NSFW! Updating ancient covers

[Darkniciad]

Dug up a pile of the old images I used to build my covers.  In addition, I located some higher res versions of some of them.  Now that I have much better tools and a great deal more practice, I can clean some of those poor old things up.

 

All of these images come from artmam.com by the way.  The site has a policy that allows you to use any image in any way you wish so long as you link back.  I do so on my copyright page, and I'll do so here again ( even though it appears that the site is all but dead )
 
Here's the first for "Finding Karen"
 
Old Cover Image:

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/karen_cover.jpg

New Cover Image:

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/finding_karen_cover.jpg

[Darkniciad]

And another one: Casting Off Convention

Old Cover:

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/casting_cover.jpg

New Cover

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/casting_off_convention_cover.jpg

 

Here's the original image I was working from.  Blue jean denim just doesn't work *laugh*  Had to do something about that

 

[Darkniciad]

And, yet another one - "Blackhawk Hall"

Old Cover:

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/blackhawk_cover.jpg

New Cover:

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/blackhawk_hall_cover.jpg

I remember this one originally took me the better part of a weekend when I first made the cover for it. Part of the reason why is that the images I'd chosen ( which are great representations of how I see both Arilee and Christi in my head ) are so different. Here's how the originals look side by side.

http://www.darkniciad.com/hotlink/arilee_resized.pnghttp://www.darkniciad.com/hotlink/christi_resized.png

Balancing the color saturation and lightness was hard as hell. It tickled me to no end when I got it right. Then, I had to go through and carefully cut out Arilee's image, followed by even more meticulous pixel by pixel work getting rid of artifacts left by that process. Then it was fighting the text, and...

You get the picture.

It took me all of twenty minutes from start to finish to do it this time. Twenty minutes as opposed to two days *laugh*

 

I used to swear that there were few paid programs available that I couldn't utilize free programs to duplicate the effects of.  To some extent, that's true.  The problem is that you have to use about a half a dozen of them, and the features are usually documented poorly -- at best -- and difficult to use.

 

Photoshop utterly changed my opinion with its ease of use and full features.  Of course, I only sprang for the "Elements" edition.  Hell if I'm paying full price for the maxed out version.  This one does just fine

 

I decided to go darker on Ari instead of going lighter on Christi this time because at the higher resolution, mucking with making Christi lighter just looked too pixellated -- especially next to Ari.

 

Okay.  I'll try to stop messing with covers for a while now.  Those old, small ones have just been bothering me for a long time.  They will get replaced eventually, and the remaining LST3Ks without covers will get them as well.

 

The nice thing is that when I decide to do something like this now, I don't have to edit html files, I just go into my backend utilities, change the database entry, and the changes go into effect immediately
 

[Darkniciad]

Okay, I lied *laugh*
 
Actually, I'm on cold meds, and as soon as I closed my eyes to try to visualize, I was zoning out.  So, I had to do something with my eyes open.  Five more covers updated.
 
New on the left, old on the right.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/devans_decision.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ardane1_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/kampars_wand_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ardane2_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/sisters_shadow_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ardane3_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/teachers_pet_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ardane4_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/window_to_a_dream_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/window_cover.jpg

[Darkniciad]

Four more done

New on the left, old on the right.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ebon_genesis_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ebon_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/catchmerchant_princess_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/merchant_princess_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/queen_alicia_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/alicia_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/adams_aunt_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/adams_aunt_old_cover.jpg

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't track down the original image I used for Lavina -- which represented her perfectly as I see her in my head -- and had to substitue a different image.  At least it doesn't hover quite as much as the original Lavina did.

[Darkniciad]

Had to go ahead and fix the stuf that was bothering me on the Magic of the Wood story covers

New on the left, old on the right.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/steward_of_wood_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/steward_cover.jpg

With Daughter of the Wood, I couldn't find the original image. Fortunately, it was a bigger size to begin with, and I was able to upscale it without losing too much quality. That let me fix the only thing that was really bothering me about it: the low visibility text.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/daughter_of_wood_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/steward_2_cover.jpg

It was the same issue that bothered me on Secret and Forever. I decided not to muck with the size of them, and instead just highlight the text a little better.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/forever_wood_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/forever_wood_cover_old.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/secret_of_wood_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/secret_of_wood_cover_old.jpg

[Darkniciad]

Four more   Yeah, I know everyone would rather I was writing, but this cold, the boy, and cleaning house today just kept me from getting in the right frame of mind to write.
 
New on the left, old on the right.
 
http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/no_purer_love_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/pure_cover.jpg
 
http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/expectation_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/expectation_cover_old.jpg
 
http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/kindled_in_fiction_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/kindled_cover.jpg
 
http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/grandfather_yule_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/yule_cover.jpg

[Darkniciad]

Still too sick to write with the cold meds making me nod off *sigh*

 

I did get a little writing done early this morning, but I just can't close my eyes and visualize.  It doesn't help that the boy has been watching Transformers the Movie ( animated ) and rewinding various parts over and over and over...  That just eats into your brain *laugh*

 

Good news for those who wish I'd quit messing with this:  There aren't many old covers left to muck with   Honestly, it's been bugging me for a long time.  I kept putting it off and putting it off, thinking it was going to be an incredible pain in the ass.  Once I started, I discovered that it actually isn't taking long at all.  Photoshop is a godsend, and I learn more about it every time I play with it.  Just discovered the "stroke" FX function today, which can be very useful for making text stand out.

