Closed WIPs

by **tmscrapbook** » May Sat 09, 2020 11:52 am

I agree with Danielle. I think a continuation of the spine onto the back would really look nice

by **bankska22** » May Sat 09, 2020 12:49 pm

Looking good!!!

by **stardragon9** » May Sat 09, 2020 2:20 pm

tmscrapbook wrote:Have you thought about using a black "galaxy" background on the back instead of white?

chouette wrote:Agree with Pam, black might be better or that navy color you have on the spine. Anyway, love where this is going!

tmscrapbook wrote:I agree with Danielle. I think a continuation of the spine onto the back would really look nice

I am keeping it white on the back to match what the original vhs covers were. There was one point where I tried different backgrounds but I didn't like it as much. I appreciate the suggestion though.

chefjoe wrote:Looks good my friend, sorry I couldn't explain better, I shy away from most since I use a Mac, and most of you are stuck on PC's hehe!

No worries chef. I'm really glad you made the suggestion, otherwise I would not have learned the trick I have (even if I have to use a slightly more complicated work around).

by **stardragon9** » May Wed 13, 2020 11:38 am

Since the front looks pretty good, I'm turning my attention to the back. Here is the result so far:

I should have the synopsis and episode list done soon.

by **stardragon9** » May Mon 25, 2020 5:18 pm

Decided that the top picture was a little washed out so I messed with the contrast, brightness and saturation to try and bring out the color. I think it worked pretty good. Here is the update:

I am hoping to have the synopsis and episode list done soon. Thank you again for the help everyone, these covers are turning out way better than I had imagined!

by **stardragon9** » May Sun 31, 2020 1:55 pm

Well, I feel like a jerk. I know that I said a couple responses ago that I just wanted to keep the back a plain white, but I couldn't get it out of my head that I may be wrong. I decided to try again with the suggestions on extending the star field to the back from the spine. I also played with the brightness as well. Here are the results (one with the original star field and one with the background darkened a little):

Version 1 (no filters):

Version 2 (brightness filter applied):

I know this is for season 1 but I wanted to give the back another shot. I will still make one version of the cover with the plain white background, but I wanted to try to apply the other suggestions people had. Let me know what you think, or if there is something else I can put on the back. Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions and for being patient with me.

by **ctaulbee** » May Sun 31, 2020 2:43 pm

One little trick when adding text to a background like a starfield is to add a glow round the text using the main dark color in the background, this adds contrast to the text and makes it easier to read by removing the little star pin lights between the lines and words.

Example

Here is the PSD file used in this example.

starfield-example.zip: (2.04 MiB) Downloaded 3 times

by **chouette** » May Sun 31, 2020 2:50 pm

stardragon9 wrote:Well, I feel like a jerk.

You should know by now to trust the ladies, lol - Kidding aside, I love the dark background, looks really nice!

That's a cool trick CT, thanks!!

by **stardragon9** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:19 pm

ctaulbee wrote:One little trick when adding text to a background like a starfield is to add a glow round the text using the main dark color in the background, this adds contrast to the text and makes it easier to read by removing the little star pin lights between the lines and words.

Example

The attachment starfield-example.jpg is no longer available

Here is the PSD file used in this example.

The attachment starfield-example.zip is no longer available

Like so?

: Star Trek Seasons 1 and 2.jpg (426.2 KiB) Viewed 1307 times

I have never used outer glows before on text, so something new to learn.

chouette wrote:You should know by now to trust the ladies, lol - Kidding aside, I love the dark background, looks really nice!

Thanks chouette.

by **ctaulbee** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:20 pm

Still have the stars showing in-between lines and words.

by **stardragon9** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:23 pm

ctaulbee wrote:Still have the stars showing in-between lines and words.

I see what you mean but no matter what I do with messing with the settings on the glow, the stars still show through. What am I doing wrong? :-?

by **ctaulbee** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:25 pm

Probably need to look at the settings I used, specifically the spread.

This is why I included the PSD.

You can copy the layer style in my example, paste on the text in yours then adjust the color to match your bg, and tweak the other settings as needed.

by **stardragon9** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:38 pm

ctaulbee wrote:Probably need to look at the settings I used, specifically the spread.

This is why I included the PSD.

