C.J. Burke's .sig card #110: The Man Behind The Curtain

UPDATE:  I have a chosen an alternate version of the image with no watermark. I can't crop it without it being pixilated, so Toto is now in the picture...not sure if that's good or bad.

C.J. Burke's .sig card #109: Winged Monkeys

C.J. Burke's .sig card #108: Water Spirit

Creating Guardians Cards, Part Two: Border & Image in Photoshop

After we've moved past card design, we're ready to start making a card. For the purpose of this illustration, I've chosen the following Brom image, which I've named War Angel:

                                             

Since this is an Angel, it's going to have to be an Elemental, so we pull the image and the Elemental template into Photoshop side-by-side.

Use the Selection to determine which part of the image you want to move over. Sometimes, to make the image fit better, you may have to select a portion that won't be visible on the card, to maintain a proper proportion and not make the image look badly stretched.

Copy our selection, then go back to the Elemental template and Paste. You should have 2 layers now, the frame and the image.

Make sure you save your progress frequently so that you don't lose any of your hard work. Remember to use Save As and rename your file so that you don't save as Elemental and overwrite your template!

With the image layer selected, use the Move tool to position the image so that the portion you want to appear to come out of the frame is close to the edge. In this case the sword tip is positioned near the top and the wing is positioned near the right edge. Use the Free Transform tool to resize the image further, avoiding too much expansion or compression that would distort the image. Note that perspective is very important here...in this image the opposite wing appears farther in the distance. If that wing were made to "stand out" with the nearer wing behind the template frame, it wouldn't look right. The part of the image that you want to "stand out" should be closer, in perspective, than other parts of the image.

                                    

Use your Selection tool to select the part of the image that will "stand out". It's ok if you select part of the image that is not going to be covered by the template frame, since we are going to be working with a copy.

Make sure the image layer is selected, then select Copy from the Edit menu, then Layer Via Copy under the  Layer -> New menu. Now drag the image layer below the template frame layer. Your image is now under the template, while your new layer appears on top of the template frame.

Select that new layer, then select your Eraser tool and start erasing all the background around your element where it lays on top of the template frame, but do not erase the element that you want to "stand out" itself.

Zoom up in magnification and select a small Eraser brush size to make fine erasures if necessary.

  If you make a mistake, use your Undo or Step Backward to try again. You should be left with something like the image below, where my element is the wing. I erased all the whitish background over the template frame, leaving the wing "standing out".

Repeat this process for any other part of the image that needs to "stand out". In this case, I have a created another new layer and erased it so that the sword appears over the top of the template frame.

When you are finished it should look a little something like the image below. Note that we haven't altered the Elemental template frame or the original image, only copies of parts of the image. If you decide you want to start over, simply delete any new layers you added and you'll be ready to give it another try.

We've now achieved that eye-popping 3-D look that is a Guardians staple! Note that while most cards have this effect, some Spells and Magic Items don't, so it's not always necessary with those cards. Other types of cards like Terrain, Shields, and Strongholds never use this effect, so it's not appropriate for those card types.

Save your work again. In the next installment we'll add all the other stuff like text, channeling, bribery, and so on. We'll also talk about the appropriate format for sharing your card with the Guardian online community. Until next time, work on what we've covered here, and let me know if you have questions...

Post #300: Buried Treasure Re-discovered

It's hard to believe, but this is post #300. When I started this blog I had no idea I would be taking it this far. For those of you who have been along for the ride, and those of you have recently discovered this blog, thanks for helping me to make Guardians CCG the best blog it can be with your suggestions and insights.

I'll have my second post on Creating Guardians Cards later this week. In the meantime, I made a thrilling discovery today...

Back when I started this blog, in my first post, I talked about winning an auction from Dave Gentzler for a Cheesy Con Souvenir Tweezle. I also remembered pulling an Exploding Tweezle out of box of Necropolis Park boosters. Sadly, those two cards have been missing for years, ever since I packed my cards away in the basement. They weren't with all the other cards - I had put them somewhere "safe". Which meant, apparently, safe from me being able to find them.

Today I was doing some cleanup in the shop and I moved a bookcase out from behind a pile of boxes. Imagine my surprise when I saw the bookcase had a Necropolis Park booster box on it. Now, don't get too excited - the booster box was empty. But next to the empty box was a hard plastic case for card storage. As I opened the case my hand began to shake and a wild elation shot through me. There on the top of the card pile was a Cheesy Con Souvenir Tweezle. Under that was the Exploding Tweezle!

But wait, there's more! I also found a Chaos Summoner promo card and that *blasted* Flame Cannon that I had such a hard time obtaining. Here is a picture of my re-discovered treasures:

It's a great day to be a Guardians player (and collector)!