So you want to create your very own Cardassian? The aliens from Deep Space Nine. Excellent. I'll show you what works for me. Just keep in mind that there are as many ways to do this as there are different programs and people using those programs. I'm actually new to this and I'm still learning. So, for you newbies out there trust me. There is hope.
To make your own Cardassian, you will need several things:
- A paint program, of course
I use Paint Shop Pro Studio, which is nearly identical to Paint Shop Pro 9, however, any decent paint program will work as long as it has several key features - some way to grayscale the image, colorizing feature, brightness and contrast control, and of course area selection tools.
- Images of the person you want to Cardassianize
There are lots of ways to get images. Taking them yourself, the Internet, Magazines, lots of ways and places. The important thing to remember is to find an image with a high enough resolution. Medium to high resolutions, 100K and beyond with 300x300 or greater dimensions are best.
- And time
I bet you thought I was going to say a fast computer. I use an older Dual Pentium II 333 Mhz with only 384 megs of ram. I have a 2.4 Ghz with 1 Gig of ram available, I use it as a media server and PVR, but this solid machine still works. And I'll continue to use it. Even when I start doing 3D graphics.
Once you have everything running and "in hand" we can get started. I won't lie to you. Photomanipulating can be very time consuming, however, the more you do photomanipulations the faster you will become. This Cardassian took less than an hour. Practicing with making Ferengis, Klingons, and Borg Queens has increased my efficiency and speed. The more you practice the faster you'll get.