.:.:GFX FAQ:.:.

[Iwin]

Over the years, communities of GFXers have come up with names for everything we make or do.

I'll start this list off...

-People keep talking about a new tag they made, what do they mean?
Answer: A tag is a signature without text. When you post a signature you have created without text, and do not plan to EVER add text to it, it will be identified as a tag.

-What does it mean to Class a signature/tag?
Answer: Instead of asking someone to rate your sig, ask for them to class it. When you ask someone to do this, you are putting your work up for any type of critique(some critique may be very harsh, but you just have to learn to accept that).

-What is a render?
Answer: A render is honestly a picture that has been cropped-out. Another type of render is C4D(short for Cinema 4D, the program used to make it) or Fractal. Many of these are used to enhance signatures, and there is an abundance of them across the web.

-What is an LA?
Answer: LA stands for Large Art. This is usually a piece of wallpaper, or a large piece of art.

-I've heard about these stocks, but what are they?
Answer: Stocks are high-quality images usually taken by professional photographers. Most stocks consist of people posing in a certain position that are easy to work with. Wallpapers are considered stocks waiting to be rendered.

-What is Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro?
Answer: These programs were created for the mere purpose of creating any work of art. From signatures to companies using this program for advertising their products(A lot of ads in magazines are created with these programs), PhotoShop and Paint Shop are two of the most recognized programs for creating almost anything you want.

- I started making some signatures, but I realized I do not have nice renders, fonts, and brushes. Where can I get some?
Answer: For renders go to deviantART: where ART meets application!, for fonts go to dafon*****m, and for renders go to Planet Renders v3

By vxheadshotxv:

Credits:
Me for typeing.
Google for the info
note: Im not the creator of this i just googled gfx terms.

Piece. Anything you or someone created can also be refered as work.

Focal/Focal Point- The main part of the signature/LP that people see. Most of the time it's your stock or render.

Stock- A normal picture.

Render/Cut-Out- Using something from a stock and the rest has been removed. Example: If there is an apple on a table and you cut the apple out so you could use it and deleted the table, the apple is your render/cut-out.

MP- Medium Piece. Bigger than a regular signature.

LP- Large Piece. Anything bigger than an medium piece also large pieces have a spread focal most of the time

Flow- The basic direction the effects on your pieces go. Most of the time there is one one direction of flow. Sometimes, but rarely, there can be 2 directions. The flow tends to go with the direction of the focal.

Depth- This shows distance in your piece. Generally things closer should be more clear than things in the background. For example blurring, burning etc

Composition- How well your piece is put together. Anyone can throw a bunch of stuff onto a canvas and call it good. Not everyone can put it together to form a nice piece. Also have an idea behind it.

Monotone/Monochromatic- This means your piece consists mostly of a bunch of shades of one color. You could have an entire signature in shades of red but the hair is yellow. Yes, it's still monochromatic because it's mostly red.

HQ/LQ- HQ stands for high quality and LQ stands for low quality.

Ripping: Another word for plagerism. Claiming something of your own when in fact it is not your's.

C4D- C4D means Cinema 4D which is used to make 3d models but most of the times C4D is refered as an abstract which is not the only reason it is for.

Photo Manipulation/ Manip- Creating something that's almost surreal. Adding things that wern't there to begin with. (Hard to explain, I tried >< )

Typography- Pretty much anything that has to do with text.

B&W- Black and White.

DP- Digital Painting. Using programs to digitally paint something.

LR/ LRO/ Learning Rights- This is for a resource given by another member. You may look at it to see what they did to give you ideas of your own.

PR/ Posting Rights- This is also for resources. This means you can repost the resource on other sites.

FR/ Full Rights- You can do whatever you want except claim it as your own. You can edit, repost, take layers from a .psd file, sell it, whatever you feel like you want to do.

Lighting/Light Source - The main source of luminance in the canvas. Lighting makes the art piece brighter. Sometimes there can be more than one light source, while other times there are none.

