Welcome to my first sig tutorial! This shall be fun...

Anyways, first off, download some cool brushes from DeviantArt if you haven't already, and some cool fonts at www.dafont.com.
I mean you don't have to, it's optional, but your sig will come out a lot cooler if you do. xD

Got that done? Good. So let's move on to our first step!


So open up GIMP, and go File>New. You should get a window like this:



Make it 500x200, like I have it.

So a blank rectangle should show up now.



It should look like that.

Now select the brush tool (it looks like a paintbrush), pick out a brush, and start brushing on the sig. Here's what I got:



So now we're going to open the layers panel, by going to Dialogues>Layers. Then we are going to duplicate the background, and make a new layer. The layers panel should look like this:



Now we're going to fill that new layer with a color. So choose a color by double clicking on one of the squares (the black and white ones on the GIMP menu), and when you've picked out a color you like, go to Edit>Fill with BG/FG color (it depends which square you filled).

Your sig should now look like this:



Okay, now we have to re-arrange the layers in the layers panel. Just move the new layer that you filled with a color down one time, like this:



Still with me? Good. :D So now we have to change the layer mode in the layers panel. See where it says "Mode", and then it says normal? We're gonna change normal to "Overlay" on Background Copy.
Your sig should now look like this:



Pretty isn't it? XD Okay, now we're gonna select a picture. So find a picture, any one, it doesn't matter. I'll choose one of Zoey.
So go File>Open, and choose your picture.

Have it open? Good. Now we're gonna cut it out using the lasso tool. It's the third button. So double-click it. Something like this should come up:



See where it says "feather edges"? Check that. Now see where it says radius? Move that to about 35. This is so the picture you're cutting out doesn't look so "blocky", it smooths the edges.

Okay, now that you have that done, let's start cutting out our image!
So start going around what you want with the lasso tool. Once you have that done, copy it, and go File>New. Press OK, now paste it onto that layer. This is so we can resize it, so it fits onto the sig.
It should look like this:



Erase whatever's left over. Now, we're going to go Image>Scale Image. A window like this should come up:



Put the width to 300, and press Scale. It should be small enough to fit your sig. So we're going to copy it, and paste it in the sig.
Move the image to where you want it, then go Layer>New Layer.

Your sig should now look like this:



Now all we have to do is add some text, and a border.

So for the text, select the "T" button. Pick a cool font, pick whatever color you like, and then write whatever you want.
Once you have that done, select your text in the layers panel, and go to Filter>Map>Bump Map.

A window like this should come up:



So see where it says "Bump Map" up at the top? Select the text, like this:



See how the text is hilighted? So click that, and leave everything else (in other words press OK. xD). Now you should have a cool effect on your text.
If you want, you can go Filter>Repeat Bump Map to give it a shiny look, like this:



Cool huh?

Okay, now for the border.

Make a new layer, then go Select>All.
Then go Select>Shrink, and put it to about 6 or so.
Then go Select>Border. Put it to about 5.
Then fill it with whatever color you want, but make it match the sig so it looks good.

It should look like this:




And you're DONE!
Congrats on making a pretty basic sig!

If you have any questions, post them here or PM me.

Also feel free to post your results! :)

FINAL RESULT:




-IWN