clean, good work buddy.

[ShunNakamura]

I am sorry, really didn't mean to say that.


Nah don't worry about it. I know my text is bigger then what the current 'style' and the ilk is(been told many times in fact). However, I just can't make myself have text that I can't read on it. After all, if I can't read it what guarntee do I have that others can? At least this way I know my text is at least semi readable.

Though I really need a better font for my "only friend" one. The current font is a real pain. But I don't got any good script fonts, and I have trouble finding good fonts.


And thanks :P, I myself was shocked at the clean edges on that .gif.

[Owen Macwere]

don't do :P at me, I always get clean edges and you know :P.
well I get my fonts from dafont, you know it, I like the one called Evol, and some more ones that are very good, try to look there alittle more. ^_~.

[ShunNakamura]

But :P is my favorite smiley(I keep mixing up instead : p for this smiley :p).

And last one for a bit, I promise(I need some shuteye anyways)!


http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3617/loveiz5.jpg

[Owen Macwere]

wow, romantic. but renders not cut that well, hey I think you should slow down a bet and work longer on them. still I like the text and background, the render is nice too :P.

[ShunNakamura]

Yeah I know the render isn't cut super good. But I had some issues with it. And I said to heck with it(basically the top of the guys hair was cut off in the original, so I had to try and rebuild and reshap his hair to what had been showing. I gave up). Fixing up renders to fit your sig isn't fun. I'll touch it up when I go back to it. I am just trying to put some of the ideas that are rushing through my head this morning to paper so I don't forget them. I can always touch them up, but I can't retreive an idea that fled.


Edit-- I am addicted :(. However, this idea plowed into me just before my I was in bed. Had to do something about it.


http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/9352/staringmj4.png

Here is another one that I am liking.
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/3244/mysticov4.gif
But I didn't manage to get the gif edges 100% clean this time... and the png would be WAY too large.

Oh good greif... I had typos!

[ShunNakamura]

My latest.... even too big as a gif. lol.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/2457/sacrificegz0.png
The Lovely png

--And now the I hate Gif's.--
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/3208/sacrificeje8.gif


I give up on gifs... I don't care if they are smaller. The quality difference(and how well they handle transparancies) is readibly visible. PNG's just outclass gifs in everything but size(and maybe animation... I don't do animations so I don't know anything about what does that best).

[Owen Macwere]

wow, these last sigs are very good, you are getting better all the time.
but I think now, you should start on working more on blending, you know it give the sig a nice look. a look that it is not made of things but as though one piece.
good work though ;)

[ShunNakamura]

wow, these last sigs are very good, you are getting better all the time.
but I think now, you should start on working more on blending, you know it give the sig a nice look. a look that it is not made of things but as though one piece.
good work though ;)

Well I have been sorta working on blending. But my main concern is to keep it readable discernable. and I have real issues tryin to balance that and blending. When I try to truely blend I end up overdoing or underdoing it. I can't get it right(though I do pratice more on each sig.).

The last two I did, the 'Mystic Healer' and 'The Pawn' have very transparent background layers on top of the renders to try and blend them more to the background. However, The pawn I posted up as is now to see the critique I had a couple ideas to play with blending but I wanted to see if it was needed or if I risked wasting time/ruining the sig by playing with it(and yeah, I know I got a copy of the original so I ain't going to truely ruin anything. but you got the idea I think).

And I am liking my latest ones as well :D, I just hate how much I have to shrink them when I actually want to use them.

new version. It was too strong I think before so I toned it down.
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8823/sacrificedb6.png

[ShunNakamura]

Got a new one to show off. I like this one despite its lack of transparency.


http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/240/heroip6.jpg

[Owen Macwere]

Yes, it is nice I like the colouring and the place you put the render in. nice work, Shun.

[ShunNakamura]

Yes, it is nice I like the colouring and the place you put the render in. nice work, Shun.
Thanks :D,

And here is my newest... I didn't spend as much time as I liked... plus I lost a bit when the power died here... but I think I managed to redo everything that had been changed since the last save... thank goodness I save often.


http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6285/yuffietg7.jpg

[Owen Macwere]

erm, I don't love it. but I like it, I guess what I don't love is the pics they are not that visible, duh, you know me :I I love visible things. but over all it is nice, yes I like it. good work.

[ShunNakamura]

erm, I don't love it. but I like it, I guess what I don't love is the pics they are not that visible, duh, you know me :I I love visible things. but over all it is nice, yes I like it. good work.


Hmm.. the image visibilty was bugging me at the time of posting. However, maintaining both the misty/shadowy feel and sharpening the image escaped me at the time.

Though I went back and played with it a bit. I also shrunk it a tad so I could save it as a png(png's colors are better then jpgs....). The jpg colors are a tad duller than the original file. though maybe that is just me(either way I like it better smaller anyways).


http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4371/yuffiesharpersk8.png
new
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8861/yuffiesharperre9.jpg
jpg of new
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6285/yuffietg7.jpg
old

This wasn't anything much, all I did was use an individual highpass overlay on the three images, however, they are a bit more lively in this version. Why I didn't think of doing that originally is beyond me.

[Owen Macwere]

yeah, I guess the .png is alot better, but you can still play around with it, go one boy. :P

[ShunNakamura]

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/6561/yuffietestic8.png
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4371/yuffiesharpersk8.png
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7224/yuffiedarkerwa8.png


I tried to darken it a bit. A bit too.... pale and colorless I thought. The first one I think I got it too dark... the third I am liking, it is stronger without being too strong. The second is only the old one for comparison sake.

[ShunNakamura]

Sorry for the double post.... However, I got a new one, even if it is lacking in several areas(hey I am tired, been out in the sun working too long... but can't sleep yet, had to do something so sig making I a go!).


http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8428/icanfi2.png

[Owen Macwere]

the pink one is nice... the render matchs with the background. and everything is good. hmmm... you need new fonts man. :D

[ShunNakamura]

the pink one is nice... the render matchs with the background. and everything is good. hmmm... you need new fonts man. :D

Heh, I really stink at finding fonts. How did someone put it? I have a natural talent at selecting the worst ones :P. or something along those lines.

Anyways I got myself some new ones(two of which are present in the sig I will be showing now).


http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1661/allcowgirlnobulluz4.png

Not done yet. No border(wonder if it even needs one?) and the edges are somewhat rough. However, my hands aren't steady today, so I can't go out and manually smooth them up like I normally due(also cause of that the renders may be rougher then usual).

Once I get a bit more steady I will try the Sig with brown and white colors in the background(the only reason I used the pastels color is cause my freinds shirt that inspired this is a pastel pink).

I am really feeling out of it :(

[Owen Macwere]

I like it. :D
and I don't think the pink background doesn't match, but maybe the brown and white one would look better, go for it. ;)

[ShunNakamura]

Not the cowgirl one(lack of inspiration to play with it :( ). And actually that slump of inspiration has hit all areas for the past few days. However, I had the urge to play around this morning.


http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/2485/goofky1.png
I was going to do more with it, I think I need to shape it a bit better(the transparancy on top of the pentagons for one.... it just ... stops.. that needs working. However, my photoshop keeps crashing on me and won't open. In addition I generally use special effects on my final save that don't port well to other programs. So any additions will have to wait til my photoshop stops acting up on me :p.

