Magnum's Tutorials and Tutorial Request Topic
 

In this topic, I will be taking requests for tutorials. If you see something I make and you want to know how I did it, ask in here. Don't ask "how did you make that whole sig?" That's not what this is for. Only ask about a specific effect, technique, or section of a sig. Also, this is not a sig request thread. If you have a request, PM me or mention it in another thread as usual. Zone, if you would be so kind as to make this a sticky, I would appreciate it.

To get things started, I put together a quick tutorial on blending with layer masks and gradients.

I started off with this Guarnere pic from BoB.
[img]http://web.syr.edu/~adkirsch/guarnorig.jpg[/img]

Next, I added a layer mask by going to Layer > Add Layer Mask > Hide All. The entire layer should become transparent and whatever was under it will be visible.

Now, set up your gradient. If the paint bucket is selected in your toolbar, hold down the button and select the gradient. Then, select the "foreground to transparent" preset in the gradient menu. (circled in red with green arrow) Select the gradient style you want. This will most likely be the linear or circular style, which are boxed in with green. Select white as your foreground color, as indicated by the red arrow.
[img]http://web.syr.edu/~adkirsch/gradientmenu.jpg[/img]

Now, make sure that the layer mask is selected instead of the actual layer image. This will be in the layer palette. Note that the layer mask is black. Anything black in the mask will be hidden, white will be visible, and gray will be partially transparent.
[img]http://web.syr.edu/~adkirsch/layerpalette.jpg[/img]

This is the important part. Use the gradient tool on the layer mask. I used the linear gradient by dragging from the right edge about 3/4 of the way to the left. This will completely reveal the right side, and partially reveal the rest of it in a decreasing manner to the left. I put a grid under the Guarnere layer to show how the transparency works. You can get a lot of good blending by experimenting with the different gradient styles and the length of the gradient that you use. Be careful not to overuse it and end up with a bunch of overlapping messy pictures.
[img]http://web.syr.edu/~adkirsch/guarnmod.jpg[/img]

ok i tried it out, not sure if i came out too well or not
[img]http://www.dodstudios.net/uploads/uploads/test_blend.jpg[/img]
p.s how do u do the fancy writing that you all have? I couldnt find an option to do that, only normal text.

[quote="Czy.Bam":44537]ok i tried it out, not sure if i came out too well or not
[img]http://www.dodstudios.net/uploads/uploads/test_blend.jpg[/img]
p.s how do u do the fancy writing that you all have? I couldnt find an option to do that, only normal text.[/quote:44537]

hehe, i like the left part of the picture more than the right part biggrin:

Nice mag. Thanks a bunch.

Thanks Magnum - I need all of the tuts I can get.

Bumpity for the n00blets. Let's try this again, shall we?

You always get good pictures for your sigs, i want a dvd rom drive!!!!! cry:

But good job biggrin:

nice tut looks good
also you think you can make a tutorial on fading pics

nice tut

[quote="Scalping Chief":7f102]also you think you can make a tutorial on fading pics[/quote:7f102]
How would that be different from what I already did? Clarify please.

like fade a flag into a pic like uhh like this
[img]http://www.dodstudios.net/uploads/uploads/zone91.png[/img]
like how the flag going into the pic

That's what this is.

[quote="Scalping Chief":b591b]like fade a flag into a pic like uhh like this
[img]http://www.dodstudios.net/uploads/uploads/zone91.png[/img]
like how the flag going into the pic[/quote:b591b]
i gave u a tut, and this one also does it too

hmm...thanks for the tutorial..i'm gonna try to make myself a Kariya sig later.

To fade it like that, use the size 200 or 300 airbush tool.