Making a Website Header....

[xxanxx]

Hey y'all....

 

   I'm new here but have been using paint.net for a little bit.  I've been all over the tutorials but I can't figure this out.  I'm trying to make a nice looking website header, very much like this one:

 

 

  But, I'm having trouble.  I'm trying to replace the car with this one:

 

 

 

  So far, I can't seem to make it work.  I can get rid of the white block but I can't figure out how to make the muscle car fit.  I've tried cutting it out, doing some blurs, etc.  Any advice or tutorials that might help?

[DrewDale]

Once you have removed the white block grab the rectangle select tool >   then select around your car with it, next grab the move tool >    then while holding Shift on your keyboard, re-size the image to fit your banner. Once you are happy with the size and position click deselect. >  :Deselect: To soften any edges out use either AA's Assistant or feather.

[Pixey]

This tutorial may be of help here.

[xxanxx]

I've attached the pdn file, but I'm still having trouble.  I've essentially got it cut out but I can't get the glow around it and the cool lines and all that.  Thanks for the responses, everyone.

 

I'm sorry, the file didn't upload.  Here:

Edited February 24, 2013 by xxanxx

[DrewDale]

Drop shadow could be your friend here to add a little depth. As for the lines, try using the line tool >   on another layer (or layers)

And then running Gaussian blur on them. Your not far off with what you have so far, it just needs to stand out a little more

[xxanxx]

When you say use the line tool, you mean duplicate the layer with the car and then trace around it with the line tool?  That's where I am confused.  I'd also like to add the dark blue lines that were in the original but I'm not really sure how. 

 

Thanks!

[pdnnoob]

I wouldn't try to copy the effect from the example header you gave. The image of the car, there, is at a "sitting" angle, but almost everything about the car pic you have says movement.

I understand you want to know how to do things and not what to do, but here's what I would do:

1. Rather than backing the car into the left corner of the image like it's parked there, I would drive it up towards the bottom right corner to emphasize its movement.

2. Pick two colors that match the color on the car. I don't care if the header you like is a bright sky blue. Your car is a deep dark purple. Make things blend. Have one light color and one darker color. Fill the background with the dark color and use the light color around the car (a nice 'ol splotch of it, then blur it a bit). Add a new layer and, across the bottom, make a white rectangle. Blur it a whole bunch so that you get a sort of gradient as your "ground"

3. DON'T use drop shadow. This is a 3 dimensional object that is angled out of the image. Drop shadow is for 2D images that need to lift off the surface a bit. Instead, use the line tool (on a new layer) to create a rough outline of the car's shadow, fill it with the paint bucket tool, and use the gradient tool set to transparency mode to fade it out away from the car.

4. Make a new layer just above the background layer and set the opacity to something low. Draw curves (not lines) using the line tool that approximately follow or emphasize the movement of the car.

5. Don't remove a corner of the image like the example unless you have text to put there. I take that back...even if you have text, don't remove the corner. My OCD is killing me.

[xxanxx]

Ok, thanks.  This is a bit different than photoshop but I'm getting the hang of it.  Here is what I've done so far:

 

I like your advice, pdnnoob; I think I may try that.