It's really easy to download Photoshop on the internet. The only qualifications are:
-You're name can't be Timothy.
-You can't live in Texas.
-You cant listen to shitty country music.
So of course, I downloaded it easily, but for you, Timothy, well....there might be a few issues.
But in all seriousness, you probably could download PS illegally. The real version can run you $400+. I get all the latest versions for free because my dad works in the advertising industry. But as an alternative to PS, you should try
GIMP<<<Click it. It's basically a clone of Photoshop, although it is missing a few advanced features. Give it a try. The link I gave you takes you right to the download page for Windows.
@Travis O'Kane: Well I can't make a tutorial video because I'm so damn lazy. But I'll describe to you what I did to make that sig.
-The main part of the background (not including the burst of light in the middle) is just one picture. However, the picture was so small that if I would've stretched it, it would become distorted. But I really liked that picture and I wanted to use it. So basically, I just repeated the same image from left to right about 4 or so times. You can't really tell, can you. After that was done, I blurred the entire background, so the light burst in the middle, the T2O Aceofwar text, and the soldier silhouette would "pop out" more (visually of course, not literally).
-The big star lookin' thing in the middle is actually a filter which I downloaded called "SuperNova" It is similar to the standard PS lense flare, but much more dramatic. I then adjusted the hue of the SuperNova effect to properly compliment the background.
-The silhouette of the soldier was actually, at one time, a regular picture of a soldier. I just found any pic I thought would look cool in the sig. I then cropped the background out of the soldier pic and painted the soldier black.
-The T2O Aceofwar 4L text is the easiest part. However, I didn't wanna use any of the shitty fonts that already come on windows computers, and I certainly didn't wanna use any of the overused Photobucket fonts. There are plenty of sites on the internet dedicated to fonts, and most of them are really cool. One of the best out there is DaFont.com which literally stocks thousands of cool fonts. The particular font I used in Ace's sig is called "Dead Secretary."
-At the end I just made a few minor adjustments o and touch-ups. For example, the edges of the sig fade out, which is something I really like to utilize. The black color of the fade reflects the black color in the soldier, which really ties the whole piece together. There's more things that I did, but I don't feel like getting into it now. This is already getting too long.
Obviously, this mini tutorial is only from an artistic standpoint. In order to actually do this stuff you need to know the functions of Photoshop. I recommend taking a class like Timothy shared in the post above if your school offers it. It's the quickest way to learn. Self teaching would take a long time.