[Owen Macwere]

It is great, i really like it. nice use of brushs and all, I will wait to see what you do next to it. ;)

[GooeyToast]

I really like those hexagons, nice sig. It's an original style, so props for that my friend.

BTW, would you mind telling me where you got those hexagon brushes (if they are brushes) from? I can't seem to find them.

[Owen Macwere]

from miss M. :love:
and it is called honeycomb...

link: http://missm.paperlilies.com/01_brushes.html

[GooeyToast]

ktnhx

[ShunNakamura]

I really like those hexagons, nice sig. It's an original style, so props for that my friend.

BTW, would you mind telling me where you got those hexagon brushes (if they are brushes) from? I can't seem to find them.

Heh, the hexagons weren't brushes... I looked for such brushes but didn't find them myself. And since they work so well in other people's sigs I wanted to give them a shot. So I did them by hand.

Therefor, I can truthfully say, THANKS for the link to the brush :P.

As for style, I just took some tips from genji :D.


Anyways, got another one in a similar vein. Things didn't line up as well as I had hoped; however, I am still liking it :p.


http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/1813/helpdeskqo9.png

As you can see I made use of the brush this time :D

[Owen Macwere]

WHAT? you drew that by hand? it looks perfect, very good man.
and well, i gave you that link before. :D
anyway the new one is very good, but I will tell you something, not here though...

[ShunNakamura]

WHAT? you drew that by hand? it looks perfect, very good man.
and well, i gave you that link before. :D


I did use the shape tool combined with some hand effects and transparancy :p. The only reason it looked perfect is due to its size. When the image was blown up(I worked it at about twice the size) there were some imperfections... but they aren't readily visible in the smaller size.

And the link, likely you did, and I just overlooked the honeycomb :P.

[Owen Macwere]

Wow, then you are very awesome. great work. keep up :D

[ShunNakamura]

Here is a logo type thing I was thinking of making for a site I help maintain for a club I am in.


http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/43/nodtqd6.png

When I use it as an acutual logo(if ever) I plan on shrinking it a bit(not a whole lot, I think it needs to be 3/4 the current size for the setup I have) and I plan on taking the four corner things off. I don't feel they are needed, just was goofing off when I made them.

[Owen Macwere]

I think it is great, very well done. I like the corners why would you remove them?.

[ShunNakamura]

Oh, I love the corners too, for a sig anyways. But if I use it as a logo I am thinking that the corners(which I spent little time on compared to the rest) take away from it. But then again I won't know til I actually load it up as a website logo. If I do keep the corners I will want to fix them up. I did not make certian that they were the same size or even shape. I did a quick job on them.

[Owen Macwere]

Well, it is your choice, great work once more.. kepp up buddy... :)

[ShunNakamura]

Long time no sig. Lack of innovation if you will... not to mention too hot to do squat.

Anyways here it is... a quick one but I like how it came out.


http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/3324/mechasigsk6.jpg

[Owen Macwere]

Yeah, I ahve been missing you so much. x_x
Great sig as usual, just the text I can't make it out. :D
but over all great work.

[ShunNakamura]

Definately slow days.... Threw this one together with a headache briming. Anyways, black and white image with a bit of color thrown on it.


http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7982/chiciri3iy5.jpg

[Owen Macwere]

it is COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
Yeah, I am having a hard time making sigs too, maybe it is a desise. :D
I love this one so much, great sig, really.

[ShunNakamura]

Well if it was a desease that would explain me having it.... I catch anything and everything that is contagious :(.

Heh, anyways Did another off of a black and white image I found online.


http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/8966/sakuraeb3.jpg

I am thinking of embossing(I think that was what it was anyways) it to give it a look similar to the Chichiri one(my last one). Gives it more of a 3d feel and I like that.

[Owen Macwere]

It is awesomly awesome.
nice colouring and text blending...:D
keep up Shun.

[ShunNakamura]

Got bored and built it up some more. PNG this time because I couldn't see exactly where the transparancy produced by the emboss ended and started and didn't want to risk maiming it(and GIF, just doesn't look as good as PNG).


http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1961/sakuramp5.png

http://img480.imageshack.us/img480/5999/mercutio2qt7.gif

A quickie... just wanted to finally do something with that render.

[Owen Macwere]

The blending of the green one is very good. :)
I like them, great work you started to make great sigs, I love you sigs. :love:

[ShunNakamura]

Well I wanted to try something new with transparancies(guess where :p).

Anyways I got it as a Gif and a PNG will show both. Guess which one is which :p. And NO cheating:rolleyes2



http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/4200/narutohinaup0.gif

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/7237/narutohinaxl3.png


And yes, I think I have had too much caffine :D.

Anyways I screwed up and rammed my lettering up against the edge :(

[Owen Macwere]

Hehe, nice task. I love guessing games. :D
let's see, the first is .Gif, the second is png.
the transperancy is in the lines in the letters.
correct? :(

Nice sig between. ;)

[ShunNakamura]

Hehe, nice task. I love guessing games. :D
let's see, the first is .Gif, the second is png.
the transperancy is in the lines in the letters.
correct? :(

Nice sig between. ;)

Right on the file types. And I think you were right or close or at least getting there on the transprancy. explaining the transparancy on the letters is a tricky task. It is technically the inside of the letters that is transpranant. The font I used is a bit weird... it is stencil like I guess is teh best bet. What I did was select the inside of each letter(already transprant but showing the bg)and used those selections to delete the bg so that it was fully transparant rather then showing the bg. If that made any sense :p.

Anyways I think that was what you were saying but I just elaborated :D

Actually showing it on a white background shows the transprancy really clearly, as this thumbnail will show once clicked upon :p.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/3874/narutohinaow3.th.png (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=narutohinaow3.png)

(you don't want to see the gif on white background.... trust me)


Anyways I may give another Transparant text one a go. That is kinda fun and I want to try one on a more complex sig(plus I want to work on making it look better, not bad for a first attempt on it in my mind, but I should be able to improve it).

[Owen Macwere]

That's whay I meant, it is just my english doesn't support me sometimes. :D
So I won? what is my gift?. :p
Oh, and I can't wait to see what you are preparing next.

[ShunNakamura]

That's whay I meant, it is just my english doesn't support me sometimes. :D
So I won? what is my gift?. :p
Oh, and I can't wait to see what you are preparing next.

prize? err.... I thought that was supposed to be the satisfaction you gained from getting it right :p.

Anyways, dropped the last one I was going to do(one with better transparant text) for a short bit, decided to fill a request at another forum.

This is what I got(I just wish the Text ElvenDestiny was more easily readable :().


http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/8394/elvendestinyv2sm6.png

Edit- Yippee I finally pulled off Genji's text out of banner shadowing onto thing I said I was going to do ages ago :P

[Owen Macwere]

Duh, no prise? meany. x_x
Well, your new sig is very good. and the text is not as bad as you are saying, at least I could read it when I screw up my eyes. :D
No, seriously, it is a cool sig. good work.

and oh, yeah. congratulations for the font, I fear to use it, though I like it.

