I am currently attending a course on Photoshop and as a project am using my own photos as the backdrop and using images from the web for the characters.
As I am pretty new to this, I would appreciate feedback as to their quality, how they could have been improved etc.
Now I look at it, this character should have mountains above him, not just blue sky. The large expanse of blue is boring.
Hello Grimwald, I think the problem is not the background but the fact that all the dwarves (but the last one) are rather small and they're using only a small part of the image. Everything else is just background. When I make a portrait I try to make the char as big as possible as I want to see my char (and not some background).
My problem is that most of the images that I have found on the web are too broad. Perhaps I just need to chop off the weapons/shield that they are holding.
I am not up to creating the images myself. 
Thanks for the input.
I was well aware that they need improvement and constructive criticism is helpful.
The foregrounds of the 3rd and last are the best I think, but the backgrounds of those needs improvement.
IMO the backgrounds of 2, 6 and 7 are best do you agree?
My problem is that most of the images that I have found on the web are too broad. Perhaps I just need to chop off the weapons/shield that they are holding.
That's what I usually do.
I am not up to creating the images myself.
Me too 
The foregrounds of the 3rd and last are the best I think, but the backgrounds of those needs improvement.
IMO the backgrounds of 2, 6 and 7 are best do you agree?
As the dwarves are all dark and the background in every pic is much lighter it shouldn't be difficult to delete to background in photoshop. Then replace it with something you like 
Nearly all my portraits are cropped - sometimes from intended portraits that don't fit BG required dimensions, but sometimes just taking a character from a wider scene.
I think it's particularly effective if the background can be linked to the picture itself in some way. For instance in the last portrait the dwarf standing with a foot on top of is appropriate for a mountain background.
As the dwarves are all dark and the background in every pic is much lighter it shouldn't be difficult to delete to background in photoshop. Then replace it with something you like
The backgrounds are on a different layer in Photoshop, so deleting the background is one command. This is one of the things that makes Photoshop more user friendly than paint.
Nearly all my portraits are cropped - sometimes from intended portraits that don't fit BG required dimensions, but sometimes just taking a character from a wider scene.
I think it's particularly effective if the background can be linked to the picture itself in some way. For instance in the last portrait the dwarf standing with a foot on top of is appropriate for a mountain background.
Another very helpful comment. I think that I will have to take some foreground photos as well.
EDIT
Upon going through my photos, I have discovered foregrounds taken not far from where the backgrounds were taken.
Ideal!
This is how I tried for the second time.
Comments exceedingly welcome.
I started with these images:
Which I got from:
http://fc09.devianta..._BenWootten.jpg
and this which I took myself:
From these I made this:
And from that I made the large and small portraits:
The game then looked like this:
Using another part of the same backgound photo plus this:
Which I got from:
http://orig12.devian...mb_seepwood.jpg
The foreground was from this:
http://www.docbrown....le/P3022131.jpg
I made this:
From which I made the Large and Small Portraits
Which looked like this in the game:
Comments exceedingly welcome.
I would like to say how much I appreciate the various portraits that the artists have made, particularly the fact that they have made it easy to extract the part of the picture they made. It makes the games that I play so much more enjoyable.
If the artists have any objection to me posting these images, I will remove them on request.
Wise have you considered experimenting with the background layers' colors? You can intensify/saturate them, darken them, increase contrast. It might yield interesting results. Also, in the second pic you might want to create a shadow on the ground, around the feet, as in the original image.
Btw congrats on avoiding white lines/dots around your Dwarves (from the original white backgrounds).
Thanks for the input Blackraven.
I deliberately chose the colours as they are, to make the background just that.
I didn't want it intrusive.
I deliberately zoomed in so that the outlines were hazy so that it gave the impression that the mountains were distant.
However I have taken on board what you have said about the shadows and will do something about in my next class in two weeks.
I too am going away on holiday tomorrow. Mainly as my daughter is getting her PhD and I want to be there.
While I am there I will be visiting family as well.
Wow congrats to you and your daughter, and enjoy your holiday Wise!
Put a shadow in as suggested by Blackraven:
From which I got these:
Also tried another sky: Would you believe that the sky is natural?
Also knocked together these:
Using this portrait.
http://orig12.devian...art-d7pwk1a.jpg
And also this one from a combination of a BG1 screenshot and this web page:
http://fanartexhibit...mour_new_02.jpg
Comments, criticisms suggestions all welcome.
Focus more on the face in your small portraits... 
...I know it looks strange on it's own but when you use them in-game the face itself is what you want to see.
Wise have you considered experimenting with the background layers' colors? You can intensify/saturate them, darken them, increase contrast. It might yield interesting results. Also, in the second pic you might want to create a shadow on the ground, around the feet, as in the original image.
Btw congrats on avoiding white lines/dots around your Dwarves (from the original white backgrounds).
