Website design (newbie question)

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:32:55 +1200, "Dany P. Wu" scribbled:

Hi folks,

I’m currently trying very hard to design "nice" looking websites. Unfortunately I am a software developer by trade and have very few artistic bones in my body.

In Photoshop I would like to create a "swirling ribbon" shape. I probably can’t describe it properly but if you go to http://www.srilankatourism.org/ you can see what I mean. It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom edge of the header banner.

Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m a bit lost as to where to start!

Art-101 maybe?

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Dany.

"Voivod" wrote in message

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:32:55 +1200, "Dany P. Wu" scribbled:

Hi folks,
I’m currently trying very hard to design "nice" looking websites. Unfortunately I am a software developer by trade and have very few

artistic bones in my body.

In Photoshop I would like to create a "swirling ribbon" shape. I probably can’t describe it properly but if you go to

http://www.srilankatourism.org/ you can see what I mean. It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom edge of the header banner.

Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m a bit lost as to where to start!

Art-101 maybe?

Thanks for that. Not entirely sure what you mean though. Were you suggesting I take an Arts paper/course?? or art101.com?

I was after pointers on how to create certain shapes in Photoshop. I guess I was fairly vague and sounded like I was asking about design ideas.

I have a design idea in mind – just not entirely sure how to create it in Photoshop. If I understand how to create shapes such as a swirling ribbon I may then be able to work out ways of creating other things. Basically I need some pointers on how to start in Photoshop.

I have already created other websites using slices created in Photoshop/ImageReady. Unfortunately they were fairly utilitarian shapes – nothing flowing or complicated. That’s why I’d love to get some pointers on more complicated shapes.

Cheers,
Dany.

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 22:14:43 +1200, "Dany P. Wu" scribbled:

"Voivod" wrote in message

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:32:55 +1200, "Dany P. Wu" scribbled:

Hi folks,
I’m currently trying very hard to design "nice" looking websites. Unfortunately I am a software developer by trade and have very few

artistic bones in my body.

In Photoshop I would like to create a "swirling ribbon" shape. I probably can’t describe it properly but if you go to

http://www.srilankatourism.org/ you can see what I mean. It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom edge of the header banner.

Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m a bit lost as to where to start!

Art-101 maybe?

Thanks for that. Not entirely sure what you mean though. Were you suggesting I take an Arts paper/course?? or art101.com?

I was after pointers on how to create certain shapes in Photoshop. I guess I was fairly vague and sounded like I was asking about design ideas.
I have a design idea in mind – just not entirely sure how to create it in Photoshop. If I understand how to create shapes such as a swirling ribbon I may then be able to work out ways of creating other things. Basically I need some pointers on how to start in Photoshop.

I have already created other websites using slices created in Photoshop/ImageReady. Unfortunately they were fairly utilitarian shapes – nothing flowing or complicated. That’s why I’d love to get some pointers on more complicated shapes.

You are not an artist, you wish to BE an artist, you should take an art class.

"Dany P. Wu" wrote:

I’m currently trying very hard to design "nice" looking websites. Unfortunately I am a software developer by trade and have very few artistic bones in my body.

In Photoshop I would like to create a "swirling ribbon" shape. I probably can’t describe it properly but if you go to http://www.srilankatourism.org/ you can see what I mean. It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom edge of the header banner.

Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m a bit lost as to where to start!

Start by reading the User Guide that came with the software.

The shape you reference would most likely be created using the pen tool to make curving paths. Smooth, flowing curves are created in Photoshop using paths and/or paths converted to selections. In this case it appears that a strong blur was applied inside a selection over the edge of the flower photo.

Nobody can teach you art skills or Photoshop in a newsgroup post. As for "where to start" it depends on what you want to accomplish. I told you the basics of how the image you referenced might have been created, but there are probably a dozen equally effective ways.

It takes professionals years to develop the skills to create good designs. It always amazes me when someone picks up a copy of Photoshop and expects to learn to produce professional results right out of the box, based on advice from a newsgroup. Good luck.

——————
Tom

Unsolicited advertisements cheerfully ignored.

