Making a Sig/Tutorial
Posted 02-10-2009 at 07:18 AM by Agent-47
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nutter
This was a reply to a PM not long ago. When I do get some time (which I never seem to have much of) I was going to expand on it a bit more.
Hey mate,
Making a tut isn't really as straight forward as it sounds. :? I know it all looks good, but every tutorial looks completely different, so that's where your creativity comes in. :)
(Also explains why I had so much trouble trying to write a tut on how to make tutorials. :()
What I usually do when I start up is just apply a simple coloured background or basic layout, then list my steps in. *2000x600* is a good size. You can increase the size by using *Image->Canvas size*... that way your not cramming things into a small or large area.
The reason why I start at 2000 is because I can place the first 2 to 3 steps, and start to create a design layout to suit it. This then gives me a few ideas on what the final look will be like.
By using textures and gradients, you can make the most simple looking tutorial look so much more professional... well as long as you don't over do it.
This tut will explain what a texture can do to an image: [Link]
So let's assume you have a textured background and your steps, the next thing you will probably want to change is the font. When choosing a font, always think of clarity and simplicity.
These are not the sort of Fonts I'd use: [Link], [Link], [Link]
The reason why I say this is because they are slightly designed. As a heading, they are perfect!, but for a document, so to speak, they look confusing and busy. People will want to look at the font more then the text.
The Serif range of fonts is a better choice [Link]. This range is actually designed for reading. They are very close to what normal letters look like and they aren't chaotic.
On the topic of text. Always separate steps clearly, make notes for people to see, highlight key details and remember your grammar and spelling. Even while writing this message, I use the Firefox Spell check. The truth is that my spelling is absolutely appalling. In this paragraph, I have underlined the words I spelt wrong. I actually make these mistakes all the time. Barely scraped in for a C in English at school... and it's the only language I know. Also, never assume that people will understand all your explanations. Try to imagine that they have an IQ of 70 and freak out at complex details. :lol:
That's the basics, for effects, you have to think about some things and look at other's tutorials and try out a few things. Don't copy their tutorials exactly... like what happened to me :(... but sometimes seeing what others do may spark some ideas.
One of my tuts [Link] used the idea of Arrows because the name was "Find your way Around". So arrows were used like in a map theme. The background was a design I made up, but it was inspired by Jean designs and stitching.
If you have a look that tut, you will notice that without some of the effects, it would look quite boring.
That's all I can think of at the moment. :? It's quite interesting how much detail you can put into these things. My Kirby tutorial took longer to design then to write. :p I also changed the entire layout half a dozen times. One of my mates told me to stop changing it when I showed him. :lol:
Oh... on that. always get a mate to read over the tut. There will always be something that they will see, like a repeated step, layout problems, bad explanation, etc. On my Kirby Tut, I at one stage had the same step twice and didn't realise.
Anyway, I hope that helps. The main key is to 'design'. I know I said a few things like "Don't choose this text", but the beauty about art is that rules can be broken and you can get away with it.
That textures tut I showed above is a great example. It does not follow the standard pattern, and looks so good.
Here are some other examples of some cool tuts: [Link]-[Link]-[Link]-[Link]
Anyway... I'll shut up now :p
Nutter
Hey mate,
Making a tut isn't really as straight forward as it sounds. :? I know it all looks good, but every tutorial looks completely different, so that's where your creativity comes in. :)
(Also explains why I had so much trouble trying to write a tut on how to make tutorials. :()
What I usually do when I start up is just apply a simple coloured background or basic layout, then list my steps in. *2000x600* is a good size. You can increase the size by using *Image->Canvas size*... that way your not cramming things into a small or large area.
The reason why I start at 2000 is because I can place the first 2 to 3 steps, and start to create a design layout to suit it. This then gives me a few ideas on what the final look will be like.
By using textures and gradients, you can make the most simple looking tutorial look so much more professional... well as long as you don't over do it.
This tut will explain what a texture can do to an image: [Link]
So let's assume you have a textured background and your steps, the next thing you will probably want to change is the font. When choosing a font, always think of clarity and simplicity.
These are not the sort of Fonts I'd use: [Link], [Link], [Link]
The reason why I say this is because they are slightly designed. As a heading, they are perfect!, but for a document, so to speak, they look confusing and busy. People will want to look at the font more then the text.
The Serif range of fonts is a better choice [Link]. This range is actually designed for reading. They are very close to what normal letters look like and they aren't chaotic.
On the topic of text. Always separate steps clearly, make notes for people to see, highlight key details and remember your grammar and spelling. Even while writing this message, I use the Firefox Spell check. The truth is that my spelling is absolutely appalling. In this paragraph, I have underlined the words I spelt wrong. I actually make these mistakes all the time. Barely scraped in for a C in English at school... and it's the only language I know. Also, never assume that people will understand all your explanations. Try to imagine that they have an IQ of 70 and freak out at complex details. :lol:
That's the basics, for effects, you have to think about some things and look at other's tutorials and try out a few things. Don't copy their tutorials exactly... like what happened to me :(... but sometimes seeing what others do may spark some ideas.
One of my tuts [Link] used the idea of Arrows because the name was "Find your way Around". So arrows were used like in a map theme. The background was a design I made up, but it was inspired by Jean designs and stitching.
If you have a look that tut, you will notice that without some of the effects, it would look quite boring.
That's all I can think of at the moment. :? It's quite interesting how much detail you can put into these things. My Kirby tutorial took longer to design then to write. :p I also changed the entire layout half a dozen times. One of my mates told me to stop changing it when I showed him. :lol:
Oh... on that. always get a mate to read over the tut. There will always be something that they will see, like a repeated step, layout problems, bad explanation, etc. On my Kirby Tut, I at one stage had the same step twice and didn't realise.
Anyway, I hope that helps. The main key is to 'design'. I know I said a few things like "Don't choose this text", but the beauty about art is that rules can be broken and you can get away with it.
That textures tut I showed above is a great example. It does not follow the standard pattern, and looks so good.
Here are some other examples of some cool tuts: [Link]-[Link]-[Link]-[Link]
Anyway... I'll shut up now :p
Nutter
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