I have just been trying out the free software on the web and discovered what you mean. You get what you pay for!!
It was the last photoshop session until September. I tried to get some preliminary work done on the images from a site that calls itself Photoshop online which has a few tools missing. I thought that I could then finish them off in class, but unfortunately the software at college wouldn't open them.
This is as far as I got, but they still need work. Shadows adding, trimming, and the like. However, I would be pleased to have feedback on them, so I know what I am doing well, OK, or badly.
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7)
8)
This last one was done with free software and has the white edging that Blackraven mentioned. Some of the others also have it, but not quite so noticeable. Perhaps it won't be noticeable when it is at a smaller scale and changed into 170x110 bitmap.
The white border around the image is called a feather and isn't something you have to put up with in the full packages… tips;
The white border around the image is called a feather and isn't something you have to put up with in the full packages… tips;
- Zoom in to cut the image out and for fine detail the pen tool allows you to get down into individual pixels
- One of the biggest adjustment tools is simply understanding the "Layer"… by cutting the main image out and adding multiple copies of it over the top of itself you can get some nice effects with shadow and tone.
That is where I went wrong perhaps. I didn't use the pen tool but the wand to select the white and then inverted the selection. It was very quick, as in PS, but not as accurate. My earlier ones, all done in Photoshop were done the same way without the problems that I got with OnlinePhotoshop.net
I am wondering why I could not open a pxd file in photoshop. is it that the Photoshop is not the latest version, or because Photoshop does not support that format?
I like what you are doing. 2,3,4,5,7 seem the dwarf not to be grounded or floating above the ground.
That is where I went wrong perhaps. I didn't use the pen tool but the wand to select the white and then inverted the selection. It was very quick, as in PS, but not as accurate. My earlier ones, all done in Photoshop were done the same way without the problems that I got with OnlinePhotoshop.net
I am wondering why I could not open a pxd file in photoshop. is it that the Photoshop is not the latest version, or because Photoshop does not support that format?
The magic wand is fine for basic stuff or when the colours are very different i.e. black and white but the pen tool kicks in for fine work or when the background colour is (almost) the same as the main image eg,
thats for cutting things out but the on-line tool you have is good for making the two images look like a single pic;
eg an overlay tricks the eye into seeing the images as a single image
then we make him look cold
gives us a final rustic look... note that I've gone heavly handed with the overlays to make a point but you could get by with a small overlay which would make him look like he is in a strong wind
p.s a pxd file is a special type of flash file made for that website so the only reasion photoshop can't open it is because they (the site owners) don't want it too.
If you don't own photoshop but know someone who does they can post a file online to thier cloud that gives you all the normal photoshop tools... even without having photoshop on your system but it takes some stuffing about to set up.
p.p.s I'll post the basic psd (photoshop) image here and anyone is welcome to use it unless/ until I'm asked to take it down.
I like what you are doing. 2,3,4,5,7 seem the dwarf not to be grounded or floating above the ground.
The reason for that is that I had not yest put in shadows underneath them. I have discovered an internet cafe that has photoshop, so I will do the work that needs photoshop there and do the rest at home. I found that the online software did not allow me to make the shadow shapes. I will be posting again when I have improved them somewhat.
p.s a pxd file is a special type of flash file made for that website so the only reasion photoshop can't open it is because they (the site owners) don't want it too.
If you don't own photoshop but know someone who does they can post a file online to thier cloud that gives you all the normal photoshop tools... even without having photoshop on your system but it takes some stuffing about to set up.
p.p.s I'll post the basic psd (photoshop) image here and anyone is welcome to use it unless/ until I'm asked to take it down.
Thanks for the great tutorials. Because most people were complete newbies in the PS course, the tutor hadn't covered any of the stuff that you have just posted.
Thanks a lot. At least he got me to the place where I can make reasonable portraits.
A quick question. I will eventually be buying EE. Do the portraits for EE need the same resolution as BG1 and 2?
I don't want to downgrade my portraits to be right for BG1 and 2 and then find that they are not good enough for EE.
I should have deleted the floor that came with the image then it would have been even MORE rustic. You can't get much more rustic than a clay and dung floor. (That is what the pale yellow flooring is around the building. (And inside)
Every day, it was the job of the wife or daughter in law to put down a fresh layer of clay/dung.
Every day, it was the job of the wife or daughter in law to put down a fresh layer of clay/dung.
So, you wipe your feet when you leave the house?
p.s your welcome, I'm happy to help and just so we are clear I really like what you have done so far mate! 
A quick question. I will eventually be buying EE. Do the portraits for EE need the same resolution as BG1 and 2?
I don't want to downgrade my portraits to be right for BG1 and 2 and then find that they are not good enough for EE.
No they are like two pixels out... this post was a big help when I first got ee
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