Signature & Avatar FAQ and Resources

There were alot of sticky threads, so I thought I'd just combine these two resources into one thread for easier access. FAQ was written by Kokiri Kid, and the resources list of links was compiled by sea.

:: Signatures & Avatars ::
Explanation of how to use pictures and such. Please note that I can't post tags properly when giving examples, so I have added *s to all of them. When I say a tag to use, remember to leave out the *s.

Avatars

• An avatar cannot be larger than 130x100 pixels. Find a picture, or get one from a signature shop.
• To make your picture your avatar, you will need to click on the "no avatar selected" Icon at the top of the ZU forums index. This will bring you to the avatar selection screen. From there, you can either enter the URL of the image, or select it from your hard drive.
• If for some reason, you do not have the above mentioned Icon, the screen can be accessed by going to "edit options" in the User CP. There is a link to the avatar selection screen at the bottom of that page.

Signatures

• Signatures can include one image 650 x 150 pixels, or any amount of pictures adding up to no more than 650 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall, as well as 3 lines of text.
• "Blinkies" are counted as images, not text.
• Signature images must be uploaded to the internet. www.photobucket.com, www.uploadit.org, and www.1asphost.com are three websites that host images for you.
• At the top of all the pages of the ZU forums, there is a menu bar. Click on "User CP". In that page, you will find a "edit profile", click on that. There is a space for entering your signature. To put an image in, you will need to write [*img]your_pic's_url[*/img]. Click "submit changes" at the bottom.

More on Sigs & Avys

• Images for avatars and signatures should be .jpg, .jpeg, or .gif. Bitmaps and other picture types are generally far too large to use. The avatar uploading will not let you use them if they are too large, and signature images that are too large are not good for dial-up users. I don't like bitmap signatures, and I have a fast cable connection!
• A url is the web address of a page or picture. You can see the url of a page in the address bar of your browser, and you can find the url of your picture, once it's uploaded, by right-clicking and selecting 'properties. An example of a URL for a picture is "http://members.lycos.co.uk/kokirikid256/imperial.jpg", which is one of my old signatures.
• If you know your picture is on the internet, but you don't know the url, you can right-click on the picture, and click "properties." In that box, there should be a listing of the url. Copy it with Ctrl-C.
• Signature shops in the Signature Shop Forum make quality images for your signature and avatar needs.
• To center something, add in [center] tags. The line should look something like this:
  [*center][*img]http://members.lycos.co.uk/kokirikid256/boat.jpg[*/img][*/center] . The same applies for text, but without the [img] tags.
• As you probably already know from the nifty buttons at the top of the 'post reply' page, the tag for color is [*color=(insertcolorhere)]. In order to have your links a different color, have the [color] tags inside the [url] tags. For example:
  [*url=http://www.zeldauniverse.net/main.php?page=msgboard][*color=red]The Rules![*/color][*/url]
  Otherwise, the link will still be the default tan color of ZU's links.

:: Image Editing Resources ::

Photoshop

www.voidix.com
www.good-tutorials.com
www.proeffect.com
http://www.calgarymedia.com/links/links/photoshop.htm
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/ph...rials/index.htm
http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/pho...rials-tips.html
http://www.teamphotoshop.com/
http://www.photoshopcafe.com/
http://www.deepspaceweb.com/
http://www.spyroteknik.com/
http://user.fundy.net/morris/redire...otoshop16.shtml
http://rainworld.com/psworkshop/
http://www.phong.com/tutorials/#
http://www.absolutecross.com/tutorials/photoshop/
http://www.designsbymark.com/pstips/
http://www.wacom.com/tips/index.cfm?category=Photoshop
http://eden.dreamcrafter.com/tut01.htm
http://www.magicpixel.com.au/magicp...ml/workwel.html
http://www.webclass.ru/eng/Tutorials...shop/index.htm

Paint Shop Pro

http://www.jasc.com/tutorials.asp
http://www.putertutor.net/paint/psp7.htm
http://www.grafx-design.com/psp_tut.html
http://mardiweb.com/web/
http://www.sumrallworks.com/freebies...als/link2g.htm

The GIMP

http://manual.gimp.org/manual/
http://gug.sunsite.dk/?page=tutoria...42f8f53a2ec0bd6
http://raider56k.fateback.com/linetut/linearttut.html
http://gimp.pagina.nl/
http://gimp.start4all.com/

Microsoft Paint

http://www.packardbell-europe.com/li...int/paint.html
http://ver.rubberhouse.net/mspaint.shtml
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/ict/usingpaint.htm (Adobe Acrobat required)
http://oh.ekaki.tripod.com/ (advanced)
http://www.lkwdpl.org/classes/MSPaint/paint.html
http://oh.ekaki.tripod.com/ - Cyllya
http://www.lkwdpl.org/classes/MSPaint/paint.html

Oekaki/Paint BBS

http://harusame.net/ooekaki/tutorials/index.html
http://darkhalo.sphosting.com/wclines.html
http://darkhalo.sphosting.com/pbbsreal.html
http://www.ninja-monkey.com/tutorials/
http://www.geocities.com/shufusama/tutorial
http://www.oekakicentral.com/tutorials/

