PrettyDarnNeat

Here's mine. Looks remarkably like a sunset on one of our vacations. I have a polaroid, but no scanner, sorry. I followed most of your steps Ash, then added a few of course. Nice "flexible" tutorial, open to a lot of "personal flavoring" as usual. Thanks!

OK, got it, (finally). Thanks Ash! Much appreciated.

Another thought provoking guide Ash. Here's mine with a few adjustments. Thanks. One question. On the idea of using "Outline", I have two outlines, one under "effect >outline object" - and another "effects > object > outline", I have even gone to the link you provide for "outline" and downloaded it again. It is the same as "effects > outline object" and I do have 3.30, and NONE of these outlines offer a color wheel mentioned in the thread, NOR a way of setting the angle to -90 as suggested in this tut thread. Really confusing.

You mean, drag the nubs. Yes, thats what I meant, my brain just couldn't get the correct wording for it. Wait... now I'm confused.... In either the "Move Pixels" or "Move Selection" command a right click ANYWHERE on the screen will rotate the selection. You don't even need to be within the canvas area. Closer to the center point of selection gives you a fast spinning, little control or precision rotation. Further from the center point allows a slower more precisely controlled rotation.

Well hey there, and thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Sorry 'bout the snacks, but business has been very slow.

Updated Gallery.

Chrome Ball - all PdN except the 4 cars which come from serious wheels.com or GIS like I said when I made it.

Great tutorial. Here's mine I'll be using this for sure.

Added new drawing to "Realism" section - "Basketball on Office Filecabinet" 100% PdN from scratch.

After looking and really studying over all of them, I have to go with Aile.

Thank you Topezia and mman6460 Your time and comments are appreciated. mman6460 - I like the DB9 too, it is my current desktop. It was done from a tutorial here on "popping out a picture" I believe it was called. Thanks again for the visit. Topezia - That toon car was a lot of fun. I did for a friend on another forum that was going on a trip and had to ride in a tiny, cramped car with three other people and a lot of baggage, two cats in carriers, and a lap dog! Not a trip I would have wanted to take.

Well, actually these rules are being treated pretty much the same as the regular forum rules. That is, being ignored by some people. I have seen huge pictures, quoted pictures, desktop screen captures rather than just the desktop artwork. It's none of my buisness because I don't have to police it or worry about load times. But, I think part of the problem might be a confusion by some as to what, or where actually, the stated "guidlines" apply. At first read it seems like the size limit may be talking about posting in the umbrellas, and then there are separate guides below that that deal with personal galleries that don't speak to size. I just think people may be confusing "Pictorum" guidlines as something different from "Personal Galleries". Just my 2 cents.

I just worked through your tutorial. Very good. Well written and easy to follow. I learned a lot more than I ever knew about "Level". I'm probably wrong, but it looks like adjusting the "Key" is pretty much the same (but better) as adjusting with the "Brightness/Contrast" command. Thanks for your time and effort, much appreciated.

OK, finally got it going on! There are several I really like, the cave of course I arleady told you that. But the freaked-out smilie, that is so cool with those eyes, they really grab you. The little mowhawk helps to set the attitude as well. The calm, misty lake I think is my favorite. It's beautiful. I like the way you have the viewer looking "through" the mist rather than just a mist hanging low over the water. Good choice and good mix, not too heavy or obscurring, just enough. I like the animations, but personally I would re-do the "Happy Holidays" to show more of the other sides. Thanks for the tea and the viewing. And no, it wasn't me that spilled the cup of tea over there. see ya.

Thanks CJ for the comments. I like the buildings too, I call it "Looking Up". The birds were imported from stock and downsized. I mentioned that in the original post in the old pictorum, but I forgot to include it here. Yes, I do like a variety, but these differences mainly come from working throught the tutorials here and trying to learn the program, like the photomanips for instance aren't my favorite thing. I'd rather create from scratch, but learning how to manipulate ohotos will of course help you in other areas, so I try to do them all. Thanks again.

Gallery Closed - Will re-open as new content is generated.

Thank you all for your generous comments. It's always a good feeling to have something well accepted by respected members.

