Eiliosdraye
12-15-2007, 10:20 PM
EILIOS's GUIDE TO PAINT.net EFFECTS
I have written alot of guides on how to make paint.net effects and stuff, so i thought i would add them all in one big guide =D it is called eilios's guide to paint.net effects and it teaches you some tricks with paint.net that can help you do anything, from making fires, to userbars, to lightsabers, whatever it takes to become a great sig maker, and maybe even win the SOTW, just maybe tho.
Read on to learn alot about paint.net and enjoy the wonderful world of graphic design =D
I strongly recommend going to http://www.pawngame.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32941 so you know what you are doing before you use these effects, it is a basic guide to paint.net and will help newbies get a feel for the program before they start using these cool effects,
Also, these get gradually harder, so it is recommended for complete newbies who are not looking for any effect in particular and just want to know as much as possible to read from the bottom up. As you make your sigs with new effects you get a better understanding of everything, and are able to work better.
ALSO, i would recommend getting to learn how to cut your own renders, as it provides a limitless supply of renders for your sigs =D
NOTE, colour legend.
red=New Effect
blue=Important Info, Must Read
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Push ctrl-f and copy and paste these into the search feature if this gets pretty huge)
HOW TO MAKE A FIRE
HOW TO MAKE A LIGHTSABER/LASER
HOW TO MAKE BORDERS
HOW TO MAKE A USERBAR
HOW TO MAKE A FIRE
Difficulty level=beginner
Fire is one sweet effect, when i was a newb with paint.net(a few days ago) i thought it was impossible, Now I know better, you can start learning too.
First, start with a new image, 420x150. Like shown below.
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8724/paintnet1er8.jpg
Once you have done that, make a gradiant using the gradiant tool, have the bottom be white, and the top black. It should turn out like this.
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/7663/paintnet2wu5.jpg
Now that you are done make a new layer(you were taught this by the basic tutorial) and use click Effects, Cloud, then set the Blend Mode, Overlay. Set the scale to 75 and the roughness to 68, as shown in the picture below.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/450/paintnet3ov2.jpg
Once you are done, go to Adjustments, Curves, and where it says Luminosity, Click RGB, click off Red and Green, and just move blue to about 220, 32, green to 180,32, and leave red where it is. Then you have your flame.
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/2876/paintnet4dt4.jpg
Pop in a render and you are done! (note feel free to steal this sig)
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/1091/eiliosva3.jpg
Final outcome with text.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3526/eiliosse3.jpg
HOW TO MAKE A LIGHTSABER/LASER
Difficulty level=beginner
(note this uses paint.net)
Table o` Contents
Chapter 1, The basic beam.
Chapter 2, A real lightsaber!
Chapter 1, the basic beam.
Lets face it, we`ve all seen star wars, and if you haven`t WATCH ALL 6 MOVIES RIGHT NOW.
Now, you want to be a jedi right? you`ll need a lightsaber, I can help you with that. This is a lightsaber I made for JediLucas5,
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/7308/jl5gb8.jpg
You will be making that,Set the size to width, 400, height, 100. First, paint the ENTIRE SCREEN BLACK. This is a must or your lightsaber will suck. Use this lightsaber handle,
http://www.thecollectorzone.com/images/products/7045_s.jpg and paste it into a new image, cut the render out(it will take 5 seconds, first zoom into 500, paint bucket the edges white, make the BG around the lightsaber handle transparent using the magic wand, then select resize and paste it into your picture) then copy and paste it into your black background, Repaint because it is necessary..Make a new layer, call it beam, and make it Screen. Make a white line with the line tool(brush size 6)then round off the edges with the brush tool so it looks like this.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5500/lightsabertutru2.gif
Of course, this doesn`t look like a lightsaber, it is not glowing, and it is white. Let`s fix that up shall we?
Chapter 2, a real lightsaber!
Make a copy of the core layer, call it glow. Make it screen, then copy twice. Make one glow glassian blur number 10, the other 30, and the last 50 for real glow, or 10,20,40 for realistic glow. Then you merge the layers so you have no glow, just beam and background. it should look like this.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7120/lightsabertutyo1.gif
Cool huh? now to recolour, pick any colour you want, red, green, blue, purple, or maybe some of your own ideas! =D
Click recolour, and recolour the entire lightsaber beam! Leave one colour white or it will not work however.
