Orbs for Idiots

from WinCustomize Forums
I'm not good at PS7. In fact I know next to nothing and the software is almost beyond me, however, I recently had some ideas for some simple orb icons with an image in it and decided to look around the net to try and find a beginners tutorial for orb icons. I found some, actually I found more than some, I found thousands and thousands of tutorials. After reading and trying to follow at least 20 different ones, I'm at my wits end. They always seem to start out ok and then they'll start giving instructions for things and I'll have no idea where to find the tools their talking about, or how to do some of the commands they ask for, and this is with the beginners guides. Am I wrong in assuming that making orbs is one of the easier things to do in PS7? Basically what I want to know is, does anyone know a good in depth and detailed tutorial for absolute beginners on making orb icons? I'm looking for a tutorial that that goes step by painstaking step and maps out exactly what to do in order to make a basic orb icon (with an image inserted). Amongst thousands of tutorials there must be at least ONE orbs for dummies tutorial. Somebody please help me out here.
3,250 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
http://skinartistry.com/content.php?article.36
You may need to become a member to see this, but it's free to do so.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
http://www.pixel2life.com/tutorials/Adobe_Photoshop/All/?ba=4&a=7&c=1&f=15&c=1&d=1&ss=orbs
Another
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
There are hundreds (thousands?) of Photoshop books, ranging from almost insultingly simple to highly advanced. I would suggest getting one and using it to familiarize yourself with the myriad of controls in PS.
The Photoshop learning curve is fairly steep (Iknow, I'm still climbing) but just get familiar with the tools, and walk through some of the online tutorials, and pretty soon you start figuring things our for yourself.
There are some pretty good PS tutorials at Zymic.com
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
skinning.net has a few tutorials by wstaylor. They are top notch.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
wstaylor "Orbicon" tutorial Link

Might be right up your alley.

Just use your image in place of the EPS file he refers to, and you should be good to go.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Corky that's the one I was talking about. Thanks.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
No Problem, Kona - happy to help.

Nail Z Bunny,

Though I consider myself a beginner as well, I can suggest a few tips to help you start to learn PS7 - which is what I use as well.

1 - Learn the tools, and pay attention to the "Options" tool bar (that is the bar of options below the menu toolbar that changes depending on the tool selected to offer settings for the given tool - many tutorials will refer to these settings).

2 - Learn the "Layers" pallet, especially the following:

- Top layer = front of image, Bottom layer = back of image
- Drop-down list at upper left of Layer pallet is the Blend mode list (starts out as Normal) - many tutorials will refer to setting the blend for the active layer.
- Percentage number box at top right of Layer pallet is the "Opacity" level (100% is completely visible, 0% is completely invisible), many tutorials will refer to the Opacity level.
- The selected layer in the Layer pallet is called the "Active" layer, and is the layer that all tools, editing, and actions will apply to - so make sure you have the layer selected that you want to work with.
- If hold the "Ctrl" key and click on a layer in the layers pallet, the contents of that layer will automically be selected - which will be apparent by the "Marquee" around the contents in the image. This will in turn make all editing apply only to the area included by the marquee.

3 - Learn the keyboard shortcuts.

This should be enough to keep you busy, out of trouble, and able to learn at a reasonable pace.

When you are comfortable with those, learn the menu items, layer styles, and finally masks. You will be a competent user of Photoshop once you have all these under your belt.

Good luck.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
...and layers are your biggest friends, followed closely by the save button.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Foood has a very good (and easy-to-follow) tutorial on how to make the orbs and place images in them. Here --> Link

I would say he knows a thing or two on icons.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sorry, some of my spelling is bad (automically should be, Automatically).
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
No need to appologize for spelling, Paul. Listen to this guy, folks! Despite his modesty, he KNOWS HIS STUFF!!