[ShunNakamura]

Man, it doesn't look like I'll ever get back to the stencil font :(. Coming up with a good idea for it isn't easy for me, and I am not willing to force it.

but anyways--

got a new one. Two versions. Bad part is I got bored halfway through and rushed it a bit.


First version
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/9563/naetorumn7.png
Alternate Version
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/3232/naetorualtpg7.png


Anyways in my rush of boredom I forgot to smooth the edges.

[Cloudstrife4003]

They look pretty good.

[Owen Macwere]

It looks cute, nice background, by the way. ;)
and about the font, don't bother, my eyes are not that sharp either.
Good work Shun, you are awesoem and getting awesommer every passing day.

[ShunNakamura]

And another new one.


http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/6377/cloysterpk9.png


Hmm... Really having issues with the edges again... I thought I got over that a long time ago. I guess it doesn't help that the last two had low quality images but still.....

[Owen Macwere]

The best thing there is your text, awesome blending, wish I can do that.
As of the edges, don't worry, I think that .gif is a bet mad at them these days. :p

[ShunNakamura]

I hate slumps... gah...

Anyways I tried to do something with the stencil text again.



This is the gif....
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2731/bunnyxl9.gif
And this is the png...
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/359/bunnyez0.png
Sadly I can't use this on this forum because the gif is too low quality and the png is over 3x the size limit.

My conclusion.... if you want to use the stencil text it helps if you use png.

[ff7+ff10 gurl 100]

You know, I never went through this thread before. I like all of the sigs you have displayed on here. I can say that they are all unique. I love them alot. You are very good at what you do :bigsmile: Good job!! :bounce:

[ShunNakamura]

Thanks :D

And I love being different. Can't stand making sigs that conform to normal shapes. The big issue is that making them in an original shape and bg style and text style gets really hard, particually when you have to balance everything.

Anyways,

the last one looked awful on a light bg(the text was unreadable amount others. So I made a V2 of it, which has a set bg color behind the text and played with images and the 'white space' a little bit.


http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/7125/bunnyforcedbgtf3.png

[Thorn]

I loveeee that one. That style is always very popular (Render outside the background).

Only problem is text on her back, doesnt blend and is difficult to read.

[ShunNakamura]

Only problem is text on her back, doesnt blend and is difficult to read.

As for the blending... I may or may not get back to that... I don't believe I had it saved in such a way that I can blend it better without having to do a bunch of hoop hoping.

As for the hard to read. I have seen many girls have shirts and the first words at the top is always hard to read because of thier hair... I tried to duplicate it.


I did another one in the same theme(both of these are TO characters).


http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3306/cathp3.png
Unfortunatlye the edges on the render are somewhat jagged. I should probably try to touch it up once I get some sleep(a shaky sleepy hand won't help it any).

[Owen Macwere]

This last yellow one, really stopped me breathing, IT IS SOOOOOOOO COOL, MAN.

and I like the other one, the text on her back is really a great idea. :bigsmile:

[Thorn]

Ooooo I like this one alot! For some reason Gold/Yellow are really good for signatures.

This is a top signature. Your best thus far.

[ShunNakamura]

Long time no new banner.... well I got one, but it isn't as good as my last ones.


http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8945/leeio7.jpg

[Thorn]

It's not bad. Your right, you have made better. But why are you using it as your current sig?

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3306/cathp3.png

This one is FAR better.

[ShunNakamura]

Compare the file sizes :P.

I have trouble getting good sigs inside the EoFF file size limit. My best ones are almost always over the limit.

[Owen Macwere]

I like the new one very much, it is so cool, gives a dusty feeling like a desirt.
well, I have some kind of a trick to make file sizes small, but it only works with high quality renders.
I will tell you about it, if it doesn't annoy you. :)

[ShunNakamura]

Feel free to tell.(most of the time I just grab renders off of renderworld or some such place, don't have the patience to cut my own).

And I am glad it got the desert feeling that was what I was aiming for :D. Mission accomplished. Took me a while to get it to work right though.

[Owen Macwere]

LOl, I don't cut mine too, saw Inuyasha and the Chocobo, they were first tries and even sttempts.
anyway, you have to save your files as PSD in one folder then go to (in PS) file> automate> Web photo Gallary. and full the required options, and then empty the box that says resize images, click ok, all the files will turn to JPg and reduced by size. ;)
if you don't get it, tell me I will explain it simpler, (I am a bad explainer :( ).

[ShunNakamura]

I'll give it a shot sometime(maybe). Shrinking my sig size is not a major concern for me. This is the only forum I frequent often that I really have issues with my sig size. Most other forums I visit tend to be png pushers in the graphics forums... meaning that thier sig size is a bit larger to accomadate png-24's larger file size. So I don't have many worries. And I got a couple good ones that are undersize and I can swap back and forth if I really want a change of sig here.

Now to two new ones. An A version and a B version



A- http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8852/sad2mo7.png

B- http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4241/sad2bhi7.png


Only real difference is that B has an added effect that covers the whole thing. Basically I thought A looked a bit raw so I added a more dreamy effect... but I didn't want to overdo it so I kept it real slight.

[Thorn]

I love the render. Great pic.

The colours are pretty cool.

Btw I just saw this.
http://img480.imageshack.us/img480/5999/mercutio2qt7.gif

That is INCREDIBLE. THat is SO good. I love it.

[Raebus]

To be honest, most of them are too big, for me anyway. Good work though, Love the renders and backgrounds.

[Thorn]

To be honest, most of them are too big, for me anyway. Good work though, Love the renders and backgrounds.

He has a point. Some people like small ones, some like big ones. I like small-medium. I only like big if its like REALLY good. Try some small ones. Say....between my current sig size, and raebus.

[ShunNakamura]

I tend to make the size based on the image. It just depends on what details I want and how spacy I want them.

This next one is going to be mucho smaller. The image I used for the render(had to cut it...I hate cuting) was like 80px tall or something. Tiny as can be. As it was I had a hard time getting it in that size of sig. I cleaned it up and tried to smooth the pixelation from size increase the best I could.



http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/713/foewithinhi4.jpg

[Thorn]

Yeh thats about the size I like. That's pretty good, with some nice text to boot.

[Owen Macwere]

Hmm, you need big renders. :D
I like the purple one, purple is my favorite colour. :love: and the text isn't bad, stop saying that, I like them, and about the size you are right, somertimes we can't work on larger or smaller sizes, like me I can only work on 450x150 pxl, if I make smaller or bigger, it'll look bad.
anyway, these are so nice, cool beans. ;)

[ShunNakamura]

This one did NOT come out the way I wished it to. Not sure if that makes it bad(which is way I am posting it). I guess that is what I get for making a sig at 4AM in the morning.


http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1158/elvesrisevp7.png

Crap... that is why I don't like cutting my own renders..... looks like I missed a bit on the image on the left(the only one I cut myself in this sig).

