bzzzzzz....

[snapdragon76]

I was somewhat of a busy little bee this weekend.

I did decide to go to the movie night Friday. And I'm glad I did. I had fun. I did tell mom of my little dilemma, but she said if she wanted to do something without me, she would. Makes sense since I do a lot of stuff without her only by myself.

I also made a few icons over the weekend. I felt I needed some 'Star Wars' icons since I already have a 'Star Trek' one. I need to cover all of my fandoms, don't I? They aren't from the movies, but rather the novels (or Expanded Universe as it's called).



Meet Jaina Solo. Daughter of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. Jedi Knight. Pilot. All around good egg. The first image is fron the Essential Character Guide. I was going to scan the image myself since I have that book, but I was lucky enough to have found one online which saved me the trouble. The background wasn't originally purple. I did that myself. Trying to erase around her hair nearly killed me. I made the background purple because that's the color of her lightsaber. I added a light texture from colorfilter and text and voila! I originally had a border, but I had to adjust the light filter on the original and forgot to put it back on. I may do so eventually.

The second image is from a Japanese cover of one of the New Jedi Order novel series. I didn't do anything to the background. All I did was add a couple of textures and a border. I liked how it came out.



This is Jacen Solo, Jaina's twin brother. Jedi. Philosopher. Nature lover. Still damn good in a fight, though. Again, the first image is from the Essential Guide to Characters which I also found online as opposed to scanning. I had to erase the background again, but I didn't have as many hair issues. The green background is because his lightsaber is, what else, green. Add another light texture from colorfilter and text and a border and... there ya have it.

The second one is my favorite (which is why I'm using it). This is from another of the Japanese covers. I did the same thing to this one as I did the second Jaina one, although with a slightly different border. Also, a note to the artist the Japanese publisher commisioned for their covers: Good job, I must say.

A question for you icon makers out there: How do you get a picture where you already merged the layers and... unmerge them? Is it possible? There are some I'd like to save as .psd so I can change some things, but I don't know how to do it. Also, how you you get the half text I've seen on some icons? Thank you.


I've been thinking of making my icon journal into a community so I won't have to sign in in order to post stuff. I only have two entries on it, so maybe I can do it. A lot less hassle.

My computer speakers have been acting funky again. They do that from time to time. So no downloading any songs until they get their act together.

I should be getting my TriMax 6 soon. I've been told we learn a few more things about everyone. *glee*

Quote of the day: "It is surely better to pardon too much than to condemn too much." -- George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

Comments

[flamika.livejournal.com]

I'm not at home so I can't make any screencaps to use as examples, but I'll try to explain things. ^_^

* to save as .psd just leave your icon in all layers (dont' merge anything) and do Ctrl+S. The default file type should be .psd, and your layers will be preserved when you open it up again. You can also to "Save As" and select .psd from the drop down menu, but if you've merged your layers already I don't think it will allow you to undo them again.

* alternatively, if you don't want to save a bunch of icons in .psd format (.psd files can get pretty big), you can use the, crap, I don't even know what it's called, but it's on the right side of the Photoshop screen above the Layers section. I think it may be called History, and it's pretty much a running list of all the actions you've done up to a certain point. The undo function will only take you back one step, but with the History section, you can go back several steps. I use this all the time when I'm making icons that I plan on making several versions of.

* Half text? Do you mean the text that goes off the icon, or the text that has words right smack dab in the middle of it?

[umadoshi.livejournal.com]

. . . since I stopped buying TriMax, I'm now relying on you to post all the interesting ways the rest of it differs from the anime. ^^ Just so you know. ;)

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

*pressure*

j/k

Yes! I shall do my best! There's a lot, actually, but I shall definitely give it my all.

It doesn't help matters any that I'm still waiting for 6 to come in the mail...

I'll most likely post on ryudoshi... that is, if I don't get lazy.

[umadoshi.livejournal.com]

Oops, hit the wrong little "comment" button. Flamika, the TriMax pressure is not directed at you. ^^ Gomen!

[flamika.livejournal.com]

I was like, "Huh? Trimax?" ^_^

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

I'll look into the History option as well because I have been saving them as .psd lately, unmerged.

* Half text? Do you mean the text that goes off the icon, or the text that has words right smack dab in the middle of it?

Well, both, actually.

[flamika.livejournal.com]

* For icons with text that goes off the edges, all you have to do is make sure what's visible will get the point across. You can use the Edit > Transform > Scale feature to drag the edges of the text off the page (this won't change the text height but might make the word look funny), or you can just make the text bigger until the ends fall off the icon.

* For icons like this:

Have your two words/phrases arranged in separate text layers how you would like them to sit on the icon. Use the select tool to select the area you want to disappear. Then, make sure the background text layer is highlighed on your Layers section (ex. in the icon above, the layer with the text "LUCK" would be highlighted). At the top, go to Layers >> Rasterize Layer. This will turn your text layer into a normal layer, and you'll be unable to edit the text after this. Click the Del key, and the selected area should be erased, and your foremost text should now have a blank area behind it.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Oooh, thanks!

I'll give that a try sometime!!

[elantis.livejournal.com]

this is a "Squee" moment... Me likes Jacen and Jaina... but me hasn't read many books with them, sadly. Stupid brother keeps them hidden from us and won't let us read them, even if we DID live in the same city/state.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Stupid brother...

Yay! Another fan!! I've read all of the YJK series, almost all of the NJO series (where they make mucho heavy apperances), and now the first book of the Dark Nest Trilogy 'The Joiner King.'

I really like the images from the Japanese book covers. The artist did a really nice jon (in other words, they made Jacen look really good, which is why I'm using it as one of my icons).

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

Those icons are gorgeous!

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Why thank you! That means a lot to me.

*looks at icon* Are you trying to tell me something? ;)

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

LOL. Now you're flirting with me? You've really been inspired by those quizzes. ;)

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Was I flirting?


Hmmm...

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

Yes. :P

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

*blushes*

Was I any good? I've never done it before...

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

LOL, yes, you seemed like an old hand. ;) You should do it more. It's fun!

(My icon: Just wait till you reach that Firefly episode! That will unleash a whole LOTTA flirting!)

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Ha ha!!

(oh, and if you get the other comment twice, I apologize. I couldn't see the first one so I sent it again).

I need to find me some Firefly and Veronica Mars icons since I have a bunch more iconspace now!

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

I couldn't see your original response on your LJ either. Strange.

Check out the icon communities I have friended. They're pretty good. :) The VM one especially!

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

I snagged me a few Gilmore Girls icons. Maybe tomorrow I'll get som FF and VM.

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

Awesome!