Yesterday afternoon while sitting behind my PC, I suddenly had enough of my wallpaper. It was the standard XP background "Bliss". I began to look for some which had badminton as main subject, but found none which suited me. There also wasn't much to choose from.

I wondered why I didn't make one myself. I got the new Photoshop CS3 pack on my birthday, and hadn't tried it out yet. So there I began, searching for images on the internet, and editing them. My first choice went to Yonex (one of my favorite brands), and second one went to the new ArcSaber 10 (I really like the red design). As background, I used a huge picture of the Chinese flag (one which shows some 'movement'. Not a flat one).
I'm still not too good with it, but at least I like the result.

I hope you guys like it. Constructive criticism is welcome, although I must note that it was my first time using PS CS3, and it's massive! I should have started with a smaller program. Huge amount of options and templates... So give me some time.

Here's is a small preview:
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o28/00743/Badminton_Wallpaper_Preview.jpg


I put my name on a tiny spot on the down-right corner. That way it won't be disturbing.

Here's the real file. It's in Bitmap format, which should be of higher quality than jpeg. (file size is much larger, and when viewed, you see the difference). Uploaded with MediaFire, but somehow only download option, not viewable from the site.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=cffe100706ebdce58c9e7c56ba37815f86144e77 1256a290

Not bad for a first time. From an artistic point of view, the Yonex logo is far too big.

Not bad for a first time. From an artistic point of view, the Yonex logo is far too big.
It's actually 'good' for a first time.

However to improve this image...
1)Use the magic-wand tool to select the blue and green parts of the Yonex logo, and delete it. It doesn't really match with the red background.
2)Try getting rid of the technical infos of the ArcSaber 10, and dont make the racquet blend into the background. This will make the racquet stand out more.

Maybe you could also use the polygonial-lasso tool to select the areas around the racquet, and make it blurrier: filter>blur>gaussian blur, but not too blur.

Lastly, save it in JPEG. The image quality wont decrease dramatically, but the size will be way less.. about 500kb or so max if it's in JPEG. Right now, it's 3.5MB in BMP. By changing the format to JPEG, you could probably upload as much as you want, onto photobucket.com.

Looks pretty good. I'd rate it 8/10 for your first go. :)

its not to bad for a first time, hope to see some more of your work if you do some more.

Wow that looks pretty awesome! I think the racket may look better if were placed on a slant or something xD, just my opinion :P

Thanks a lot guys. I'll try to change it. I was also thinking of downloading some Guide on how to use all the options of Photoshop. On my own, I guess I' only use 10% of the full potential because I just don't know how to.

@jhirata - I could have got rid of the colors of the Yonex, but somehow the green and the red attracted me. Although you're right about the mismatch, especially on the blue side. I used a blur/edge to get rid of some of the sharp edges, but it didn't come out easily. I'll try to do the lasso thing. :)

@Molohov - True, it isn't exactly small. When I started, I wanted to use some special effects and blurs to fill up some pieces of the Chinese flag which was used as background canvas. However, I didn't know how to get that done, so it ended up with a slightly oversized logo :p

@Ramster & Smash_Master - Thanks, I'll try to keep working on stuff. :)

Here's my own badminton-related wallpaper:

I hope it's ok with Fengwei that I borrow his thread.:)

Go to http://www.edu.nacka.se/gustaf.fjaestad and you should find the link to the picture on the frontpage.

The rest of the page is just leftover trying-out-for-fun-junk not used for anything and the text is just to fill out the pages. Btw, I know the page looks ****ed in IE... :o

Hmm.. now I ****ed something even more... Anyways, the wallpaper is found under the text: "Her is the picture" under the "menu bars".

It is 1280*800 and fits a laptop widescreen... If anyone wants some other size I might be able to help with that.

Regards
Gustaf

Nice. Maybe you should have used the polygonial lasso tool to select the edges of the AT900T. And I just realised.. there's a BIG black thing on the left which is sort of an unnecessary focal. O_O

thats pretty cool wallpaper of bao there gustaff, looks good.

Nice. Maybe you should have used the polygonial lasso tool to select the edges of the AT900T. And I just realised.. there's a BIG black thing on the left which is sort of an unnecessary focal. O_O

Nahh, polygonal lasso tool sucks, pen tool FTW :)

I know the racquet isnt cut out very nicely, just used the "magic wand" and did it... Haven't had the time to fix it yet...

Haha, I like the big black thing :P But surely I could make a version without if you'd prefer.

