The People's Peep
Mr. Manager
Do you want to know how to make sigs but you don't have Photoshop? Did you download Gimp as a replacement for Photoshop? Are you now completely confused by Gimp and need some help making sigs with the application? If you answered yes to all of the above, this is the place for you. The following is a guide on making sigs using Gimp. (Disclaimer: I use a Mac and I am new to Gimp, but I have a pretty decent understanding of the program.)
Step 1. Background
Step 2. Images
Step 3. Text
Step 4. Border
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or leave a reply on this thread.
Step 1. Background
First thing first, lets get some good brushes. For brushes, go here and make sure that your filter is set to "all time" and "most popular". I would suggest going through a few pages and downloading all of the grunge brushes and fractal brushes. Once you download your new brushes, you need to find the Gimp folder on your computer and put the new brushes in the brushes folder that exists in the gimp folder.
When you open up Gimp, make sure that the size is in regulation with the WZ rules (no side longer than 500 pixels and not over 800 pixels total). I will be using 480x300.
Depending on what color you want to make your background, you can choose what color you want to start off with. I usually start off with white or black, but you can start off with whatever color you want. I will be starting off with black. From here, just mess around with brushes, using a combination, different sizes, and different colors. Make sure to play around with the opacity of the brushes to make certain colors stick out more. Also play with the scale of the brush because some brushes will only make a solid line when you make stroke with it. In that case, make the brush big and just make one dot with the brush.
Next, go over to the layers on the right and right-click the background layer. Go to duplicate layer and now you should have two layers, Background and Background Copy. Now also on the layers menu, you should see a dropdown menu labeled "mode". Try all of the different modes and they should do different things to you background. The best ones are burn, dodge, multiply, and overlay.
When you finish choosing what mode you want, right click on the Background copy layer and choose "merge down". Now your background copy is gone and your Background is finalized. (Note: for further experimentation, play around with different filter, especially in the "artistic" option)
When you open up Gimp, make sure that the size is in regulation with the WZ rules (no side longer than 500 pixels and not over 800 pixels total). I will be using 480x300.
Depending on what color you want to make your background, you can choose what color you want to start off with. I usually start off with white or black, but you can start off with whatever color you want. I will be starting off with black. From here, just mess around with brushes, using a combination, different sizes, and different colors. Make sure to play around with the opacity of the brushes to make certain colors stick out more. Also play with the scale of the brush because some brushes will only make a solid line when you make stroke with it. In that case, make the brush big and just make one dot with the brush.
Next, go over to the layers on the right and right-click the background layer. Go to duplicate layer and now you should have two layers, Background and Background Copy. Now also on the layers menu, you should see a dropdown menu labeled "mode". Try all of the different modes and they should do different things to you background. The best ones are burn, dodge, multiply, and overlay.
When you finish choosing what mode you want, right click on the Background copy layer and choose "merge down". Now your background copy is gone and your Background is finalized. (Note: for further experimentation, play around with different filter, especially in the "artistic" option)
Step 2. Images
Decide upon an image or set of images you want to use, probably a wrestler. While I am not the best at what I do, i will still be using images of the man who is the best at what he does, Chris Jericho. When you look for images, go to PSD-dreams.de. This sites has a bunch of renders of wrestlers and other things as well. You need to register, but its free and completely worth it. Once you find your render, download it, copy it, then paste it. Then all you need to do is use the scale tool to scale it and the move tool to move it.
If you want to cut an image, first you must make a new window in gimp and paste the image in the new window. Make sure that the window is big enough to fit the picture. Now go to the path tool. This is what you use to cut. Zoom in as much as you want, then start to trace around the image.
When you finish, go to Select>From Path and you should have something like the image above. Then click copy. Now you can go back and paste it into your sig. Then, you can move it around, scale it, and change the opacity if you want.
If you want to cut an image, first you must make a new window in gimp and paste the image in the new window. Make sure that the window is big enough to fit the picture. Now go to the path tool. This is what you use to cut. Zoom in as much as you want, then start to trace around the image.
When you finish, go to Select>From Path and you should have something like the image above. Then click copy. Now you can go back and paste it into your sig. Then, you can move it around, scale it, and change the opacity if you want.
Step 3. Text
When you finish adjusting your images, you will probably want to add text. To do this, you simply use the text tool. On the image, you make a square with the tool, then type in what you want the text to be. After that, you can change the font, color, and size on the toolbox on the left hand side. You can also adjust the size of the box accordingly.
To add a border to the text, follow the following steps: Click on the text so that it is the selected item. Then go to Layer>Transparency>Alpha to Selection. Now you should have a dotted line tracing the text. Next, go to Select>Grow and choose somewhere between 3-5 pixels (thats what I do. You can make it as big as you want). Next make go right to the Layer Menu on the right of the screen and make this a new transparent layer. Move the new layer behind the older text layer. Finally, go to Edit>Fill with FG/BG color, depending on what color you want the border to be.
To add a border to the text, follow the following steps: Click on the text so that it is the selected item. Then go to Layer>Transparency>Alpha to Selection. Now you should have a dotted line tracing the text. Next, go to Select>Grow and choose somewhere between 3-5 pixels (thats what I do. You can make it as big as you want). Next make go right to the Layer Menu on the right of the screen and make this a new transparent layer. Move the new layer behind the older text layer. Finally, go to Edit>Fill with FG/BG color, depending on what color you want the border to be.
Step 4. Border
All sigs need to have a border to really feel complete. To add a border, make sure you are working on the background layer. Then, go to Filters>Decor>Add Border. Make the X and Y size about 2 or 3, 4 at the max. Set your color and click OK. Now you sig should be done.
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or leave a reply on this thread.