I need to make this text professional-looking. Any suggestions?

iggy · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:24 pm **(#1)**

GIMP Version: 2.8.14
Operating System: Linux
OS Version: Xubuntu 15.04 Vivid
GIMP Experience: Intermediate Level

I'm not terribly unhappy with this text, but I'd love any suggestions on how to make it look a little better (without going over the top). P.S. I know the "Double D Bar & Grill" needs help and I figured out what to do with that. I'm concerned mostly with "Jamie's Gamble" and my name (Gregg Bell). (And I know my name is too near the bottom.) Thanks.

Attachment:

JAMIESGAMBLEBYME2.jpg [ 846.77 KiB | Viewed 4130 times ]

Wallace · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2015 6:27 pm **(#2)**

Maybe you could try adding a better over all drop shadows to all the text.
The word Gamble could be improved a bit by adding an inner bevel to it. Other then what I've mentioned, I think it looks pretty good.
There's also something called Bevel Reflect Logo that can help give text some real character.
The text below was created using Bevel Reflect Logo. With a drop-shadow added.

Attachment:

JAMIESGAMBLEBYME.png [ 398.41 KiB | Viewed 4099 times ]

iggy · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2015 7:03 pm **(#3)**

Wallace wrote:

Maybe you could try adding a better over all drop shadows to all the text.
The word Gamble could be improved a bit by adding an inner bevel to it. Other then what I've mentioned, I think it looks pretty good.
There's also something called Bevel Reflect Logo that can help give text some real character.
The text below was created using Bevel Reflect Logo. With a drop-shadow added.

Attachment:

The attachment JAMIESGAMBLEBYME.png is no longer available

Thanks Wallace. I'm not big on a lot of drop shadow. I guess I get confused with outlining the text (which when I try it it looks dreadful) and dropshadowing. But without anything most text looks pretty dead in the water. I like the bevel action. It's smart. 3D-ish. Not so sure it's for this cover though.

I re-did things a bit. Added some more white blur radius on "Gamble." I don't know I'm feeling kind of satisfied with this version.

Wallace · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2015 7:23 pm **(#4)**

iggy wrote:

Wallace wrote:

Maybe you could try adding a better over all drop shadows to all the text.
The word Gamble could be improved a bit by adding an inner bevel to it. Other then what I've mentioned, I think it looks pretty good.
There's also something called Bevel Reflect Logo that can help give text some real character.
The text below was created using Bevel Reflect Logo. With a drop-shadow added.

Attachment:

JAMIESGAMBLEBYME.png

Thanks Wallace. I'm not big on a lot of drop shadow. I guess I get confused with outlining the text (which when I try it it looks dreadful) and dropshadowing. But without anything most text looks pretty dead in the water. I like the bevel action. It's smart. 3D-ish. Not so sure it's for this cover though.

I re-did things a bit. Added some more white blur radius on "Gamble." I don't know I'm feeling kind of satisfied with this version.

I felt that it was originally a pretty good looking cover, even with these new changes you've made.
I would go with this cover.

AnMal · **Posted:** Sat Sep 26, 2015 6:48 am **(#5)**

iggy: looks to me like you know what you want, which is the best start you could have for a project

. i like what you did with the discreet white blur and dropshadow and your improvement on the short blurb and "double d bar & grill". good job!

i think if this was my project id put an end to it here, without more changes, and it seems that's what you're aiming to do yourself, so these suggestions are meant for future projects:

1. if just plain text looks too "dead", try playing around more with opacity levels on the layers and on changing layer modes. for example, a very simple thing that i still use after learning much more sophisticated ones, is to just pull down the opacity on my text layer a tiny wee bit to give a hint of the background under it. very often that is enough to take away the "dead" feeling. it's harder to quickly explain what the different layer modes do and how to best use them for a discreet effect, but simply experimenting will take you a long way.
2. i stroke the outline on a separate layer and put that layer below the actual text layer. that way i still have the sharp outline of the actual text, since the outline stroke tends to soften edges up a bit and that's not always what i want. but playing with layer modes and opacity on the outline stroke is also useful - sometimes i leave the outline stroke on top, blur it a little, set it to "overlay" and delete or mask off anything outside the actual text and adjust opacity til i'm happy. that gives me a very discreet edging on my text that's not quite an outline or a 3d type effect, but a subtle hint of both.

hope that did something for your imagination and good luck with your future ebook covers!

saulgoode · **Posted:** Sat Sep 26, 2015 7:51 am **(#6)**

I would suggest adding just a slight amount of shadow around the text so that it stands out a little bit more from the lighter parts of the image.

Attachment:

slight-shadow.jpg [ 283.39 KiB | Viewed 4002 times ]

The above effect is made more subtle (and organic) by having the shadow most pronounced where the image is lighter. Here is the shadow by itself.