[Owen Macwere]

Shun, this sig is cool, Hmmmm... but why don't you use only one render at a time, I like using one render it makes the sig less busy and more focused, that's just me though.
I don't think you messed cutting that image, it looks cool to me, nice work Shun. :D

[ShunNakamura]

Shun, this sig is cool, Hmmmm... but why don't you use only one render at a time, I like using one render it makes the sig less busy and more focused,

I am that way to much of the time. However, I have been trying to branch off and get better all around. I am the type of person that believes you should be able to do at the least a bit of everything(part of the reason why I work in 4 different programs at times for my sigs).

Anyways I think I did much better on the many images one sig deal this time.


http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1695/utaweffectzs6.png

turned out lighter than I had planned, but that isn't too bad. One thing that gots me is I am not likely the light blue border I gave it.

[Thorn]

It's quite nice, the big tiger face is great render. But theres just 2 problems. The text is impossible to read. I know everyone critizied your previous text, so you probally tried somthing different. Don't use this, I can in no way read it.

The other is that the border of the renders seems to be poorly cut. THe one you've posted here is fine, nice and smoothe. But the one if your sig looks edgy.

How'd that happen?

[ShunNakamura]

The quality difference was because I had to save it as a gif for the size req on this board. I have never been able to smooth gif's edges adequetly. And for only 1 board I am not willing to spend the time trying. For anything but animation PNG is far superior to Gif.

I think the big problem with the text is I over did it with the effects on a thin text. That and the bit under the title(the words in quotes) was a really nasty font when it comes to readibility normally... but I thought it had the anime feel, and that quote isn't 100% needed to be readable.

[Thorn]

Fair enough.

[ShunNakamura]

I decided to see what it would look like if I took the title from the title screen in the anime and used it instead of my own text in that sig. No go, no matter what I did it just didn't look right to me.

However it had given me an idea for a new sig.

Now tell me if you see any difference in quality. If you don't see any difference I'll shift this one into my sig.


http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5800/utawarerumono2sc6.jpg

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/7404/utawarerumono2mx4.png

[Thorn]

0 difference in quality. As for the sig itself, thats "quality". Hehe. Yeh its a nice signature. Granted the text is slightly hard to read towards the bottom, the font is quite cool.

Quite nice. I've got no complaints about you using it as your sig.

[ShunNakamura]

0 difference in quality.
Alright then. set as sig. Sometimes I can see a difference between png and jpg(particular if it isn't a 100 quality jpg). However, I didn't see any this time and just wandered if it was cause my eyes were tired at the time.


Granted the text is slightly hard to read towards the bottom, the font is quite cool.

I attempted to make it more readable a comple times, but any time I did it would detract from the overall appearance. And I really wanted to make it look similar to the text I cut from the anime.

I may play with it a bit more later(I may try to make it into a webpage banner, it doesn't look bad when stretched to 500'ish pixels wide and it would make a good banner for a fanpage I think). And one of the issues that is on my to solve list when/if I work on it is to play more with the text's readability.

[Owen Macwere]

I like the text and the strong colours of the sig. nice work Shun.

[Thorn]

Lol?

The text is completely irelevant to the picture. It's like having a picture of a clown, and having text saying.

"To be or not to be, that is the question"

You should probally keep it to 1 quote, so you can make it bigger and easier to read. and to "over do it" as you said.

Btw is that you? I'd love to make a sig of myself.

[Thorn]

That's really cool shun. With the story behind it, and the new quote, its now twice as good.

[ShunNakamura]

Decided to try one with one a fancy border somewhat like Alice does :p.

Those borders look like they may be fun to make so I looked up how to do them and than did a real quick one(attention span has been failing me these last few hours :D).


http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1117/request2fm8.png

I think I may have over did it on the images.

[Owen Macwere]

I like the border it is cool, I might try it too and see how it turn out, I will pm you with it. :D
cool sig, and cute colours.

[ShunNakamura]

Boy are those borders fun :D. And I can't wait to see what you can do!

Here is another one. I seem to have a thing for LONG banners these days.


http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/6782/pokeshippingre3.png
Left it as a png cause even as a jpeg it was nearly 2x the file restriction size. No way I would get it under the restrictions without killing the quality.

[Owen Macwere]

Yay!! Cool siggy Shun, I like picatcho, yay!!.
The border is as cool as the sig, nice worky man. :D

PS: Do you know where I can find some good KH pictures, my sis wants some of Olette, if you know her. That's be much apreciated.
Nver mind I found lots. :D

[Thorn]

The bunny one is quite nice. Border works well in it. I'm indifferent on the pokemon one, as I hate anime signatures. It's still quite good.

*goes to take the bins out*

[ShunNakamura]

I got a new one(took me long enough, eh?).


http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/9964/elvesigta3.png

Border is plainer than some of the others I have tried. But I like it that way for this one. In addition I think I may need to move the middle area of the sig collectively down... feels like they are ramming up against the top to me.

[Owen Macwere]

I like it alot, I don't seem as good as you with these borders. :(
Keep up, and you used your own render, cuty. :D

[ShunNakamura]

Got a new one...


http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/62/soylations2hu9.png

[crono_logical]

Aruruu = win :D Bit on the big side (filesize) if you intend to use it here though :p Also, the border seems a bit lopsided on the left hand side.

[ShunNakamura]

I gave up trying to keep within this site's file size restriction. I can use them everywhere else I go, and I got a perfectly good one for this site.

So it wasn't just my eyes. What happened is I work on a canvas that is bigger than my sig(when I am doing those fancy borders), I think I cropped too far in.

And yes Aruruu rocks :D.



Now on to new buisness. Another Pokeshipping one.


http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/2249/pokeshipping2uc8.png

This was a quicky without my full attention on it(getting tired *stiffles yawn*).

[Owen Macwere]

I like the apple girl one, and right the border is lopsided.
but the pokemon one doesn't apply to me.

good work, though.

[ShunNakamura]

FIXED-


http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/6043/soylations2sx7.png
(http://www.soylations.com/site/)

Fixed the broken left hand of the border. Also Fixed a spelling mistake.

Edit-

Also upgraded an older sig I made(this one (http://forums.eyesonff.com/showpost.php?p=1852355&postcount=144)).

Here is how it now looks(an improvement in my eyes).


http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/5861/utawasoylationsnr1.png
(http://www.soylations.com/site/)

[Owen Macwere]

The colours of the border are so nice, your work is really cool Shun. :)

[ShunNakamura]

All right new one, still not sure if I will go back and play with it more. I was trying some new effects that I had seen in a tutorial. Plus I got tired of pink or happy colored pokeshipping banners. So here it is.

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/3937/pokeshipping3v2rdyzt4.png

[Owen Macwere]

I like it, especially the border, you seem really good at these stuff.

[ShunNakamura]

On another forum I offered to make some banners for a group. They liked my current one(in my sig) so I decided to take this chance to go back and modify that one.

One of the changes they wanted was another character(well ok I guess you could call it another form of the same character) put in where the man on the right was at.

And I got three of them.

http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/2775/otakufanfm8.png

Just a straight change.

http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/2087/otakusoylationsrdyll9.png

Spiced up.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6496/otakusoylationsborderic0.png

Borderfied.

[Owen Macwere]

The first version with that monster is really cool!. I like the other too but they don't seem so visible. about the border, it is nice, but your first ones were better. :P

[ShunNakamura]

Working on a new idea tell me what you think. Just remember this is definately a work in progress, and is also my first attempt at such a ... theme?

