Help Discussion

I don't have a methodology for making sets. I usually just take a picture I like and play with it in PS until I get something usable.

DaemonDragon: I'm the same as Halite75, as I don't have a set formula for making sigs. I've noticed that the main steps I take for my sigs is to set the render, put a sample/temporary background, and then start working on the color of the sig with adjustment layers. After I achieve something half-decent, I'll go back and add textures, brushwork, patterns, text, etc. Not very helpful, but that's how I usually do it. ;; On rare occasions I'll also make the backgrounds and do all the work and then add the render last. It all depends on what works best for you and your style, I think.

As for fractal resources, I think they're best for lights and dark backgrounds. Set the fractal layers to screen/lighten/color dodge to get coloring and lighting. Otherwise, fractals don't often make for good backgrounds when they're the main focus (might be better to use C4Ds if you're looking for something similar to fractals). Again, this totally depends on styles, the base pic, and other factors. You just don't really see fractals used as textures in many sigs. Maybe they're just hard to work with?

Also, unless you're gonna set the transparency very low for a subtle affect, I don't suggest setting fractal layers to overlay.

Lame question.

Where do you guys get your pics? The gallery here is awesome, but not enough. >.<

@SecretlyCares - Minitokyo - Anime Wallpapers, Scans and more & Zerochan: HQ Anime Image Board are good places to find scans. Photobucket.com is a good place to find pictures, but it's really hard to find high quality pictures.

I use the sources mentioned by 888, but Pixiv.net has the best images--you just have to figure out how to search for things in Japanese.

Thanks for the replies! Most of the time I could only resort to google's image search when I want to go hunting for some pics. >___< I liked Zerochan the most, with its picture tags and all. Although, Halite75, I can't seem to enjoy pivix as much as you can, am clueless with Japanese stuff. -_-

I use wikipedia to look up the Japanese characters for the shows and characters I'm interested in finding pictures for. Also the translate function of google is my best friend at Pixiv. Most of the good pictures on Zerochan are from Pixiv.

Speaking of pixiv, I'd like to add that searching by a character's name in different forms (kanji, hiragana, katakana, and romaji) yields good results and more variety. o/

Seeing as Zerochan, Minitokyo, and pixiv were already mentioned, may I suggest Forever More's gallery? It's my favorite for BL pics, especially since I use a lot of official artwork in my graphics.

I'm also an avid fan of Danbooru, but beware: this site contains yaoi, yuri, AND het. Not only that, it can be rather explicit. Think of it as the 18+ version of Zerochan. xD The search is also a little weird. You use full names and the way it's originally supposed to be written. So say for Izaya from DRRR!!, you'd search for orihara_izaya (family name first and given name last, just like in Japan). But if you're looking for Hope from FFXIII, you'd search for hope_estheim (given name first, family name last) because that's how it's seen in the game. Basically any name from a Japanese anime/manga is familyname_givenname and for other things it's givenname_lastname. Lol, it's a little confusing at first, but it becomes easier the more you use it. ;;

Aethereality was one of my favorite sites for artbook scans waaay back in the days. They have a nicely organized collection with quality scans, so they're worth checking out.

Those are all the ones I can come up with. *__*

@Halite75 thank you for the tips! Trying 'em out now~

@Flei, yay more sites I never heard of~ *searches for purrty pics* And thanks for the searching tips too! Haven't tried searching different forms of a character's name yet in zerochan, it'd be helpful for sure~

Oooooookay. I got some major problem here. ||OTL
After the laptop was reformatted, I need to install photoshop all over again and other stuffs.
I lost motivation to make GFX, whether it be a sig, or an avi. Well.. maybe one reason is because ALL of my stuffs (textures, C4Ds and stuffs are deleted).... -.-

I tried looking for different drooly pictures out there... but nothing brings back my motivation.