# Practising Paintshop/GIMP...



## Marcel (Jul 5, 2008)

I don't need a new siggy right now, but I'm just practising with my program to learn how to use it and I want to see what it looks like on the web.(Les' thread came in useful  ). When I make one, I'll post it here, directions are welcome. Maybe I'll use one of these as a siggy in future


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## Wurger (Jul 5, 2008)

Very nice idea Marcel.I like it.


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## Marcel (Jul 6, 2008)

You have this nice way of using fonts, Wurger, is that a Photoshop thingy?


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## Wurger (Jul 6, 2008)

Yep it is, but the way of its using is my idea mostly.


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## Marcel (Jul 6, 2008)

New techniques, but not satisfied with the hard edges of the Vimy


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## Gnomey (Jul 6, 2008)

Looking good though Marcel despite the roughness of it - will disappear with enough practice. Both sigs are a bit big though (although I'm assuming here you would downsize them before using them).


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## Wurger (Jul 6, 2008)

I agree with Gnomey.But Marcel, as you use fonts for a signature it is better to make them much more contrast to the background ( especially when these are made of the background pic like there in your pic) becaus when a pic is downsized these become less vissible.The best solution is to cut them off the background and put separately to the one.What is more you can use outline and shadow to make them contrasted.


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## trackend (Jul 6, 2008)

Only just brought PShop CS3 marcel and I have a headache already bloody hell its complicated


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## Marcel (Jul 7, 2008)

Gnomey: Thanks, I would indeed make them smaller if they were real siggies, but I thought on this scale, it would be easier then fiddling with lowres. And I'll keep on trying 

Wurger: I agree, I wanted to see how they turned out. These kind of fonts probably work better on a less crowded background, I think. 
I didn't quite understand what you mean with: "The best solution is to cut them off the background and put separately to the one."



trackend said:


> Only just brought PShop CS3 marcel and I have a headache already bloody hell its complicated



That's why I have Paintshop Pro. I saw Photoshop with a friend, but I too thought it was too complicated. PPro is also complicated, but has a very good user interface.


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## Wurger (Jul 7, 2008)

Marcel said:


> I didn't quite understand what you mean with: "The best solution is to cut them off the background and put separately to the one."



 
Oh...sorry.I meant that it is better to add to the font a texture made of the background and a shadow.If the font layer is above the background one the effect is clearly visible.


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## Wurger (Jul 7, 2008)

And here is an example of it.


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## Marcel (Jul 8, 2008)

Thanks, Wurger, I'll have a try at that, first I have to figure out how to do that in Paintshop


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## Wurger (Jul 8, 2008)

Ah ...I was sure you know.

So OK. Here you are the "recipe".

1. open the new project - pic1
2. click text menu and input a text - pic2
3. hit the Ctrl key together with click left mouse button on the name of text layer name in the window with all layers.The text should be marked.Go to the background layer - pic3
4. then Ctrl+C keys nad then Ctrl+V. - pic4
5. go to the window with layer effects to add a shape and a relief for instance. - pic5
6.The effect should be like this one. - pic6
7 and 8. Some different settings in a shape menu and outer light added to the layer. - pics 7and 8

Clear now?


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## Marcel (Jul 8, 2008)

I was actually referring to the effects and how they work in Paint shop pro, as compared to photoshop, but thanks anyway.


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## Marcel (Jul 8, 2008)

Okay, practised a little with the text. I think the 3d effects in Paintshop are a little too subtile (or I have to play with it a little more). The effect "Chisel" seems quite useful to let text stand out from the background. The "Button" effect doesn't seen to help, the "outerbevel" alone doesn't work alone (as you could see above), but used together with "Chisel", the effect is a little better(see first pic). "Innerbevel" works quit nicely, but I think it's ugly this way, have to ajust the settings for that (pic 2). Chinsel with a little brighter text selection seems to enhance visibillity as well (pic 3).

Later: Played with the "Inner Bevel", pic 4
Pic 5: 4 with Drop shadow


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## Wurger (Jul 8, 2008)

Now understand.

But back to your practice with the text.It looks good in all pics.My suggestion is to use as the shadow colour both inner or outer effects one of the lighter colour from the background.The black is not always a good one like these light grey or even white.Besides try to use different settings for the effects.


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## Marcel (Jul 8, 2008)

Little different shadow, less blurr and dark blue. The less blurr takes away it's goal, that of highlighting the text, I think, with the plane, I think it works rather well.


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## Wurger (Jul 8, 2008)

A little bit too light but now the text looks 3D.


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## Marcel (Jul 8, 2008)

Wurger said:


> A little bit too light but now the text looks 3D.



Yep, I took the darkest blue color of the ocean, but it wasn't dark enough. I guess I'll have to adjust the opacy to a little darker.


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## Wurger (Jul 8, 2008)

Great. But can you adjust the relief effect? I mean it is too big.