In the previous message Dany P. Wu wrote:

Hi folks,

I’m currently trying very hard to design "nice" looking websites. Unfortunately I am a software developer by trade and have very few artistic bones in my body.

In Photoshop I would like to create a "swirling ribbon" shape. I probably can’t describe it properly but if you go to
http://www.srilankatourism.org/ you can see what I mean. It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom edge of the header banner.
Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m a bit lost as to where to start!

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Dany.

Dany,
I’m not a complete novice w/ photoshop but I’m also far from being an expert… I tried to find some tutorials for something like what you are describing but didn’t see any… However, a few tutorials gave me some ideas so I tried this:

I chose a flower image for this and made a blank layer over it…

On my chosen blank layer I made a 50 pixel line across the bottom of the image about 50 or so pixels up from the bottom… I stretched the line beyond the image borders so when I manipulated it I didn’t wind up with blank edges on the sides…

Then I used the distort>wave filter with these parameters: number generations: 1
wavelength: min: 607 max: 999
amplitude: min: 1 max: 211
scale: horizon and vertical both 100%
repeat edge pixels
type: sine

Then I made a copy of that layer… With the new layer I chose select>color range and chose the color of the reshaped line then rotated it (using edit>transform>rotate) until I got it so that the shape, when I erased it, would cause the left part of the ribbon I’m trying to create to be smaller than the right part… Hope that makes sense…

Anyway, once I had that top layer rotated the way I wanted I then deleted that layer so that the marching ants were now transferred to the lower ribbon layer… I then did select>inverse so that anything I erased would be around that ribbon shape and not within the shape… Then I erased the lower part of that ribbon to get the spape you see now…

Then I chose some colors from my flower (one dark and one light) so I could make a gradient out of it… I then hid all layers but my ribbon layer and did the select>color range again and chose the color of the ribbon… Now that the ribbon is chosen I used the gradient tool using the foreground and background colors I had previously chosen and used the reflected gradient choice… I played with that until I got what I wanted so that the part over the flower was lighter than the rest of the ribbon…

Then I played with the layer properties and chose multiply to get the effect I have in the image…

I’m very very sure there’s an easier way to do this so I’m hoping someone will tell us how to do it because I sure would like to know!

I’ve uploaded my experiemental image and it’s psd file so you can see what I did… I hope someone tells me (and you) what should have been done instead because this sure seems awfully complex for a seemingly simple shape… But it was fun to try and figure out!

Images are below (I didn’t zip up the psd file because it’s not much smaller when zipped):
http://www.fractalfairy.com/photoshop/

Babs

Dany, some people forget what it’s like to be a beginner… I hope I never forget that becuase I’m always grateful when someone points me in the right direction… You have to start somewhere… Photoshop is a wonderful program and I love using it! It’s my favorite program in my computer (2nd to winamp)… I’m currently struggling to learn Illustrator and I’m finding it harder to learn than photoshop so I understand your delimma completely… Ask questions and hunt down those tutorials online, they really do help! If you can afford it, buy a book on photoshop, you can usually find one on sale for a version prior to the one your using (for instance, I have PS CS2 but bought a book on sale on PS CS… When I was using PS6 I was still using my PS4 book to help me when I needed it as well as hunting down tutorials…) The older book won’t give you all the info about the newer version but it’ll help get you started…

Babs

"Dany P. Wu" wrote

It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom
edge of the header banner.

there seems to be a faint and slightly blurred larger picture of the same flower that can be seen more clearly to the right of the image?? – it would be an easy task to superimpose a wavy line of the same colour over the top of the flower on its own layer, but you really do need to get a book or two from the library and work through them to discover some of the effects possible in Photoshop, no one will ever know all the effects possible!!! Try Scott Kelby’s book PSCS for digital photographers for a start. (There are some very knowledgeable people on this newsgroup, not all of them helpful though!)

Harry

In the previous message Tom Thomas wrote:

"Dany P. Wu" wrote:

I’m currently trying very hard to design "nice" looking websites. Unfortunately I am a software developer by trade and have very few artistic bones in my body.

