How'd She Do That? [Table Tutorial]

[F.inch]

10 Step To Taking on Tables

So I've have a couple people asking me how to make tables, which is awesome. I love making them, but I like to be surprised with art from other people as well, so I love seeing new artists on the scene. The art in here was done by me of course and will be used for my new character, Ryze. Please don't take any of the pieces parts to make your own table out of this art before I have the name slapped on and such. Do not abuse this tutorial. Also, I am posting links to all the images because they're screen shots and...huge.

I speak in photoshop terms cause...well that's what I use. I apologize to you GIMP users (and others!) if you don't understand something I say. I've never used, or even SEEN what the screen would look like if someone was using another program, so if I confuse you just ask. Here we go!

Step #1: Everyone seems to know how to make a top image, which in my opinion is really the hardest part. If you don't know how to make one, just go on DA for a tutorial for that. There are tons, so I'm not going to make one. So with that, we're here.

I always make my tables' widths at 460pxls. its a wide size and its never stretched a forum I've been on, but you can use whatever you want. Height doesn't matter, really. Just use common sense.

Step #2:

[/u] Texture! This step is really optional. Textures make images look...awesome, but only sometimes. Not all images need textures, especially if you want them to look nice and soft. You can find hundreds of free textures on DA to use. Save them to your computer somewhere. While working on your table's headder image, open your texture. Drag it from your work bin (mine's at the bottom) so it lays on top of your headder image as a new layer. Next, change the layer style to something that fits. My layer style option is at the top of my Layer List. I like multiply, overlay, and soft light the best. When you have something that looks nice, change your opacity until you like what you have. Here's mine now. Merge the texture to the main image now, it'll be easier that way. (simplify if you have to)

Step #3:[/u] Up next is to find your background color. There's probably a million ways to make tables from here, but this is just how I do it. Make a new, blank layer and then change your Canvas size to something taller (not wider!!). Here's the stuff to do that, and you're thingy should look like this now. Scoot your image up to the top so you only have empty space at the bottom, like this. If any excess from the texture or something needs to be deleted, go ahead and do that.

Next, decide what color you want the background color of your table to be. I always use a color from the picture, normally something dark that matches the bottom of the headder image. use the turkey baster looking tool, get your color, and click on that BLANK (very important!) layer. Fill that in with the color, like this.

Step #4:[/u] Now, get your eraser tool that's soft at the edges. If it's a solid eraser, it wont work. Make it pretty big so it erases evenly. Carefully blend in the bottom of your headder image with your eraser. Try to make it as even as you can. You should look something like this now.

Step #5:[/u] And the box thing you've all been asking about! Grab another color from your top image that you think will go nice. Get a rectangle maker (I have a rounded edge one that's nice, if you have that you can use that!) and make the shape going across the bottom of your headder image where you erased. Leave some room on the sides and try to get it as even as you can and also in the middle. You can leave it solid, but if you want you can mess with the opacity of that too to get something like this. If you leave it solid, it should look like this.

Step #6:[/u] Box boarder. This is also optional, but it drives me nuts if there isn't one. This is actually probably the hardest and most irritating way to do this, but I can't figure out any other way. First, merge all your layers. Make a new blank layer and put it behind the merged layers. Next, pick another color and fill it in. It can be anything from the top image, but I like using black a lot. That's just me. lol Here's that so far.

Next, zoom in and get your rectangular selection tool. Select the edges of the box and ignore the corners for now (unless you have a regular rectangle, then it should be self-explanatory from here). Delete the area you have selected. I normally leave them at one pixel. You should have something like this.

Now, take your pencil tool and make it one pxl (or the same number that you made the boarder). Your color should still be the same as the background's background (lol) but if not, change it back. Very carefully connect the deleted parts you made with a diagonal line. Some people worry about the lines not being the same length, but its such a small detail normally no one notices. I'd guarantee that if I've made a table for you, if you zoom in, they're not even. lol Now you should have this!

Step #7:[/u] Full boarder. I forget to do this on some of the tables, but am normally too lazy to fix them when I have them all up and posted. This is also optional, I guess, and there's two ways to do it. First is the way Flight taught me (if I remember correctly). Click ctrl+A, which should select your whole image. Make sure your color is what you want it to be (I normally use black or the same as the box background), and then click Select on your top menu where the File, edit, image, blah blah list is. Scroll down to where it says "Modify". Then click Boarder and make it say 1 pxl. Next go to Edit, and scroll down to where it says "Fill Selection". Make sure it says Foreground color, and hit Ok. Now you should have a nice little boarder! Go ahead and deselect your image.

Now, if none of that made any sense, you can make your boarder the same way you made the box boarder. If you haven't merged or flattened your layers, you don't need to make a new one. If you have, then make a new blank layer, put it behind everything again, and fill it with the color you want. Next, get that same rectangle tool and select the edges of the whole image. I normally use one pxl, again. Hit the delete button, and then you should have a boarder! Deselect it.

Step #8:[/u] Text. Ugh, I HATE this part and depending on who you are and how good you are, it can take five minutes or an hour (in my case). This, honestly, you can do however you want. I don't think I need to explain this much, but if I'm wrong let me know.

Step #9:[/u] Splitting your image into a table. By now you should have something like this. If not and I lost you at some part, let me know because then I'm most likely going to lose someone else too when they read this. Tables are made from three different parts, a top image, a middle image, and a bottom image. Your top image must have everything you want in the top of the image, and same for the bottom. The middle image will be repeated over and over again, stacked on top of itself, to make the middle (text) area of the table. You can't have anything in the middle image text-wise, cause it will just look messed up.

Cut your table into three parts and save each one individually. I normally crop my image, save it, and then hit undo to get my whole one back again. Mine has been cut like this, and this is my top, middle, and bottom images. Now, upload them.

Step #10:[/u] Then you have all your coding. I'm a terrible coder and a friend of mine gave me the code I use, and of course you guys are free to use it to. I can normally tell where something goes wrong and how in a code, but I can't always fix it so if you mess something up, just go ahead and start the code over. Here is where your image urls go. (ignore that it says's Erebus, I just took it from there lol)

Next for the coding, get your text colors! You'll need two, one for your character's speech and one for your regular writing. If your table is dark colored, use a light color text and vise-versa. I usually take the colors I use from the picture of the character. Get the turkey baster looking tool again and click somewhere that you think will be a good color. Next click on the color of the...box...thing...and a window should pop up that can give you the HEX code, which should be a series of 6 numbers and letters that represent that exact shade of color. Here's all that stuff. Put your HEX codes where they belong in your code and...You have a table.

I hoped this helped more than confuse you more. This is my first tutorial for anything, so if I left stuff out let me know! Since our programs are probably different, try playing around and looking for the things I've talked about for a little while before asking me about it. It always feels great to solve your own problems, and you'll remember stuff better that way too. Also, check the other questions before you post one! It might have already been asked and answered already. =)[/blockquote][/blockquote][/sup]