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## Marcel (Jul 9, 2008)

Okay, testing, also a smaller version to see how it works out when you resize it. Not gonna use it as a siggy, but it's a nice test-case


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## Wurger (Jul 9, 2008)

Ooo...looking great.But the letter shadow is too far from these therefore they are less visible.I suggest to try to use a different distance.


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## Marcel (Aug 4, 2008)

Making siggy smaller:


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## Wurger (Aug 5, 2008)




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## Thorlifter (Aug 5, 2008)

I like the text on #19. Nice work Marcel.


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## Marcel (Aug 5, 2008)

Thorlifter said:


> I like the text on #19. Nice work Marcel.



Thanks Thor and Wurger. I will try to practise with text in the future. Seems to be my major flaw when making these things. Wojtek has a much better eye for fonts. But luckily he's a great teacher. Otherwise I'll stick to making a composition and ask him to do the text


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## Wurger (Aug 6, 2008)

But THX.


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## Marcel (Aug 9, 2008)

Okay, the following are no siggies (should I make a thread in the personal gallery forum?) or at least not jet. Just me playing around with themes, making a composition (and avoiding text ) and using several techniques.
1. Bismarck lying on the seabottom, with a ghost stringbag. Tried to make the edge of the nespaper a little erroded, like old paper. Curling the edge in Paintshop pro is ugly, tried it, but it looks too artificial.
2. Midway, flightdeck Akagi steaming with a wildcat. I wanted to see what it looks like if you throw perspective overboard.


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## Wurger (Aug 9, 2008)

Cool Marcel,   
I like them both.But the first one with Bismarck I like much.However it would be looking better if the transparency of the Swordfish at the battleship fuselage area would be equal zero.I mean the part of the fuselage shouldn't be visible.What is more I would suggest to convert the pic with the plane into sepia one and then use here.It could take a correcpondence to the newspaper.


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## Marcel (Aug 9, 2008)

Good call on the sepia. Not sure about the transparancy though.


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## Wurger (Aug 9, 2008)

The second attempt is what I have meant.Add the shadow effect to the Swordfish, please.Did you omit the transparency effect of the plane this time?


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## Marcel (Aug 10, 2008)

Nope, I left the transparency on where it has the sea bottom as a background. I think it gives it a nice ghostlike look. I made the part over the ship solid, but you can just see the beginning of the hull, but very faint. Did some shadow as you suggested.


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## Wurger (Aug 12, 2008)

I understand.Nice looking is the pic.Did you use the same settings for the Swordfish shadow like you did for the newspaper?If not I think you should do it.


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## Marcel (Aug 12, 2008)

Good eye, I thought you didn't notice. I have to change the newspaper's shadow, but didn't do it jet


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## Wurger (Aug 12, 2008)

The newspaper shadow is nice an is going well with the background.I think you should adjust the Swordfish's one .


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## Marcel (Aug 15, 2008)

.


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## Lucky13 (Aug 15, 2008)

Nice work Marcel!


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## Wurger (Aug 15, 2008)

I agree ,very nice Marcel.

And I thought that an very interesting effrct could be if you could make the Swordfish pic not only a sepia one but using the blue colour range.In another word instead of sepia , the blue.I wonder how it would be looking like.


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## Marcel (Aug 17, 2008)

Okay, I had to figure out how this works in Paintshop pro, but let's see: I overdid it a little to see the effect. First one is done with the red/green/blue effect., enhancing blue, the second one with the Channel mixer, god knows what the difference is. You see quite a difference in effect, the first staying much more close to the sepia effect and is much more subtile, while the second one gives a blue-greenish effect.. Some shadows/fades don't work out well (see cockpit) I'll have to try and correct this.


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## Wurger (Aug 17, 2008)

Hi Marcel,

The second effect is not good.The green colour doesn't match.The first one looks much better but I would suggest to get a sample of a blue ( the dark one for instance) colour from the background.Or use a range made with these background blue ones.


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## Marcel (Aug 17, 2008)

Hi Wojtec, I agree, but I also overdid it to test the two different effects as I had no idea what they really did. 
What you suggest: I have no idea how to do that in Paintshop Pro, so it'll be a nice thing to find out. Will take me a while, but it'll be a nice thing to learn. I'll post results later.


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## Wurger (Aug 17, 2008)

Photoshop has the Effect menu and there are some with their settings.I think Paintshop Pro should have the same options.If not use Color option froim Upper menu and then Colorize one.For getting colour you can can use a dropper ( in menu on left).


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## Marcel (Aug 17, 2008)

Okay, found it:


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## Wurger (Aug 17, 2008)

Oh... too much dark.Plese, try to use other tonalities.But idea is good.Also , try to gain a ghost effect.

Ah Marcel, in addition, is there possibility of removing the background under the Swordfish? In that way you will have white background and you can use transparency settings for better adjusting.

