Also low opacity eraser like 10-20%. I know it might seem amateur and what not and there are other ways to do it, and people better at it than me...I figured it might be helpful to ya.
Also, I use CTRL+ALT+Z (Undo) and CTRL+SHIFT+Z (Redo) a lot. You can tap Z either way several times. It's always safer to create new layers and organize them by naming them. CTRL+J is to copy the layer.
Image >>> Apply Image will take all your layers and merge them into a new layer at the top of your other layers.
Also to make your render pop I've heard of people adding dark and/or light towards the bottom. I kinda just painted mine just tiny bits along the bottom edge of the sig. Sometimes I use the gradient tool and then use the "Move tool" to position the shadow/light better depending on if I want light/dark or not (remember to do it on a separate layer as well) Then you can scroll through the layers effects and see which one looks the most natural for your sig. (Again, this is just me messing around...probably not a normal or professional technique on doing things.)
CTRL+T is free-transform.
Anyways, that's how I do it for now...I should probably relearn some things and do more tutorials since I've spent such a long period of time without doing photoshop. Hopefully you get something from all of this. Btw I'm not saying you're a beginner or anything, just put down the shortcuts I use the most often! And you can save links/info to your D2JSP notepad located in your settings.
Personally I think you placed your C4D's well and the bright lights might be a little too harsh, I'd get rid of the one closest to her. Just doesn't look right to me. The others look good though IMO. But what do I know!
I can think of things I could have done better on this piece as well, but there has to be a stopping point lol. If I mess with something for a bit and don't make much progress I will consider it finished or search a specific tutorial if it's something I want to put lots of effort into.
Feel free to ask me specific questions and/or critique what I posted good or bad.
This post was edited by Shady2oo7 on Sep 26 2012 01:34am