AgentGoodspeed

The way I read the OP's question is that he wants to get a black-and-white printout in order to carve an actual piece of wood.

FOUND IT!!! The video is here: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/31895-ishis-not-so-fancy-pdn-gallery-updated-july-8-2016/&page=4#comment-518643

Thanks everyone. Still haven't found the video (and it's going to haunt me like Capt. Ahab) but so far Dipstick's method seems the most doable with my limited abilities. I shall try it out.

Afraid not. This is going to sound uncouth but I'm terrible with names, especially usernames, but the member with the Beatles-like purple avatar with the huge 70s mustache? I forget his name but he might have posted that video. It featured a girl standing on a wooden pier at night – that's when he made the nifty shadow. I remember a lot of (possibly freehand) stretching and distorting.

Instead of explaining what I want to do, here's an example from the Harry Brown movie poster. I want to be able to do this sort of shadow and then fill it with something cool. I understand for this particular example, it's been painted (or photographed in a way to create this shadow) but I've seen a video here on the forum how to do it and I can't find it anymore. The video was about another effect but the user (how I wish I knew his/her name!) finished things off with a shadow. They stretched it this way and that way, rotating it back so it looks like it was on the ground. It was glorious. I've tried the shadow plug-in but I lose too much because of the main subject. I tried TR's Distort This but it doesn't let me stretch it to make it bigger. I tried rotate/zoom and not getting what I need. If I could only find the video again! I get a feeling it was posted by MJW or Cc4FuzzyHuggles though. Maybe?

There are a gazillion ways to make abstract backgrounds. I personally like to put on some music for a movie and then just do random effects for half an hour. It's mostly because I don't know what I'm doing and also a way to learn how the plug-ins work. Start with random shapes or lines. Then head to the Distort section of the Effects and try stuff

Not sure how I feel so I won't complain until I've gotten used to this, but this was my first reaction when logging in

When doing graphic design – precision work – you can't reduce the size otherwise you could make mistakes or not get the desired result. And moving the windows constantly? Major hassle. As someone who does a lot of design in PDN, overscroll is amazing.

It's my understanding that plug-ins in Paint.net can only use TrueType fonts and not Open Type fonts. Your new Italianno font is probably otf...

My quirky bowling alley...

Oh man, I didn't know I needed overscroll until I tried it just now! Thanks for the great work

I have Windows 10 and Smudge, in Tools, works for me.

Looks great, Maximilian!

Nice plugin! I made a gradient then used this plugin with inverted colors, followed by Drop Shadow.

There is already a plug-in called Object Align, available in this pack: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?showtopic=8375

Maybe I missed it but is there a way to control the font size? And as with all plug-ins that make use of fonts, some of the fonts I purchased don't show up in the drop-down menu (though this could be the subject of another thread). Great job again!

I've been away for two days and I stumble upon THIS. It's like it's my birthday!! Great job, can't wait to try it

Thanks!

Now now, let's not get carried away with the truth compliments LOL But thanks!

This isn't really on topic anymore but I thought I'd give an update about my project since you guys have been so helpful. Anyway, I decided to go in a slightly different direction. Instead of trying to blend the brand with the image, which wasn't that bad, I went with a torn paper design:

Thank you, gentlemen.

So I followed @Iron's method of widening the top banner and then deleting. I also applied a transparent gradient to blend in the pointy edges. What do you think? I find it a little jarring because it doesn't necessarily go with the style from the rest of the covers, then again it draws the eye which I guess is the point of a brand...

To be honest, my relationship with graphic design and Paint.Net is a lot like owning a Ferrari; I can go fast and do a lot of things but I'm not quite sure how all the gizmos work yet LOL First of all, alpha means transparent, right? So when I do the gradient do I do it (primary/secondary) black/white, or black/transparent? Then do I paste alpha on the banner layer or a new layer? My paste alpha results...

Yeah, I was being facetious. I kind of know how I made my banner. I took a texture, did motion blur, played with the hue adjustments. Come to think of it, because I can't seem to get the hang of paste alpha, I can expand my banner background by copying it a few times and making sure there are no seams. Danke I'll try that later…

@Iron your technique makes sense though I shudder at having to remake the banner graphic, I'm not exactly sure how I arrived at this conclusion anymore. Might keep this as a last resort. @MJW I'm going to try this method and report back!