In Photoshop I would like to create a "swirling ribbon" shape. I probably can’t describe it properly but if you go to
http://www.srilankatourism.org/ you can see what I mean. It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom edge of the header banner.
Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m a bit lost as to where to start!

Start by reading the User Guide that came with the software.
The shape you reference would most likely be created using the pen tool to make curving paths. Smooth, flowing curves are created in Photoshop using paths and/or paths converted to selections. In this case it appears that a strong blur was applied inside a selection over the edge of the flower photo.

I’ve just learned this (at this moment) and yes! I agree! The pen tool sure does work better than what I previously tried… It takes a bit getting used to struggling to learn how to get the points in the right order but it sure does work better and it’s faster too….

Someone in another post had suggested http://www.myjanee.com/, she has a tutorial on how to use clipping paths and that’s what I used to figure it out… I uploaded my pentool attempt to the same place as my previous post… As I said, I’m also learning as I go along and always trying to help if I can… If more people like Tom would always do the same this NG would be better and not filled with people who are so smug they try to belittle others or with those like me who want to help but aren’t exactly qualified…
🙂

Babs

"BubblyBabs" wrote in message

Dany, some people forget what it’s like to be a beginner… I hope I never
forget that becuase I’m always grateful when someone points me in the right
direction…

I second that. Let’s be a little more supportive here, folks. —

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 18:18:10 GMT, "Mike Russell" scribbled:

"BubblyBabs" wrote in message

Dany, some people forget what it’s like to be a beginner… I hope I never
forget that becuase I’m always grateful when someone points me in the right
direction…

I second that. Let’s be a little more supportive here, folks.

Alakazam!

*poof*

you’re a jockstrap…

"BubblyBabs" wrote in
message

Dany, some people forget what it’s like to be a beginner… I hope I never
forget that becuase I’m always grateful when someone points me in the right
direction…

I second that. Let’s be a little more supportive here, folks.

Alakazam!

*poof*

you’re a jockstrap…

OK, even though you aren’t a jockstrap when it comes to helping out others I just had to laugh at this reply of yours… Oh my, what a sense of humor… But, in all truth, it would be nice to see people helping each other out (or at least attempting to) instead of resorting to the "you need to go to school" type of mentality…

Babs

"BubblyBabs" wrote in message

In the previous message Dany P. Wu wrote:

Hi folks,
I’m currently trying very hard to design "nice" looking websites. Unfortunately I am a software developer by trade and have very few artistic bones in my body.
In Photoshop I would like to create a "swirling ribbon" shape. I probably can’t describe it properly but if you go to
http://www.srilankatourism.org/ you can see what I mean. It’s a bit like the purple ribbon at the bottom edge of the header banner. Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m a bit lost as to where to start!
Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Dany.

Dany,
I’m not a complete novice w/ photoshop but I’m also far from being an expert… I tried to find some tutorials for something like what you are describing but didn’t see any… However, a few tutorials gave me some ideas so I tried this:
I chose a flower image for this and made a blank layer over it… On my chosen blank layer I made a 50 pixel line across the bottom of the image about 50 or so pixels up from the bottom… I stretched the line beyond the image borders so when I manipulated it I didn’t wind up with blank edges on the sides…
Then I used the distort>wave filter with these parameters: number generations: 1
wavelength: min: 607 max: 999
amplitude: min: 1 max: 211
scale: horizon and vertical both 100%
repeat edge pixels
type: sine
Then I made a copy of that layer… With the new layer I chose select>color range and chose the color of the reshaped line then rotated it (using edit>transform>rotate) until I got it so that the shape, when I erased it, would cause the left part of the ribbon I’m trying to create to be smaller than the right part… Hope that makes sense… Anyway, once I had that top layer rotated the way I wanted I then deleted that layer so that the marching ants were now transferred to the lower ribbon layer… I then did select>inverse so that anything I erased would be around that ribbon shape and not within the shape… Then I erased the lower part of that ribbon to get the spape you see now… Then I chose some colors from my flower (one dark and one light) so I could make a gradient out of it… I then hid all layers but my ribbon layer and did the select>color range again and chose the color of the ribbon… Now that the ribbon is chosen I used the gradient tool using the foreground and background colors I had previously chosen and used the reflected gradient choice… I played with that until I got what I wanted so that the part over the flower was lighter than the rest of the ribbon… Then I played with the layer properties and chose multiply to get the effect I have in the image…
I’m very very sure there’s an easier way to do this so I’m hoping someone will tell us how to do it because I sure would like to know! I’ve uploaded my experiemental image and it’s psd file so you can see what I did… I hope someone tells me (and you) what should have been done instead because this sure seems awfully complex for a seemingly simple shape… But it was fun to try and figure out!
Images are below (I didn’t zip up the psd file because it’s not much smaller when zipped):
http://www.fractalfairy.com/photoshop/
Babs

