banners for simfiles

What program do people use when creating banners for simfiles? Photoshop was too complicated for me and Microsoft paint was too low of quality.

I mean, there's GIMP, but if photoshop is too complicated for you (it really isn't once you learn how to do basic stuff) I can't really rec that.

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Paint.net is great. It is the first program I learned how to use, and it has plenty easy-to-use features. You can also download and add more plugins to get extra effects and features. Make sure you use separate layers for different objects.

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your best bet is probably to just suck it up and learn photoshop. i learned it through 100% trial and error (also learning some skills through tutorials). just be patient, it's worth the time

Photoshop seems complicated because it's capable of so much, but to make banners you don't have to learn how to use everything. For stuff like banners all I usually end up using are the basic drawing tools, the text tool, maybe the path tool, and layer effects. Look up some video tutorials and you'll be banner-ing in no time.

I second Paint.NET. Its user and beginner friendly, and has most of the features you would need, while retaining a far smaller footprint than Photoshop (or even Photoshop Elements). It's honestly one of the best free software for graphics out there. When it comes to making banners and backgrounds, experimenting with different plugins and effects is half the fun to me, at least.

And if you're just starting to make banners, don't push yourself into making "professional quality" graphics. It takes time and practice to make hi-quality banners and backgrounds.

i use much programs for create a banner:

Paint.NET for create the image that is of 256x80 & put the transparency effects
PowerPoint for create the banner elements & put the artist's names in Japanese/Chinese/Korean (this program don't work with this languages, only english & spanish, i think)
PhotoScape for paste the PowerPoint's Images, add some effects & put the text (Title & Artist)

you can search images from the Internet, also is valid
some fonts you can download! in dafont.com

Some examples:


I've used PhotoScape for the text & put the shadow, the image is Gigas, Eartbound character; from internet


image from internet, edited (almost all) in Photoscape & put the text with this program

this banners is from the "Christian666 / Kurisuchan"'s packs

I use Photoshop CS5... I just grab backdrops off Google images and slap text on it. Over and over.