jim100361

You can't add photo as I believe it's been disabled, but you can add your pic as an Avatar. That will be displayed in the forums (as seen to the left).

It was suggested to me also to put in some fragments, and I did a few. I resisted doing more and even smaller ones because I didn't feel comfortable about doing anything smaller than the smallest ones I had added with all the dark background and dark laptop. I just thought a.) it would be too much work since each shard was/were on a separate layer (this was done because I wanted to rotate each piece of glass at different angles and doing multiples on a single layer didn't seem like I would be able to get the right effect. b.) with even smaller pieces and little "definition" to them, I thought they would simply "get lost" in the image. I know we (you and I) were involved in that other discussion for the individual who wanted assistance with the PS tutorial, but actually I did the above image without a tutorial. It was all done mostly by just toying around with just a couple of plug-ins. As a matter of fact I was home sick yesterday and did it to pass the time. Yes, when I did the piece I didn't know at the time how to cut the point off (but since have learned the right procedure), so I utilized the "lasso select" tool to do it. The point came out fine initially inasmuch as it was pointy, but the edges were jagged. So utilizing the feather and AA to clean it up resulted in losing the point. Ahh well, live and learn! And to everyone: Thanks for the comments, I appreciate them.

Umm....I've quoted the below from the link you provided and it's the very same info I provided you above in the screenshots: Re: How does one get Windows Image Acquisitio​n service (stisvc) to restart? One thing to check is the following. Open windows Control Panel, open Administrative Tools and open Services. Check that the following services ( check them in th order shown below ) are all showing as Status= Started and Start-up Type= AutomaticRemote Procedure Call (RPC) Shell Hardware Detection Windows Image Acquisition If you need to make a change to any of the above, just right click the service and select Properties, then in the dropdown box next to 'Start-up type', select Automatic and click Apply to save the change. Then click the Start button." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Good luck!

You're quite welcome. I'm glad I could help.

Del: I'm not much of an abstract enthusiast as it were, but I must say it's quite an interesting piece and thought provoking. It seems to strike me in one sense as a very solid form, and in the other sense as being quite fluid ready to engulf something.

When you run services.msc and bring up the properties dialogue box, you should see a tab labeled "Dependencies" Clicking on that tab will give you this: Check these items as you did with the Windows Image Acquisition service. If you get a specific error message, write it down and try to "Google" it and see what results you may get. If you can't seem to get anywhere with that, post it in here and maybe somebody else may be able to further assist you.

If it's not dark enough to suit you, do it once (the first time), deselect, then repeat the process again. Also, as he previously pointed out, ensure your primary color is black and the secondary color is totally transparent. EDIT: Click on the "More" button on the Color Wheel: Adjust the slider all the way to the left as shown: Here's my pics: Original First Pass Second Pass

Did you run services.msc and see if Windows Image Acquistion is running as shown below?: If it isn't, click on it to highlight it, right-click and select "Properties". You will get a dialogue box where you can set it to "Automatic" and to also Start the service.

Just a simple piece (the grip could've used some texture to it - it looks kind of flat too): http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/CantaLibra/Sword.png

I am not trying to be rude, but the concept about tutorials is that you practice with them and get yourself familiar with the various plugins and their effects on the project that you are working on as well as getting around in paint.net. No single tutorial is going to cover every aspect of what paint.net has to offer. Delve into other tutorials and after a bit you should be able to combine various effects that you've learned to put together a piece like you want. ================================= "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."

While you have the transparent (checkerboard) background, save the image as either png or gif. This will keep the background transparent instead of changing it to white. Those are the only two formats that will retain the transparency. If you save in other file formats the background will automatically change to white. EDIT: BTW, the png format is the recommended one to use as it is "lossless" and as such will give you better detail in your pictures.

Hey, don't say that! Don't you know how long I've been patiently waiting for you to start your own gallery? Truly you should be able to provide us with some interesting work. Seriously, you've seen my flawed work, so don't worry about flaws. It's how we learn. Rember these: * You've got to learn to walk before you can run * You can't get mush without cracking a few eggs * Crack pipes are intended to be used in the privacy of your own home (Hey, I never said they were pertinent, I only asked you to remember them!)