This tutorial is available as a PDF. Click here to view or download the PDF Curves – RGB or, Look What Happened On The Way To Purple! RGB Curves is like mixing colors on a palette. I will be discussing mainly "Primary Colors" and varying shades of them. With "Curves RGB" virtually any color known is achievable, all it takes is understanding the basics and playing around with the settings while you watch and learn how each change effects the original. Open a new file of any size you prefer. We will only need a small area for a single circle or rectangle. (I have drawn a red circle on the base layer and selected outside of it with the wand and inverted the selection with "Contl +I") If you start with a red circle let's say, then red is the "controlling color" as I call it The color you will be changing or effecting in other words. Had you drawn a green circle, green would be the "controlling color". This is important because what you start with in your selection is what will be effected colorwise, the jumping off point as it were. And, black let's say, is very different from red with the same changes applied as we shall see later. Now, go to "Adjustments – Curves" and then go to the tab and select "RGB" and have only the blue box checked. Slide the right side all the way down to the bottom and you will see that nothing happens. Because red, being a primary color has no blue in it to be removed. (nor green either) Now, put the right side of blue back to the top and go to the left side at the bottom and slide it up a little bit at a time. You will notice the red circle getting more pink (lighter red), why? Because you have added blue to your red which depending on amounts will make red varying shades of pink. Do the same with the green, what do you get when you mix green with red? Depending on amounts you get colors from orange to tan, to yellow at full green (full green = left side slid all the way to top). Now, have only the red box checked and slide the right down in incriments and see what happens. Yes, the red gets gradually darker until it's black, why? Because we are removing the control color of red, and the absense of color is black, or color #000000. Slide the right red down and the left blue up, what are you doing? You're taking away red and adding blue which of course gives you shades of purple because now you have more blue than red. More red than blue = pinks (magenta I think it's called) more blue than red = purples and lavenders Remember, the left side of the bar adds color to the original, the right side takes it away if it is there to take. To see this, draw a black circle and make it your selection. Now, open Curves and go to RGB and leaving all boxes checked, slide the right side to the bottom. Nothing happens because there is no color to remove. Now, go to the left side and slide the bar up in steps and you will see the circle getting lighter until it's finally white, why? Because you are adding all colors to it and white is an equal blend of all colors. Play around with it and get familiar. There is so much more that "Curves" can do for shading and blending or "tempering" colors. Just get a good grasp of the basics first: The beginning selected objects color is the "control color" that you effect with your adjustments. Right side down - takes away color if it's there to take away. Left side adds color of selected box (NOTE – In general, the left side of the bar will only add in colors other than the "control color". If your circle is red it will add blue or green if you check those boxes, but not red because red is already at full intensity "255" on the right side. If you have lowered the right side, you cannot "add" it back by raising the left side.) I have been asked to expand on this so I will give it a shot. I am not an engineer nor a programmer so I am likely to be off on terminology, all I can do is explain it the way I understand it. Now, tired of circles, me too so let's have a rectangle. And, let's talk some more about black because it's unique for it's "absence" of color. If you draw a black rectangle (on it's own layer this time so we don't have to keep selecting and inverting) and open the Curves command and go to RGB you will see (as usual) that all the bars on the right are at the top. This is a bit misleading because you would think that you could slide the right down and make a change to the color, but you can't. There is no color to effect in black. You can only go to the left side and ADD color, be it red, green, blue, or combinations. Think of the "Curves RGB" as a painters color palette and all the colors in their full spectrum are there to pick from. NOTE: Remember, you are mixing colors and the same settings will not give you the same results. It is all dependent on what you start with, as well as what you do. Try this; draw a black rectangle if you don't already have one and open "Curves - RGB". Now uncheck the red box and leave both green and blue checked. Slide the left side of the bar up mid-way and you will see that adding green and blue to anything that begins as black will give you teal or varying shades of teal. Now, please humor me and close the Curves window and click the rectangle command in the history