Creating your Own Siggy!

Here's what you're making:


Yup, here it is. Finally. The long-awaited pyro-sig tutorial. I didn't even want to write a tutorial on this, but was suckered into it by countless requests, both in the main forum as well as private messages. A few emails even came my way... weird. To be perfectly honest, I don't think this is actually worth a full-blown tutorial, but hey, anything to keep y'all happy...

These instructions are to create an exact duplicate of my signature. Obviously, you just might want to change something or other, especially the name... unless you're the nitwit who keeps stealing my username on other forums. And deviantART. Grr.

Plugins and fonts needed:
Paint.NET
Gradient Bars
Outline Object
Water Reflection
Evanescent (TrueType Font)
Optional:
Curves+
Gradient Mapping
Conditional Hue/Saturation

The procedure:

Notes:
-All given sizes are in PIXELS.
-Until step 11, you should keep your Primary color set to BLACK and your Secondary color set to WHITE. From that point on, colors don't matter, but if you change the colors before then, there's a good chance things won't work out.
-All given settings for plugins are APPROXIMATE, and you may have to experiment a tiny bit to get the look exactly right.

THE BACKGROUND

1 - Create a new image, 1000x200.
File -> New...


2 - Select the top half of your image
Tool: -> Rectangle Select
-Your selection should span the whole width of your image, and go from the very top to about halfway down. You can use the text in the Status Bar to help you select the correct height


3 - Run Gradient Bars
Effects -> Render -> Gradient Bars...
-Set the alignment to Bottom, Scale to 150%, and play with the seed value until you like the look


4 - Create a new layer
Layers -> Add New Layer

5 - Draw a gradient across the image
Tool: -> Gradient, Linear(Reflected)
-Start your gradient from the middle of the image and drag it across to either the right or left edge


6 - Set the Blending Mode of the top layer to Color Burn
Layers -> Layer Properties...
-Depending on your gradient, there may be a black bar in the bottom half of your image. Ignore it; it'll disappear in step 9.


7 - Merge the layers
Layers -> Merge Layer Down

8 - Duplicate the layer
Layers -> Duplicate Layer

9 - Set the Blending Mode of the top layer to Negation
Layers -> Layer Properties...


10 - Merge the layers
Layers -> Merge Layer Down

11 - Color!
-Use whatever methods you feel comfortable with to recolor the image; at this point, the colors you're working with no longer matter
-I used Curves+ in the original, but now I think I'd prefer Gradient Mapping. Conditional Hue/Saturation works also.
-If you don't know how to recolor it, well, there are lots of other tutorials that cover that, so ... http://searchpaint.net/


12 - Run Water Reflection
Effects -> Distort -> Water Reflection...
-Set Duration to 200, all other values can be left at default.


13 - Create a new layer and name it Shadow
Layers -> Add New Layer

14 - Draw your text on the Shadow layer
Tool: -> Text
-Font: Evanescent 72pt


15 - Duplicate the Shadow layer and name it Text
Layers -> Duplicate Layer

16 - Put the shadow behind the text
Layers -> Rotate / Zoom...
-Twist angle: 90.00
-Twist radius: 75.00
-Y pan: 0.300


17 - Add a new layer under the Shadow layer and name it Glow
Layers -> Add New Layer

18 - Draw a filled ellipse
Tool: -> Ellipse Draw Filled Shape


19 - Run Gaussian Blur
Effects -> Blurs -> Gaussian Blur...
-Radius: 25


20 - Recolor the shadow
You know how... if not, http://searchpaint.net/


21 - Run Outline Object on the Text layer
Effects -> Outline Object...
-Width: 15
-Softness: 254


22 - Run Water Reflection on the Text layer
Effects -> Distort -> Water Reflection...
-Distance: 70.00
-Waves period: 1.50
-Duration: 100.00


DONE!
Post your results...
-If you plan on using this as your sig image, remember to scale it down to no wider than 500px and no taller than 150px. Otherwise, a moderator will remove it.

Note: This tutorial was made by PyroSig

How do I install plugins?
Just put the .dll file on the effects folder of Paint.NET usually located at C:/Program Files/Paint.NET/Effects/