How do you make those cool graphic banners?

ArnyVee

Does anyone know how to make those cool lookin' banners that folks have (more on the beckett boards though) in their sig lines?

rube26105

i have never been on the beckett boards,if you can show me an example on here i might know how!
randy

bigdcards

To me 2000 was the greatest year in the history aof sports. I'm die hard sooners and die hard lakers. It was awesome. So I put this together. It's the key plays from the championship game on the left and some random lakers shots on the right. There are much better on that board. But this is mine.

bigdcards

Also. Most here would hate the Beckett boards. It is VERY immature. If you do go there try the grading forum, it's a little better.

ArnyVee

The banner is something similar to what bigdcards posted here. I wanted to put together an '84 Donruss bannner (with shots of a PSA 10 Mattingly/Carter/etc) and another one of like my Cuban All Star players (Tony Perez/Luis Tiant/Camilo Pascual/Tony Oliva/etc).

Some of those banners are really not tastefully done, but some are really nice. I was just wondering how to make them so that I can replace the card pic sig that I have.

bigdcards

You need to get Photoshop (not cheap) or something similar. I was lucky. My wife is a fashion designer so everything was already on my computer. The basic concept is that you create a layer for each item that you want in the picture and then just arrange them. The lighting, leaves and all that is done with plugins. For a collage with as much stuff as mine it takes a long time. Even longer if you limit yourself to specific plays. But to put a few cards together wouldn't be that bad. I've only done this once but I think this is pretty much they way it goes.

1. Get the pictures you want to use by downloading or scanning.
2. Crop the pictures using the wand and crop tools so that only the pictures that you want are completely isolated. This should be very easy with cards.
3. Give each picture a layer.
5. create a background if there is space between the pictures.
4. Order the layers and arrange the cards
6. Use whatver text you are going to use.
7. Start a new file and merge everything down. Be sure you have a separate file pre merged.
8. Do something to bring it together. You can use effects here. Just try to do something that makes everything look like it should be in the same picture. I give myself a C on this task. Try to an A here, it's an important one.
9. Save for web. There's a 75K limit over at Beckett, I don't know what it is here.

I think that's most of it. Really you just need to get the program and try it. '84 Donruss is a great set. It should be cool. After you put everything together you could make the wavy lines go across the bottom of your banner like the cards have.

ArnyVee

I'm going to get Photoshop (not paying big bucks luckily!)....hopefully I can get it working and follow your steps once I load it on the computer. Thanks for the instructions!

ctsoxfan

Actually, big signature banners (like the one you have now) really make browsing the forums a lot less enjoyable. The one you have now might even be too big, according to CU's policy. One of the worst things about the Beckett forum is those long, annoying, redundant signature pics that we have to scroll past - over and over and over again.

I don't mean to pick on you, but I wouldn't mind if CU eliminated signature pics and images altogether. No real need for them.

ArnyVee

I appreciate your opinion, but it's a cool way to share something that we discuss on a daily basis here...our collections. I definitely don't want something gaudy like the beckett board members display, but something small (in the same size range as what I have) would be fun to display.

ctsoxfan

I see what you are saying, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this topic. Long signatures and images get very old, very quickly - and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so. Many of the best forums on the net don't use them, and for the people still stuck on dial-up, it makes for a slower browsing experience waiting for all this stuff on the pages to load.

It is one of the primary reasons that the Beckett forums are completely unreadable - and I would hate to see these forums follow suit.

MPeter

I'm with ya ctsoxfan! These big signature images are worthless. Once somebody has seen it, they don't really look at it again. It just takes up space. I would prefer none of them at all. The little images on the side by your name is good enough. One exception though....the one with the Florida State gals in the low cut tops....that one can stay!!!

MPeter

One more thing......if you don't know how people make those banners, you should probably just stick with one photo. Photoshop isn't a program you can master overnight........layers, background, filters........well, good luck to you!!

RipublicaninMass

<< <i> I wouldn't mind if CU eliminated signature pics and images altogether. No real need for them. >>



As long as they dont touch Perkdog's or Stown's

ctsoxfan

<< <i>

<< <i> I wouldn't mind if CU eliminated signature pics and images altogether. No real need for them. >>



As long as they dont touch Perkdog's or Stown's >>



Absolutely - there's always an exception to every rule!