window twice so you are back to a blank canvas and then draw a red rectangle, open "Curves RGB", uncheck red, leave green and blue checked and slide the left side of the bar up mid-way. Oh look, you get pinks, why? Because your starting from a completely different "control" or base color this time, red. And adding colors to red is completely different from adding colors to black, or blue or anything. Also, if you continue to slide those green and blue colors to the top, you will see that the rectangle turns white, why? Because you have just added the full value of all the primary colors red, green and blue, and an equal blending of all colors is white. (remember, we stsarted with a red rectangle and red was at full value already.) And, at any place along the way you can uncheck one of the boxes and which ever one you leave will shade your selection with more of that color as you slide to the top. Want more blue than green, leave blue checked, or vise/versa. Okay, one final exersize and example. On the "Background Layer", make sure it's white and set your line weight to 25, select red from the color wheel and draw a short, vertical line in red. Now select green from the color wheel and draw a short vertical line next to the red one. Now, do the same with blue. Place a rectangle selection around the lines, we want a bit of white but not necessarily the whole page. Your drawing should look like this: Now, go "Adjustments – Curves" and select the RGB tab as before. Leave only the red box checked. Slide the right side down to near the bottom and you will see this: Can you see and explain what is happening to the colors now? Lowering the red on the right causes something very strange here. It effects the white background as it should, it removes the red and leaves us with a blue and green combo that gives us the light aqua color we see. BUT, notice that both the blue and the green are unaffected. They look a little different but that is from the change in the surrounding background, the colors themselves are still just blue and green. To prove this, cancel out of "Curves" and then reopen it. Hit reset to make sure all is back to normal, then uncheck the red and green boxes leaving just blue. Slide the right side of blue down. What do you see? Go ahead, we'll wait. Hey! You in the back there, pay attention! Have you got it yet? That's right! The blue is being taken from the white and the blue, making the white more yellow because why? That's right, we're leaving the red and green in the white and red and green make yellow. And of course the blue is turning black because we're removing the blue from it. But the green and red are unaffected. Now why is that? Because blue is the chosen color, white is a blend of all colors, and red and green are basic, primary colors unaffected by the removal of blue. You can see this in the picture below: LUMINOSITY Luminosity is exactly what it's name implies – light. If you have a red selection and throw some light on it it's going to lighten up and look pink, just as if you took a flashlight and shone it against red construction paper. the area with the main focus of the beam of light will look anywhere from shades of pink to absolutely white depending on the intensity of the light. You can see that this was done by sliding the left side up. Conversely, if you slide the right side down, you take light away and put your red "in the shadows". The difference here from RGB? Your not removing or adding color, only light. Below, you can see that the red does not disappear, like it did in RGB mode. It only gets darker from the "shadow" being placed on top of it, the red is still clearly there: This is how the "Curves Luminosity" is able to produce chrome. It takes the gray and black and maybe white blend you make with your text as in barkbark00's tutorial, and throws lights and shadows on the different areas of the span of colors, brining out the black here, making the gray more white there, etc. And usually, from the blurs and other effects you apply, the happenstance of more black here with the gray, or more white here with the black, gives you the circular or odd shapes in the chrome rather than just straight lines. In effect, the light applied by "Curves Luminosity" is "bent" or appears to as it highlights the more black area in amongst the gray or white or vise/versa. And, playing with the position of the bar points will bring out more blacks, or more whites or grays. It's something to play around with until you achieve what you want. The key to making it chrome, or gold for that matter, is to give "Curves Luminosity" something to manipulate with your "blend" of Gaussian blurring, base color, and white and black drop shadows. Or you could even play around with the drop shadow colors as well. This was done with a base color of yellow, and drop shadows of black and a very dark yellow, and a few tweaks in the curves settings, otherwise, following barkbark00's tutorial as written. That is all I know about Curves for now. There is a ton more I'm sure. I learn more everyday, this is a very basic understanding of what happens when you make an adjustment. I hope it will help some of the new users to understand how "Curves" works.

