RRTOHTDT

[robin]

Welcome to RRTOHTDT!

Or Robin's Random Thread Of How To Do Things!

Here, I shall post a variety of tutorials - many of them based on PMs I've sent people in the hour of need. Just a warning though, if you have a problem with badly-wordedness, craziness, you may not want to read on. These guides are some of the worst in the planet - but that's not the scariest thing. Oh no. The sad truth is, all of these guides are...

Wonderfully ^R A N D O _M!

[robin]

HOW TO DOWNLOAD FONTS FROM DAFONT.COM ON WINDOWS XP
based on an pm to help another member

I understand, I usually struggle with new font sites as well. xD

Okays, so first you need to click 'download'

Click here

And then a little square will come up so you can click 'save'. Save it into My Documents or anywhere you can find it easily. Then when it has downloaded, click open. The file will be zipped so you need to unzip it. To do this, if you have windows, there will probably be a built-in unzip program.

Click Here

Click on 'Extract all files' and then you will be taken to an un-zipped version of the folder. Now you have the TrueType (or TT) version of the font, you can copy and paste it into your fonts folder. Okays, I'm hoping you've got windows because if not I really can't help you with this bit. You need to copy the TT file, then go to 'My Computer'. From there, you can click on IBM_PRELOAD (C:). Then you need to find the WINDOWS file. There's a lot of folders in there, but you need to find FONTS.

Click Here

Then you can paste the TT file into that folder, and wha-laa, next time you go into your graphics program the font should be on the list. ;D

Hope I helped,
Robin. xx

[robin]

TIPS MASSIVE 1317 WORD TUTORIAL ON CREATING AVATARS IN PHOTOFILTRE

M'kay, well. This guide is for PhotoFiltre, so I suggest you download it if you haven't already. I prefer it over photoshop to be honest. XD

Anyways, the first thing you will need is an image of a cat. For non copyright images, (never use google images - you could be breaking the law by using images from there, unlikely but possible) I'd reccomend:

--> stock.xchng. These images are always of high quality, but there are hundreds of them! This is probably my favourite site for images like this. Unfortunately, you need to register. But you can always log in with my user name, Robinwhisk and password, gardenshed , Lol. XD
--> Flickr This one is quite popular, with quite a lot of images. The trouble is, you need to check the 'Additional Information' to see if the image is under the Creative Commons licence. If it says 'All Rights Reserved' that image is not available for use.
--> Sobi.org An amazing one for backgrounds and kitties, this site is filled with many high quality images. The only problem is you can't search through them all, for a 'black cat' for instance. You just need to look at all the photos until you find some nice ones.
--> Morguefile Not one of my favourites, but I thought it deserved a mention. I like this site, but it hasn't got the quality of photos like sobi or stock.xchng, or the quantity of flickr or stock.xchng.
--> DeviantArt This site isn't really based on stock images, but if you click on 'Resources and Stock Images' then 'Stock Images' and then 'Animals', you should be able to find something.

Okays, so got your image? Here's mine, it's from sobi.org: Click! =D. Right, well obviously this image is far to big for an avatar. So we need to make it smaller! But first I want to remove that black border, so I'll go to:
--> Image
--> Canvas Size
And then I change the size by about 50-100 pixels on the height & width. If this wasn't enough, I'd continue to make it smaller, bit by bit.
There. Done. Now I can properly resize it. So next I suggest you go to:
--> Image
--> Fit Image
And then change the width to 200px. If this looks to big or small, you can resize it again. Now, you need to make the width of the image even smaller, but to do that you might want to use the Canvas Size tool again. Try resizing it (keeping to the center) to 100px and see what you get. Looks odd? Try and experiment! Now, you need to change your height (using canvas size) to either 200 or 100px depending on what size you want your avvie to be. Here's mine so far: Click .

Now, it still looks a bit plain and dull, doesn't it? Well, this is the part where we can add textures. Dum Dum Dummm. The suspense! Well, if you prefer to keep things very simple you might want to skip ahead a bit for this point. But if you want to try something more fun, read on. Well, first you need some textures to put on it! I'd reccomend searching DeviantArt for textures, first. I'd suggest clicking on 'Resources and Stock Images' and then 'Textures' to see what you can find. Another option is Textura. Read the text if you can't move around the site, hehe. This is probably my all time favourite for textures, and I'm sure you can find something nice here. Oh and I'd just like to add - as with deviantart follow the rules of the site, and give credit when needed.

