This is my first graphics tutorial. I use Photodraw, which I relaise isn’t sold anymore, but I am going to focus on basic principles that you should be able to follow in any graphics program except paint. Sorry, piant kind of sucks. Images are thumbnails that you can click to expand, in order to save space.

Step 1: Chose your subject.

For many sim games the subject is an animal. Try to chose a starting image that is as high quality as possible. Pay close attention to the orientation of the subject and where hte light is coming from.

Step 2: Rough cut .

Roughly cut out your selected subject, but don’t be too fussy yet. This is just to try placing it over different backgrounds to see which works better.

Step 3: Test some backgrounds

You can place the rough cut images over different backgrounds to see which you prefer. Take note of where the light comes from, and remember that you can flip things.

I chose the second one because of the direction of the light.

Step 4: Fine Cut

Now cut it our properly. I use a slightly soft edge eraser for most parts, only using a very soft one for particularly fluffy parts.

Then zoom out and see how it looks.

Step 5: Adjust.

You can see that the subject isn’t quite right on the background. Now’s the time to tweak with the brightness, contrast and tints until they look like they match.

Step 6: Critique

Crop the image, and put a black border around it. (Never underestimate the value of a border!). Step back and assess the overall image. If you’re happy, then you can move onto adding text.