Admiral Blockbeard Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 (edited) as said in the title this is my first attempt, so be kind, but please do criticize in a constructive manner... eventually when my skills improve i will have a go at filling out requests, LuxorV's are just an inspiration and if i match his skills one day i will be very proud, also i must say it was imperialshadows sig, that convinced me i should give this a go, so thanks to those two for starting me on this venture! with out further ado, here they are: first is not a POTC style but could be used as the commander of the army... next is an officer... finally the trooper/soldier as i said Constructive Criticism welcome! regards, Cpt. PB Edited June 15, 2008 by Cpt. Pegleg Blockbeard Quote
Skipper 24 Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 Wow there brilliant for a first attempt you must have spent ages making them. I think you need to try and make the colours better like in some of the blue you can see slightly different shades. I would love to see what you make in the future Quote
Admiral Blockbeard Posted June 15, 2008 Author Posted June 15, 2008 funny thing is it is all the same blue, that was until i saved them and opened them up again! the colours had become all complicated and mixed, very funny and strange! is there a way to save them and this not happen... currently i am using paint... thanks for your thoughts very appreciative. regards, Cpt. PB Quote
Shadows Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 so thanks to those two for starting me on this venture! Always glad to have another in the ranks, thanks for the kind words. I really like the overall look of these, they're a very good first effort. That said, there are basically two problems that I can see. They're just too small. They're almost the size they print at, which means they won't smooth out. It's hard to explain, but the bigger you can work (within reason), the better for smooth details. I make mine at 366x300 (600dpi) which produces decals that are exactly the right size, if printed properly, and allows for lots of space to work in. Do you have larger copies? The other is much simpler: I think you need to try and make the colours better like in some of the blue you can see slightly different shades. funny thing is it is all the same blue, that was until i saved them and opened them up again! the colours had become all complicated and mixed, very funny and strange! is there a way to save them and this not happen... currently i am using paint... You have just experienced jpeg artifacting. Any time you save an image as a jpeg (jpg), your paint program will attempt to 'optimize' the image to make the resulting file as small as possible. It's a complicated process that causes colours to be changed and details lost for the sake of compression. To prevent this, you need to save as png (portable network graphics). You end up with a larger filesize, but no damage to the original image. I'm sure paint can handle that, though it's been a long time. Good luck and welcome to the exciting world of Minifig Customization! Quote
Admiral Blockbeard Posted June 15, 2008 Author Posted June 15, 2008 what program do you use? so thats what happened... i assumed it was something like that... jpeg art.. artifacting, hmm... thank you i am learning!, may i call you my custom guru? optimizing images automatically is mean! bad software! BUT png makes it okay good to know thanks! i do not have any bigger versions of it... i just went and copied one from the library to get the outer border shape zoom is the best feature ever invented! thanks for the welcome! regards Cpt. PB Quote
Shadows Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 what program do you use? It's an old commercial program I've had for ages. Now, I haven't used it personally, but I've heard good things about a program called Paint.net. You might want to look into it. Free and easy they say. so thats what happened... BUT png makes it okay good to know thanks! You're welcome! Quote
Admiral Blockbeard Posted June 15, 2008 Author Posted June 15, 2008 Okay so taken in advice and here is round 2... this custom is based on one of my many clone bricks, finally clones give back to lego... their design was lacking the pirate stipes, i added them as i thought the design with out it was too bland. with out further ado... CC, welcome again... Quote
BlueBard Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 (edited) Some colors are a bit too loud for me but they're still nice torso decals! It's a good job indeed for a first attempt I think I'll use one of them for my "allways coming soon" MOC Pier... Edited June 15, 2008 by BlueBard Quote
Bobskink Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 they look really good, but I think the black lines are to thin and will not look so good when printed out and put on a minifig. Thicker lines, or no lines... Quote
Admiral Blockbeard Posted June 16, 2008 Author Posted June 16, 2008 (edited) excellent point! thicker black lines... in the mean time here are two more MODed clone designs... thanks all for comments so far, and bluebard it would be an honour to have one in your MOC's... if your after anything in particualar let me know and will try to make one for you... no garantee on the out come though... will thicken these black lines... as always CC welcome EDIT, so no double posting... here is a quick little remod of imperialshadows halter neck one for the pirates yargh, it was inspired by another topic i can not relocate for time being... Edited June 16, 2008 by Cpt. Pegleg Blockbeard Quote
LuxorV Posted June 16, 2008 Posted June 16, 2008 You're doing great, Cpt. Pegleg Blockbeard Nice to see a new Customizer around ; and thanks for the good words Btw, I use Corel Draw to make my decals (since this is the program I use for my work, I already knew how to create images with it). You may want to give it a try (if you already have it; I don't want you to buy it for making decals only). LuxorV Quote
Shadows Posted June 16, 2008 Posted June 16, 2008 will thicken these black lines... as always CC welcome You're definitely improving, good job! Your next step is colour selection. If you refer to this chart, you'll see what colours are officially used by LEGO. You'll have your best results using them, since they match the natural minifig part colours that you would be applying the decals to. Plus they just look more natural. Keep up the good work! Quote
Admiral Blockbeard Posted June 16, 2008 Author Posted June 16, 2008 (edited) well, that is an impressive job there imperialshadows, lots of hard work went into that table of colours! how do i enter the new colours into paint..? well you said to keep up the good work so now i bring version two of my customs! again CC welcome, just note as of yet not able to do colours so do not CC that part of it... changing the colours is easy now i am using PNG files regards Cpt. PB EDIT: avoiding double post i have been busy at work with pirate girls, once again please note these have been molded to IS original designs and most credit goes to him, as i have used his as a template for the female decals! and wait for it... yes a PINK pirate! CC welcome! regards, Cpt. PB Edited June 18, 2008 by Cpt. Pegleg Blockbeard Quote
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