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7528/memorycs2.png

Need to smooth it out and clean it up a bit.... plus I plan to backgroundify the white tag. In addition there are plenty of finishing touches that can be added to it.

I think in order to get the engraving feel on it I need to do some further blending on the pictures. The currently stand out too much, yes? I also plan to find one more picture to put on the spare chip, but I am out of them for now.

[Owen Macwere]

Cool style!. :D I want to review it fully when it done, so hurry up.

[ShunNakamura]

Well now that I finally finished cutting that final image for it here is what I got further along.
Concept v2 of the Memory sig.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9808/memorysi2.png

I am still looking for places of improvement. Also I am worried I may have made the images a bit too blended. Plus I am not sure if I should have textured the slot like I did.

[ShunNakamura]

LOOONG time no sig. Made two more while on break at the college. All in GIMP. My old laptop can't handle much else(actually it barely handles gimp.... talk about slow). But anyways cause of the crappyness of this comp I just can do basic stuff, no ultrafancy filters or script-fu for me.



http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6905/dragongirlsmallmw4.png

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1619/realartisttu5.png
edit
This was the last one I did while at college on my laptop.

http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/2774/fairyve7.png


and of course as usual my text is bad(not that I got many fonts to choose from on this thing.... that and win98 is being a real pain on that issue for some reason).

[Torak]

1st and 2nd are quite nice, the 3rd seems a bit pixely to me.

[ShunNakamura]

Yeah I have been using real low quality images for all but the first of those. So I have tried some ways of covering it up/blending it in. Probably pixelated the whole one trying it in the last one.

Anyways a new one, done on campus computer so I have a lack of brushes and text big time.

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/5271/reallyar7.png

[Owen Macwere]

Hey that is very great. It is so different from your usual style, but it is very well done.
Hmm.. only thing is that the render doesn't blend too well, but I love the text. great job man.

[ShunNakamura]

To the style... I try not to conform to one style. I was just trying to adjust to certian effects. Just as with Martial Arts I don't believe sticking to one style, mix and match never let yourself stagnate.

To the critique
The render for a change? hmm...

Well I got another.


http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/9034/pillageburnfb7.png

I got the background and the images blended, plus found a quote I like. However, I picked up a bad headache, so just for critique I threw on some text, so if it looks worse than usual(text wise) it is cause I spent very little tiem on the text.

[Owen Macwere]

Yes, very great. the blending is very well done.... and the text isn't bad either. Nice size too. :D

[Torak]

Well made, text is very readable. It's blended quite well because of the red smog partially covering the renders. My only problem, and its small, is that the border is also red. I think that single handily says "too much red". I know its only just a tiny little red line, but it makes it too red. A nice blunt black line would be nice.

[ShunNakamura]

First new buisness. Is it too pink?


http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/6245/ccsxe3.png

The render in this one was not cut as well(grabbed from render world) and I would like. They left it with alot of feathering so I would have to redo the cut in order to get a border that looked right with the image edges. So I said forget the border. Also thought of cutting out the tail on the cat costume.... feathering really messed with it.

Got a suggestion to darkify the left render.


http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7163/ccsdarkeryz0.png

And more touch up

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/3064/ccstry3zs5.png

And then old buisness. Miss Pillage and burn with black border.


http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/444/pillageandburnblackborderjd5.png

I actually had been in a toss up between black and red when I did the first border. Went with red since that was what my foreground was already set to. Lazyness decided that one.

[ShunNakamura]

Alright new one. This one is textless for lack of any ideas to put on it.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4517/vagrantstoryzf8.png

[Torak]

New black border one is definatley better.

As for the pink one. The 3rd version is obviously the best, and no it's not too pink. Pink is one of few colours that you can use alot of.

As for this symetrical one. It's ok, thought I aint a big fan of symetrical ones.

[ShunNakamura]

http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/7607/vinr5.png

This one did not come out the way I invisioned it. Text color is off I think(but I was having issues finding one that was both readable AND good looking with the sig). Plus the images I think are subtracting more from it then they are giving to it.

So if anyone has pic suggestions for this go ahead. More of a concept piece right now than anything.

What I will be doing sometime[likely tonight after I rest a bit]:

-Testing different types of grays to see if I can get a decent font color.
-Shift the e-mail image to gray base to match it with the Vi image and the text.

[ShunNakamura]

A fall banner that I am making to someone else's specifications. I am not much liking it.


http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2686/fallly9.png

I hate working with such large banners. It still feels too empty.

I am thinking of putting some leaves falling in the foreground. And maybe a Pumpkin or Jack-O-Latern in the middle. I also need a border yet.

[ShunNakamura]

Made my first animated sig.... critique as you will.


http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7383/sotw5222sn6.gif

hmmm... this thread is starting to feel clogged up. Maybe I should go try and trim it back a bit sometime.

[ShunNakamura]

Alright need to learn how do a vector sig. Bad part is from the tuts I have seen I really won't like the style. Here was shot number one at incorporating vector into a sig(I doubt it qualifies as a full blown vector).


http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5337/vectortestkv1.png

Not great, but playing with a new style can be tricky.

Edit-- Got another that I hope qualifies as vector.


http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7880/server2000vectorph3.png

[ShunNakamura]

Got a couple new ones.


http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5679/loverskisszr5.png

Didn't much like how this one came out. The edges are ROUGH.... I don't believe it I thought I fixed up that ugly tendacy long ago. My skills feel really rough as I worked with this one.

[Owen Macwere]

Sorry mate, I wasn't around much lately. These sigs are great, I love this one of the love theme, and the mail one was really cooly. :D
Good to see you again, mate!.

[ShunNakamura]

I gave up playing with the dream photograph one. Haven't come up with a good way to give it that picture frame border.

I did come up with a new one though.


http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/459/summermemoriesjv7.jpg
Tried something different. I placed/used/whatever the render in a way that isn't my usual(I tend to prefer to show the render in the majority of its entirety, here I cut off quite a bit of it).

@Owen

Good to see you again as well, you vanished on us for a while there :D.

[Owen Macwere]

Nice colours, but the text is kind of boring!. Nice border BTW.

Note: I can't cope on making my posts as long as yours. :(

[ShunNakamura]

Here is a vertical sig I did on another forum(since some forums don't set a height limit that is too restricting.


http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/4340/photomanipyr7.png

This was mainly a photo-manipulation exercise. I did all right I think(and as a note the bear's expresion is supposed to be comedic(or laughable)).

[Owen Macwere]

Lol, it is funny. What days when the bears get scared of cats!!. Nice work, cool border and colours and blending.

[ShunNakamura]

Actually I based that one off of a news story I read in the National Geographic about a cat that chased a bear up a tree TWICE. I felt I just had to do something about that(that photo that is the majority of the sig is the one that accompanied the article).