Add text and you are done! (i like bright green for this, it shows up nice and blends in perfectly =D)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5268/lightsabertutgq8.gif
HOW TO MAKE BORDERS
Difficulty level=Beginner
So you have a sweet picture using my other 2 effect guides, maybe you have a sweet flame, but it lacks a border, well, there is an easy way to make a border that looks OK.
It should end up like this
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3483/borderguidetp3.jpg
It will be a bit bigger then usual, 500x250, but you need the extra space
First, make an ugly big bulky black border(BARF), it should look like this. (i used brush width 45 btw)
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9729/borderguideew3.png
I know what you are thinking, OMG EILIOS THAT BORDER SUX!!! WHAT WERE U THINKING!!!!
Well, you're going to emboss, again, OMG EILIOS THAT WILL MAKE THE PICTURE GREY!!! OMG EILIOS STOP IT UR MESSING MY SIG UP!! Well, trust me, this is going to look ok in the end.
It should end up looking ugly and undesirable.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8387/borderguidesk2.gif
You should paint in the grey area so you have a grey border, but it won't look good. So paint in a goldish colour, shall we? (RGB values are 130,130,0)
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/5700/borderguidefs2.gif
Now you are probably thinking why did you emboss, well, it adds some shading to the border, you could add it but it might mess up.
Then, add a few streaks of darker gold, and lighter gold, everywhere, add small dots, and it should look ok, not that great, later i will add more as i learn how to make better borders :)
Of course, you are realizing now it can be any colour, i just picked gold cause it looks better.
Meh, end resault, kind of bad, but it will do for now(because i am beginner-intermediate and if you are reading this, you are probably a beginner :P)
Add text, render, and bg, and continue with this OK border.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3483/borderguidetp3.jpg
More to come! =D
HOW TO MAKE A USERBAR
Difficulty level=Beginner-intemediate(A bit hard to scale renders and deal with some problems, no real difficulty, just some frustration)
So you see those awesome userbars and wonder, how do i make these with paint.net? Well, it is very simple actually, just a bit frustrating if you do not follow EXACTLY as i say.
You will be making this.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3935/userbarza8.jpg
It looks simple and fun to make, but believe me, there is one part so annoying it will drive j00 insane.
First, make a 350x19 with 72.00 resolution image, and use a gradiant, and two colours. Make a new image the same type, and fill it in with black and white stripes. it should look like this.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4995/stripeshc9.png
Now comes an annoying part, zoom in(or leave it like that, it will make it faster, but harder) and magic wand all the little white spaces, TIP: Click, ctrl x will make it go 3 times faster, which will save you about 10 mins of annoyance.
Then copy and paste it into your gradiant background(in a new layer of course), it should turn out like this.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9267/userbartx9.png
Then add a simple 2 line size border(it can be black, doesn't matter) now put in any render you wish, resizing is a bit hard, but you can manage, and then... Drumroll please, the most FRUSTRATING PART EVER, You have to put text in! It seems simple, but to highlight the text, you must outline them in black, which means... YOU HAVE TO DO IT BY HAND! This is frustrating, and painstaking, but in the end, you will have one sweet userbar. Put in any text you please (eiliosdraye, paint.net4eva, waffles for 1337, etc)
Then you have your userbar =D
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3935/userbarza8.jpg
HOW TO MAKE A FLAMEBALL
Difficulty level, beginner-intermediate* (its only hard to make the effects sweet)
We will be making this sweet image, 400x200
http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eiliostestjb5.png
To start, make a black background, and get white lines, size 10. The image should look like this.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/712/bgtutry8.png
Once you have done this, use a radial blur(30 degrees). It will turn out like this, if it did not, you did it wrong, and you should try again until you get it right.
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6991/bgtutjt6.png
Once you have done this, use a glow effect, if you are content, use the curves rgb feature and set it to your colour, then use a twist to shape it like an S(if you want, i will not do that because the top image illustrates that), and you have your background, if you are not, do another radial+glow, and see what it looks like.
