My first attempt at making a Car Show Display
03-05-2010, 09:57 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: MD
Posts: 377
My first attempt at making a Car Show Display
So, this is my first attempt at using Photoshop (got a copy yesterday) and tried to draft up a display board for my car for when I go to car shows.... summer is on it's way, it actually felt warm today!! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.... took about 3 hours, mainly because I have no idea what all the functions are etc.
The only thing that I am disappointed with is the white text being a bit difficult to read.... any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Let me know what you think: (EDIT.... BEFORE ON THE LEFT / EDITED ON THE RIGHT AFTER ADVICE GIVEN)
Thanks
Elmo
The only thing that I am disappointed with is the white text being a bit difficult to read.... any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Let me know what you think: (EDIT.... BEFORE ON THE LEFT / EDITED ON THE RIGHT AFTER ADVICE GIVEN)
Thanks
Elmo
Last edited by elmo3000; 03-06-2010 at 12:57 PM.
03-05-2010, 11:06 PM
#2
Well, thats a pretty good start for first time using photoshop. You can try putting some stroke around the white font and see how that turns out. Might define it a bit more, but may overpower also. Anyways, give it a try and see how it looks.
Like in my sig, the name is in white and I have black stroke around it and also drop shadow.
Like in my sig, the name is in white and I have black stroke around it and also drop shadow.
03-06-2010, 07:26 AM
#4
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Michigan again!
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Looks good - in fact much better than I could do. Until Eddy said it, I couldn't figure out what looked off on the picture of your car.
In the performance section I think you have a typo. "NOZ" bottle - did you mean N2O or "NOS" the brand name?
(after the fast and furious the ricers called all nitrous systems "naws" - and NOS is simply the name of one of the companies that makes nitrous systems)
In the performance section I think you have a typo. "NOZ" bottle - did you mean N2O or "NOS" the brand name?
(after the fast and furious the ricers called all nitrous systems "naws" - and NOS is simply the name of one of the companies that makes nitrous systems)
03-06-2010, 10:16 AM
#6
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 245
Elmo, if you select the layer of your project and hit Ctrl+t, it will bring up a box around the car with handles for rotating and stretching the image. However, if you've already flattened the image you will need to put the car back into and then follow the process. 
03-06-2010, 11:07 AM
#8
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: NY (Capital Region)
Posts: 581
Very nice!
Here are my suggestions:
Everything feels a bit crowded. Especially up top between the car and your mod list. I'd reduce the scale on all your logos at the bottom. you may have to lay them out a bit differently afterward. Then you can move your mod list down a little to allow the car some breathing room (of course, after you've unsquished the car). In general, I'd say you don't need the logos that big anyway. The board is about your car, not those companies. Unless they're paying you for sponsorship and have specific demands, they're getting too much face time.
Yeah, a drop shadow might help if your not happy with that text, but with that particular font, it might actually make it noisier and harder to read. I wouldn't recommend a stroke, with such a light weight font, and that much text in the block, that will be way too busy. You might want to try a bolder font. To be honest though, I don't think it's all that bad the way it is. It could be more readable, but it can be read, and when you've got a list that long, either someone will be interested enough to read it, or they won't.
"DOMINATOR" is getting completely lost at the bottom in those flames. You might want to move that up top as a headline (Leaving the flames at the bottom). Unless you're going for subtlety, which is certainly fine.
Again, great job! Don't think for a second that because I have notes I don't like it. If you had done a complete suck@$$ job, I wouldn't bother putting any thought into suggestions. Key word there being "suggestions". Do what looks right to you.
Here are my suggestions:
Everything feels a bit crowded. Especially up top between the car and your mod list. I'd reduce the scale on all your logos at the bottom. you may have to lay them out a bit differently afterward. Then you can move your mod list down a little to allow the car some breathing room (of course, after you've unsquished the car). In general, I'd say you don't need the logos that big anyway. The board is about your car, not those companies. Unless they're paying you for sponsorship and have specific demands, they're getting too much face time.
Yeah, a drop shadow might help if your not happy with that text, but with that particular font, it might actually make it noisier and harder to read. I wouldn't recommend a stroke, with such a light weight font, and that much text in the block, that will be way too busy. You might want to try a bolder font. To be honest though, I don't think it's all that bad the way it is. It could be more readable, but it can be read, and when you've got a list that long, either someone will be interested enough to read it, or they won't.
"DOMINATOR" is getting completely lost at the bottom in those flames. You might want to move that up top as a headline (Leaving the flames at the bottom). Unless you're going for subtlety, which is certainly fine.
Again, great job! Don't think for a second that because I have notes I don't like it. If you had done a complete suck@$$ job, I wouldn't bother putting any thought into suggestions. Key word there being "suggestions". Do what looks right to you.
03-06-2010, 12:04 PM
#9
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Henry County, Georgia
Posts: 1,636
Which version of Photoshop did you get?
I would try adding a 1 pixel black stroke around the text and see how that changes the look.
Also i would try to get some new pics of your car that dont have shadows from trees and such on it. Try and find an open parking lot or something so when you put it on your display you dont have random shadows.
And when you resizing your pic i think you can hold down shift to keep the original dimension so it wont skew or stretch your pic. control+t should allow you to resize it.
there is alot you can do with photoshop that can make your display pretty sweet.
http://www.blacksungfx.com has some good tutorials that will show you how to get many cool effects.
I would try adding a 1 pixel black stroke around the text and see how that changes the look.
Also i would try to get some new pics of your car that dont have shadows from trees and such on it. Try and find an open parking lot or something so when you put it on your display you dont have random shadows.
And when you resizing your pic i think you can hold down shift to keep the original dimension so it wont skew or stretch your pic. control+t should allow you to resize it.
there is alot you can do with photoshop that can make your display pretty sweet.
http://www.blacksungfx.com has some good tutorials that will show you how to get many cool effects.
03-06-2010, 12:56 PM
#10
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: MD
Posts: 377
Okay points noted, really appreciate all the comments, especially seeing that I have never done anything like this before!
This is what I have done so far with the advice from everyone:
I haven't changed the car photo at the top yet as I don't have anything better without shadows. COME ON SUMMER!!
I'm using Photoshop CS4.....
This is what I have done so far with the advice from everyone:
I haven't changed the car photo at the top yet as I don't have anything better without shadows. COME ON SUMMER!!
I'm using Photoshop CS4.....