Anyways, since I can't read my computer monitor anymore all that well(dog ate my glasses :() I was bored and decided that I could at least through general graphics together(I can still see colors just words get blurry). Though even doing this is causing me an eyestrain headache.


http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3386/sakuratestzq1.jpg

Edit- pointed out to me that it looked vertically compressed(the render). So I stretched the sig vertically by just a tad. Dunno if it helped or hurt it though.


http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/2513/sakurastretchedjd3.jpg

[XandrewX]

It's a nice sig...But what's the text in the lower right of the sig?Is this Gimp?If it is...this is great ones...Well I think either Kinimaka Sakura or Card Captor Sakura would be nice...just opinion..

[ShunNakamura]

Long Long break...(school keeping me busy). Anyways I did one for christmas but I can't get inside the size req here so meh.


http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5725/christmassigyp9.gif

The main text I think should likely be another color but I don't really got any idea what color I should have it as.

[XandrewX]

It's a nice one....but uh...the text...using a little silver-ish grey will be nicer...I mean..green isn't a good colour in this sig...just my opinion

EDIT:May I know how you did the moving things?I mean...how you do that (I dunno what you call it) in GIMP?

[ShunNakamura]

I am not sure how animation and the ilk works in GIMP. I animate with the PS tools.

Anyways, for the pre-animation steps this is what I do. Also I will * the steps that you should experiment with different values to get what you like.

1)You need to make a new layer on top of all the layers you want covered with the animation.
2) You then need to fill the layer with black.
3) Use a noise filter to add monochromatic noise[scatter HSV I believe in GIMP] to the layer. You want a lot of noise in general. So low Holdness and high value*
4) Set the layer to Screen blending.
5) Use the Guassion blur Filter to blur it(somewhere between .5 and 1.5 I find works best. Lower number gives more falling and a bigger number gives less(if I recall right)).*
6) Now you need to open the color levels screen(under tools-> Color Tools-> Levels) Set the first of the input values to 90, leave the middle input alone, and set the 3rd to 120. Leave both output values alone.
7)Repeat steps 3-6, using a slightly different amount of noise each time(I even change the amount of blur by abit for further customization), as many times as desired(at least twice I would recomend).
8)Animate the layers. I don't know a thing about GIMP animation[I use image ready] so here I'll have to leave it to you.


Anyways I changed the color. The issue I am having is finding a color that is readable but that is also meshable with the sig.


http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/533/christmassigrs8.gif

Also I may play with GIMP's animation capabilities[to see if I can find out how they work], but it won't be able to do so until late on Saturday. I am busy much of the day :/

[ShunNakamura]

Got another one and this one is black and white!


http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1398/sorrowsneverendingcrydv9.png

Hmm.. oddly the colors are a slight bit darker around the edges and the changes between shades is a slightly(very slightly) more defined than in the psd. Ah well, the png still came out better than the jpeg.

[ShunNakamura]

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7060/starryll8.png
This was a fairly quick thrown together signature that I had used as an excuse to play with some effects. Actually found a lighting effect that I liked on this one[which is unusual]. Another unusual aspect of this signature is it is untitled. Generally I always have a title for my signatures.
Overall I think it is a bit empty and too plain. But maybe I am just in an angsty mood(have had little sleep).

[Polaris]

Really cool! :)

What program do u use?

[XandrewX]

Well it's nice...to me it's ok not too plain...but why not resize it to become smaller so it wont look to plain?

[Owen Macwere]

I like this siggy, very much unlike your old work. I like the render and the g colour. Dude, your work is cool, and for first time no text. :p
Also, I like the border. I have nothing against this one, not at all. :)

[ShunNakamura]

Ice Angel - For that signature(as well as the one I will post in this reply) I used Photoshop CS2 for. However, I switch between the GIMP and Photoshop quite often.

XandrewX - Didn't think of it at the time. Plus I think it is more than empty space that gives me the 'plain' feeling.

Owen - The border came out surprising well in my opinion. The blending effect I utilized came up with a result I had not predicted.


http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6271/protectinguj2.png
Another quicky(can't seem to sit too long in front of the computer lately, though it doesn't help that I have yet to fully adjust to my glasses). Personally I like this one more than the last, though it still feels lacking. Probably because I really skimped out on the effects with this one. I tried multiple different lightings but none of them really 'worked' imo. I do like the text in this one more than I usually do(I stink at text ).


http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/1883/bloomingflowersnj6.png
Lets just say this was experiment Galore. I don't dislike it.... but I don't exactly love it. I think having the render on the left side kinda ruined it. Should have cut the width a bit and had just floral patterns on that side, I think. Maybe not.

[ShunNakamura]

Decided to try and reaquaint myself with GIMP. I really did forget how to pull off many of the fancier effects. Unfortuneatly for some reason the text looks like it is on top of the lighting.... and it is actually below it(layer wise, I don't know how I managed to get it to look like it was on top).



http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/5066/starrychristmas2ua4.png

[Owen Macwere]

Yes, the pink one isn't my fav. The green-blue one is so cool, it has great deepth in it, the blending is very good too, but the render would have looked better if it was bigger. =)
The christmas one is my fav obviously, so happy and cheery. Not a fan of the text.

[ShunNakamura]

Decided to make a sig using that sketch I did. Probably not the best idea since it isn't a great render but meh, I wanted to try it for a change(part of the reason I have been working on my sketching skills is so I can make my own sketch sigs rather than having to use other peoples sketches).


http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/4471/sighj0.png

I think maybe the border offsets it too much, but that may just be me.



And long time no sigs.

[ShunNakamura]

Long time no sig. Completely dropped out of this for a good while that I did. However, I have come up with a new one that I think is semi-decent. So I figure I should share it just to be nice :D.


http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/1353/musicry4.png

Text is hard to read but then again I have never been good with text. Unfortunately it is too large to use as a sig here until I get around to playing with settings to see if I can squeeze it in without losing anything. So I get to stick with the one I threw together in no time at all as my current sig.

[Owen Macwere]

I have not checked this thread in so long. xD forgive me, Shun.
I LOVE the sword one, it's so cool. I also like your current except that it's a bit too empty. I like the newest one, the colors are nice. =D

[ShunNakamura]

I have not checked this thread in so long. xD forgive me, Shun.


No problem. It isn't as if I helped matters by being lackluster when it came to producing sigs either(afterall when a thread doesn't update for a month or two it would make your wonder if the thread is even still alive :p).



I LOVE the sword one, it's so cool. I also like your current except that it's a bit too empty. I like the newest one, the colors are nice. =D


The music one was made for a signature Competition at another forum. Looks to be losing so far. Though that is slightly because the bracket I was in has one of the better signature makers on that forum in it, and quite frankly his throttles mine good.[only slighty due to the fact that even if I was in the easier bracket I still would have had solid competition and in the finals I would have had to face the good one anyways :D]


My latest endeavors are to get a flower one for this forum's competition(just about done with it, just a bit of minor tweaking left). And finally a quickie I threw together while getting tired of trying to locate the defects in my possible entry.


http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/6733/playyb2.png

A bit simple, but then again it was a quickie. So one can't expect too much.

[Owen Macwere]

lol, your posts are still as long as ever, Shun :p
I like the colors on this one and the BG, cool effects. ;]

[ShunNakamura]

lol, your posts are still as long as ever, Shun :p


Of course they are long as always :D. The day I make a lot of short posts is the day someone should rush me to the hospital :p.



