A Guide of How I Made My Banner Part 1

07-03-2009 06:18 PM

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Re: Meow About Something Else With Kat and the Webkinz! The Hit MMWF Series Comes Back in a 3-in-1 Thread! (Updated!: 7/2 "The Underwater Sleepover" and More Are Now Up!)
 

Update #14
A Picture Story
A Guide of How I Made My BannerPart 1
Starring: Jenkinz

One of the most frequent question I've been getting since I stopped taking banner requests was...
"Kat, how do I make banners?"
And I say...
"Download Paint.NET. You can get it for free at Download.com."
And then they say...
"How do you use it?"
And I just say...
"Just play around with it."
People can just never get the hang of it.
So, I promised a bunch of people that I'd make an update of how I make my banners.

Please note, this update was just to show how I made my banner. Just to show you how some of the features work. I don't want you to do it exactly how I did it. Get creative. : )

Also, please also note, I've been making banners since before I've been picture threading. That's way over a year ago. Please do not throw tantrums and complain to me when you don't make the "perfect banner" on the first go.

Also note, I'm not very technical, and I'm not right next to you. If you are having installation programs, I really don't know what to do.

So...
Download Paint.NET here.
Get the Transparency addon here.

Now here we go.

YAY! Here's Jenkinz, and today I'm FINALLY going to make a banner!
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/049-1.jpg

First of all, see this tool my mouse is on? Click on it.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/050-1.jpg

Hold down the left mouse button (I feel like I'm teaching my grandma!) and drag it out until you feel the box would be a nice banner size for you.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/051-1.jpg

Go to Edit --> Copy.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/052-1.jpg

Then go to File --> New.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/053-1.jpg

Just click on OK here. It automatically will have the size you want for a banner so you can just work on it.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/054-1.jpg

YAY! Now you can just work on it.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/055-1.jpg

For me, I'm going to use the banner size I usually do. (I'll be making my size bigger in the future.)
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/056-1.jpg

Now...look at your thread. What colors do you think you will use?
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/057-2.jpg

I'm going to use pink and purple. Left click the first color, and right click the second.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/058-2.jpg

This time, I want a blendy background. You can also make a tye-dye background thing, but now I want to use a blendy style. I'm going to click the button my mouse is over.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/059-2.jpg

Up here you can mess with it, but I'm gonna keep it the way it is.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/060-1.jpg

Drag the mouse around until you get a blend you like. (If you don't like it, go to Edit --> Undo or hold down CTRL (Control) and Z.) When you finally get the blend you want, hold down CTRL and D. This is the "Deselect" shortcut so you don't accidentally hit something that will mess up your background.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/061-1.jpg

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT.
LAYERS!
Add a layer. Add a layer for each new picture, each new text, each new EVERYTHING!
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/062-1.jpg

I'm going to right click thumbnails from my PhotoBucket account and click Copy. I'm going to make another collage background.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/063-1.jpg

Now I go back to PDN (Paint.NET) and go to Edit --> Paste to put the image in the banner.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/064-1.jpg

Now I move it to where I please.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/065-1.jpg

Then I go to Edit --> Deselect or CTRL + D to deselect the image so it stays in place.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...kinz/066-1.jpg

Continued...