This is a small tutorial on how to make a basic signature in Photoshop CS2...

1.) start your photshop and make a new 400 x 150 pixel image (make sure you change it to pixel from inches in the "new" window)

[img]https://img.photobucke*****m/albums/v470/Chronologix/pixel.jpg[/img]

2.) one thing you need to know about signatures is that it is mainly about the brushes, with good brush placements you can make a nice signature.

3.) make sure to keep your signature without color at first (unless you are certain of your result), and start brushing your signature in

Note: Also instead of directly brushing on your background layer, create a new layer and use it for purely brushes, and if you want you can create several layers for different brush types...for example, if you were to have an abstract brush layer and a "tech" layer (tech is a specifil brush type that looks kinda like cicruitry, or mechanical type of things)

[img]https://img.photobucke*****m/albums/v470/Chronologix/brushed.jpg[/img]

4.) once your layer is brushed how you want it (also note that some brushes look nicer when they are white, and set on a black background, and some are better black on a white background) then you can start adding your text.

Note: You can download new brushes from www.deviantar*****m and you can download fonts from www.dafon*****m

5.) Once you typed your text, then you can use teh move tool to position the text exactly where you want it on the signature, then right-click the text layer and select "blending options" and you can fiddle with those....to keep it basic, just click Drop Shadow without changing any of the drop shadow options, then also select "stroke", change the stroke color, and change its pixel size to 1 for the thinest look.

[img]https://img.photobucke*****m/albums/v470/Chronologix/text.jpg[/img]

6.)now if you want you can add an image to your signature, this process can be done before or after the text step, if you feel like trying to make your text blend with the image you need to do the image step first, but this is a simple sig so it isnt necessary. Open the image you want to add and use the lasso tool to select the general area you want to put into your signature, then once it is selected right-click the selection and select "feather" and put it to around 20 pixels, then click ok and use the copy shortcut (ctrl+C) then go back over to your signature and use the paste shortcut (ctrl+V) and it will automatically create a new layer for the image, then you can position the image to where you want it on your signature.

7.) position the text and the image where you want it on the signature, and now it is time to add a bit of color....look under the toolbar where it displays all of your layers and there will be a button on the bottom that looks like a circle 1/2 white and 1/2 black, this is where you can select the "color balance" tool, select the top-most layer and then click the color balance button, you will be displayed with a window with 3 color bars, they can be moved both ways for a total of 6 individual colors, you can mix and match the colors to look the way you want....you can also select the bubbles from the bottom "shadows, midtones, highlights" these will also change the colors in specific ways, just fiddle with those for your basic signature.

[img]https://img.photobucke*****m/albums/v470/Chronologix/colorbalance.jpg[/img]

8.) once you have gotten your text, image and color the way you want, you can select which items you want colored and which you dont...for example if you do not want your text colored by the color balance then you can move the layer above the color balance layer by clicking and dragging the layer above the color balance layer in the layer window on the far right of the screen. also if you want to get technical with multi-coloring signatures, then you can select your color balance layer and use the lasso tool and feather function to remove and blend the color balance with other color balances or just the normal background of the signature.

[img]https://img.photobucke*****m/albums/v470/Chronologix/multi-color.jpg[/img]

9.)so now the signature should have text, an image, and some color, now it is time to add a border and you are pretty much done, to do this, create a brand new layer and place it at the top of the layer list and call it "stroke" (it is good to name this layer since the layer looks blank after your done although it isnt) once the stroke layer is selected press ctrl+a to select the entire signature, then select in the "EdiT" file menu and select "stroke" from teh list, it will give you a new window with color and pixel info, from the 3 bubbles (inside, center, outside) select inside, then change the color to black and the pixel count to 3 then click ok...DO NOT DESELECT THE SIGNATURE YET, do the same process again, Edit -> Stroke, then make the pixel count 2 and select one of the lightest colors on your signature, then click ok...AGAIN DO NOT DESELECT, and once again Edit-> stroke, set the pixel to 1 and change the color back to black, then click ok. now you can deselect your signature and you will see a border with 3 layers, black/light color/black, if you want to you can select the stroke layer from the layer list and change its blending (there is a dropdown menu at the top of the layers list) and change it from normal to overlay, this will blend the border with the rest orf the sig, you can also fiddle with blending options to see what you like best.

[img]https://img.photobucke*****m/albums/v470/Chronologix/stroke.jpg[/img]

that is it for a BASIC signature, no animations, no filters...just basic signature materials.

Result:

[img]https://img.photobucke*****m/albums/v470/Chronologix/tutorial.gif[/img]