You can copy the layer style in my example, paste on the text in yours then adjust the color to match your bg, and tweak the other settings as needed.

Okay, I am still confused. Here are the setting that I can mess with in my version of Photoshop elements:

Settings from your file:

Settings from my cover:

I don't see what else I can do. Sorry, not trying to be difficult. Plus I figured showing screenshots might help.

by **ctaulbee** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:42 pm

I see, I did not know you did not have Photoshop it has more settings, you may not be able to get there from here.

by **stardragon9** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:45 pm

That's okay ct. That's why I get frustrated sometimes. Elements is all I am able to afford for right now but it does not have all the features of the full version of photoshop. Maybe I should use simply a solid dark color instead (a blue to match the spine)?

by **ctaulbee** » May Sun 31, 2020 3:47 pm

You might be able to use a stroke and a glow together to get sort of the same effect.

I have never used Elements so I can't really speak to what it can or cannot do or how.

by **stardragon9** » May Sun 31, 2020 4:03 pm

ctaulbee wrote:You might be able to use a stroke and a glow together to get sort of the same effect.

I tried that and I think you may be right. Here is the result of the stroke and glow attempt:

: Star Trek Seasons 1 and 2.jpg (349.57 KiB) Viewed 1296 times

It seems to work like what you had.

by **chouette** » May Sun 31, 2020 4:29 pm

by **bewarethebeastman** » Jun Tue 02, 2020 8:37 am

Looks like that did the trick! I'd apply the same effect to the episode titles.

I'd also inch down the title of "space the final frontier" slightly so it's not so close to the top picture. For the thumbnail strokes i'd try and see how a yellow color looks (similar to kirks shirt on the front cover). The primary red and blues kinda clash. BUT, you are going for a retro VHS vibe so could go either way.

by **stardragon9** » Jun Tue 02, 2020 10:16 pm

bewarethebeastman wrote:Looks like that did the trick! I'd apply the same effect to the episode titles.

I'd also inch down the title of "space the final frontier" slightly so it's not so close to the top picture. For the thumbnail strokes i'd try and see how a yellow color looks (similar to kirks shirt on the front cover). The primary red and blues kinda clash. BUT, you are going for a retro VHS vibe so could go either way.

I went ahead an applied the effect to the episode titles as well. As for movie the text down, I tired by it messed up the spacing that I wanted for the synopsis so I left it the way it was. On using the yellow, I tried different yellow colors and didn't like how they looked so I just left them with the red. I appreciate the suggestions though. The star field covers for seasons 1 & 2 have been posted and the plain vhs cover for season 2 as well. Season three should be done soon, so I am going to start moving this thread toward hammering the covers out for 'the next generation.' I should have a preview for the first season up soon for critique. Thanks again everyone for helping me get these covers to be better than they started.

by **tmscrapbook** » Jun Tue 02, 2020 10:22 pm

They turned out GREAT. I really prefer the galaxy (stars) background over the white, but that's just my opinion.

by **stardragon9** » Jun Wed 03, 2020 6:54 pm

tmscrapbook wrote:They turned out GREAT. I really prefer the galaxy (stars) background over the white, but that's just my opinion.

No worries. That is why I decided to make both, gives everyone an option.

I have posted the season 3 covers. Here is the start to my Next Generation covers:

Star Trek TNG Mid 80s Paramount BR Cover.jpg

I darkened the area around the characters and the ship to draw more attention to them. I also changed the blu ray logo on the spine to be on the starfleet communicator logo (although I may change it back to the standard blu ray logo and find a png of the silver communicator logo to place above it). The only issue I am having is on the title on the front. The spine seems fine for now but I am willing to change it. Any suggestions on what to do? Many thanks!

by **ctaulbee** » Jun Wed 03, 2020 11:13 pm

I'm not really bothered by it, seems to work okay, could add a texture to it I suppose if you wanted.

by **ctaulbee** » Jun Wed 03, 2020 11:22 pm

stardragon9 wrote:
ctaulbee wrote:You might be able to use a stroke and a glow together to get sort of the same effect.

I tried that and I think you may be right. Here is the result of the stroke and glow attempt:

Star Trek Seasons 1 and 2.jpg

It seems to work like what you had.

Sorry for the delay on reply, busy busy busy lol, yes that looks good right there :-$