WITHOUT SECOND RADIAL
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/9792/bgtutex9.png
WITH SECOND RADIAL
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6448/bgtutrg5.png
I have written alot of guides on how to make paint.net effects and stuff, so i thought i would add them all in one big guide =D it is called eilios's guide to paint.net effects and it teaches you some tricks with paint.net that can help you do anything, from making fires, to userbars, to lightsabers, whatever it takes to become a great sig maker, and maybe even win the SOTW, just maybe tho.
Read on to learn alot about paint.net and enjoy the wonderful world of graphic design =D
I strongly recommend going to http://www.pawngame.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32941 so you know what you are doing before you use these effects, it is a basic guide to paint.net and will help newbies get a feel for the program before they start using these cool effects,
Also, these get gradually harder, so it is recommended for complete newbies who are not looking for any effect in particular and just want to know as much as possible to read from the bottom up. As you make your sigs with new effects you get a better understanding of everything, and are able to work better.
ALSO, i would recommend getting to learn how to cut your own renders, as it provides a limitless supply of renders for your sigs =D
NOTE, colour legend.
red=New Effect
blue=Important Info, Must Read
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Push ctrl-f and copy and paste these into the search feature if this gets pretty huge)
HOW TO MAKE A FIRE
HOW TO MAKE A LIGHTSABER/LASER
HOW TO MAKE BORDERS
HOW TO MAKE A USERBAR
HOW TO MAKE A FIRE
Difficulty level=beginner
Fire is one sweet effect, when i was a newb with paint.net(a few days ago) i thought it was impossible, Now I know better, you can start learning too.
First, start with a new image, 420x150. Like shown below.
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8724/paintnet1er8.jpg
Once you have done that, make a gradiant using the gradiant tool, have the bottom be white, and the top black. It should turn out like this.
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/7663/paintnet2wu5.jpg
Now that you are done make a new layer(you were taught this by the basic tutorial) and use click Effects, Cloud, then set the Blend Mode, Overlay. Set the scale to 75 and the roughness to 68, as shown in the picture below.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/450/paintnet3ov2.jpg
Once you are done, go to Adjustments, Curves, and where it says Luminosity, Click RGB, click off Red and Green, and just move blue to about 220, 32, green to 180,32, and leave red where it is. Then you have your flame.
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/2876/paintnet4dt4.jpg
Pop in a render and you are done! (note feel free to steal this sig)
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/1091/eiliosva3.jpg
Final outcome with text.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3526/eiliosse3.jpg
HOW TO MAKE A LIGHTSABER/LASER
Difficulty level=beginner
(note this uses paint.net)
Table o` Contents
Chapter 1, The basic beam.
Chapter 2, A real lightsaber!
Chapter 1, the basic beam.
Lets face it, we`ve all seen star wars, and if you haven`t WATCH ALL 6 MOVIES RIGHT NOW.
Now, you want to be a jedi right? you`ll need a lightsaber, I can help you with that. This is a lightsaber I made for JediLucas5,
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/7308/jl5gb8.jpg
You will be making that,Set the size to width, 400, height, 100. First, paint the ENTIRE SCREEN BLACK. This is a must or your lightsaber will suck. Use this lightsaber handle,
http://www.thecollectorzone.com/images/products/7045_s.jpg and paste it into a new image, cut the render out(it will take 5 seconds, first zoom into 500, paint bucket the edges white, make the BG around the lightsaber handle transparent using the magic wand, then select resize and paste it into your picture) then copy and paste it into your black background, Repaint because it is necessary..Make a new layer, call it beam, and make it Screen. Make a white line with the line tool(brush size 6)then round off the edges with the brush tool so it looks like this.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5500/lightsabertutru2.gif
Of course, this doesn`t look like a lightsaber, it is not glowing, and it is white. Let`s fix that up shall we?
Chapter 2, a real lightsaber!
Make a copy of the core layer, call it glow. Make it screen, then copy twice. Make one glow glassian blur number 10, the other 30, and the last 50 for real glow, or 10,20,40 for realistic glow. Then you merge the layers so you have no glow, just beam and background. it should look like this.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7120/lightsabertutyo1.gif
Cool huh? now to recolour, pick any colour you want, red, green, blue, purple, or maybe some of your own ideas! =D
Click recolour, and recolour the entire lightsaber beam! Leave one colour white or it will not work however.
