Something I did when I was bored...

[Rainbowdash_82 404]

So yea right now I got to work in photoshop and I wanted to do something like Text mixed with Ponies so I came up with this...

 

 

Took me like 30 minutes to make, Not that complicated.

 

At first it was supposed to be a wallpaper for my computer...

 

Hope it looks good

[Lunafur 17,937]

that looks awesome and well done

[SasQ 1,379]

Very interesting idea with this letter-shaped cropping :> I like it The background is also great.

If I were to be picky, the letters are a bit jaggy, which is especially seen at the round edges. Perhaps try to soften the crop mask a bit or something (I don't know how it is usually solved in Photoshop, I work in GIMP and there the rounded selections are anti-aliased by default).

 

There's also a bit too few contrast between some bright parts inside letters and the bright background, which makes them optically blend too much. Perhaps a thin, 1-pixel black outline for the letters would solve that, making the boundaries between the text areas and the background more clear?

 

Oh, and what does Luna and Spitfire have to do with Ponyville? Perhaps some Ponyville background ponies would be a better choice? I don't know... There's Vinyl, so how about Octavia? Or maybe Lyra & Bon Bon?

Just a suggestion. If you like Luna and Spitfire better, then I'm OK with that, it's your art after all.

 

Overall it's cool, though, so have my brohoof

Edited September 23, 2015 by SasQ

[Rainbowdash_82 404]

Very interesting idea with this letter-shaped cropping :> I like it The background is also great.

If I were to be picky, the letters are a bit jaggy, which is especially seen at the round edges. Perhaps try to soften the crop mask a bit or something (I don't know how it is usually solved in Photoshop, I work in GIMP and there the rounded selections are anti-aliased by default).

 

There's also a bit too few contrast between some bright parts inside letters and the bright background, which makes them optically blend too much. Perhaps a thin, 1-pixel black outline for the letters would solve that, making the boundaries between the text areas and the background more clear?

 

Oh, and what does Luna and Spitfire have to do with Ponyville? Perhaps some Ponyville background ponies would be a better choice? I don't know... There's Vinyl, so how about Octavia? Or maybe Lyra & Bon Bon?

Just a suggestion. If you like Luna and Spitfire better, then I'm OK with that, it's your art after all.

 

Overall it's cool, though, so have my brohoof

Yea I mean I did it fast so I didn't get into too much detail but yea I will be in the lookout for those details that need to get fixed

 

And I like spitfire and Luna that's why I put them

that looks awesome and well done

Thanks, although I didn't get into too much detail

[Captain Trek 32]

Looks alright, but the actual work "Ponyville" is very difficult to read.

[Rainbowdash_82 404]

Looks alright, but the actual work "Ponyville" is very difficult to read.

I know I did it in a rush that I forgot to put a blurred background, it would've been easier to read

Edited September 23, 2015 by RlikesRainbowdash

[Lunar Echo 10,335]

Looks freaking awesome man, good job!

[Rainbowdash_82 404]

Looks freaking awesome man, good job!

Thanks I'm going to make it better tomorrow

[Lunar Echo 10,335]

Thanks I'm going to make it better tomorrow

Can't wait to see more, keep it up!

[PROJECT: Simon 3,955]

I just can't stop looking at your projects~!           

[SasQ 1,379]

I forgot to put a blurred background, it would've been easier to read

I don't think it is about blurring the background. I think it's rather about the contrast between them.

That is, the difference between bright and dark areas, and between different hues of colour.

When the difference between these areas is too small, they tend to visually blend together and the edge between them is harder to notice.

 

For example, Luna is blue, and the background behind her letter is also blue, and they're pretty much the same brightness too. In result, the last letter seem to blend with the background and it is harder to spot, for example, the hole inside the "e" letter. It pretty much looks like a big "o"-shaped blob.

 

Similarly, Rarity's and Fluttershy's coats are very bright, so is the sky in the background behind them. So they also tend to blend together, which looks like additional holes in the letters.

 

There's a clever trick to check the contrast of your image: turn it into grayscale. Then only the brightness would matter, and you will see which parts of the image are too similar in brightness. Then you would need to find a way to increase the difference, e.g. by changing the composition a bit, or adding some additional edges between these similar areas to separate them visually.

 

Here are some possible ways to aid it:

 

1. As I mentioned earlier, you can add a thin 1..2-pixel black outline to the letters. This would separate the bright areas from each other with a dark edge.

 

2. You can switch the characters around to use their colour contrasts more wisely. E.g. you can put Spitfire or Applejack over the mountains, so that their contrasting colours (yellows & oranges are opposite to blues & purples; colour circle is your friend) would aid the eye to distinguish them even if their brightnesses are similar.

But I guess there will still be problem with Rarity and Flutters, so I'd rather go with option 1.

 

Blurring the background won't help you, because it doesn't change the bad contrasts, but it could unnecessarily damage the level of detail. There's a trick to test it: squint your eyes a bit, and you will see the image blurred. Does it looks better that way? I guess not.