Careful, now your dating yourself! lol

If you're working utilizing layers that have 3 complete circles, when you use the paint bucket, it will fill the entire circle. The layers will need to be merged together so that the lines of the circles act as a sort of "barrier" for the paint and in this way it won't flood over into the "football" shaped (for lack of a better term) intersecting areas (as in your example). Also, the paint bucket works with the primary selected color. So, since you already drew the circles with black, simply select the paintbucket tool and then click inside the area you want filled and it will fill with the black. To fill the other areas with other colors, simply change the primary color and click on your next area.

Use the "Apply Texture" effect (see picture below of interface) to redraw the original object over the new shape. In this case, you will click on the "Open" and select the original picture.

Would it be easier to use java script? When you do an animated gif, it is quite similar to a cartoon. Each frame is a different pic with adjustments to each succeeding frame to create the motion. All those frames will add up to file size and the more pictures and frames there are the more chances of it running slowly as each individual frame needs to be rendered. It would seem to me that a few images manipulated via javascript may be more advantageous. I've only had cursory experience doing animated gifs and javascripts (not writing them, just installing and running them) quite awhile back, so I'm not 100% sure which would be better, but you may wish to look further into it. Sorry I can't be much better help. Good luck.

Phase Two (Second Attempt): http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/CantaLibra/FootballDesktop4.png Wow, what a time consuming attempt. Each shard of glass is a separate individual layer. I suppose this could have had better results, but it's easy to get lost in manipulating each individual layer - especially if you modify or find something else to further accentuate a piece. In this instance, it wasn't until I was 3/4 of the way through working with the layers that I attempted to try to add drop shadows to pieces laying on the keyboard. The effect was acceptable to me, but not all of them have them because it was difficult going back through to try to find the pieces previously done.

Phase Two (First Attempt) With Broken Glass: http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/CantaLibra/FootballDesktopGlass1.png I'm thinking of giving this another go 'round. I'm contemplating another method to divide the glass. Maybe use alpha mask utilizing something like the right-side of the diagram below (without the intersecting lines of course):

Thank you all! I haven't yet had an opportunity to begin working on the glass shattering effect to the picture as I was out most of the day yesterday but I'm planning on starting it shortly. But, before I complete this (provided I'm successful in creating the effect), I have a question: The image I created shows the upper portion of the body from mid-rift section with the shadow indicating essentially this is the portion of the body extruding from the screen. Do you think it would add or detract from the image if the lower portion of the body is slightly unfocused - to further add to the effect? or would it be better to leave it as is?

Phase One: http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/CantaLibra/HowFootballDesktop.jpg Enlarged view of (semi-)completed pic: http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/CantaLibra/FootballDesktop.jpg The next phase is to try to add the/a shattering glass effect as was discussed here: http://forums.getpai...-like-this-pic/

Maybe the link below may give you the guidance you are looking for: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/21842-how-to-install-animated-image/

That is a pretty cool concept. I've been stagnant about coming up with something new to try out and I think I may (time permitting) give this a whirl this weekend. Actually, I think the glass would essentially have to be hand created from a semi-transparent blank layer (glass itself). Using cutouts from the base image (if I'm interpretting the statement correctly) would be including the image itself, which is not what you want since it is not transparent. In other words, if I was using a laptop image as the gentlemen wishes to do, then using the lcd screen to create the glass pieces would inherently be using the dark background of the display itself. It seems to me that the glass must be created from its own layer and be totally transparent (with the exception of reflected light off of them, etc) so that the lcd screen background and the second object (the football) are not blocked out. I do agree that a combination of the two referenced tutorials would probably produce the best results.

You're close, but you've seemed to have missed a step Using the magic wand, set the tolerance to around 25%, and click on the background and it should clearly indicate the background as selected as shown below: Once you've got the background selected, simply press the delete key on your keyboard and you should now get a checkered appearing background (this now indicates it is transparent): Now save the image as .png or .gif file.

There are tutorials for creating textures so you most certainly can create your own. As an alternative, you may also do a google search for some picture frame or a picture in a frame and select something that you like. Once you have the frame, all you need to do is import your picture as a layer, resize it as necessary to fit the frame, and then save it.

Thank you. http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/CantaLibra/KioskOrbLaPieta3.png