Add text and you are done! (i like bright green for this, it shows up nice and blends in perfectly =D)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5268/lightsabertutgq8.gif
HOW TO MAKE BORDERS
Difficulty level=Beginner
So you have a sweet picture using my other 2 effect guides, maybe you have a sweet flame, but it lacks a border, well, there is an easy way to make a border that looks OK.
It should end up like this
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3483/borderguidetp3.jpg
It will be a bit bigger then usual, 500x250, but you need the extra space
First, make an ugly big bulky black border(BARF), it should look like this. (i used brush width 45 btw)
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9729/borderguideew3.png
I know what you are thinking, OMG EILIOS THAT BORDER SUX!!! WHAT WERE U THINKING!!!!
Well, you're going to emboss, again, OMG EILIOS THAT WILL MAKE THE PICTURE GREY!!! OMG EILIOS STOP IT UR MESSING MY SIG UP!! Well, trust me, this is going to look ok in the end.
It should end up looking ugly and undesirable.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8387/borderguidesk2.gif
You should paint in the grey area so you have a grey border, but it won't look good. So paint in a goldish colour, shall we? (RGB values are 130,130,0)
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/5700/borderguidefs2.gif
Now you are probably thinking why did you emboss, well, it adds some shading to the border, you could add it but it might mess up.
Then, add a few streaks of darker gold, and lighter gold, everywhere, add small dots, and it should look ok, not that great, later i will add more as i learn how to make better borders :)
Of course, you are realizing now it can be any colour, i just picked gold cause it looks better.
Meh, end resault, kind of bad, but it will do for now(because i am beginner-intermediate and if you are reading this, you are probably a beginner :P)
Add text, render, and bg, and continue with this OK border.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3483/borderguidetp3.jpg
More to come! =D
HOW TO MAKE A USERBAR
Difficulty level=Beginner-intemediate(A bit hard to scale renders and deal with some problems, no real difficulty, just some frustration)
So you see those awesome userbars and wonder, how do i make these with paint.net? Well, it is very simple actually, just a bit frustrating if you do not follow EXACTLY as i say.
You will be making this.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3935/userbarza8.jpg
It looks simple and fun to make, but believe me, there is one part so annoying it will drive j00 insane.
First, make a 350x19 with 72.00 resolution image, and use a gradiant, and two colours. Make a new image the same type, and fill it in with black and white stripes. it should look like this.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4995/stripeshc9.png
Now comes an annoying part, zoom in(or leave it like that, it will make it faster, but harder) and magic wand all the little white spaces, TIP: Click, ctrl x will make it go 3 times faster, which will save you about 10 mins of annoyance.
Then copy and paste it into your gradiant background(in a new layer of course), it should turn out like this.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9267/userbartx9.png
Then add a simple 2 line size border(it can be black, doesn't matter) now put in any render you wish, resizing is a bit hard, but you can manage, and then... Drumroll please, the most FRUSTRATING PART EVER, You have to put text in! It seems simple, but to highlight the text, you must outline them in black, which means... YOU HAVE TO DO IT BY HAND! This is frustrating, and painstaking, but in the end, you will have one sweet userbar. Put in any text you please (eiliosdraye, paint.net4eva, waffles for 1337, etc)
Then you have your userbar =D
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3935/userbarza8.jpg
HOW TO MAKE A FLAMEBALL
Difficulty level, beginner-intermediate* (its only hard to make the effects sweet)
We will be making this sweet image, 400x200
http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eiliostestjb5.png
To start, make a black background, and get white lines, size 10. The image should look like this.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/712/bgtutry8.png
Once you have done this, use a radial blur(30 degrees). It will turn out like this, if it did not, you did it wrong, and you should try again until you get it right.
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6991/bgtutjt6.png
Once you have done this, use a glow effect, if you are content, use the curves rgb feature and set it to your colour, then use a twist to shape it like an S(if you want, i will not do that because the top image illustrates that), and you have your background, if you are not, do another radial+glow, and see what it looks like.
WITHOUT SECOND RADIAL
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/9792/bgtutex9.png
WITH SECOND RADIAL
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6448/bgtutrg5.png