And can you send me PDF file of the project?


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## Gnomey (Aug 17, 2008)

I agree with Wojtec. A lighter blue would be better whilst keeping the same transparent ghost effect.


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## Marcel (Aug 18, 2008)

Sorry, I didn't really understand how the tool worked. Wojtek, I suppose you mean you want the PSD file?


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## Wurger (Aug 18, 2008)

Oh  sorry Marcel I must have been very tired.Of course PSD file.


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## Marcel (Aug 19, 2008)

Here it is:


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## Wurger (Aug 20, 2008)

OK.THX


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## Marcel (Aug 20, 2008)

Blue... subtile


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## Wurger (Aug 20, 2008)

Yep, looking better.
Here you are my version and PSD file for you.


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## Gnomey (Aug 20, 2008)

Wurger, I think the blending of the blue in Marcel's version looks better - a little "cleaner" looking. That being said with some more transparency yours should also look better than it already does.


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## Wurger (Aug 20, 2008)

You are right Gnomey But our idea was to avoid transparency at the Bismark hull area and make the pic with the Swordfish similar to sepia effect one but instead of yellow and brown tonalities using these blue from the background.


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## Gnomey (Aug 20, 2008)

I see you mean something similar to this?


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## Wurger (Aug 21, 2008)

Nop, the plane became unvisible in your pic.But colours are fine, the only thing which is a bit incorrect is the Swordfish shadow.Too inky.

What about now?


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## Gnomey (Aug 21, 2008)

Looks good but the Swordfish isn't blue enough in my opinion.

Right might the Swordfish a little more visible and removed some of the shadow. Any better?


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## Lucky13 (Aug 21, 2008)

If it's supposed to be like a ghost airplane, it should be more see through I think....great work nonetheless fellas....carry on! 8)


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## Marcel (Aug 21, 2008)

Well, not too much as it makes the a/c to faint to recognise, like you see in Gnomey's first pic. 

Gnomey, I think the last one looks great. You're using Paintshop pro as well, don't you?


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## Gnomey (Aug 21, 2008)

No, I use Photoshop CS3 Extended.


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## Marcel (Sep 7, 2008)

Tried Photoshop CS3 again, but could make head nor tail of it. Effect are operating quite different from Paintshop


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## Gnomey (Sep 7, 2008)

Photoshop Tutorials Adobe Photoshop Plugins | PhotoshopSupport.com

Photoshop Tutorials -- Absolute Cross


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## Wurger (Sep 7, 2008)

Nice links Gnomey .THX


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## Marcel (Oct 15, 2008)

Just some tests..


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## Wurger (Oct 15, 2008)

Looking very nice.


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## Lucky13 (Oct 15, 2008)

Top one is best....another font though I think.


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## Marcel (Oct 15, 2008)

You're right. If I'm going to make a real siggy, I'll have to give more attention to that. These are just drafts. I don't really like the composition though, although the bevel effect on the geographic map seems to be satisfactory.


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## rochie (Oct 15, 2008)

top one the best for me marcel, good work


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## Airframes (Oct 15, 2008)

I agree, and I have to say, they are very attractive.


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## GrauGeist (Oct 15, 2008)

I can't decide between the top or middle, Marcel...looks great either way!


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## Marcel (Oct 26, 2008)

Testing new techniques


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## Wurger (Oct 27, 2008)

Looking very god to me.How did you that?


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## Marcel (Oct 27, 2008)

I saw this in a picture on the net, so I decided to try and emulate it. I did it relatively easy, don't know how it is done in Photoshop, but in Paintshop pro I did it like this:

1. Load the picture in the background layer.
2. Duplicate this layer 2 times and make only the middle one visible.
3. Give it a nice sepia effect
4. Make a trapesium shaped selection (for 3D effect), inverse the selection and delete the surroundings, see picture
5. Inverse the selection again and contract the selection by 8 pixels. This doesn't make the picture smaller, but selects a similar shape within the picture.
6. Inverse the selection again and click with the selection tool anywhere in the picture. This makes the program to only select the outer 8 pixels of the shape. Make this border white (see picture)
7. Make the upper layer visible and use a mask-layer to only show the mossie in front. Apply a nice shadow to the object.
8. Use the deform tool to make the object on the middle layer a little paperlike and then add some dropshadow to this object (same as the mossie), see picture)
9. Use the mask layer again on the upper layer, to "delete" as much of the blue mossie+shadow as you like and you're ready:


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## Wurger (Oct 27, 2008)

Great. THX Marcel.


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## Marcel (Nov 16, 2008)

Last week I had some time to play with paintshop again


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## Wurger (Nov 16, 2008)

Hi Marcel,

A very nice siggy. I like the 3D effect.Well done mate.


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## Marcel (Nov 16, 2008)

Thanks Wojtek.


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## GrauGeist (Nov 16, 2008)

Looks great, Marcel!


