Make Your Own Graphics (Without special programs!)

[arielnevada]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, I skimmed for it and didn't see it.

The website Pixlr is a godsend: http://pixlr.com/

I use efficient most often, because if I'm getting to the level I need advanced, I just go to photoshop. But it's all very easy to use, and has filters built in and some fun options. It's easy to add too much, but if you follow the other design advice in this thread, you can get a little more control then paint.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, I skimmed for it and didn't see it.

The website Pixlr is a godsend: http://pixlr.com/

I use efficient most often, because if I'm getting to the level I need advanced, I just go to photoshop. But it's all very easy to use, and has filters built in and some fun options. It's easy to add too much, but if you follow the other design advice in this thread, you can get a little more control then paint.

Good app for tablets too.

On a related note if any one is currently a student, Autodesk (Pixlr company) offers a lot of free, really good, software.
http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=download_center
You usually need a .edu email address for confirmation to prove you're a student.

 

[LilyMarie]

A small tip:
You can use simple, transparent icons to make your graphics a little more interesting.

I have a contest going on where the highest token contributor (towards the contest) as well as the person who buys me the most gifts from my wishlist get to win something (ideally they'll be 2 different people in the end ).

I was going to just write "Most tokens contributed: MemberXY" but then I thought it would look more interesting to find a simple symbol to use instead of text. So I googled "piggy bank icon" and came across this picture. I grabbed it, resized it and put it on the graphic.
I did the same with a gift icon!

Now my graphic looks a little more appealing and cooler than if it only consisted of text, (especially condering the big amount of text that was on the previous graphic on my profile, not seen here):

(excerpt)



Important:
Look for images in the .png format because you want the background to be transparent. Include the words "transparent" or "png" in your google search if you can't find transparent images otherwise.
In your editing program, a transparent background will look like it consists of grey and white squares:

This means that the background is actually transparent. That way you can lay the image on any background or background color you have and there won't be a white frame around it.
Unfortunately, browsers will often display transparent image backgrounds as white, as you could see in the piggy bank image link above. But if you save the image to your computer and open it in your software, you'll see if the background is transparent - if it has those grey/white squares, then it's transparent.

I'm trying to find a collection of icons with transparent backgrounds, I think that would be pretty useful.

 

[LilyMarie]

Another quick tip:

Using fonts can be a nice replacement for simple brushes.

Example: "MW Heart" on dafont.com is a really cute font consisting only of hearts.

After you've downloaded the font it will simply show up among your other fonts. You pick this font for your text in your picture editing program, type in a letter and it gives you a heart. Every letter turns into a different heart and the font differentiates between capital and small letters. So you have a bunch of different hearts to pick from. Because they're 'text', you can change the color or size however you want to.

This makes it incredibly easy to use icons in your graphics, especially if it's the case that you can't use brushes because you don't have Photoshop. I only have PaintShop Pro and it's a pain in the ass for me to find brushes for that software, and of course there's no brushes for Paint.

For more symbol-based fonts, visit the 'Dingbats' category on dafont.com.


Some other cute examples (with links):

Kitty Cats TFB

Penmanship Birds

Ladybug Dings

FB Nyan

KR Butterflies

 

[Kradek]

So I googled "piggy bank icon" and came across this picture. I grabbed it, resized it and put it on the graphic.
I did the same with a gift icon!

May want to check licensing on images found this way. They may not be free.

 

[Melody_Pond]

What do you guys think about this graphic I made for my first video? I'm not good at dirty talk or even describing sexual things so if the description sounds weird that's why lol I would like honest opinions and/or things I should change. Thanks!

 

[Nordling]

What do you guys think about this graphic I made for my first video? I'm not good at dirty talk or even describing sexual things so if the description sounds weird that's why lol I would like honest opinions and/or things I should change. Thanks!

I'd change the text in black to a light lavender, purple or whatever doesn't clash with your background. The black text isn't really readable. Otherwise, it's a neat graphic!

 

[MiaFaye]

How do you hide stuff on the basic profile? So the 'about me' information, the 'friends' section, the bar at the top etc.

I like the basic layout of this profile: http://profiles.myfreecams.com/PaigeParker but have no idea how she's managed to hide all of the extra stuff!

I have some understanding of HTML and CSS, but am really stuggling to figure out how it works with MFC. It seem like when I put anything into the CSS section, nothing changes, and if I put HTML into the boxes on the 'edit profile' section, then nothing changes or what I've put appears under that box. Getting really frustrated!