This is the no-nonsense guide to creating your very own awesome beveled logo using GIMP, something that looks like the image shown here. There are detailed guides floating around in the series of tubes known as the Internet, but this is for those who are put off by tedious expla­na­tions and figures. Naturally, you need to be know the basics of GIMP if you want to under­stand this guide.

So here goes:

1. Create a new image slightly larger than the desired image size with a trans­parent background.
2. Make a rectan­gular selec­tion the size of the actual logo, convert it to a round-edged rectangle and fill the selec­tion with the highlight color (for example, the red on the edge of the logo).
3. Dupli­cate the layer twice.
4. Fill the lower­most layer with black, and blur it in order to create a shadow effect. It needs to spill out from behind the main logo slightly. Scale up the layer a few pixels if requried.
5. Scale down the top most layer by around 10 – 15 pixels, and apply a slightly darker shade gradient to it. (for example, a darker shade of red). The gradient should be subtle and slightly asymmet­rical. Blur this layer just a little, so that it merges with the middle layer which is just below it.
6. Create a new text or image layer to add your logo to the image foreground.
7. Save your file.

That’s it — you’re done!

Tags: Gimp, Graphics, Logo

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 00:02 and is filed under Tips and Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.