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## Lucky13 (Nov 18, 2008)

Love your new siggy Marcel! Great work!


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## Marcel (Nov 18, 2008)

Thanks Jan! I see you have decided to change your siggy as well.


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## Lucky13 (Nov 18, 2008)

Aye....thought that it was about time.... Got three to go through!


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## Marcel (Nov 18, 2008)

if you deserve it, you get enough. Most of us are quite willing to help you as you usually post nice challenges.


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## Marcel (Nov 22, 2008)

A german a/c for a change...


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## Lucky13 (Nov 22, 2008)

AWESOME Marcel! 8)  Wonder what it would look like with the Luftwaffe flag...etc? Would love to see more variants on this one mate...top notch!


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## Wurger (Nov 22, 2008)




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## Marcel (Nov 22, 2008)

Lucky13 said:


> AWESOME Marcel! 8)  Wonder what it would look like with the Luftwaffe flag...etc? Would love to see more variants on this one mate...top notch!



Thanks Lucky and good idea. I was indeed planning on trying different backgrounds. would you happen to have a version of the flag with a high resolution (minimal 800 by 600?)
But first I'm still struggling with the shadow. Not quite there, yet.


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## Lucky13 (Nov 22, 2008)

Only found this one....maybe someone else have some more and better....


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## Marcel (Nov 22, 2008)

Thanks, used it to make some quick variations. The flag only would be better IMO, but I only found a 200x150 res


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## Lucky13 (Nov 22, 2008)

Nice going Marcel...! 8)


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## Lucky13 (Nov 22, 2008)

Here's another couple of Dora's for you to play with....8)


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## Marcel (Nov 22, 2008)

Thanks Lucky, but I think I'll use those in another composition.
Last variant for now...


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## Lucky13 (Nov 22, 2008)

Nice work Marcel! Here's a larger version of the Ta-152....


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## Marcel (Nov 22, 2008)

Hi Lucky, Thanks for the pic. Here's my version with your Ta152


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## GrauGeist (Nov 22, 2008)

Nice!

I like that 3D effect!


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## Gnomey (Nov 22, 2008)

3D effect is excellent!


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## Lucky13 (Nov 22, 2008)

Crikey! Excellent work mate! Keep 'em coming! 8)


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## Marcel (Nov 23, 2008)

I experimented with making new prob blades as well. Had to remove the original ones when removing the background. Obviously this works quite well.


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## Marcel (Nov 23, 2008)

Okay, to make things even, one with the BoB/Blitz as subject.


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## Wurger (Nov 24, 2008)




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## Njaco (Dec 12, 2008)

Heres a question:

How do you make two pics blend at the edges if you are joining them?

as an example -


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## Marcel (Dec 13, 2008)

In this case, I think Thor made them transparent, so where they overlap, they blend. You're using GIMP? Does that have layers and mask layers? If that's the case, I'll give you a demonstration how it's done in Paintshop, so you can try to do the same in you program.


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## Njaco (Dec 13, 2008)

Yes, it does have layer and masking. I thought they were talking about Halloween but I guess I'm wrong.  I've only been able to transparent the whole pic, not really individual areas but of course, I don't know what I'm doing.


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## Lucky13 (Dec 13, 2008)

Njaco said:


> I don't know what I'm doing.



Have you ever??


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## Marcel (Dec 13, 2008)

Okay, see here a blend between Lucky's and your siggy. I know it doesn't make sense, but it's just for the demonstration. This is just one way to do it, but I'm sure you'll think of others.
1. I first resized Lucky's siggy to the same hight as yours.
2. created a new layer in your siggy
3. Pasted Lucky's siggy in the new layer to combine the two (first pic)
4. While Lucky's layer selected, created a Mask-layer (visible all). This makes a group with Lucky's layer and it's mask layer. You don't see anything on the picture itself. (picture 2)

note: Every area painted black on the mask layer will be transparent on the Lucky-layer. Gray will make it less transparent. Thus with a gradient from black to white on the mask-layer you'll be able to blend the pictures:

5. Select the pen tool, make it square, color black and hardness to your liking. (the less hard, the more overlap between the pictures, I used 50% as you can see in picture 3)
6. slowly paint from right to left until satisfied (pic 3)


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## Lucky13 (Dec 13, 2008)

Which one is that you're using Marcel? Can you get it online?


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## Marcel (Dec 13, 2008)

I use Paintshop pro. Nowadays it's made by Correl (from Word Perfect etc). You cannot download it legally, but compared to Adobe Photoshop it's rather cheap. 50 euro's, while adobe is about 900 euro's. And as you can see in the thread, it can do really nice things, I think about 90% of what Adobe can.


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## Njaco (Dec 13, 2008)

Thanks Marcel! I don't have those high faluting programie things but the way you put it I can adapt to my program. I understand what you did. Thanks!


