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Thread: Banners

  1. #1
    Stuck on the Border tequila girl's Avatar
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    Default Banners

    Ok, I admit defeat..........could someone please tell me in words of no more than one syllable how to go about making one........please keep it really 'idiot-proof' as i'm not the brightest when it comes to these things!
    ~Carole~

    There is no more new frontier - we have got to make it here

  2. #2

    Default Re: Banners

    http://www.mybannermaker.com/
    I used this. I just cropped out their watermark. Idk how everyone else makes theirs though lol

  3. #3
    Stuck on the Border whitcap's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    You should be able to make them using any photo editing program.

    Open up your eyes take the devil from your mind

  4. #4
    Stuck on the Border tequila girl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    Thanks EF i'll have a look at that

    Quote Originally Posted by whitcap View Post
    You should be able to make them using any photo editing program.
    Should and can are two different things entirely!
    ~Carole~

    There is no more new frontier - we have got to make it here

  5. #5
    Moderator Brooke's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    I know exactly what you mean tg! lol
    https://i.imgur.com/CuSdAQM.jpg
    "They will never forget you 'till somebody new comes along"
    1948-2016 Gone but not forgotten

  6. #6
    Stuck on the Border Prettymaid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    I have never figured out how to 'overlay' two or more photos. So if I use two photos there is always a line or some sort of 'break' in the banner. Simple ones like my current one can be done with Photobucket editing.
    ~ Cathy ~

    And I dream I'm on vacation 'Cause I like the way that sounds,
    It's a perfect occupation for me.

  7. #7
    Moderator Troubadour's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    Download PhotoPlus from this website. It's free, and it's more than adequate for making banners, collages and cool blends. I have never used any other software.

    http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/

    Once you have downloaded PhotoPlus, check out the "Help" section... it will give you some hints and tutorials on how to create certain effects.

    I'll try to explain to you how to do a very basic signature now. I have taken screen captures on the way, which should help. Bear in mind this is just to get you started. There are numerous other effects on there that will make your banners look better as you go along.

    So, once you have successfully downloaded Serif PhotoPlus, this is what it should look like. (I have Pro, but it should look much the same.)

    Click on the plain white sheet of paper in the top left corner, underneath the “File” button. This means you want to start a new picture. When you click on that white piece of paper, a box like this will appear in the middle of your screen.




    The Width and Height boxes are the ones we need to change. It’s set to Width 150 and Height 200 at the moment (which is the maximum size for an avatar on The Border.) For a signature, the maximum is Width 500 and Height 200, but you can use any dimensions below that. For now, let’s go with Width 400 and Height 150, which I find is a good size for a sig banner. Enter those dimensions, and click “OK”.

    Your screen will now look like this. The white oblong box in the middle is the blank canvas for your signature.



    Now, we need to choose two pictures that we want to merge together. This is the process Prettymaid mentioned finding tricky. (As you progress, you can add as many pictures - or layers - as you like. But we'll stick to two for now.)

    Let's say I want to use this Google picture as my background. A spooky street, to get into the Halloween spirit.



    Right-click on this image, select "Copy" and then bring up the PhotoPlus window again. In PhotoPlus, click on "Edit", scroll down to "Paste", and it will give you two options. "As new image" or "As new layer". Select "As new layer". The picture will then appear in your canvas, like this:



    Now, because the images are often bigger than the canvas, I would normally experiment a bit with the sizing. You can do this by clicking on "Deform Tool", then clicking and dragging the corner of your image, as you would to resize any object. Just make sure you hold down the "Shift" key while you drag, or else the picture will distort, rather than just becoming smaller.

    But, I don't want to give you too much to think about right now, so we'll leave the picture as it is. I actually think this one looks pretty cool anyway! So, now that we're happy with our background layer, we need to click on "Layers" at the top of PhotoPlus, then "Merge" and then "Merge All".

    Now we're ready to add our second layer.

    Choose another picture. Sticking with our Halloween theme (and bringing a little Eagles influence into it), I'm going to go with this sketch of a big black crow.




    Once again, we need to right-click on this image, and then in PhotoPlus, click "Edit", "Paste" and "As new layer."

    (If it won't let you do this for whatever reason, save the image to your computer, then click "File", then "Open" and select the image. It will open in PhotoPlus, but you won't be able to see your sig. If this is the case, it has come up as a new image, instead of a new layer. Just click on "Edit" and then "Cut". Close the inner window with the smaller, inner cross at the top right (do NOT close the whole PhotoPlus program!) and then you should be back to your signature. Click "Edit" once again, "Paste" and "As new layer.")

    The crow image will now appear over your background. It doesn't all fit into the canvas, so we need to adjust it. As I mentioned earlier, click on "Deform Tool", which you can see in the Tools menu on the left side of the screen. The little boxes that you can see around the crow pic will appear. You need to click on one of them (I go for the bottom right corner) and your Shift button (this is important, otherwise it will distort) and drag the image inwards so that it gets smaller. It should end up the same size as mine below - so that it just fits in the canvas.



    Now, under the Layers tab on the right hand side of the screen, click on the drop down menu and select "Multiply". Click on all the other options, if you like, and see how it changes the merging of the crow and the background. In this case though, "Multiply" works well. You'll see that the white background of the pic disappears and the crow stands out nicely against the spooky base layer.

    It's worth remembering that pictures with white backgrounds work well as top layers, because the white effectively disappears when you merge them.

    This is what you will end up with.



    You can also move the position of the crow, if you wish, by clicking on the "Move" tool and just dragging it around. Once you're happy, click on "Layers", "Merge" and "Merge all layers", as we did before.

    And there it is. A very simple blend. I was going to add some text, but I need to run and make some dinner before everybody starves! I think this is enough for now, though. I really hope I haven't confused/intimidated you too much. It's great once you get to grips with the basic tools.

    I'll come back and add some text later, or tomorrow, if anyone wants me too. Any questions, I'll do my best to help! Don't get put off, though - trust me. Anyone can do it with a little patience.


    you better put it all behind you, baby, 'cause life goes on
    you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside--



  8. #8
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    Wow Troub. You should be a technical writer! Well done!

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  9. #9
    Stuck on the Border Prettymaid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    Wow Toub, thanks so much for that! You make it look so easy! I just never could find the time I needed to learn how to merge. With your step by step instructions we should all have cool looking banners in no time!
    ~ Cathy ~

    And I dream I'm on vacation 'Cause I like the way that sounds,
    It's a perfect occupation for me.

  10. #10
    Stuck on the Border Koala's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banners

    WOW Troub,great job, with these clear instructions actually nothing can go wrong!

    BTW, I use a photo editing program called PhotoImpact, it is software that you must buy. I had luck, I have got the software as a gift from a friend who could not work with it, so I've saved money!
    "For the record, we never broke up, we just took a 14-year vacation!"
    (Glenn Frey)


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