Ok DA, I have re-written it. I sent you a PM regarding this and I'll wait to hear from you before doing anything.

You fail to realize that moving and shortening the sliders as pictured would increase the sensitivity to that of the center drag...rendering the change ineffective. Well, maybe you always know exactly where you want the center and can just enter x= 0.25 and y= 0.87, but I think the rest of us would prefer sliders. And I don't see them as being any smaller, infact the verticle one looks a little bigger, and as for sensitivity, I thought that was controlled by the number of pixels in a drawing, like a 96 pixel is not as sensitive with plugin sliders as say a 300 ppi drawing, tied in of course with my monitors resoultion. I'm probably wrong, but it seems to be that way on my computer. Anyway, it's not up to me.

The key I have found, and this is just my own way of doing this, I'm not claiming to be a pro or anything, is to resize the image you want to import first. If I have a 800 x 600 @ 96 canvas open and I want to put say a 1440 x 990 @ 300 drawing on a wall or table as a framed picture, well, I open the 1440 x 990 JPEG or PNG drawing (my current drawing is still open) and I resize "Drawing" not "Canvas". BUT, you have to think about how big or small it should be in the new drawing it's going to. Just for the sake of this example let's say we want our framed picture to be 200 wide in our 800 x 600 drawing. So, I resize the 1440 x 990 @ 300 by clicking in the width box, making sure that "maintain aspect ration" box is selected, and enter 200. You will notice that the 300 stays the same and the print "size" changes. This is not important because we are not going to save it this way. Hit OK and let it resize. Then go to "Edit - sselect all", "Edit (again) - Copy" Click on your 800 x 600 drawing to make it the active drawing and either go "Edit - Pastes" or make a new layer and then "Edit - Paste" the choice depends on what you want to do, I generally go with a new layer. Then, move it into position and add whatever else you have in mind. In this instance, the only loss would be to "Print Size" for the 1440 x 990 drawing. But, since we're not printing that drawing or even saving it in this current form, it doesn't matter. We haven't had t rescale it once wwe imported it, so there is no loss of quality. Now, go back to the other drawing and close it out without saving, (unless you may want it again, then click save as and rename it.) It's like taking a 300 res stamp and placing it on a 96 res envelope. Yes, when viewed or printed now it will be at the 96 res, but we have saved it's original 300 res quality and reduced the size to something that is still clear and crisp when put in a 96 res drawing. I hope this helps. Like I said, it's just my way of doing it. Others may have a better one.

Hi DA, I'm back online now and will get right on changing to thumbs.

I like it a lot. It's one of the best change suggestions I've seen. I think the sliders defineitely need to stay, the center drag is just too sensitive and you wouldn't wind up saving any time or making it any easier by having to click in both of the boxes and make the adjustments after draging to somewhere close.

Check your PM's. I sent you a link.

RGB Curves is like mixing colors on a palette. I will discuss "primary" colors only, not pale shades or grays, once you learn about curves you will discover those for yourself. (I have drawn a red circle on the base layer and selected outside of it with the wand and inverted the selection with "Contl +I") If you start with a red circle let's say, then red is the controling color as I call it. Open curves, go to RGB and have only the blue box checked. Slide the right side all the way down to the bottom and you will see that nothing happens. Because red, being a primary color has no blue in it to be removed. (nor green either) Now, put the right side of blue back to the top and go to the left side at the bottom and slide it up a little bit at a time. You will notice the red circle getting more pink (lighter red), why? Because you have added blue to your red which depending on amounts will make red varying shades of pink. Do the same with the green, what do you get when you mix green with red? Depending on amounts you get colors from orange to tan, to yellow at full green (full green = left side slid all the way to top). Now, have only the red box checked and slide the right down in incriments and see what happens. Yes, the red gets gradually darker until it's black, why? Because we are removing the control color of red, and the absense of color is black, or color #000000. Slide the right red down and the left blue up, what are you doing? You're taking away red and adding blue which of course gives you shades of purple because now you have more blue than red. More red than blue = pinks (magenta I think it's called) more blue than red = purples and lavenders Remember, the left side of the bar adds color to the original, the right side takes it away if it is there to take. To see this, draw a black circle and make it your selection. Now, open Curves and go to RGB and leaving all boxes checked, slide the right side to the bottom. Nothing happens because there is no color to remove. Now, go to the left side and slide the bar up in steps and you will see the circle getting lighter until it's finally white, why? Because you are adding all colors to it and white is an equal blend of all colors. Play around with it and get familiar. There is so much more that "Curves" can do for shading and blending or "tempering" colors. Just get a good grasp of the basics first: The beginning selected objects color is the "control color" that you effect with your adjustments. Right side down - takes away color if it's there to take away. Left side adds color of selected box And, just incase you haven't figured it out from this explanation, to get a dark blue, say from red as in our example, Slide all color bars to the bottom on the right side, uncheck all but blue and slide it up till you have the shade you want. Hope this helps a little. Edit - Changed to thumbs