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## Marcel (Jan 12, 2009)

Current sig without transparence, but with Forum background. Lets see if it works. If it does, I can use Jpegs, which makes the picture smaller (40 kb vs 145 kb). It'll also help Wurger , as his browser doesn't support the transparence of the png format 

Anyone notice any difference with my sig?


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## Wurger (Jan 12, 2009)

Still looking good


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## GrauGeist (Jan 12, 2009)

> Anyone notice any difference with my sig?



Yep Marcel, I noticed right away that you had either converted it to a transparent .gif or a .jpg with a background.

Now that I read your post, I see you used the forum's BG...neat trick, huh?

I think it's looking better than ever!


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## Lucky13 (Jan 12, 2009)

Looks good Marcel!


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## Marcel (Jan 13, 2009)

GrauGeist said:


> Yep Marcel, I noticed right away that you had either converted it to a transparent .gif or a .jpg with a background.
> 
> Now that I read your post, I see you used the forum's BG...neat trick, huh?
> 
> I think it's looking better than ever!



Yep, it works surprisingly well. Let's hope they don't change the color soon


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## Wurger (Jan 13, 2009)

I don't think they will. Looking really nice Marcel.


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## Njaco (Jan 18, 2009)

I've done that but I had to resize because the faint lines of the background became soooo big!


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## Marcel (Jan 18, 2009)

What I do is make the siggy and leave the background layer blank. Then resize it and before saving applying the Forum texture to the background. You'll have to do this again when resizing the pic.


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## GrauGeist (Jan 18, 2009)

I take an actual copy of the background and slip it into my image's file as a layer. This current sig actually has two of the forum's backgrounds in it.

If I have to resize the sig's image, I resize that layer or related layers, leaving the background layers in thier original dimensions


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## Marcel (Feb 8, 2009)

Other candidates


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## Wurger (Feb 8, 2009)

Nice series Marcel.I like the one with Fokker D21 the most.


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## Marcel (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks Wojtek. I do like the D.XXI as well, as it is a great painting and it was in my first real siggy here. I do like the T.V best, still. Should I ask Njaco to make me a rotating Gif like Lucky's? I could rotate the a/c while the background stays the same.


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## Wurger (Feb 8, 2009)

It's up to you only I think.


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## Lucky13 (Feb 9, 2009)

Yeah....that's a good idea, do that Marcel!


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2009)

All I need is a clean pic of the BG (the map) and pics of the planes.

I just noticed that I might not even need that. The map may be in the same position all the time.


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## Marcel (Feb 9, 2009)

Thanks! No, the T.V is different. I'll adjust and send it to you when I get the chance ok?


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2009)

No problem. I just noticed that the shadows might be a problem but I think I could do it.


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## Marcel (Feb 12, 2009)

Gif looks bad IMO as it's only 256 colours:


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## Marcel (Mar 12, 2009)

New Siggy idea


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## Wurger (Mar 12, 2009)

Looking very good.


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## Njaco (Mar 12, 2009)

Sorry about the .gif Marcel - it didn't work. I like the new one. How about the train, "Flying Dutchman" in the blue area to the right?


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## Lucky13 (Mar 13, 2009)

Great work Marcel!


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## Marcel (Mar 13, 2009)

Ghostship more ghostlike?
Njaco, I think with the train it becomes too crowded.


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## Wurger (Mar 13, 2009)




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## Gnomey (Mar 14, 2009)

Yeah second seems to crowded to me. The first one is better but I don't think it needs that bit of blue sky there.


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## Lucky13 (Mar 14, 2009)

Agree! I'd skip the blue sky and just soften the edges around the pic...


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## Marcel (Mar 15, 2009)

Gnomey said:


> The first one is better but I don't think it needs that bit of blue sky there.



That's what my wife said. But I do think it needs something more than just a sharp, square picture and a plane. So I now eroded the edges in picture 2 and 3 below. Makes it more "creepy"?


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## Gnomey (Mar 15, 2009)

It does look better like that but I think the execution of it could be a bit smoother for me the erosion is too sharp if you know what I mean.


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## Wurger (Mar 16, 2009)

Anyway it looks really nice.


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## Marcel (Mar 21, 2009)

Some idea I'm working on. Not finished, but comments or help is welcome:


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## Gnomey (Mar 22, 2009)

Interesting, not quite sure what to think. I would say though that the part where the plane comes through should be less smooth and perhaps have some pieces flying off it.


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## Marcel (Mar 22, 2009)

Gnomey said:


> Interesting, not quite sure what to think. I would say though that the part where the plane comes through should be less smooth and perhaps have some pieces flying off it.



That's exactly where I need advice. How do you make a convincing hole?


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## Gnomey (Mar 22, 2009)

Not sure, I would say try using the freehand line tool to create the edges and then also use it to create the pieces which you can then paste into place to give the explosion effect.