Attachment:

just-shadow.jpg [ 262.04 KiB | Viewed 4002 times ]

This was accomplished by

Duplicating the original layer.
Setting the opacity of the duplicate layer to 50%
Performing a drop shadow on the text layer with offsets of "0".
Performing Alpha to Selection on the shadow layer.
Hiding (or deleting) the shadow layer. It is only needed for the selection.
Performing "Colors->Value Invert" on the duplicate layer.
Performing Alpha to Selection on the text layer.
Adding a layer mask to the duplicate layer initialized to the selection.
Changing the opacity of the text layer to 98%.

iggy · **Posted:** Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:58 pm **(#7)**

Wallace wrote:

iggy wrote:

Wallace wrote:

Maybe you could try adding a better over all drop shadows to all the text.
The word Gamble could be improved a bit by adding an inner bevel to it. Other then what I've mentioned, I think it looks pretty good.
There's also something called Bevel Reflect Logo that can help give text some real character.
The text below was created using Bevel Reflect Logo. With a drop-shadow added.

Attachment:

JAMIESGAMBLEBYME.png

Thanks Wallace. I'm not big on a lot of drop shadow. I guess I get confused with outlining the text (which when I try it it looks dreadful) and dropshadowing. But without anything most text looks pretty dead in the water. I like the bevel action. It's smart. 3D-ish. Not so sure it's for this cover though.

I re-did things a bit. Added some more white blur radius on "Gamble." I don't know I'm feeling kind of satisfied with this version.

I felt that it was originally a pretty good looking cover, even with these new changes you've made.
I would go with this cover.

Thanks.

iggy · **Posted:** Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:59 pm **(#8)**

AnMal wrote:

iggy: looks to me like you know what you want, which is the best start you could have for a project

. i like what you did with the discreet white blur and dropshadow and your improvement on the short blurb and "double d bar & grill". good job!

i think if this was my project id put an end to it here, without more changes, and it seems that's what you're aiming to do yourself, so these suggestions are meant for future projects:

1. if just plain text looks too "dead", try playing around more with opacity levels on the layers and on changing layer modes. for example, a very simple thing that i still use after learning much more sophisticated ones, is to just pull down the opacity on my text layer a tiny wee bit to give a hint of the background under it. very often that is enough to take away the "dead" feeling. it's harder to quickly explain what the different layer modes do and how to best use them for a discreet effect, but simply experimenting will take you a long way.
2. i stroke the outline on a separate layer and put that layer below the actual text layer. that way i still have the sharp outline of the actual text, since the outline stroke tends to soften edges up a bit and that's not always what i want. but playing with layer modes and opacity on the outline stroke is also useful - sometimes i leave the outline stroke on top, blur it a little, set it to "overlay" and delete or mask off anything outside the actual text and adjust opacity til i'm happy. that gives me a very discreet edging on my text that's not quite an outline or a 3d type effect, but a subtle hint of both.

hope that did something for your imagination and good luck with your future ebook covers!

Thanks Anmal. This is just the sort of nuanced thing I've been looking for (but didn't know where to find). I am going to experiment with all of your suggestions. Great.

iggy · **Posted:** Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:00 pm **(#9)**

saulgoode wrote:

I would suggest adding just a slight amount of shadow around the text so that it stands out a little bit more from the lighter parts of the image.

Attachment:

slight-shadow.jpg

The above effect is made more subtle (and organic) by having the shadow most pronounced where the image is lighter. Here is the shadow by itself.

Attachment:

just-shadow.jpg

This was accomplished by

Duplicating the original layer.
Setting the opacity of the duplicate layer to 50%
Performing a drop shadow on the text layer with offsets of "0".
Performing Alpha to Selection on the shadow layer.
Hiding (or deleting) the shadow layer. It is only needed for the selection.
Performing "Colors->Value Invert" on the duplicate layer.
Performing Alpha to Selection on the text layer.
Adding a layer mask to the duplicate layer initialized to the selection.
Changing the opacity of the text layer to 98%.

Thanks saul. I like it. I'm going to try it. It makes sense and looks good. Appreciate it. And thanks for the detailed steps.

iggy · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:35 pm **(#10)**

AnMal wrote:

iggy: looks to me like you know what you want, which is the best start you could have for a project

. i like what you did with the discreet white blur and dropshadow and your improvement on the short blurb and "double d bar & grill". good job!

i think if this was my project id put an end to it here, without more changes, and it seems that's what you're aiming to do yourself, so these suggestions are meant for future projects:

1. if just plain text looks too "dead", try playing around more with opacity levels on the layers and on changing layer modes. for example, a very simple thing that i still use after learning much more sophisticated ones, is to just pull down the opacity on my text layer a tiny wee bit to give a hint of the background under it. very often that is enough to take away the "dead" feeling. it's harder to quickly explain what the different layer modes do and how to best use them for a discreet effect, but simply experimenting will take you a long way.
2. i stroke the outline on a separate layer and put that layer below the actual text layer. that way i still have the sharp outline of the actual text, since the outline stroke tends to soften edges up a bit and that's not always what i want. but playing with layer modes and opacity on the outline stroke is also useful - sometimes i leave the outline stroke on top, blur it a little, set it to "overlay" and delete or mask off anything outside the actual text and adjust opacity til i'm happy. that gives me a very discreet edging on my text that's not quite an outline or a 3d type effect, but a subtle hint of both.

hope that did something for your imagination and good luck with your future ebook covers!

Thanks Anmal. I was able to do everything but that very last bit ("delete or mask off anything outside the actual text"). Maybe you could explain how to do that? And I'm going to use that outlining bit on "Jamie's." It looks so much better (with a black stroke outline) especially against all that white smoke that is behind it. Thanks!

iggy · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:25 pm **(#11)**

AnMal wrote:

iggy: looks to me like you know what you want, which is the best start you could have for a project

. i like what you did with the discreet white blur and dropshadow and your improvement on the short blurb and "double d bar & grill". good job!

i think if this was my project id put an end to it here, without more changes, and it seems that's what you're aiming to do yourself, so these suggestions are meant for future projects:

1. if just plain text looks too "dead", try playing around more with opacity levels on the layers and on changing layer modes. for example, a very simple thing that i still use after learning much more sophisticated ones, is to just pull down the opacity on my text layer a tiny wee bit to give a hint of the background under it. very often that is enough to take away the "dead" feeling. it's harder to quickly explain what the different layer modes do and how to best use them for a discreet effect, but simply experimenting will take you a long way.
2. i stroke the outline on a separate layer and put that layer below the actual text layer. that way i still have the sharp outline of the actual text, since the outline stroke tends to soften edges up a bit and that's not always what i want. but playing with layer modes and opacity on the outline stroke is also useful - sometimes i leave the outline stroke on top, blur it a little, set it to "overlay" and delete or mask off anything outside the actual text and adjust opacity til i'm happy. that gives me a very discreet edging on my text that's not quite an outline or a 3d type effect, but a subtle hint of both.

hope that did something for your imagination and good luck with your future ebook covers!

Okay here are the results. (the before and after to "Jamie's" text) It's much better your way! Thank you!

iggy · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:35 pm **(#12)**

saulgoode wrote:

I would suggest adding just a slight amount of shadow around the text so that it stands out a little bit more from the lighter parts of the image.

Attachment:

The attachment slight-shadow.jpg is no longer available

The above effect is made more subtle (and organic) by having the shadow most pronounced where the image is lighter. Here is the shadow by itself.

Attachment:

The attachment just-shadow.jpg is no longer available

This was accomplished by

Duplicating the original layer.
Setting the opacity of the duplicate layer to 50%
Performing a drop shadow on the text layer with offsets of "0".
Performing Alpha to Selection on the shadow layer.
Hiding (or deleting) the shadow layer. It is only needed for the selection.
Performing "Colors->Value Invert" on the duplicate layer.
Performing Alpha to Selection on the text layer.
Adding a layer mask to the duplicate layer initialized to the selection.
Changing the opacity of the text layer to 98%.

Okay, did it, Saul. It looks great! Thanks so much!

saulgoode · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 12:05 am **(#13)**

I would make one final suggestion. If you look closely at the photograph of the building, the camera's focus appears to be set to the bathtub in the foreground, whereas the front of the building (which is about ten feet further back) is a bit out of focus. Since your "DOUBLE D" text is supposed be painted on the front of the building, it should likewise be a bit out of focus. Therefore I recommend adding just a bit of gaussion blur (0.7 radius or thereabouts) to just the "DOUBLE D BAR & GRILL" text layer so that it blends in more naturally with the rest of the storefront.

iggy · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 1:35 am **(#14)**

saulgoode wrote:

I would make one final suggestion. If you look closely at the photograph of the building, the camera's focus appears to be set to the bathtub in the foreground, whereas the front of the building (which is about ten feet further back) is a bit out of focus. Since your "DOUBLE D" text is supposed be painted on the front of the building, it should likewise be a bit out of focus. Therefore I recommend adding just a bit of gaussion blur (0.7 radius or thereabouts) to just the "DOUBLE D BAR & GRILL" text layer so that it blends in more naturally with the rest of the storefront.

Great catch, Saul. Thanks. I knew the clarity of that red text (in Double D Bar & Grill) bothered me (with the rest of the building and everything else being so drab), so this is perfect. .7 wasn't noticeable. I settled on 3.0.