Regards

BTW. The wallpaper inlcudes many of my favourite things. :P

I.E. Badminton, Girls, AT900T, Bao Chunlai & Yonex :D

Nahh, polygonal lasso tool sucks, pen tool FTW :)

I know the racquet isnt cut out very nicely, just used the "magic wand" and did it... Haven't had the time to fix it yet...

Haha, I like the big black thing :P But surely I could make a version without if you'd prefer.

Regards

BTW. The wallpaper inlcudes many of my favourite things. :P

I.E. Badminton, Girls, AT900T, Bao Chunlai & Yonex :D

Damn, I dont know how to use the pentool yet :o.
I used to use the magic wand tool all the time, but I later figured out that I cant select the edges perfectly with it... and it leaves all these little bubbles everywhere. So I switched to polygonial lasso.

Haha, pentool is not difficult to use at all actually, and works a lot better :D

No, I usually dont use magic wand either except when the background is white and what i'm doing isn't important. But in this case it didn't work out to well as the racquet itself was a bit white :P

Regards, will soon upload a new version without the girl and other bg color, and fixed racquet. :)

Regards

So, made a new version, without girl as suggested and also i have choosen a new, imo better looking BG-color and also cut the racquet nicer.

Also made a version that is 1280*1024 for all with regular screens :D

Please comment.

Regards

P.S. You find them at the same URL: http://www.edu.nacka.se/gustaf.fjaestad

nice done! but if you see carefully on the bigger wallpaper you see that the strings has fallen out of the racket :D

Men annars bra gjort! ;) Kan inte mycket själv :p

Grungy, but better!
Did you use downloaded brushes for the background ? It's a bit too blur IMO, but not a problem at all if I look at it from far away.

It's really good, but somehow it doesn't look too right.
-Think about composition, scale, and the texture, etc:
-Bao Chun Lai is BIG, so maybe he'll look better if his image is enlarged.

-The text and the red lines though, have no problem IMO.

-The AT900T is a slick racquet, and it doesn't go too well with the grungy background.

Have you had a look at the wall papers from the Yonex Thomas/Uber Cup Japan 2006 ? It's composed very well. Here are the simple examples: http://www.yonex-tuc.com/english/download/index.html
They're still not too good because the background is blurred. But who cares? xD.

Hope this helps.. I think I might have a go at making a badminton wallpaper too.

Here is my version, it looks too simple and plain..:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd24/hiratajimmy/fhfwallpaper1.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd24/hiratajimmy/fhfwallpaper1.jpg?t=1205214405

nice done! but if you see carefully on the bigger wallpaper you see that the strings has fallen out of the racket :D

Men annars bra gjort! ;) Kan inte mycket själv :p

Oops, how could i forget to fix that. :eek::p

Haha, tackar:D

Grungy, but better!
Did you use downloaded brushes for the background ? It's a bit too blur IMO, but not a problem at all if I look at it from far away.

It's really good, but somehow it doesn't look too right.
-Think about composition, scale, and the texture, etc:
-Bao Chun Lai is BIG, so maybe he'll look better if his image is enlarged.

-The text and the red lines though, have no problem IMO.

-The AT900T is a slick racquet, and it doesn't go too well with the grungy background.

Have you had a look at the wall papers from the Yonex Thomas/Uber Cup Japan 2006 ? It's composed very well. Here are the simple examples: http://www.yonex-tuc.com/english/download/index.html
They're still not too good because the background is blurred. But who cares? xD.

Hope this helps.. I think I might have a go at making a badminton wallpaper too.

I could do one without the grunge if you want, just not today, school then straight of to practice... Maybe later tonight though.

Haha, problem is that the picture of him is to small, I might be able to enlarge him a little bit though.

Yea, I have seen them, but I think the background becomes a bit boring with completely plain BG... imo

I like yours, it's quite nice, just be more accurate and precise when you cut out the player. Also you could try removing the strings and adding a layer of color that you try to make look like strings...

Good work, anyway.

Oops, how could i forget to fix that. :eek::p

Haha, tackar:D



I could do one without the grunge if you want, just not today, school then straight of to practice... Maybe later tonight though.

Haha, problem is that the picture of him is to small, I might be able to enlarge him a little bit though.

Yea, I have seen them, but I think the background becomes a bit boring with completely plain BG... imo

I like yours, it's quite nice, just be more accurate and precise when you cut out the player. Also you could try removing the strings and adding a layer of color that you try to make look like strings...

Good work, anyway.

Yeah, I was abit in a hurry. They look like they've been cut out of a magazine with a pair of scissors. Thanks for the comment and advice!