Right, so when you've got some textures saved to your computer, (I'd suggest creating a seperate folder for them) you can start adding them to your avatar! To do this, go to:
--> Filter
--> PhotoMasque
--> The little 'Open File' picture.
Then you can search around in My Pictures (if you're on Windows) and find your textures. When you do, choose a random one and click 'Open'. PF has some standard ones, but they're not amazing and I'd suggest going for ones from D.Art and Textura. When you've opened it, you have some options to choose from.
1. Opacity
This is how visible your texture will be on your image. Experiment with how strong you want it to be! I usually start out with a 100, and then go down to see which effect looks the best.
2. Colour
What colour your texture will be, give or take a few shades. I'd suggest neutral colours, like black, grey and white. I wouldn't go for any bright or neon colours at this stage.
3. Mode
I leave this on Colour, but feel free to try some of the others.
4. Blur & Duotone
I don't usually use either of these, but again. Experiment. Try them out.
5. Stretch & Tile.
Now, these are tricky ones. I usually try a texture with both of these, before deciding which one I like best and choosing it.
Right, so you has a texture now? Great! Now it's time to add a few more! Or not. What I want you to do next is try some more, maybe with different opacities and colours, or just stick with the same... Whatever looks best.

Now, are you happy with your textures? I'm hoping you said yes, so, Good! Here's mine so far: Click. Not very exciting, is it? Ah well, it'll liven up soon. But now we come to the point where you need to come to an important decision: 1 out of 2 pixels, or no 1 out of 2 pixels?! Here's what I'm talking about:
--> Filter
--> Texture
--> 1 pixel out of 2
I'd suggest adding this texture to your image now, and see what it looks like. This also looks great as the only texture, like my paw av if I've still got it by the time you read this. If it doesn't fit your image, press the red arrow (undo). For this avvie, I'm going without. Just as a change, because I usually use it, hehe.

Now is when your avatar gets exciting and cool! We will add colour! This is actually optional, you can just leave it as the natural colours. But if you want it to have a blue/green/whatever tint, go to:
--> Adjust
--> Colour Balance
Then have fun with the nice thingy that pops up. Seriously. Just try 10 or 20% in a couple of different areas, and see what you get! I'd suggest leaving everything at about that level, 100% usually just looks ugly. Unless you want a lime colour, and then 10-20% green and 40-50% yellow is nice. Okay, so when your colour is somewhat done (you can edit it later with another super-amazing tool, keep that in mind) you can go to:
--> Adjust
--> Brightness / Contrast
Now, your image really comes to life! With mine, I usually go for 20-30% brightness and 100% contrast. And then I usually bring up the Brightness / Contrast screen again, and then repeat the process, but usually with lower contrast. I do experiment about a bit first to see how much it needs, though. :3 Now, we're coming to near the end! Only a couple more steps, don't worry, lol. Go to:
--> Adjust
--> Hue / Saturation
And then mess around for a while, see what you like! =D One final step, go to:
--> Filter
--> Frame
And then try random all the different things you like. I usually go for a 5px white simple frame at 60%, and then a 1px 100% black simple frame. Just a 100% black 1px simple can work wonders too. But feel free to go more adventurous, whatever mood you're in, lol.

So we're finished! Here's the completed avatar:

^{thank you to textura and princess of shadows on deviantart for the textures}

Well, I'd love to see your finished avatars, so post 'em here! I'd be happy to crit them too, just add it to your post and I'll give you my full and honest opinion.
So, now, urm...

END! <3

^{next up: FAQ and eye colour changing}

[storm]

These are great, Robin!
Just a question - can you get PhotoFiltre for Mac?

[robin]

I don't know - doesn't it work if you try and download it on the site above? D=

[Slate Snowbreeze]

No, it wasn't working. I've got GIMP, but I'm having some troubles figuring out how to work it . . . we do have a PC desktop, but it's quite slow and we're getting rid of it soon seeing is my parents and I all have our own laptops. XD Four computers in our house - one for each of the people and one for the two dogs and cat to scrap over!

[robin]

M'kay, well the avatar tutorial is finished! ;D I'm sorry that it doesn't work on Macs, I can't help you on that one. D= Oh and I don't know a thing about GIMP (although I tried it once and couldn't get into it) so I'm no use there, either.

[yoyo]

Gimp is my love <3 Anyways, I got started on gimp by following some begginer tutorials on www.gimptalk.com/forum/users-submitted-gimp-tips-&-tutorials-f14.html and once I got the feel of it, I made sigs on my own(but I still do tutorials from there to learn new techniques!).

[Slate Snowbreeze]

Thank you so much! ^^
I'll definitely check it out!

[yoyo]

No problem! Can't wait to see what you make!!!

And Robin, your thread is very helpful <3 Thanks for making it!

[robin]

Oh, it's fine. <3 I've enjoyed making it - it's like a mini project for me, hehe.

[yoyo]

I used your stock xchange account the other day, lol. I've always wanted to get pics from there but I'm too lazy to register. XD

[robin]

Lol, that's fine. XD