Ready?...Set?...BOXART!
I'm one of those lucky few who gets the honor of being on this site... Even though anybody can join... But besides that, Lodo asked me to give some tips for those who want some help to make a respectable box art that won't be laughed at... Without further anticipation, I will be posting up some box art tips FOR GIMP. I don't have Photoshop as of now, so I have focused on GIMP, therefore, I have a respectable amount of knowledge about that program. I may post tips once a week, twice a week, none a week, but I will try and keep my tips down to about 1 tip per week.
Tip #1 - Essential GIMP tools
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ARE PART OF THE RECTANGULAR BOX THAT SHOULD BE ON THE LEFT OF YOUR SCREEN WHEN "GIMP" STARTS UP!!!
Moving - The "move" tool is one of the most used tools. It's avatar is a four-directional arrow that aims in the four directions: North, East, South, and West. The move tool lets you move any picture, logo, etc. in any direction.
Scaling - the "scale" tool is another useful tool. It looks like a small box going diagonally into a bigger box. This tool lets you take a small or large image and change it's size. BEWARE! Making a small image large will make it distorted, there is a way to "hide" this, more on that later.
Erasing - It is not used too much as you would imagine, but it still has it's uses. You can change your eraser style by double-clicking on the avatar and selecting from the drop down box. You can also change it's Opacity. That is - simply put - It's intensity, or how quickly it erases.
These tools are only a few major skills that must be learned.
NOTICE!:If you ever want to give feedback, or advice on what to put on this section, you can contact me at vgboxart.com
Send a Private Message to Radioactive Bob.
Tip #1 - Essential GIMP tools
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ARE PART OF THE RECTANGULAR BOX THAT SHOULD BE ON THE LEFT OF YOUR SCREEN WHEN "GIMP" STARTS UP!!!
Moving - The "move" tool is one of the most used tools. It's avatar is a four-directional arrow that aims in the four directions: North, East, South, and West. The move tool lets you move any picture, logo, etc. in any direction.
Scaling - the "scale" tool is another useful tool. It looks like a small box going diagonally into a bigger box. This tool lets you take a small or large image and change it's size. BEWARE! Making a small image large will make it distorted, there is a way to "hide" this, more on that later.
Erasing - It is not used too much as you would imagine, but it still has it's uses. You can change your eraser style by double-clicking on the avatar and selecting from the drop down box. You can also change it's Opacity. That is - simply put - It's intensity, or how quickly it erases.
These tools are only a few major skills that must be learned.
NOTICE!:If you ever want to give feedback, or advice on what to put on this section, you can contact me at vgboxart.com
Send a Private Message to Radioactive Bob.
Another tip? Why, how kind of me...
Tip #2-Your source
Before you can actually MAKE the box, you need a source. There are DOZENS of sources to get material from. A couple websites that I find useful are the following, with a definition as to why I like them:
Before you can actually MAKE the box, you need a source. There are DOZENS of sources to get material from. A couple websites that I find useful are the following, with a definition as to why I like them:
- http://www.tothegame.com -This site is great because if the OFFICIAL logo is released, you can be sure to find it here. (Credit to "The Knight" for telling me of the site.) I don't know if he wants his real screen name shown, so I'll call him The Knight... It sounds cool too.
- http://www.gamersgallery.com -A great site. It has a lot of wallpapers and pictures, but some may be fan art, and CREDIT MUST BE GIVEN. That is a major problem with new people who come to VGBoxart. They do not know the difference between a good fan art, and concept art done by official artists made for the public.
- http://www.gamewallpapers.com -Another great site, other than the weird women on the side
but, unfortunately, Most wallpapers require that you become a member, which requires that you pay a fee...Which is bad... But some are free to those who aren't members. I would suggest this site only if your determined and have some extra money that you have stashed up that you wouldn't mind spending. - http://www.google.com -Ah... How could anybody forget good old Google, the ultimate search engine. Just type in the name of the game with the word "logo" right next to it, and you should get some nice logos. Or, you could type in other stuff
The magic of layers
When i first started GIMP, I never clearly understood the reasons behind layers. Now that I know, I'm going to teach others about them. First off, a layer is basically like the name implies. You can have as many layers as you want. Let's say your putting text onto a picture. It automatically makes the text a new layer. Why? I'll tell ya why:
Okay, so your making a box art, and you want to add the words, "'...Revolutionary in every sense of the word'- oxm". Now, if that wasn't in a layer, as soon as you fnished tying the text in, you wouldn't be able to modify it anymore, So, short and simple:
Layers help you modify specific parts of a project without modifying any other parts.
Now, to bring something in as a layer, go up to the top left corner of your project window (the window where you bring pictures and other art into) and select File --> Open as Layer --> Then, select what you want to bring in. It's very simple, and it would be impossible to make a box art without layers.
Okay, so your making a box art, and you want to add the words, "'...Revolutionary in every sense of the word'- oxm". Now, if that wasn't in a layer, as soon as you fnished tying the text in, you wouldn't be able to modify it anymore, So, short and simple:
Layers help you modify specific parts of a project without modifying any other parts.
Now, to bring something in as a layer, go up to the top left corner of your project window (the window where you bring pictures and other art into) and select File --> Open as Layer --> Then, select what you want to bring in. It's very simple, and it would be impossible to make a box art without layers.