# How is this avatar and signature



## Edgedancer (Feb 23, 2010)

Mass Effect for life! Are there any ways it vould be improved?


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## zeromac (Feb 23, 2010)

This is why the testing area was built....

It looks alright though


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## luke_c (Feb 23, 2010)

I personally think it's too simple, not enough effects and shadings but some people prefer it that way, if you like it then there's nothing wrong with it


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## TemperPro (Feb 23, 2010)

It is a little basic, however that is sometime good on some avatars/sigs.

i think it looks good.


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## Raika (Feb 23, 2010)

Save it as a .png to improve the image's quality. Jpg's are not the way to go when making sigs.


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## Rydian (Feb 23, 2010)

Or just tell him to save it as a 100% quality (_not the default "max"_, which tends to be 80%) JPG.

Rarely can I find somebody that can tell the difference between a 100% quality JPEG and a PNG, while I see so many PNGs that have a disproportional filesize (usually an uneeded alpha channel on a 24-bit PNG that could do just fine as an 8-bit) that I can't honestly recommend that format without coupling instructions on not saving unneeded information in the file.

Original image, 24-bit PNG with an alpha layer, 144KB.
100% JPEG, 66KB.
Comparison, and yes the comparison image is a 24-bit PNG.
Not everybody has access to high-speed internet, and the original image takes over twice as long to download as the JPEG copy.



Yes, yes I am bored.


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## elmoreas (Feb 23, 2010)

I like it alot but I am a fan too so I am biased. How are you guys designing sigs that look so good? Photoshop or is there some app out there that lets you generate sigs that come out in this high of quality. Compared to what I make by hand this is superb. Mind sharing what you do/how you do it, to make such sigs? Thanks.

Elmoreas


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## Rydian (Feb 23, 2010)

While people may recommend photoshop out the ass, in reality you'll rarely use it's extra features, you'll do just fine with a cheaper or free program, such as The GIMP, Pixia, or even www.getpaint.net for simpler signatures.

Most of the time it's a combination of filters (special effects) and/or modifications (like color, blending modes, or warping) applied to some base shape/design.

Example.


Spoiler



For example, take this.






Apply the chrome filter.





Copy, rotate and shrink it a bit.





Repeat that a bunch of times and then merge all the layers.





Make a new layer and gradient fill it with some sort of rainbow, set it's blend mode to "color".





Copy the twirl layer, gaussian blur it with a value of about 2 or 3 pixels, then set it's opacity to about 25% to make it glow a bit more.





There's many different filters you can apply with different values, mix those in different orders with different base images and a few hand-drawn shapes can turn into something much more.



Most "signatures" on forums, as you see here are not fully created by the person who made them, though.  They take a subject (such as a car or a video game character), cut it out of an image, and then make their own image around it made up of a background with special effects applied, as well as text with effects applied.

Example.


Spoiler



Take an image of a fist.





Make a curved path around it, make a new layer, and "stroke" the path with white.





Apply an inner and outer glow style to that layer to make it glow.





Erase the part that's supposed to be behind the hand/arm.





And there's a really simple/crappy/quick special effect.



Okay, I've got too much time on my hands right now.  D:


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## elmoreas (Feb 23, 2010)

No that was a excellent reply, thank you for explaining. I do all my sigs by hand drawing with a tablet and pen and then editing in various free programs and corel painter11. Thanks again.

Elmoreas


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## Kroatien99 (Mar 18, 2010)

VERY GOOD!!


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