I decided to make this thread to list all of your guys thoughts on the do's and don'ts of photoshop so people who are new can have some guidelines to go by. One of my very first ones is: 1. NEVER delete. Use layer masks, that is what they are for post here what you think people should or shouldn't do. Some ways to state them Do's Do Always You should Don't Never Don't You shouldn't and others of course The Official List Don't -NEVER delete. Use layer masks, that is what they are for. -DON'T crowd your banner with C4D's: I've seen banners where people will literally add 8 C4D's, do minimal effects on them, and then add 2 gradients and a photo filter and call it a banner. C4D's might look good, and they make a good usage if your making a banner with a shiny background, but dont whore C4D renders. -DON'T make ur sigs absolutely massive. -DON'T make a massive animation in either your signature or avatar because some people are still on dial-up; it's about respect to them. -DON'T delete layer immediately first Hide them and have a look and if you feel its better to delete then delete. -DON'T forget that the subject is exactly that: the subject. It should be the focus of your work, and as such should attract the most attention from the viewer. -DON'T whore one certain effect on a sig. -DON'T Merge all the layers when youre done. -DON'T feather your render. There are better ways to blend. -DON'T Follow tutorials 100%. Add something new, dont use the same renders, colors etc as the tutorial states. -DON'T use bad/LQ screencaps as renders.(Disagreement~here.) -DON'T oversharpen the final product. -DON'T cram too much images into one graphic. -DON'T over use the same effects. -DON'T try to make a sig fast. Always take your time. -DON'T make a new layer and apply the image and blur it on Lighten. It takes the quality away from the tag. -DON'T change some of the features of the image and call it your own.
Do -Always save your banners as psds: There has been countless times when i get the text wrong, or just have to change something that looks bad, but i saved it as a jpg so i cant. Always save your banners as psds, and once your done with them, delete it Dont -Crowd your banner with C4D's: I've seen banners where people will literally add 8 C4D's, do minimal effects on them, and then add 2 gradients and a photo filter and call it a banner. C4D's might look good, and they make a good usage if your making a banner with a shiny background, but dont whore C4D renders.
DON'T make a massive animation in either your signature or avatar because some people are still on dial-up; it's about respect to them.
Don't delete layer immediately first Hide them and have a look and if you feel its better to delete then delete... hope its a useful suggestions.....
thanks for the suggestion guys i didn't think this would get any replys. If this gets big and popular would it be allowed to be pinned by a mod? keep the suggestions coming
{Do} -Anti-alias your text, never set it to none except for when using the font "Visitor", which is generally used in userbars. -Don't forget that the subject is exactly that: the subject. It should be the focus of your work, and as such should attract the most attention from the viewer. I wish this thread got more popular and got pinned.
why shouldn't you merge all the layers when you're done? but my suggestion would be "don't feather your render. there are better ways to blend." quite an old style though.. i don't think that there are any set ways of making a signature..the reason people get better is because they expiriment..if you tell people not to use a certain technique it's actually stopping their development. part of the fun of photoshop is learning what happens when you do certain things.
you don't want to merge them altogether at the end because then you have lost your ability to go back and edit them. If defeats teh purpose of a .psd
