Suzanne — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:51:19 +0000

Quote: Originally posted by Megan
I actually don't use the pen tool very much at all in Photoshop. It is the most important tool in Illustrator, but I've never liked the way it works in Photoshop or found it to be a necessary tool to use - I guess I'm not such a good graphics person after all, eh?

Ha! Goes to show you that what's important to one person isn't to another.

I was talking about basic skills to use the software, though, not talent or ability.

disclaimer: I'm vector-oriented, not so much raster oriented. So my perspective on the matter is and probably should be radically different from Megan's, but she has been knowledge of vector imaging as well, whereas I'm a raster-idiot.

The Webmistress — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:23:51 +0000

I don't use Photoshop but a search on google returned these results which may be useful.

paintballdude13 — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:19:12 +0000

Can anyone recomend a good tutorial on how to use the Pen Tool?

Megan — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:29:38 +0000

I actually don't use the pen tool very much at all in Photoshop. It is the most important tool in Illustrator, but I've never liked the way it works in Photoshop or found it to be a necessary tool to use - I guess I'm not such a good graphics person after all, eh?

I found learning the pen tool (in Illustrator) to be quite challenging at first. It's often a difficult concept to grasp if you've been working with raster graphics alone for a long time. But then I guess that's another testament to my lack of graphics skill!

I think that you should really start on a simpler level here. That layout you pointed out does seem to be rather complex. Start by drawing a simple layout and try to get it into HTML. Always be thinking about how you're going to code the site. As you become more skilled you can concentrate on visuals more.

I remember learning a lot about photoshop from the tutorials here: http://www.eyeball-design.com/fxzone/frames01.htm They'll seem difficult at first but it can help you to learn to make different shapes and effects using the channels palette. Scroll down to the "old" photoshop tutorials for some basic elements. You can learn a lot of techniques here that don't necessarily have to be applied to fancy 3D style interfaces like these. It also demonstrates how to create curved shapes without using the pen tool - that's how I always do it.

Suzanne — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:54:53 +0000

The pen tool is one of the most important tools in Photoshop. Learning how to use the application thoroughly will allow you to create anything you want.

Learning about layout design will be very helpful as well.

If you want to have things professional "looking" the best approach is to be professional about it. Learn how to use the tools and learn the design theories behind effective layout.

The Webmistress — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:26:28 +0000

IME you really need to start off by looking around the net and finding a collection of sites that you really like and then try and copy them by using a combination of your graphic editor and html editor (not for actual use but to get practice). Professional looking sites don't have to be graphics intensive - colour, layout and logo are the main aspects to get right, then you can start trying to make more elaborate designs.

paintballdude13 — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 05:15:06 +0000

Quote: Originally posted by Suzanne
Perhaps you should be looking for basic tutorials in using the application first.

I know how to use Photoshop pretty good, but I've never had the need to use the Pen Tool before and today was the first time I even tried using it. I just cant get a semi decent looking shape.

Suzanne — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 04:54:48 +0000

Perhaps you should be looking for basic tutorials in using the application first.

paintballdude13 — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 03:58:28 +0000

Ya I'm trying to make it semi simple. I cant make a semi decent looking shapes and stuff like that, they make it seem to easy Here but I cant get the damned Pen tool to do anything that I want, I dont know how in the world to use it right.

Busy — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 02:27:38 +0000

You'll find most layouts tie in with a theme which relates to the content. Like you wouldn't have pinks and baby blues with daisys for a heavy metal band, or you wouldn't have a black background with flames or skulls for a ballet site.
A netrual layout would be dull without a theme, white and blue are very common (probably to common).
Just remember the KISS rule because sometimes (not always) less is more