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## GrauGeist (Mar 22, 2009)

Dang, it would be easier to explain if you were using Photoshop...

There's a tool that allows you to select an area with a freehand tool, then with that area selected, you can use the transform>skew tool, then I copy the "torn" areas to a new layer and create a shadow to give a 3D effect...

That's how I tore my sig for Halloween.

With Paintshop you can try the Lasso tool to select an area, then select a tool like Skew from the Effects menu.


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## Marcel (Mar 25, 2009)

Okay, next version:


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## Wurger (Mar 25, 2009)

Ha .... it's looking very nice.But how did these wings manage with passing over the whole?


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## Marcel (Mar 25, 2009)

how do you know which way this TA152 is flying? It flew in backwards, of course 
Adjusted shadows. Last version had shadow in the hole, which is of course impossible (while a ww2forum screen-shot flying in the air is not  )

Ed: Added some other sky backgrounds transparency of the hood works quite nicely.


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## Njaco (Mar 25, 2009)

I love that last one!


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## ontos (Mar 25, 2009)

I have gone through this whole thread and, wow, you guys are fantastic. I just received Photoshop CS3 for last Christmas and just learning to use it. I hope someday I can do this kind of art. Fantastic Thread. Sorry to interrupt. I'll keep quite now and just learn from your thread. Cheers m8s


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## Wurger (Mar 25, 2009)

Humm...interesting Dora flying back..
Anyway cool efford Marcel.


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## GrauGeist (Mar 25, 2009)

Looking great, Marcel!!

I like the way the "tear" and shading turned out! 

Ontos, glad you've enjoyed the thread...there's some great talent in here, but don't hesitate to post comments or questions...that's how we all learn!


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## Marcel (Mar 26, 2009)

ontos said:


> I have gone through this whole thread and, wow, you guys are fantastic. I just received Photoshop CS3 for last Christmas and just learning to use it. I hope someday I can do this kind of art. Fantastic Thread. Sorry to interrupt. I'll keep quite now and just learn from your thread. Cheers m8s



You can just join in with the thread. You'll learn faster practising together. Don't worry if it looks crap at first, it'll be better after a while.


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## Marcel (Mar 26, 2009)

GrauGeist said:


> Looking great, Marcel!!
> 
> I like the way the "tear" and shading turned out!



Thanks, I thought I'll just try my own idea. I looked at your Halloween siggy. Looks very good. I'll try that too, some day.


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## Gnomey (Mar 26, 2009)

That came out well Marcel. Good job.


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## ontos (Mar 28, 2009)

What size do you normally make the signature? I thought I would give it a go, when I finish a P-38 Photo Recon I'm working on. I have a basic idea, a recon photo taken by a P-38, with an aged look with a curved roll of film over that with the Photo Recon P-38 on top. I can see it in my head but putting it to the screen is something else. Is this forum mainly for Paintshop, I have Photoshop.


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## GrauGeist (Mar 28, 2009)

ontos said:


> What size do you normally make the signature?


My sig is 580x255, but you can check out this thread for the sig rules, if you like: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/announcements/signature-rules-14344.html



ontos said:


> I thought I would give it a go, when I finish a P-38 Photo Recon I'm working on. I have a basic idea, a recon photo taken by a P-38, with an aged look with a curved roll of film over that with the Photo Recon P-38 on top. I can see it in my head but putting it to the screen is something else.


Sounds like a cool concept, we'd sure like to see you put it together!



ontos said:


> Is this forum mainly for Paintshop, I have Photoshop.


This thread was created for practicing Paintshop, but we use a number of imaging programs (Paintshop, Photoshop, Irfanview, etc) and compare notes. 

Just jump in and let 'er rip!


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## Gnomey (Mar 29, 2009)

Yep, second everything GG has said.


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## Marcel (Mar 29, 2009)

ontos said:


> Is this forum mainly for Paintshop, I have Photoshop.


I started the thread and I happen to use Paintshop. Photoshop is no problem though, many of us use that program, among other software.

I suggest you create a thread, posting your ideas and attempts, with us helping you along.


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## Njaco (Mar 29, 2009)

> This thread was created for practicing Paintshop, but we use a number of imaging programs (Paintshop, Photoshop, Irfanview, etc) and compare notes.



and don't forget my trusty steed, GIMP!


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## ontos (Mar 29, 2009)

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the offer. Hopefully I'll start soon. I will start a new thread, thanks.


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## Marcel (Mar 30, 2009)

New siggy, I think I'll take this one
ed. 3 makes pic too small, going with 2:

Ed:
Edited some minor glitches in the siggy. Now satisfied


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## Wurger (Mar 30, 2009)

Looking very nice Marcel.


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## GrauGeist (Mar 30, 2009)

Cool concept, Marcel!

Looks great!


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## Gnomey (Mar 31, 2009)

Good work Marcel, nice concept and execution.