I like the colors on this one and the BG, cool effects. ;]

For a quickie she didn't come out too bad. Though looking at it now I wish I would have spent more time on it. As it is it is just a bunch of C4D's and stock images I threw together... no brushing :/.


Anyhow..... the fact that I am posting means what?

Oh yes, I got another one that I made whilst bored.


http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/1792/yinyangfinre4.png
I wish I had spent more time on this one too[particually the text... but I was never good at it anyways so meh]...

Of course it is still waaaay over EoFF's file size so I can't substitute it in.... darn.

[Polaris]

I love the text is really good!:D

[ShunNakamura]

Likely my weakest one as of late, but here is a B&W I did for an event which occurs in the manga Mahou Sensei Negima.


http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/474/mahousenseinegimaws7.jpg


*Short Post.... I must be losing it* Though I may be adding more later if I get another signature done.

Edit-
Got another one done... Whoop.


http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/9528/aftermath2iq1.png
Background is no where near as fancy as I normally do, but I was going for a particular feel in this one.

Darn... my post is still short..... ah well.

[ShunNakamura]

Well looks like it is a double post since I got new material.


http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/92/withinpe8.jpg

I had serious issues with the text. I just couldn't find anything that worked well. And in the end I still ended up with something that didn't work well.

Anyways the render is something I cut from a manga and then colored myself(so if the render looks blechy that is why). *Sigh* this is definately my least favorite of the ones I have done lately. Which is sad cause Nodoka is my favorite character from the manga :/

[ShunNakamura]

The fabled and forbidden dark art of the most evil of evil, the Triple Post.


Heh, yeah got two new ones to show off.


http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/8942/nodokacroppedbf9.jpg
First up I have another Nodoka signature. It lacks strength and quite frankly is one of my first signs that I need to take a break to get back in the groove[basically I am backpeddling, and am repeating]. Also it reminded me why I generally make my signatures as long as I do..... Putting quotes[this one quotes Misora from chapter 165 of the manga in reference to Nodoka] or long sayings in little signatures doesn't work well for me.

Then we have one I produced for a gaming theme SOTW on another forum.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/6403/fargoej0.png
I don't dislike it but, I really feel as if I am lacking here now.

Anyways, basically if you don't see me produce anything for a week or more don't be surprised. Just lacking my inspirational focus that I need to actually please myself with these.

[Polaris]

I like the last one great text but the guy kinda reminded me Estaline :exdee: They're all good... good unique style ;)

[ShunNakamura]

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/4906/chaostartxr4.png

Ok, I got inspired. Here is my latest. I have a few things I want to fix on it, but I think it came out fairly well.


And Ice Angel, that last post of yours was majorly fast.... only one minute after I posted mine.... However did you manage such a feat? :p

[Polaris]

Hmmmm interesting design! :) At least is something different :)

Oh no I just go to my CP and when I see new replies from the banner threads I try to reply ^^

[ShunNakamura]

Long time no posting by me. Got another one that came out a bit meh. I tried to use the same techniques(but better implemented) as I did in the first Nodoka signature.


http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/Grimoire-of-The-Sages/Signatures/SisterShakti.png

[Owen Macwere]

Hmmm, The render can be blended better than this, and the Bg could do with some more effects as well as the text. It's a cool siggy, Shun. =)

[ShunNakamura]

Hmmm, The render can be blended better than this, and the Bg could do with some more effects as well as the text. It's a cool siggy, Shun. =)

Indeed, I must have forgotten to blend it :oops:. As for the BG, I had tried to add some depth into it but I kept getting some REALLY weird results so I left it without the depth(that and I have been time constrained and pushed due to college lately, that was stress relieve operation(sort of like some people go on walks, I go on photoshops).




The Way of the Warrior
May 8, 2007

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/Grimoire-of-The-Sages/Signatures/kufei.png

I don't have much to say... I was just playing around when this ended up as the result(heck I think I was mostly asleep when I did it).

[Polaris]

The left image is a bit blury you could sharp it and text is not visible... Appart from that is awsome :D

[ShunNakamura]

The left image is a bit blury you could sharp it and text is not visible... Appart from that is awsome :D

Well the text was easy for me to read(and still is); maybe my eyes are a bit quirky when it comes to those shades. And I tried sharping out the left side but it always ended up as too sharp or too blurry for my tastes, so I left it as it was saved in the file on my comp.


Anyways the fact that I am posting means I do indeed have another. However, it is a bit half-***edly done. I just have been totally out of it lately... it has been way too hot and humid lately....


http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/Grimoire-of-The-Sages/Signatures/Saturn.jpg

[Polaris]

Wow this is different from your others! ;)

I like this one even though you could have worked a little hard on the bg! BUT it doesn't ruin the sig! ;) 9/10! :D

[ShunNakamura]

Wow this is different from your others! ;)

I like this one even though you could have worked a little hard on the bg! BUT it doesn't ruin the sig! ;) 9/10! :D

Yeah as I said very little work done on it overall. I was too hot to sleep and just was throwing stuff together. That and I was too lazy to try and render those pictures since it had tough hair in them so I just used face cuts to get the extra characters in it!

Anyways I got another one that I didn't really put too much effort into. Just mostly goofing off and trying out things a bit different from my usual.


http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/Grimoire-of-The-Sages/Signatures/Fight.jpg

The border is a bit fugly and it didn't come out with the effects I was trying to implement(I accidently fused somelayers I had wanted to play with more early one and was unable to restore them, so I had to go with a simplier idea).

[ShunNakamura]

Actually put some effort into this one so it came out a bit more successful in my opinion than some of the other recent ones.


http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/Grimoire-of-The-Sages/Signatures/Aruruu.jpg

Still a bit simplistic, but I am finding it hard to get the inspirational strength that I generally run off of to produce my better ones.

[Polaris]

I love the bg (it looks like a fingertip) and the text, I'm not sure about the image you used, it doesn't match, however the bg 10/10 and text 10/10

[ShunNakamura]

I actually was intending it to be a friendship based signature at first. But about halfway through the BG it sort of took on a life of its own. And I was far too lazy to cut out another stock for it[besides, while it wasn't an optimal image I still think it doesn't fit too badly, though that might just be cause I like those characters].


http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/Grimoire-of-The-Sages/Signatures/Amyedit.jpg

I don't like this as much as the last one. Probably should have found a colored image of Amy to use rather than the black and white sketch I found laying on my computer(wished I remembered where it came from.. the artist is quite good).

[Swan]

Haha love the boxing one, that is so cute. The background on that one looks great, and the render is positioned well.

Latest one is good, nothing really spectacular.

And the one your using good, but I'd use the boxing one if I were you. That one takes the cake.

[ShunNakamura]

Well now I know why I have been avoiding photoshop for a while.... I must have drained my creativity pool nearly completely somewhere along the line.That and I lost most of my brushes and C4D's when my computer died on me :/.


http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/905/concept2ri0.jpg
This is mostly a concept that I'll, hopefully, beef up once I get some brushes and C4D's online.... I lost most of mine when I reinstalled[why did I have to go and forget to copy my brushes folder before doing that?!].


Hopefully I'll get back in the saddle now that AQS has released some more Negima Chapters. That should be enough to at least get me attempting to get out of this slump.




