THK

That's all good, of course there are a couple of software programs/suites that can do the job just fine for our purposes, but I have to point out that the "self proclaimed theme guru's" knowledge base here is basically PS/AI only.

I have no such an experience. I've used a student license and after that continued from CS4 to CS6 from tpb, never had any issues. I do however have script/add/pop-up blockers on my browsers, so I might not have run into them because of that. Just checked my hosts file, nothing there except for localhost

I have no clue about progs other than PS & AI unfortunately

I don't understand the question

I don't understand the question

- apply layer effect one - duplicate layer > convert to smart object > apply layer effect two > set layer to 0% fill > convert to smart object > rasterize > layer mask > gradient tool or brush tool - merge layers - repeat above for all different parts left done in a jiffy There are often multiple solutions which aren't all too hard. It's just that you need to be aware of them

Cool, I mostly just cut so it isn't needed or a quick inner shadow/inner stroke fixes it

Please post anything that should be added below

Dunno what else to call it

For people trying to get better at Photoshop I really recommend the Lynda .com one-on-one CS6 training/tutorial dvd's (Get it at [PB mirror]/search/lynda%20com%20one%20on%20one%20cs6/0/99/0) Especially the chapter on the Pen-Tool is essential. Other than that, practice is the best way to get better, don't know how to do something, look up those tutorial vids, google or ask one of our theme/wheel creators here on the forum. Some important tools to know/learn Image > Adjustments > Levels: Often the better way to adjust brightness & contrast Image > Adjustments > Vibrance: Adjust vibrance & saturation Image > Adjustments > Color Balance: Add or subtract colors Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer: As name implies Image > Adjustments > Selective Color: Change cyan/magenta/yellow/black levels on red/yellow/blue/magenta/white/neutral/black Image > Adjustments > Replace Color: Change hue on a color/color range Image > Adjustments > Gradient Map: Applies a gradient by using the lightness and darkness values in the image as a map for how the gradient colors are applied Layer > Matting > Defringe / Remove Black Matte / Remove White Matte: Remove fringes/matting/halos from the outside of a anti-aliased image Select > Refine Edge: Lets you edit the selection by smoothing/feathering the selection and shift the selection up to 50 pixels (good for selection that need to be smoothed or a gradual/blurry transition into transparency, like hair) Edit > Fill (Content-Aware): Fill a selection and PS will guesstimate what should've been there and fill the selection with that. Great for clearing objects, text etc from larger surfaces like skies or grass Filter > Blur > Blur: As name implies Filter > Blur > Motion Blur / Radial Blur: Create illusion of movement (often best applied on a duplicate layer on top of the original one) Filter > Blur > Surface Blur: Blur the surface to get rid of noise (don't overdo it) Filter > Noise > Add Noise: Add noise for a grainy (texture) effect Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise: Reduce (color) noise (I prefer this over Surface Blur, also don't overdo it) Tools > Pen Tool: Learn it, love it! It's the most essential tool to learn for making cuts/selections Tools > Magic Wand: Only use this for (high res) images with a high contrast between the art and the background, preferably a solid background. If not, use the Pen-Tool! (it's the easy way out tool, but with more complex images you might end up spending more time refining the cut/edges than using the pen-tool) Tools > Quick Selection Tool: "THE tool to deep-etch image parts like a game title over a background" Tools > Healing / Patch / Clone Stamp Tool: Very handy for cleaning away lines, text, all sorts of things from box art for example Tools > Shape Tools: Don't underestimate the shape tools, with fill you can use them to build up clean shapes (I use them for vid border in stead of simple strokes that tend to pixilate on corners) or with/without a fill to make a selection (Layer window > Path tab > right click path > Make selection) Layer Panel > Opacity: Self explanatory Layer Panel > Fill: Especially handy to only show the Layer Style/Blending Options when set to 0% (you could for instance give art a drop shadow, convert only the drop shadow into a smart object and give it a gradient overlay) Layer Panel > Blend Mode: (next to Opacity, standard set to Normal) Lets you blend images into underlying layers in different ways. Duplicate an artwork layer edit it and then blend or blend it into the background. Make sure you merge the layers that need to blend together into one layer or a smart object. Layer Panel > Layer Style (or Blending Options, double or right click layer): Here you'll find everything to fancy up a layer, here again, a blend mode can be chosen for the particular effect. (the order of the effects are how they are stacked on top of each other) Layer Panel > Bevel & Emboss Layer Panel > Stroke Layer Panel > Inner Shadow Layer Panel > Inner Glow Layer Panel > Satin Layer Panel > Color Overlay Layer Panel > Gradient Overlay Layer Panel > Pattern Overlay Layer Panel > Outer Glow Layer Panel > Drop Shadow Layer Panel > (You can save a Layer Style and apply it to any layer afterwards) (need to add this in, but have to check it out 1st) If you get the hang of things and start using the Pen-Tool to actually redraw things, I really recommend watching the tutorial dvd's for Illustrator as well. Yes AI seems daunting, but if you're any good at PS, you will learn quickly (I think it took me a few days of messing around before I got good enough to make good use of the program and starting to redraw stuff) HyperSpin standards - Save settings below as a preset in Photoshop called something like "Wheel" & "Theme", so you don't accidentally cock it up and end up wondering what made HS/HT act out - Before cutting or touching up artwork, increase the image size something like 400%+ to be able to do more detailed work and resize it back afterwards - When placing/pasting art that needs sizing down, make it a Smart Object, this will ensure the original information/detail won't be lost so you can increase it's size again without losing detail. (for most editing the smart object needs to be rasterized again, so it's best to either do it before sizing down or make a backup of the smart object before rasterizing) - Make sure the file extensions are lower cased! Wheels - 400x175 px - 72 dpi - 8bit - RGB - png (interlaced) - When adding stokes/shadows/glow, make sure it doesn't get cut off by the canvas size, so apply before sizing down or make it a smart object and resize to fit canvas Themes - 1024x768 px - 72 dpi - 8bit - RGB - psd (to import into HT) - All artwork layers can be larger than the canvas size except the background!, which needs to be exactly 1024x768 - When adding/replacing art or the xml on a zipped theme, make sure you set 7zip/WinRar to store & add and replace files Some tips for searching artwork - Start your way at large images and work your way down to any size - Start with png's and then repeat the process with any filetype (for png's: add filetype : png without the spaces to your search query) - For Japanese games, look up their Japanese name and search for that as well and search for both the English and Japanese names on Google.jp, set to japanese sites only - For new games, look up their official website, there's often nice art to rip (I use firefox for this, right click page > page info > media tab, let's you browse through all non-flash art and download it) - For new games, search for a Press Kit on the developers/publishers/official game site - Look up a game's (or game series) wikia (not to be confused with wiki), there's sometimes some good art to be found Some sites I use for art (plz add your own) - http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/ (Arcade flyers) - http://www.coinopart.com (Arcade, requires membership) - http://www.arcadeartwork.org (Arcade) - http://arcadeartlibrary.com (Arcade) - http://www.arcade-gear.com (Arcade) - http://gamesdbase.com/ (All, not too good art, but usable for redraw source) - http://www.giantbomb.com/ (mostly for PC games) - http://www.fightabase.com (Fighting games) - http://fightersgeneration.com/ (Fighting games)