Couple I did for me!

[GraphiXtreme]

Just to play around a bit, I decided to make up some signs for my shop. Since my shop is behind my house in a residential area, I get a lot of people that just knock on the door. I have a separate entrance around the side of the house, but no one hardly used it. So, I thought it time to make up some directional signs with a little snap to them. I created the artwork starting in Corel, transferring to Photo-Paint for some tweaking with Alien Skin, then back into Corel. Printed on 3651 w/200 olam. Oh, and they are 12" x 18" little fellers.

[Barry]

Nice job Chris... Those signs should definatly get some attention.

[Neil]

Love 'em Chris. That shows how signs can be ...(and should be?) done.

The future of signmaking is digital printing with effects - interesting backgrounds and tricked up lettering. Those little signs showcase what's available and what you can do for your customers.

I'd like to hear a bit more about how you put these together....

[GraphiXtreme]

Well thanks Neil,

Like I said, I started everything in CorelDraw, imported into Corel Photo-Paint, doctored with Alien Skin Eye Candy 5 (Impact, Nature and Textures). The background was just a rectangle of any color, then converted to a bitmap at 150 dpi, then brought into Corel Photo-Paint. In PP, I used the Texture: Diamond Plate plug-in for the background. After that, I added the Nature: Fire effect. Then this was simply brought back into Corel. The LH side I started with an oval, then welded to a rectangle and same process into PP, doctored with Impact: Brushed Metal (Linear Steel), back to Corel. The text was done using the Impact:Gradient Glow (Neon Tube). The tribal designs started life from the Clipart deSIGN collection (Tribal Fire). The effect is Impact: Chrome. The bolts are just hexagons treated with Impact: Brushed Metal (Circular Steel)

What I really like about this whole process, is that once in CorelDraw, it is a nearly seamless process to convert, import to Photo Paint and back to Corel again. You don't have to actually export the file, then import, it all happens from within CorelDraw. From the menu bar, you convert the vector to a bitmap, then hit the Edit Bitmap which opens up Photo-Paint. After your done, you just exit from Photo-Paint and it brings it back into Corel in exactly the same spot you had it before. Works pretty slick IMO.

[Neil]

Sounds like it does work slick Chris. It's good to hear of different ways to design...I'm a bit insular and tend to stay within Signlab.
Even though it does use eye candy and has some bitmap editing capabilities, it's a bit limited.

I start to drool when I see multi layered backgrounds with cool effects.
I upgraded my Photoshop a while ago and keep buying magazines with all the tips & tricks but can't get much past basic image manipulation.

Might have to have another look at the rest of the Eye candy filters available too....

[Barry]

Niel,

There are tons of online tutorials for photoshop, they seem to help much more than the books do. Do a good search for Photoshop tutorial and you will have hours of fun.