Chalkali's Banner Guide (Paint.net)

Okay, well, since quite a few people have been asking me how I make my banners, I have decided to make an input in this thread :3 Here I go!
I will be showing you how to make banners with Paint.Net, which is the program I use for making my banners.
Step 1:

Open up Paint.net. You may need to download it if you don’t already have it. It is free and safe, if you get the right download :3

Step 2:

Then, go to File>New or click on where I highlighted (crtl+n) and set the size of your banner. The limits are width=600 and height=250, don’t bother adjusting the resolution, leave it on default. I prefer to make banners 400x160, but this varies depending on the image or style.

Step 3:
You need to choose a background. If you are starting out, I recommend you get an image off the internet, try searching ‘blue abstract’, for example, for a water type, ‘red abstract’, for a fire type. The abstracts are the best o;
But here I am going to make my background how I usually make them:

The highlighted bits show the tools that I used to make that background, which is gradient, and layer effects. I also used the internet to find the background.
*Layers are very important when making good banners, fyi.
*And to get the tools box up, you can press F5

Step 4:
Now you need to get your render :3 I personally use a site called PLDHnet, which gives you all the sprites and artwork of all the pokemon available.
In this banner I am going to be using ninetales:

Fortunately, these images do not have backgrounds, so I don’t have to do any erasing when I make the banners >=3
Then I just copy and paste the image into paint.net, in a new layer:

I had to make the image smaller, with the resize tool, highlighted, and then I flipped it over, still with the resize tool. This can sometimes blur the render, so then I go to Effects>Photo>Sharpen, and sharpen the layer by 2%, which is normally enough to un-blur the pokemon.
Then, depending on how you like to make your banner, you can add a shadow, edit the shading, and do whutever you want to do, I usually add a shadow, though, and use the effects in any way to make it better. To add a shadow you have to duplicate the render, using the duplicate tool on the layers box (to find the layers box press F7), then go to Adjustments>Hue/Saturation… (ctrl+shift+u) and put the bars on Saturation to 0 and the Lightness to -100. This makes the render black. (Put the lightness to 100 if you want the shadow to be white). After that I move the layer slightly, so it shows underneath the pokemon render. Then I go to Effects>Blur>Gaussian Blur and blur the shadow slightly, although at times I have been known to not blur the shadow :3. Then I play with the Layer effects (the little button on the far right of the layers box, next to the south-facing arrow) to get the right effect. (I used the overlay effect in the ninetales banner).

This is the end result. As you can see I only have 4 layers. And I have named them, but you don’t have to, I just do it for this guide’s benefit :3

Step 5:
Add your text :3
This banner is for Wisewizard41, since she did request one from me, and I haven’t gotten around to doing it, so now she gets to see exactly how I made it! <3

The text tool is the capital A in the tool box, and there you can choose from the text already in Paint.net, or you can use the text off the internet, I use ‘dafont’ sometimes, which is a site where people submit their own fonts, and you can download them there. But in this banner I will be using dafont and the default texts.

Here I used dafont for the name, and the normal text for the extra words.
Notice how I used the different layers to do the effects.

Step 6:
Uploading your image is how you can get it onto the forums :3 I use imageshack for all my images. Also, when saving your image I recommend you save it first as a paint.net image, so you can adjust it later if needed, and then saving it again as a PNG, since PNG saves images in good quality and can save images with no background. I have a folder with all my banners I have ever created in my pictures folder, so if you are going to start making a lot of banners, I suggest you keep a folder for them as well.
So, here is my completed banner:

I hope you find this very useful :3

-Chalky

I find this quite useful to new banner makers, as well as me, and I’d love to thank you for a wonderful guide~ And should I mention, the banner uh-hummm!

Thankies, I never understanded Paint.NET.
I made this with it 8D
Is this better? :3
[spoilerShedinja Banner:2ial7ylr]http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4463/shedinjabannerfixed.png

[/details]
I think it’s better, lol.
Changes:
Black Tint added(To darken the background)
Shedinja image enlarged and moved.

Just one question. How do I put de banner in “Signature”?
Oh, and I love your banner! :D

I put ‘de’ banner in my signature by uploading the image onto a website which supports images, I use imageshack, and then right-click copying the image url/link into Control Panel -> Profile -> Signature, and then clicking the ‘Img’ button that is at the top of the text box, and pasting the link into it.
It should look like this:

So it will turn out like this:

And you save it by clicking submit in the corner.
-Chalky

The text style works well, and the colours are balanced, also, the text size is good :D
But I can understand why you think it is plain:
Hmm…well, you didn’t add a shadow, and can you see that the pokemon is fitted to exactly the same size as the banner? This makes the background sometimes look overwhelming, and the background isn’t meant to be the focus, so you should make the pokemon larger, and slightly cut off, so it becomes the focus of the banner.
For example:

See how the pokemon is larger than the banner, and disappears off the edges? That makes it more focal. Also, the background is not very plain because of all the layers involved, so the more layers there are, generally, the more interesting the background usually looks :3
I hope this helps :D
-Chalky

Yay! :D This helps a lot! Thank you!

(And ironically, the font I used for “Chara” was “Firestarter”…xD)

Thanks this helped me immensley! I even made my own!
[spoilerThe banner:397bu1s1]

[/details]

Thanks Chalky but it doesn’t find the “banner” it only finds jpg and jpeg files. And the image is in pdn.
:?

OOH! Thanks~ I’m kinda of a newbie on Paint.NET and I usually use GIMP e_e

hmm.
Say Hugo make sure you have saved the file to your computer, preferably as a PNG file.
Go to a website called. Tinypic.
Choose the file, put in the security code then voila-it gives you the IMG codes for whatever you want it for, to add it to your Sig on this you need to select the forum IMG code.

^^ Hope that helps.

Thanks!

I found this guide very helpful for adding shadows. xD Lookie, I made a new signature for myself now!

Flygon render was fail if I made the shadow on the right side though, so I had to put the shadow on the left side.

Wow Sonar! That banner’s awesome!
-Chalky

This Helped me soo much as you can see my Banner below is it Good? =/

That’s really cute, Tilly! o3o. You did it really nicely. =3
-Chalkali

hi, chalkali! we’ve never met, (i think.) but i’m sure we can get along. you seem nice~!

Pokemon: golden leafeon~! (if you can do that… like my avatar.)
Background: hm. a forest. and a cheezeburger, with the leafeon looking curiously at it.
Writing: Sinacar, Queen of gold~!.. and somewhat affiliated with cheezeburgers.

… pls? XD