[Disc.] DEC 09: Guilty Pleasures

A new addition to PS 101 is Monthly Discussions! This is your chance to gather and discuss with other members about a new and (hopefully) interesting topic each month.

This month's theme is guilty pleasures!

Admit it: What do you/have you done that you consider a guilty pleasure? Do you use shortcuts while making graphics by using the same style over and over? Always rely on a certain texture/brush to spiff up your sig? Ever since you found out about a certain feature or tool, do you use it to the point of borderline obsession?

Gather 'round, discuss, and spill the beans! >D


PS. Feel free to shoot me a PM with suggestions for future discussions! <3 I'd love to hear everyone's ideas~

Okay, so my personal guilty pleasure is... Apply Image. orz Ever since I found out about it this year I've been using it sooo often it's scary. And now when I don't know what do with a sig, I turn to Apply Image, Scale, and then just slap on textures/patterns and loads of adjustment layers.

And finally, I throw in spiffy text in order to distract from the siggy. ;A;

Ffffffff, it's a really bad habit. I've been trying to get rid of it, but it's really hard. I miss how I used to make graphics. OTL

^ I don't even know what that is. D:
;;

Mine? umm... there's a lot of things. First, I always start off my coloring with a dark dark red > set to exclusion then another layer with light gray > set to multiply and then start using adjustment layers from there. >3
Another thing is that I use this texture a lot. Yeah go and shoot me now. >D

I have no idea what Apply Image even is.

I almost always start by mixing two colors with a Filter-->Render-->Clouds.

Sometimes when I don't feel like rendering a picture, I cheat by making a second copy of of the original image and taking the soft eraser brush and erasing the background on the top picture. Then I set I change the image mode of original non-rendered pic to darken or multiply.

lool...i always....always use bars or X's in a sig...unless the person doesnt want either D:

and I've been abusing paper textures lately...alot DX

and now most of the time I duplicate the image, apply soft light and overlay it to the original...or use the median filter and overlay to brighten my images.

Uhm when i adds lighting dots, i REALLY go over board
also, even though i do not want to admit it, i always tries to make my text looks REALLY good, sometime even better the sig itself
I ALWAYS Apply my image, it's very useful and it's the only way i can copy the image to make an ava in PS7
-Edit, oh yeah and lately light effect also been my top these days LOL
This is my most recent and most proud of what do you guys think ?
*note the light effects LOL*
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...g94/Pickup.png

i totally abuse guassian blur filter. i use it on 90 percent of my graphics. i always duplicate my image/render/stock and guassian blur the top layer to 'bout 2.5-2.7 and then set the layer to either multiply or whatever just to get the lighting i like ^_^

@khoakhung - love the new set and how the smoothly the effects flow together in the set. also love the text and the effect of the monochromaticish on the right.

Melissa: >__> Oh em gee, you don't? It is such a MAGICAL and WONDERFUL feature. I love it to death. ;A;

Basically, you make a new layer and go to Image > Apply Image. And then your new layer turns into a carbon copy of every single layer underneath! So ALL the visible layers turn into a single layer. It's so awesome! <333

asjhdljak! That's one of my favorite textures! *0* It's the main texture of my current wallpaper~ =D

Hee~ I remember the days when I was crazy about exclusion, too. Exclusion layers really do make things better! |D

Halite75: D: Refer to my reply to Melissa, please! Apply Image is made of pure WIN. <3

Oh wow, you use Clouds? I never really got the hang of that feature. >>;; I suppose you use it as a background?

LOL, I love the erasing cheat! xP I do it too, but not as much anymore.

cabbit_girl: I KNOW THE PAPER TEXTURE PHASE. I went through it a while back. D| omg, it's so hard not to just add it into some sigs. Paper textures almost always look really nice.

Oh snap, I've never used Median. I just checked it out, and it looks really cool! *__*b I can see getting lots of cool effects done with this one. Thanks for pointing it out! <3

khoakhung: Eep~ That's a really nice banner! <3 Actually, I've noticed that everything you make these days is amazing. *__* I really love your stuff~ I can't believe how talented you've gotten so quickly. You're definitely one of the better graphic artists on Aarin. ;3

YES! Someone who uses Apply Image! Isn't it great?! I can't believe I lived as long as I did without it. xD

I'm guilty of pretty text, too. >.>;; Isn't it fun making the text look nice and eye-catching? It's one of my favorite parts.

buhbibutterfly: Up until two years ago, Gaussian Blur was my best friend, too. XP I used it on EVERYTHING. If I look back at my older stuff, almost none of them are without a Gaussian Blur layer. I set most of mine on Overlay/Soft Light.

Doesn't it make graphics so spiffy? o/ I love all the blur features Photoshop has.

awww....Flei darling..
yeah and Appy image let you adjust the layer you want etc etc and even make clipping mask

Well um..mine..is...piling on textures.I mean I use maybe 6-9 in each sig. x_x. I just pick a background color and then start piling. One after another setting them on different blendings and erasing as I go. Also...C4D. I tend to over do them too..

@khoakhung: I love that sig you are amazing I'd trade a vital organ for skills like that ._.