Effects - These are the parts of the signature that make it appealing and aesthetic, they are designed to aid in the flow of the sig while assisting the focal in looking good.

Sketch & Toon - These are C4Ds that mimic a drawing or a vector.

Mechanical - These are C4Ds that look mechanical or robot-like. They are not as helpful in flow as abstract freehand splines, but they are very intricate and detailed.

Effect Abstracts - These are C4Ds that are transparent with definitive colors and lighting. They are most often used to aid in the effects around the focal.

Other:

Raster: An image entirely of individual pixels in a grid format. Most signatures are raster images.

Vector: The use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon(s), which are all based upon mathematical equations, to represent images in computer graphics. (Stolen from Wikipedia) To achieve a true vector, you must you a vector program such as Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia FreeHand. Photoshop does not produce true vectors. Most vector art is a compilation of shapes stacked on top of each other to form a whole.

Vexel: A word derived from "vector" and "pixel". It is an entirely raster based image that resembles vector style when at the correct zoom. When you zoom in, however, it will begin to look pixelated, just like any raster based image.

Pentooling: Using the pen tool, whether in photoshop or any other program that has one, to create lines, shapes, paths, etc. A pen tool uses vector formulas to encorporate lines, curves, and points into a path that can be filled with color to create a shape. The pen tool can also make curved lines, and gradients. Using the pen tool takes a little practice, but it's a lot more precise than brushing. The pen tool creates a nice, clean, solid shape.

Brushing: Using any of the brush tools in Photoshop to draw on a canvas, whether with a mouse, tablet, or some other method. Brushes are highly customizable, and can be used in a variety of ways. In comparison to the pen tool, brushing can add texture to a piece.

Expanding the definition of "Depth":
Depth is the illusion of distance within a composition. There are several ways to do this. The most common, and easiest ways to do this in a signature are; to blur the background and sharpen the focal point, making the background darker, and others. Overlapping elements on a canvas, closer items in front of items farther away can create depth as well. Negative space, if used correctly, can make the focal appear much farther back in the piece. Making something bigger or smaller can effect how "deep" into the canvas it is, a big tree is closer than a small volcano.

[Zhellbound]

Stickey.. .

[Gourav2122]

Why don't they do what they say .. say what they mean? One thing leads to another.

[Iwin]

Why don't they do what they say .. say what they mean? One thing leads to another.

Ummm. What?

[Murkforce]

lol Thanks alot.

[ImNoobzz]

Thanks for this Win.
It's going to answer a lot of things for beginners >_>

[Iwin]

no problem guys.

[updated] I added a bit more FAQ stuff.

[.Amnesia]

For renders go to deviantART: where ART meets application!, for fonts go to dafon*****m, and for renders go to Planet Renders v3

Is that right?? Isn't deviantART for brushes?

[Iwin]

For renders go to deviantART: where ART meets application!, for fonts go to dafon*****m, and for renders go to Planet Renders v3

Is that right?? Isn't deviantART for brushes?

Ah, I just realized I messed that up.

And it won't let me edit my thread anymore

[RJ]

PM me what you want it to say, and I'll edit it for you.

[Token]

- I started making some signatures, but I realized I do not have nice renders, fonts, and brushes. Where can I get some?
Answer: For renders go to deviantART: where ART meets application!, for fonts go to dafon*****m, and for renders go to Planet Renders v3

Do you mean?

- I started making some signatures, but I realized I do not have nice renders, fonts, and brushes. Where can I get some?
Answer: For Brushes go to deviantART: where ART meets application!, for fonts go to dafon*****m, and for renders go to Planet Renders v3

[RJ]

- Does that really matter?
Ansure: No.

[.Amnesia]

Ch33sy, read the fucking thread before you post...I already said that...

[Iwin]

- I started making some signatures, but I realized I do not have nice renders, fonts, and brushes. Where can I get some?
Answer: For brushes go to deviantART: where ART meets application!, for fonts go to dafon*****m, and for renders go to Planet Renders v3[/QUOTE]

[.Amnesia]

=3 .