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## Marcel (May 12, 2009)

.


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## Marcel (Mar 25, 2010)

Working on a new siggy with this nice GIMP proggy. Much more fun than paintshop. It's a picture I took last year with our new camera of a flying Hurricane, mixed with the famous St. Pauls picture. Not sure how to do the text in this one yet.


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## VALENGO (Mar 25, 2010)

Nice concept and work, but now is all pale blue over here!


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## Marcel (Mar 31, 2010)

Okay, two attempts:
Edit: Changed paper


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## Wurger (Apr 1, 2010)

Not bad....looking nice. But your nick could have been done with golden or silever font like in these very old pictures or postcards. The pic with the Hurricane in looks like the old postcard of sepia tonality.


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## Marcel (Apr 4, 2010)

Hi Wurger, you mean something like this?


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## Wurger (Apr 5, 2010)

Yep ...I have meant that exactly. But the font type should be replaced with another one.I think.


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## Gnomey (Apr 5, 2010)

Yeah that looks nice. I agree with Wojtek though as well on the font. Perhaps a more Gothic looking font would fit more in with the theme of the sig.


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## bobbysocks (Apr 14, 2010)

these are cool. how much does it cost to get one made?? I'd really like one.


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## Marcel (Apr 15, 2010)

What it costs? It costs time, for you to find so pictures and for one of us to make it.  What do you have in mind?


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## bobbysocks (Apr 15, 2010)

cool! i would like dad's 51...with maybe the pic of him in the cockpit and the 364th sq logo...and of course Bobbysocks. i have all the pics and could send them to you in a few days when i get back in town if you wish. thank you very much, marcel.


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## Marcel (Apr 15, 2010)

Hi Bobby,

Best thing to do is start a thread, here in the Signature section, with your idea's and pictures. There are a few of us who like to make such siggies, so we can all take a shot at it and you can just pick what you like.
I'll be away for the weekend, so no hurry. 

Marcel


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## Marcel (Apr 15, 2010)

Gnomey said:


> Yeah that looks nice. I agree with Wojtek though as well on the font. Perhaps a more Gothic looking font would fit more in with the theme of the sig.



Don't know, tried several fonts, but I really like the typewriter font which I weathered in my siggy. It looks like it came from a WWII era letter or report ore something. I'll stick to this one for the time being.


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## Gnomey (Apr 15, 2010)

Yeah, that font works nicely as well. Was just throwing out some more ideas. Perhaps the bit with the text on it could be more yellowed to indicate aged paper in a similar way to the photo but not to the same degree.


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## GrauGeist (Apr 15, 2010)

Lookin' pretty good, Marcel.

I like Gnomey's idea of adding a little yellow to the border to show some age to match the image.

(I like the typewriter font, though...works perfect!)


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## Marcel (Apr 16, 2010)

Thanks guys, I agree, the white is a little too white. Hopefully better now? Still trying to get the effect wrinkle of the paper in GIMP. Post later, maybe..


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## Wurger (Apr 16, 2010)

Looking very nice indeed.


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## wheelsup_cavu (Apr 16, 2010)

Looking nice Marcel. Good luck on the wrinkled paper effect.


Wheels


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## GrauGeist (Apr 16, 2010)

Hey Marcel,

Perhaps if you used an image of wrinkled paper beneath your white (yellowed) margin, and played with layer's opacity (and the color scale) until you get the desired effect?

I have a few paper tiles that are usually used for tiled backgrounds, I'll post 'em here for you. Hopefully these'll be of some help to you!


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## Marcel (Apr 19, 2010)

A bit of tweaking to get it right, but I now have a subtle wrinkle in the paper. To see the differences, see post 164 I really love this Gimp, it really is much better than Paintshop. I'll probably start a new Thread called "'practising GIMP'


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## GrauGeist (Apr 19, 2010)

Cool!


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## Wurger (Apr 20, 2010)

I agree.


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## Gnomey (Apr 20, 2010)

Yep, came out nicely!

Can rename the topic to "Practising Paintshop/GIMP..." if you want Marcel.


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## Marcel (Apr 24, 2010)

Gnomey said:


> Yep, came out nicely!
> 
> Can rename the topic to "Practising Paintshop/GIMP..." if you want Marcel.



Thanks Gnomey, that would be great.


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## Gnomey (Apr 24, 2010)

Marcel said:


> Thanks Gnomey, that would be great.



Done.


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## Njaco (Apr 25, 2010)

ahhh, Marcel, I see you came to the GIMP side! May the GIMP be with you!!!

It really is a great program. I'm still finding new stuff to play with it.


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## Marcel (Apr 25, 2010)

Njaco said:


> ahhh, Marcel, I see you came to the GIMP side! May the GIMP be with you!!!
> 
> It really is a great program. I'm still finding new stuff to play with it.



