[Zarziza]

would love to hear what you think of my latest siggies? Any improvements? room for more? As all of you know getting your siggies nom is an extra confidense booster and i think i may be the least nommed maker of you all! I kinda think my siggies have improved, i do cutouts and they aren't too bad i think although i know some advanced makers will find flaws in it, but won't say anything. i also have been doing photo editing before using the given pics in siggies. I'd rather know how i can improve coz i love doing the siggies, it is such a feel good factor and it will make me feel immencely proud getting a few noms here and there. what makes you nom a siggy? do you look at the layouts, quality? or variety of elements? Colours? i am really curious plz!!
so what do you think?

my latest ones are in my gallery and link is in my siggy. thankyou very much ladies.

xxnaz

[claire1979]

me too lol

ill look in your gallery hun, but im by no means an expert so may not know any cc

[*Kiliki*]

something that pops out to me is the photo editing....some pics still seem rather dark....whereas others are brighter...i would work on trying to get all pics at or near the same level of brightness

[Zarziza]

thank you claire and kristy,. Which siggy were you referring to kristy?

[Julka]

Naz, I think you make great siggies!

The main thing that jumps at me is your siggies seem a little unbalanced. For example, if you look at the siggy Heather made you - there is stuff in the center, and then on both sides, balancing it out. Balanced does not have to be symmetrical or anything, just so the items are balanced on both sides. Examples:



This siggy is beautiful, but I would balance it out. You have a very big photo and then a very small photo and I think if maybe you added something on the right side to balance out the smaller photo, it would look better. Also, try using cleaner brushes in the background.

This siggy is well balanced:



But it looks like in the 2nd photo from the left, the little girl is sitting on air. If there was maybe "ground" element placed under her, it would work better. Also, adding a white stroke to fonts makes them pop more, and the birthdate isn't all that important, so making it tiny and sticking it in some "hole"s somewhere would be better, it doesn't need to stand out so much.

Um...

Also, a few of your siggies are a bit on the vertical side, i.e. #84, 86, 87. Try doing more horizonal siggies, requesters prefer them over vertical ones.

I am not sure what else. You're making great siggies! Hope this helps a bit.

[Zarziza]

Thank you so much Julka!! I really appreciate the tips and coming from you experts one is even better!!

i edited the siggy above, i was not sure what you meant by ground so i made kinda like a shodow..

ty again

[...::Tiffany::...]

I ditto a lot of what Julia said. Now, before I start, please note, I am by no means actually GOOD at siggy making LoL Honesly, I get nom'd a lot less than you, thank you very much But, I digress.

I think probably my biggest cc is photo editing and placement. Your photos do look a little dark or un-uniformed (like one photo is dark and other is light in the same siggy.. ie #93. See how the 2 end ones are redder in tint and the middle is a bit greener?) So, I would try bumping up the curves and working with color balance to even them out. Also, maybe try Reduce Noise or Surface Blur if you use PS.. I'm not sure what program you use, though.

Ok, balance. Take #88. I ADORE that siggy. Love love love it. But, say, #92.. see how you have that round photo in the top left just kind of up by itself? It would probably look better placed around the bottom right to make it more horizontal and more balanced.

Ok, I rambled.. lol And like I said, I know I'm not Sharon or Julia or Natasha or Trish, but I thought I'd give it a go and give you some cc that I can see Most of your work is really really good, though.

[Zarziza]

here is an edited version of the other one you mentioned and yes it looks better with something there. i did not ssave it in psd so can;t edit it properly but i see what you mean. thank you julka..



made the teddy smaller...

[Zarziza]

i see what you mean tiffany, i really appreciate you taking the time and ty for the cc. i am learning to see my siggies from someone elses eyes and what i thought look fine at the time looking back now i see it needed something there.

[*Kiliki*]

like in this one the pic on the far left looks much darker compared to the other 2...maybe also trying playing with the contrst/saturation etc....to take out the orangey tints to the pics

[Zarziza]

thank you kristy. i did not see the difference until i played with the contrast/brightness.
edited.

[Jaidynsmum]

Can't really add anything more to what's been said, not that I would have said any of it as I can never put constructive criticism into words If someone wants cc and i see there is something 'not quite right' about it, I can never actually put my finger on what needs changed until someone else points it out and I think "That's it!" I'm completely hopeless

As for what I look for in siggies that I nom, there are various things. It could be the photo editing that really makes the siggy stand out, or it could be a real cute kit that catches my eye. Sometimes it's the fact that I look at a siggy and think I could never in a million years come up with something that even comes close to it and so I nom through sheer envy

Your siggies are great and as we're always told practice, practice, practice!

[Zarziza]

thankyou yvonne for the tips

[misfitinmn]

I, also, am definitely no expert, but here are my suggestions:
1 - if you don't want to add a "ground" element, definitely shadows below the cut-out are good, however don't make the entire shadow below the cutout or it looks like she is levitating. Also, make sure none of the background elements go below where she is "sitting", unless it's a ground element. That was kind of hard to explain, so I hope it made sense.

2 - I, personally, try not to put text over certain elements. I will put text over like...papers and frames, but if there is a cutout or a leaf or something "3-D" looking, I will not put text over it.
for example:

I would move the text on the top that's going over the ribbon, to below it. And I would move the name "Luke" so that none of it is overlapping the presents.

Again, it's hard for me to know if my CC is just because of personal preference, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. You do a great job on siggies!

[Zarziza]

thank you sara. it does help hun. so i appreciate your input. every little bit of info and advice helps me see what i am doing wrong. these may be small things but i know when edited will make a big difference.
xx

What I've noticed more than anything, is that when you're playing with the coloring to the pictures, they tend to appear 'washed out'. They don't always look very natural. They sort of have this, pinkish coloring to them that almost seems greyish? Like in the siggy that Sara used as an example. The girls faces don't look...natural. Do you know what I'm saying?

Aside from that, I would try putting your text closer to your siggies. They seem a little distant, but that might just be my preference, I don't know.

I think you do an awesome job with your siggies Naz!! You've been given some awesome CC. I would be afraid to have anyone CC my siggies!

I hope that I've helped!

[BAM]

I love your siggys Naz, I think you do very well. I agree with Julia on the balance and I do notice that the cut outs need to be cleaner, on some cutouts you can still see specks of the background on the cutout. Using a softer brush around the edges would also benefit.

[Zarziza]

thank you chelsie and Bam! i really appreaciate your input. i love these cc, i wsould never have seen these if i'd try hard to see what i was doing wrong.

[BAM]

You know how I make sure a cut out is clean cut? After I initially cut it out I put it on a black background (if the background was originally lighter in color kwim?) It makes all the left over bits really stand out and makes it so easy to clean it up.

[Zarziza]

thank you Bam, i have always shy-ed away from cutouts coz i'm just too rubbish at them. but i think doing a few will help and yes i will put a dark bg to see if it's clean. I love the kit i just downloaded today from you know who and i will attempt to make zareenah's birthday siggy with one or 2 cutouts!! we'll see!!