This is more like 2 tutorials. It takes you from "a-bit-above beginner level" to
pre-advanced. In the end you'll have something like these.




They don't look the same, but pretty much the same method was used for both of them.
In this tutorial you'll learn:

- Layer usage
- Smudging
- C4D usage

Requirements:
- A bit of GIMP knowledge. You should be able to do this if you pay attention.
- A few C4D's. Get them at planetrenders.net under the 3D/Abstract section.
- Eyes
- Hands
- A keyboard
- A mouse
- A brain

So first open GIMP, go to File>New and make your file. I'll be using 300x120.

Now go to File>Open and open your render (The image you'll be putting on your sig).
Now press "O" to get the Color Picker tool, or just click the icon in the GIMP
menu that looks like a eyedropper.
Pick a color from your render by clicking it. Pick a slightly dark color.



Now select the Gradient tool. Do this by clicking the green square in the main
GIMP window or by pressing L.
Now in the main GIMP window, use these settings and make the background color black
by double-clicking the white box. (The box the arrow in the following image is
pointing to.)



Now do a gradient on your signature by clicking at the bottom of it and dragging
it to the top. Put it where you're going to put your sig.. If you want it to look best,
put it in the middle instead of a side. Get something you like; You don't want your
color to fill up the sig. You want something like this:



Now go to Layer>New Layer and paste your render. Move it to where you want. Then
go to Layers>Duplicate Layer 6 times.



Now go to Dialogs>Layers, and hide all of the layers except "New Layer". You "hide"
layers bu clicking the eye.




Now select the Smudge tool by pressing S, or just clicking .
Select the Vine brush and make sure you have these settings (Minus the colors, they
don't matter when you're smudging).



Smudge just a little all around your image until you get something like this.


(Don't mind it saying 6 layers at the top, I made a mistake in the tutorial.)

In the Layers dialog, click the drop-down menu and set it to Dodge.




Yes it's "messed up" now, but unhide the next layer to fix that. To do so, click the
blank spot where the "eye" was.




Now keep doing the same thing to the next layer, next layer, etc. until there's just
1 layer left to unhide. Unhide that, and you're done with the smudging. My result:



That's actually not a bad sig at all for a inexperienced GIMP'er. Make sure to
save that because the rest of this tutorial might be alot harder. (Save it as a .xcf
file so you can edit it later!)

The last part is advanced, but quite easy. If you could make it this far, definitely.
Now open a C4D. (If you don't have any, you can log in at
planetrenders.net, go to "Renders Gallery" and go to the 3D/Abstract section).
Paste it into a good spot in your sig, then set that layer to Dodge. You'll see why in a minute.



Erase anything that doesn't look good.

Unhide the next layer and do it again with a different C4D.



Lower the opacity if it's too bright. I brought mine to 70.
Unhide the next layer, add the border and text and you're done :O Feel free to post your
results.



-- Edited by Psy at 17:17, 2007-06-22