P.S. You know it has been a long time when your signature thread drops to page 2 :p. Also Hopefully I'll get around to doing some comments of my own now.

[ShunNakamura]

Wah!!! this one was something I was just experimenting with... but now I got books to read and between books and sigs books win out. Thus, I likely won't ever fully finish this experiment so I'll just add it to the dump.


http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4350/konosetsuye8.jpg

[Polaris]

bg looks kinda blur... the up one is better :jokey:

[ShunNakamura]

Problem with the BG in that one was that I just couldn't find a good balance that still let me do with it what I wanted[hence it was a failed experiment... though I did learn a bit about playing with some features I have up to then ignored... I just did 'too' much to it].

And of course if I am posting that means I got a new one. And this one I actually find satisfactory!

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/708/saturnwd9.jpg

[ShunNakamura]

I got another one that I made because I got critique that I bury the render under too many layers[making it blend too much with the BG]. Thus, I attempted fewer more detailed layers rather than my usual limitless layers that each have one thing on it/going on. This was the result.


http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3945/yuriconceptkj8.jpg

[ShunNakamura]

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5786/vistatan2fg3.jpg

Didn't come out quite as well as I hoped but it ain't bad.

[XandrewX]

The first one and the last one looked too..complicated..Maybe it's just me because there's too many picture in one sig but..the 2nd one is perfect.Nice and clean and simple.:)

[ShunNakamura]

The first one and the last one looked too..complicated..Maybe it's just me because there's too many picture in one sig but..the 2nd one is perfect.Nice and clean and simple.:)

Actually I did find out what the problem is with many of them. They lack a true center of focus. For example the Yuri render is on the wrong side for the "focus" to be the way I wanted.

And actually believe it or not the Yuri one has just as many renders in it as the Vista one does[three in the vista, three in the Yuri and four in Saturn] :D. I just blended them differently.


Decided to do a quicky just to see if I could get my 'line of focus' up and working rather than drawing the eye way from the sig :/. Background is a bit meh.. .but I didn't spend much time on it, nor many layers.


http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/2662/sakurazo1.jpg

[ShunNakamura]

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2690/cowboymonkey3ca6.jpg
I fear I didn't blend the render enough. In addition since it was a quicky where I was just trying to put in various suggestions for practice that also means it is quite simple... not that simple is bad itself, but this feels too simple to me. Also it looks like I messed the lighting up somewhere... I really need practice with the lighting in Photoshop.

[ShunNakamura]

And finally I have made a Halloween sig.


http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7709/happyhowloween2mk6.jpg

Isn't the puppy SOOO cute?!

[Polaris]

hehehe... adorable?? :laughing:

Maybe you should create new bgs style, more soft... you don't need to use many colours! ^^ Choose a palette of colours and use just those like 3 colours and make a softer background... try new brushes style from PS! ^^

[ShunNakamura]

Not really a signature but I do believe it belonds in graphic art. This is a program I made to make 'annoying' posts. Simply put it will multi-color your text for the season.

Just select the colors you want to have your text set to and the program will pump out your message in BBCode so that it will have the alternating colors with almost no effort on your part. For example my whole post is done with my program!

Well it is done. However, since I am lazy I utilized Visual Studio's built in installer creater.... and boy is it ever slow. However, it does successfully install for the patient. Here you go, use it how you like!

Download here (http://rapidshare.com/files/79065192/Christmasify.rar.html)

It should install just fine if you just run the setup file. It is a real simple program, though I ended up naming it wrong. The program executable is called ColorText, because I was doing something else and just made my Christmasify program off that play program. I will probably expand it to do various seasonal auto-text color.

Also to note is that it uses BBCode to try and maximize the number of places it can be used. However, it will not work on all forums[namely if BBCode or Color is disabled].

Some problems to note is that I forgot to set a catch for if your message is too long. Thus, it may blow up without telling you exactly why. However, you must really be a big writer to go over the text limit.

My future version will likely let you select from more colors and let you choose your own color with hex input.

Well Enjoy it if you wish!


Isn't it just so annoying!

[Selena_Akariko]

The Yuri sig = awsome! ^^ I also liked the Sakura one.

:save: Selena

[ShunNakamura]

The Yuri sig = awsome!

I just wish I hadn't made such a noobish mistake on it[I have the flow going out of the signature rather than to the text ... gah].

Anyways I did a quicky that came out quite ucky in my opinion. Though that is probably because it ended up not looking like I wanted it to.

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8164/nagatomx3.jpg

Edit- Wanted to try my hand at a vertical signature.
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3864/vertical2bv7.jpg

[ShunNakamura]

Dang it has been a long time since I posted in this.

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/5699/glade2ju0.jpg

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9677/youthir9.jpg
Fairly simple but at least it is better than a lot of what I have been turning out since that long break recently.

[ShunNakamura]

I am just floored right now. I upload my signatures to DA just for the heck of it. I never really expect them to get much attention. Normally in 2 days I might break 60 views if I am lucky. Etc.

My most recent one however, had 10 favs in under 5 minutes. Not to mention it had 40 some views. Just nuts, I have never had that kind of response no matter WHAT I posted up. Though it of course has tapered off, but still in just 4 minutes it had completely beat out the individual cumulative stats on any other piece of work in my gallery(except the views on my Hotaru banner).

Well anyways, is it just that DA browsers have odd taste or is this really one of my better ones?


http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2972/yuri3jh5.jpg

This was a request from one of the people that regularly viewed my DA postings. He wanted a Magenta and Black signature focused on Yuri with no text. My Magenta is now dark orchid(or close to it) due to my blending to get everything to work together, but I liked the signature too much to just toss aside and try again.

It lacks lighting(unfortunately the lighting messed with the balance whenever I tried to add it) and the depth isn't all that great. Really I don't know why this is garnering so much attention.

[Polaris]

They look good my only complain is with the fact you keep making grungy sigs :) On the last one it'd be perfect without the purple! But the last one there is a huge space with just grunge! :) Maybe try different things after 9 pages with grungy sigs ^^

[ShunNakamura]

Yes it would probably have looked better with more natural colors.

Hmm... 9 pages? My thread is only about 5 pages though isn't it? That and I didn't really think I used all that much grunge(considering I always get bad rankings on grunge type competitions). I wonder if the grungy feel is coming from the fact that I overlay my main renders..... hm.

Anyways I do try different things from time to time. However, it requires me to have some inspiration.

This next one is photo manipulation and photo slicing. Total of photos used 4. Total of anime renders used 1. Total number of manips... . I can't remember.


Text is awful.. but then again I rarely do good with text so that is nothing new.

[Polaris]

Looks nice this one is not grungy and text is much better blended :) I would like to see a bigger version! :D With photomanipulations I rather see two versions: one big and one in banner size ;)

[ShunNakamura]

Problem is the photo I used(for the background at least) was itty bitty as well.

http://www.pictures-of-castles.co.uk/_photographs/uk/wales/cardiff-castle/spring/320/0434%20Cardiff%20Castle%20Wall.jpg

Most of the time I don't have access to large high quality photos so I make do with hackjobs that get posted in newspapers or some such.