Preserved Topic: OK.....NEW sig..... (Page 1 of 1)

Which is better.....with or without the frame ?????

The frame looks nice save for the pointy corners. nice.

Pete

yup... the framed... just need to give those corners a once over with a duster and it will be set to go!

~Vp~

Yep, I prefer the frame as well..

Ok.....Let's see how this does.......

BEFORE



AFTER

Needs a bit of clean-up I see..........

Enhanced and optimized it a bit........



[This message has been edited by gatesbrew (edited 01-21-2001).]

Me thinks I got a keeper.........

Wish the BG would stay the same......Oh Well

Looks good. Just a suggestion though... work on the orange globe a little. Kromaz did a bang up job on his and I think if you had a globe that was of the same style it would be better...

Damn, I can't find his sig anywhere, maybe someone else can find it and post a link.

-D

The idea is to use a transparency around the image, that way you will get a much better quality from frame to frame.

It is that or make the image self contained. A square or rectange, that the changing of the colors would not effect at all.

The best way to do the transparency in my opionion is to follow some easy steps.

1. Use a background color of either of the frames, in a bottom layer.

2. Create your signature on the layers above the background.

3. Click on the eye to hide the background colored layer

4. Select a layer other than the hidden background layer

5. Merge the visable layers into a single layer

6. Control click the new layer

7. Create a new selection (i.e. a new channel with the image selected)

8. Go to the channel and adjust the levels so that you get a perfect white/black image

9. Ctrl Click that channel

10. Go back to the layers, make the background layer visable, select it

11. Ctrl-Shift-i to select the inverse, and delete the selection from the background.

12. Merge the two final layers

13. Save the image as a .gif file with the transparency option turned on.

14. Open up the created gif file, delete the pixels that are not needed, leaving them transparent.

This method usually works well for me, the closer you are able to adjust the levels so that the result is a #000000 and #FFFFFF colored image only the easier the pixel editing becomes.

Ok the best way to explain how to do this, is to expain the things not to do, and why.

1. You do not want to simply hide the background layer and save it for the web, because the transparency of the pixels above the background tend to get their color from the background. Once the layer is removed photoshop sets white to the color that they rely on. When you then save it you will have many whitish pixels that will disrupt the way that the image appears.

2. You do not want to merge the entire image and background and then select the background color with the magic wand, then delete that selection. You don't want to do this because you are bound to take many of the pixels that resemble the background color you were using. You will still have the problem with the pixels appear 'off' when the backgrounds swap.

The use of levels on a channel has become the way I do it because the use of channels tends to be much more exact when dealing with drop shadows, and glowing edge type effects, that rely on a lower opacity setting. I am not able to get the levels exactly correct when I deal with distinct levels of opacity, that is where pixel editing comes in, test and retest you image unil you get rid of all the pixels that don't appear correctly.

The best way to test this is by setting up a table with both background colors, and the image on each cell. This way you can see both. If it doesn't look right, make it look right.