Signature Images (Photoshop 6.0 and above)

http://hazlettnet.net/tutorials/sig.html
http://xblteams.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1805

PhotoImpressions (version 5 and above)

http://www.arcsoft.com/en/support/d...al.asp?title=12

Fireworks MX 2004

http://atl4.hostvelocity.com/~profa...rks-curved-text
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/fireworks/basics
http://www.dw-fw-beginners.com/tuto...ks/animate1.htm
http://www.docnmail.com/learn/fireworks.htm
http://www.wise-women.org/tutorials/fwmx/

Sprites

http://www.kasuto.net/uploads/CopyandPaste.gif
http://tsugumo.swoo.net/tutorial
http://www.bobandgeorge.com/Other/Guides/Spriting.html
http://www.bobandgeorge.com/Other/G...ritecomics.html
http://www.bobandgeorge.com/Other/G...ShardGuide.html

3D

http://www.planetquake.com/polycount.../tutorials.htm
http://3dcafe.com/asp/default.asp
http://www.huntfor.com/3d/index.htm
http://the3dstudio.com/
http://zoomorphix.com/
http://renderosity.com/

Where does everyone here get all their stocks? C4Ds, renders, stock backgrounds, anything. At the moment, all I'm using is Planet Renders and occasionally sxc.hu, and I need more places to find them.

If people post, I'll add links to this list up here. Should make it easier for everyone.

Stocks/renders

• Planet Renders
• stock.xchng
• Cobra's Resource Photobucket
• GFXsource.com stocks/photos
• Sneaky's Render Index
• cP-AnG3L's Photobucket
• Team-Huggles-Stocks' Photobucket
• DESIGNERTECHNIQUES
• Guild Inn Movie Stocks
• MikeSTKGE's Videogame Stocks
• The Spriters Resource
• Box Pix
• Anime Galleries dot Net - Home > Signatures Pics, Images, Screencaps, and Scans
• We | Melt | Faces Internet Resource - Requires registration (free)

Brushes/resources

• Aethereality.net
• Celestial Star
• Best of GIMP brushes: 35+ brush sets (1400+ brushes)
• Best of Photoshop: 40+ brush sets

Tutorials/other

• Guild Inn
• 9tutorials.com

Is there any chance of anyone posting links with anime scans and pictures? thats probably the reason why i dont make anime sigs, high res scans are hard to come by...

Edit: Found one... http://www.animepaper.net/ unfortunately you need 30 or more posts to view the scans gallery

Hey can anyone help me i got PSP 8 and i dont know how to remove backgrounds i only got PSP 8 3 days ago

okay, I can't use my sig? When I go to "Edit Profile" in User CP there is nowhere for me to type in my url, its driving me CRAZY! What do you think is wrong?

[img]url here[/img] put that in ur sig but put the url where "url here" is

I would just like to report that the url for the Photo Impressions one is screwed up. Does anyone know where you can find tutorials for Photo Impressions, since the one listed is messed up. Thanks if you can help.

Ok complain scold me if you will but I am just so annoyed. I can't find a tutorial for psp8. And how the hell do you make sigs with images in the background?

Can you make sigs with photoshop 5.0.

If so could someone pm me telling me how to do it.

How do you insert a siggy and an avvy that a shop made for you? :confused:

Can you have both a site banner and a signature?

Posts merged, no double posting please!

You would insert the siggy by using the IMG tags... which look like this (but please, when using the code, remove all *'s)

[img*]http://yourimage.com/image.jpg[/img*]

I've been to graphic shops and I've been wondering what exactly is a site banner? Is it like a signature? If I get a site banner, am I not allowed to get a siggy?

I uploaded my Avy and it says it is too large....and it is exacly 90x90 pixals........could someone please help me?


-link740

PS: if I'm posting in the wrong thread, just tell me......

This is really hard, I dont even know where to start to make my Avy. PLEASE HELP WANTED!

What is a decent amount of time to keep a siggy and avy, cause I'm planning to update in maybe a week, week and a 1/2. :razz:

I got my sig done at a shop and need to know how to activate it.(as you can see,the method I was told didn't work)never mind Exadis told me how to fix it!

It needs to be hosted at another site. Try Photobucket or Imagecave.

man i told you right you did it wrong.....
i told you to copy the url from the properties of the sig and go to edit siggy and go
and paste the url between the image tags[img][/img]

I got it,don't worry. (I acually don't have a site hosting it)

EDIT:Wait a second,I did everything you said,so maybe there is a problem with mine.....(I was trying everything you said and what I have now is the attempt I tried last time)(And I will ask if I need help,but my sister is good with computers,I'll ask her.I don't want you to get very ticked,off)

hey link i sent you the url(yes its hosted by photobucket) and directions.read them correctly and your siggy will work.

Try the help function on photoshop that is quite good. If this doesnt help then good tutorials is awesomely helpful