Wow!! I have lurked and participated in various groups in the past but this has to be the widest ranging one, in terms of reply types – from the short and sharp, to the long and detailed!

Both types are correct and relevant in some ways I guess. Anyway, I’ll now step off my polite-and-politically-correct soapbox, get off my arse and experiment some more! :o)

Thank you all for the replies, especially those who even took the time to create an experiment for me! Cheers for that, Babs – I have downloaded it and will experiment with my own stuff.

Thanks again everyone, this is one beginner who never forgets what it’s like to be one – in every aspect of what I do!

Cheers,
D.

Wow!! I have lurked and participated in various groups in the past but this has to be the widest ranging one, in terms of reply types – from the short and sharp, to the long and detailed!

Both types are correct and relevant in some ways I guess. Anyway, I’ll now step off my polite-and-politically-correct soapbox, get off my arse and experiment some more! :o)

Thank you all for the replies, especially those who even took the time to create an experiment for me! Cheers for that, Babs – I have downloaded it and will experiment with my own stuff.

Thanks again everyone, this is one beginner who never forgets what it’s like to be one – in every aspect of what I do!

Cheers,
D.

You’ve made me feel good (for a while there I was feeling kinda dumb there) 🙂

Babs

In article <GMxYe.280$>,
"BubblyBabs" wrote:

Then I made a copy of that layer… With the new layer I chose select>color range and chose the color of the reshaped line then rotated it (using edit>transform>rotate) until I got it so that the shape, when I erased it, would cause the left part of the ribbon I’m trying to create to be smaller than the right part… Hope that makes sense…

Anyway, once I had that top layer rotated the way I wanted I then deleted that layer so that the marching ants were now transferred to the lower ribbon layer… I then did select>inverse so that anything I erased would be around that ribbon shape and not within the shape… Then I erased the lower part of that ribbon to get the spape you see now…
Then I chose some colors from my flower (one dark and one light) so I could make a gradient out of it… I then hid all layers but my ribbon layer and did the select>color range again and chose the color of the ribbon… Now that the ribbon is chosen I used the gradient tool using the foreground and background colors I had previously chosen and used the reflected gradient choice… I played with that until I got what I wanted so that the part over the flower was lighter than the rest of the ribbon…
Then I played with the layer properties and chose multiply to get the effect I have in the image…

I’m very very sure there’s an easier way to do this so I’m hoping someone will tell us how to do it because I sure would like to know!

For starters, it is not necessary to use Select->Color Range to select the contents of the layer. You can select what is on a layer instantly by holding down the control key (Mac: Command key) on your keyboard and clicking the layer thumbnail in the Layers palette.

But you do not need to make selections at all. You can use the Edit->Transform command to transform a layer without making any selection whatsoever. You can put a gradient in a layer by locking the layer’s transparency, then using the Gradient tool without making a selection. (When you lock a layer’s transparency, you are telling Photoshop "do not let me change anything that is transparent.")

I would make the ribbon shape by using the Pen tool, myself.