[Rainbowdash_82 404]

I don't think it is about blurring the background. I think it's rather about the contrast between them.

That is, the difference between bright and dark areas, and between different hues of colour.

When the difference between these areas is too small, they tend to visually blend together and the edge between them is harder to notice.

 

For example, Luna is blue, and the background behind her letter is also blue, and they're pretty much the same brightness too. In result, the last letter seem to blend with the background and it is harder to spot, for example, the hole inside the "e" letter. It pretty much looks like a big "o"-shaped blob.

 

Similarly, Rarity's and Fluttershy's coats are very bright, so is the sky in the background behind them. So they also tend to blend together, which looks like additional holes in the letters.

 

There's a clever trick to check the contrast of your image: turn it into grayscale. Then only the brightness would matter, and you will see which parts of the image are too similar in brightness. Then you would need to find a way to increase the difference, e.g. by changing the composition a bit, or adding some additional edges between these similar areas to separate them visually.

 

Here are some possible ways to aid it:

 

1. As I mentioned earlier, you can add a thin 1..2-pixel black outline to the letters. This would separate the bright areas from each other with a dark edge.

 

2. You can switch the characters around to use their colour contrasts more wisely. E.g. you can put Spitfire or Applejack over the mountains, so that their contrasting colours (yellows & oranges are opposite to blues & purples; colour circle is your friend) would aid the eye to distinguish them even if their brightnesses are similar.

But I guess there will still be problem with Rarity and Flutters, so I'd rather go with option 1.

 

Blurring the background won't help you, because it doesn't change the bad contrasts, but it could unnecessarily damage the level of detail. There's a trick to test it: squint your eyes a bit, and you will see the image blurred. Does it looks better that way? I guess not.

 

I did what you told me, I grayscaled the background and I added a little Stroke to it (black outline). I turned down the brightness a little and added some contrast to it. Is it better?

 

 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,645]

 Awesome.

 Seeing that inspired me, now I want to try make some art when I have time

[SasQ 1,379]

I didn't tell you to grayscale just the background, but the entire image.

It was just a trick to let you see where the problems with the contrast are.

Because if you grayscale the entire image, then only the brightness remains, so you can clearly see the contrasts between the particular areas and where the differences in brightness are too small.

 

For example, your original image turned to grayscale looks like this:

 

 

Look closely to the "y" letter with Fluttershy and the "n" letter with Rarity: Fluttershy's coat brightness is nearly identical to the sky's brightness in the background, therefore they blend together and the shape of the "y" letter cannot be clearly perceived. Similarly with Rarity's coat and the sky – their brightness are also very similar (too few contrast) and they seem to blend together, so the viewer cannot easily spot the slit in the "n" letter: it seems to disappear. Twilight Sparkle's coat brightness is nearly the same as the mountain far in the background (hopefully their colour difference makes them blend less).

 

This grayscale trick allows you to test these contrasts and spot the problems easier, because you see only the brightness, and the color is not getting on the way.

 

Here's one way you can fix it, by adding some outline to the letters to separate the areas of similar brightness. First in colour:

 

 

then in the grayscale test:

 

 

As you can see, this time the letters can be distinguished from the background more clearly (though it still requires some tweaking). It's easier to compare when you put them side by side:

 

 

I hope it is clear now.

[Empty Room 512]

I like it. It has a nice design.

[Xeltor23 704]

I like the concept Good job!

[Rainbowdash_82 404]

I didn't tell you to grayscale just the background, but the entire image.

It was just a trick to let you see where the problems with the contrast are.

Because if you grayscale the entire image, then only the brightness remains, so you can clearly see the contrasts between the particular areas and where the differences in brightness are too small.

 

For example, your original image turned to grayscale looks like this:

 

 

Look closely to the "y" letter with Fluttershy and the "n" letter with Rarity: Fluttershy's coat brightness is nearly identical to the sky's brightness in the background, therefore they blend together and the shape of the "y" letter cannot be clearly perceived. Similarly with Rarity's coat and the sky – their brightness are also very similar (too few contrast) and they seem to blend together, so the viewer cannot easily spot the slit in the "n" letter: it seems to disappear. Twilight Sparkle's coat brightness is nearly the same as the mountain far in the background (hopefully their colour difference makes them blend less).

 

This grayscale trick allows you to test these contrasts and spot the problems easier, because you see only the brightness, and the color is not getting on the way.

 

Here's one way you can fix it, by adding some outline to the letters to separate the areas of similar brightness. First in colour:

 

 

then in the grayscale test:

 

 

As you can see, this time the letters can be distinguished from the background more clearly (though it still requires some tweaking). It's easier to compare when you put them side by side:

 

 

I hope it is clear now.

Ahh I see what you're trying to tell me now, the colors of the background blend in with the colors of the ponies, therefore making it hard to see.  Now it's clear to me