Yea, I have seen them, but I think the background becomes a bit boring with completely plain BG... imoThe background, is the background. Not the foreground, so it doesnt need to be noticed that much. It's not the main focal. So.. there's nothing wrong with a plain BG. People often think in the beginning, that 'more = better'. But that's not really the case. We must think quickly, 'what's missing? what goes where ? Will it look good ? Why does it have to be there ? Is this enough ?'
Our 'artworks' should have a balanced composition. Over-working will spoil it.

My art teacher always says: 'You have to question yourself, ' what is art ?'. Art is not just being able to draw and paint well. Everyone should be able to do that. Art, is about thinking quickly. To know what goes where, and to think about what the outcome will be. If art is so easy, then everyone should be able to sell their works at prices well over a million dollars.' blah blah blah.. He says that everyday, but I agree with him. :P

You see, what I did is not really what my art-teacher is reffering to. It's just random things put on random places without thinking. So.. it doesn't look good, does it ? :p.

Here is my picture. Im grateful for all comments and since im pretty new to photoshop. Click the image to get bigger picture.
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/1437/lindancopypc4.th.jpg (http://img516.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lindancopypc4.jpg)

//kingpow

Lin Dan is right handed?..... lol =)

I fliped him horizontly because i thought it looked nicer. :p

Here is the final edition with some small changes.
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/6000/lindancopy2copyjp5.th.jpg (http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lindancopy2copyjp5.jpg)

sorry for posting two times. i actudentally uploaded the image twice:o
hope u will forgive me.

That's better.. the text is a bit distracting though..

her is another one. i made it recently and i are really happy with it.
its in another style than the rest of the pics here but i couldnt find a better forum to post it in.
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9824/beautiful2copyws3.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beautiful2copyws3.jpg)
enjoy:)
a tip is to view it in fullsize because then it looks much nicer.

her is another one. i made it recently and i are really happy with it.
its in another style than the rest of the pics here but i couldnt find a better forum to post it in.
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9824/beautiful2copyws3.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beautiful2copyws3.jpg)
enjoy:)
a tip is to view it in fullsize because then it looks much nicer.
That's a great improvement from the other one..
It's unlike any other badminton wall paper. Good job.

Some really nice wallpapers here! :)

Here's one I made a bit more than a year ago...

http://tojira.deviantart.com/art/Badminton-Wallpaper-42204317

1280x960 res (probably a bit out of date already :p)

Thats very nice.
I really like how you have made lin dan in several colours:)

Phaarix, that's very nice. Pretty retro :)

One thing... Lin Dan is a left-hander... the wallpaper shows a right-hander...

Haha oops, yeah true :p. I flipped the image I was tracing and... didn't think about that...!

:D Hehe, can't you just flip it once again? And make it 1280x1024... :rolleyes: Fits much better :p

BTW: Is it possible to use your wallpaper Phaarix? I was looking for a download option on DevianART, but couldn't find one. Also, if you right-click and select "Save Picture As", you only download a blank page. Thanks in advance :)

Kingpow, that's some amazing wallpaper! I'm definitely going to use that one, if it's ok with you :)
The color-contrast and overall perspective is just very good. Well done!

:D Hehe, can't you just flip it once again? And make it 1280x1024... :rolleyes: Fits much better :p

BTW: Is it possible to use your wallpaper Phaarix? I was looking for a download option on DevianART, but couldn't find one. Also, if you right-click and select "Save Picture As", you only download a blank page. Thanks in advance :)

Heh, yeah for sure but then everything else would be the wrong way around! I made it ages ago so I've lost my original working files (might be on a cd... can't be bothered looking :p), so I can't really do too much to it. Best I could do as far as resolution is concerned is add more black borders at the top and bottom! Originally I think I made it for a reeeeally old CRT (1024x768) as our main computer was being fixed.

Hmm that's odd! There's usually a download link down the left... But not on this deviation for some reason!? I might resubmit it on my new DA account :).

There we go, should have a download link on the left in this one! And a bunch of other colours and a (very small :p) variety of resolutions. Or more a variety of monitor shapes...

http://zemulii.deviantart.com/art/Lin-Dan-Wallpaper-81510725

Kingpow, that's some amazing wallpaper! I'm definitely going to use that one, if it's ok with you :)
The color-contrast and overall perspective is just very good. Well done!

Yeah that last one is really energetic, has a lot of movement :)!

thx for all comments:) of course its ok to use it if u want.

Ok, here is one more wallpaper. I really liked what phaarix had done with lin dan so i decided to try it myself. I arent really sure what to think of it so i appreciate all comments and tips. Enjoy;)
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/2711/cloudplayercopykn3.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cloudplayercopykn3.jpg)