—
Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html

"tacit" wrote in message

In article <GMxYe.280$>,
"BubblyBabs" wrote:

<snip>

For starters, it is not necessary to use Select->Color Range to select the contents of the layer. You can select what is on a layer instantly by holding down the control key (Mac: Command key) on your keyboard and clicking the layer thumbnail in the Layers palette.
But you do not need to make selections at all. You can use the Edit->Transform command to transform a layer without making any selection whatsoever. You can put a gradient in a layer by locking the layer’s transparency, then using the Gradient tool without making a selection. (When you lock a layer’s transparency, you are telling Photoshop "do not let me change anything that is transparent.") I would make the ribbon shape by using the Pen tool, myself.

Hi there,

That’s what I initially tried to do with no success. Would you please give me some pointers on using the Pen tool in creating shapes and colours?

I can create two wavy lines and transform them into exactly the ribbon shape I wanted. I used the Pen tool to create two sets of path (I think that’s what I did). The problem came when I tried to colour the space between the two lines!

Any suggestions would be great thanks.

Cheers,
Dany.

For starters, it is not necessary to use Select->Color Range to select the contents of the layer. You can select what is on a layer instantly by holding down the control key (Mac: Command key) on your keyboard and clicking the layer thumbnail in the Layers palette.

But you do not need to make selections at all. You can use the Edit->Transform command to transform a layer without making any selection whatsoever. You can put a gradient in a layer by locking the layer’s transparency, then using the Gradient tool without making a selection. (When you lock a layer’s transparency, you are telling Photoshop "do not let me change anything that is transparent.")

Thanks for that info… Good to know…
I tried to transform the ribbon shape but it wouldn’t work so I then tried the other stuff I wrote about in an attempt to make the ribbon like on the other image… I also tried to liquify but I didn’t have enough control…

I would make the ribbon shape by using the Pen tool, myself.

Yes! This works perfectly… I just need to become more proficient with it… It’s a fun little tool…

Babs

I would make the ribbon shape by using the Pen tool, myself.

Hi there,

That’s what I initially tried to do with no success. Would you please give me some pointers on using the Pen tool in creating shapes and colours?

I can create two wavy lines and transform them into exactly the ribbon shape I wanted. I used the Pen tool to create two sets of path (I think that’s what I did). The problem came when I tried to colour the space between the two lines!

Any suggestions would be great thanks.

Cheers,
Dany.

Here’s a tutorial I found about that:

http://www.elated.com/tutorials/graphics/photoshop/paths_pen _tool/

The above site states:
"So far, your path is an open path. This means it has a start point and an end point, and doesn’t join up. To make a closed path, move the mouse over the first point you created – you’ll see the Pen Tool cursor changes, with a little ‘o’ appearing beside it"
then
"Now click with the mouse, and you’ll see that you have now created a complete shape – a closed path. Well done!"

Once you join the paths you should be able to color between them…

Babs

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 16:40:57 +0100, "Harry Limey" <harrylimey(at)Lycos.co.uk> wrote:

(There are some very knowledgeable people on this newsgroup, not all of them helpful though!)

Harry

I spent a considerable amount on Photoshop books, Harry, (added Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Photographers – Martin Evening, to it yesterday)
but learned more from this newsgroup than anywhere else.

Everybody here is not like Flipper Mike and Voivod, remember:-)

Dave

"BubblyBabs" wrote in message

I would make the ribbon shape by using the Pen tool, myself.

Hi there,
That’s what I initially tried to do with no success. Would you please give me some pointers on using the Pen tool in creating shapes and colours?
I can create two wavy lines and transform them into exactly the ribbon shape I wanted. I used the Pen tool to create two sets of path (I think that’s what I did). The problem came when I tried to colour the space between the two lines!
Any suggestions would be great thanks.
Cheers,
Dany.

Here’s a tutorial I found about that:
http://www.elated.com/tutorials/graphics/photoshop/paths_pen _tool/ The above site states:
"So far, your path is an open path. This means it has a start point and an end point, and doesn’t join up. To make a closed path, move the mouse over the first point you created – you’ll see the Pen Tool cursor changes, with a little ‘o’ appearing beside it"
then
"Now click with the mouse, and you’ll see that you have now created a complete shape – a closed path. Well done!"
Once you join the paths you should be able to color between them… Babs

Yup! That certainly did the trick for me! Thanks again everyone 🙂

D.