Yup, Paintshop doesn't work on Linux. I find it is better than Paintshop. Only the user-interface is a bit confusing. I heard it'll be better with the next release (I'm now using 2.6)


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## Marcel (Jun 16, 2011)

So it's time I use the gimp again:
Simple, and wrong fonts


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## vikingBerserker (Jun 17, 2011)

Nicely done.


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## Marcel (Sep 4, 2012)

Long time since I've done any Gimp-ing, so to see if I still could do it and because I needed a new wallpaper on my new OS (Bodhi-linux, simply love it) I fired up Gimp again. Bodhi comes with version 2.8 of Gimp, which is absolutely a big step forward in usabillity compared to the previous 2.6-series of Gimp.The photo is one I made myself of the DC-2 Uiver at the Oostwold airshow last year. I decided to let it fly over the map of the London-Melbourne race (in which the real Uiver became 2nd) with old photo's of both cities lying on top of it.




The reason why I left so much open space at the top part is because it's a wallpaper and it leaves room to use that part for other things. This is what my desktop looks like:


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## Thorlifter (Sep 4, 2012)

Very nice Marcel!!


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## Gnomey (Sep 4, 2012)

Nicely done Marcel!


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## Njaco (Sep 4, 2012)

Thats great Marcel!!!

I've got the newer version of GIMP too and I had to get used to 'exporting' pics instead of just 'saving' them.


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## Marcel (Sep 5, 2012)

Njaco said:


> Thats great Marcel!!!
> 
> I've got the newer version of GIMP too and I had to get used to 'exporting' pics instead of just 'saving' them.


Me too, but I like the 1-window interface as I kept on loosing the toolbox all the time. Things are worse on Linux as it has virtual desktops, meaning the toolbox can be on any desktop  

I think I should get some more life in this thread again as I still have a lot of fun doing this kind of thing. I also should give more explanation how I do it for others to learn. Unfortunately I don't have that much time, so don't know if I can pull it off.


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## Lucky13 (Sep 5, 2012)

Magic Marcel!


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## Marcel (Jan 28, 2013)

Trying something simple. It's a combination of the following pictures:

Fokker T.V on patrol:





Rotterdam center after the bombing in may 1940:





- Add color to the T.V
- Make Rotterdam as overlay, but mask out the T.V (no overlay on that one
- Nice font in Dutch-orange, below the rotterdam outline
- Bumpmap the text
- Little bevel on the edges.

Gives:


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## Gnomey (Jan 28, 2013)

Nicely done Marcel!


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## Wurger (Jan 30, 2013)

I agree.


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## Marcel (Jun 5, 2013)

Have been to the Oostwold airshow again and decided to use one of the pics I took there. This time the only Dutch P51, Damn Yankee. This is a test upload to see if it works.




Seems to be too big, shrinking...





Annoying yellow bar, click to see full size, so shrinking more.





Slightly brighten Damn Yankee...




Hmm, some ugly greenish colour. I'll keep it to the darker one for now I think.


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## Wurger (Jun 5, 2013)

A very good idea, I like it.


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## Gnomey (Jun 5, 2013)

Nice one Marcel!


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## Njaco (Jun 5, 2013)

Very cool!


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## Marcel (Jul 6, 2014)

Wanted to play with GIMP again. It's been long time. Here one of the pictures I took when I was at Colditz Castle, the famous POW camp. You see the castle, taken with my DSL from the banks of the Molde river and them 'gimped' by me.

Trying to let it look like a painting:






Something eh.. different. Sepia with seamless tiling:


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## Wurger (Jul 6, 2014)




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## Gnomey (Jul 6, 2014)

Good stuff!


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## wheelsup_cavu (Jul 6, 2014)

Nicely done. 8)


Wheels


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## vikingBerserker (Jul 6, 2014)

Very nice, you really did a heck if a job on the Fokker. Did you really color that one?????


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## Marcel (Jul 7, 2014)

Ah, well, no. Tried it and it worked, but took a lot of time. Then I found a pic where they coincedently had done exactly what I was doing ( and slightly better as I had some problems with the beige) so I got lazy and took theirs


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## vikingBerserker (Jul 14, 2014)

Not lazy, just efficient!


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## Marcel (Jun 18, 2018)

TIme for a new siggy. Same plane, different (more recent) photo (my own) and some editing.

Testing...


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## Wurger (Jun 18, 2018)

Both looking great.


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## Marcel (Jun 18, 2018)

Thanks Wojtek. Resized, first one seems too big.. Also removed the dropshadow. I think I prefer the B&W one for this.


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## Wurger (Jun 18, 2018)




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## Gnomey (Jun 18, 2018)

Nice work Marcel! Agree with the black and white one being the best.


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## Marcel (Jun 13, 2019)

Oostwold has come and passed. So time for a new siggy:

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


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## Wurger (Jun 13, 2019)




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## Gnomey (Jun 13, 2019)

Nice one Marcel!


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