 

So, I went to work on cleaning up the Laresa's World series covers.

 

New on the left, old on the right.

 

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/fear_of_freedom_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/fear_free_cover.jpg

 

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/the_blinding_white_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/laresa2_cover.jpg

 

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/genie_valentine_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vday_laresa_cover.jpg

[Darkniciad]

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/deified_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/laresa_3_cover.jpg

 

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/marked_vengeance_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/laresa_marked_cover.jpg

 

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/finding_the_key_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/laresa_key_cover.jpg

 

Unfortunately, there were some images I couldn't recover. The musher and the huskies from "The Blinding White" were something I didn't save. So, I had to find replacements.

 

Remarkably enough, I found the exact same pirate and flag for "Marked for Vengeance" even though I hadn't saved it. I decided to go with a different ship anyway, since I had more room to put a full, tall ship on there. I did horizontally flip the flag this time. That's why it looks different, even though it's the same one.

 

For "Deified" I would have used a different corner image even if I had the original. I'm fairly certain those are actually Mayan symbols on the original, so now we have Inca symbolism on there

 

The bad one was "Finding the Key" I couldn't find a single image from the original cover either on my hard drives or on the web. I had to replace every single element on that one. I considered just leaving it be, ( since the image of Jonathon was so perfect ) but with every other story in the series having a full size cover, it clashed like hell. So, I dug up new images and went to work.

[Darkniciad]

Feeling a little better, but it was my first day back to work after vacation, and I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm beat. That means more cover updating

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq_4_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq4_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq_2_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq2_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq_3_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq3_cover.jpg

[Darkniciad]

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq_5_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq5_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq_1_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/vr_dq1_cover.jpg
 

As with before, there were some images I couldn't find, but they were all on VR: DQ 3 this time.  I couldn't find a single one of the original female images, so I had to pull several different ones together.

 

Beyond that, almost every change is based on having more room to use the DQ graphics on the covers.  I'm especially happy with Rubiss hovering behind Gwaelin and Renelle.  Renelle is also a composite construct.  She's an original character, so there's naturally no character art for her.  I took a female priest ( from DQ9, I believe ) and use bits of hair from the female DQ3 hero to give her some longer tresses, because all the DQ9 priest images have cropped hair.  Just didn't fit Renelle.

 

I feel so much better about having these new images up.  It has bugged me since I revamped the site that all those old, small images with poorly executed text were up there.

[Darkniciad]

My three horror tales are done On these, I mostly went with new images beyond the main female.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/harvest_of_blood_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/denethia_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/home_by_the_sea_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/home_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/les_home_by_the_sea_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/les_home_cover.jpg

[Darkniciad]

Covers for some seasonal fantasy stories as Dark and Les updated.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/while_cupids_away_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/cupid_gone_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/last_chance_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/last_chance_cover_old.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ghost_of_a_chance_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ghost_cover.jpg

I didn't have the cross-eyed cupid I constructed in Neverwinter Nights' game creation engine, but I'm happier with the image I have on there now anyway.

While Cupid's Away was and adventure. Didn't have the original image and couldn't find it. On a whim, I hit the wayback machine. Ended up grabbing several more that could be useful along the way, and eventually found it.

Problem was, the full-sized image itself wasn't saved on the wayback machine.

I did have the title, though. Luckily, a google search for the title in quotes turned up the image somewhere else, and the cover is done

Only a handful left to fix for size/looking crappy. A smaller number need some text tweaking. Once that's done, I can finally feel good about how the cover images look on the website again.

[Darkniciad]

Got some more updated. These didn't really take all that long. I've just been digging through the wayback machine pulling a lot of lost images from the snapshots of artmam. There are a lot of things that I found inspiring toward stories that I never saved, and they're still there.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/what_friends_are_for_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/what_friends_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ll_first_anal_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/first_anal_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ll_gift_of_three_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/gift_of_three_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ll_toy_time_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/toy_time_cover.jpg

 

I almsot didn't update What Friends Are For, because it wasn't as small as many of them.  I also considered finding a completely new image, but didn't really have anything appropriate.  Then, I decided since I had the original image, I'd expand it and make the text look a little better.

 

For Toy Time, I went with a new image, because the original was too blurry even as small as it was ( capture from a live cam show ) and it would have looked horrid when expanded.

 

Two I've been dreading are in the pipeline now:  The Royal Sacrifice covers.  The original for one looks like complete crap, because I had a really dark monitor when I made it, and couldn't see how terrible the hair I added on looked.  With the other, the original image is corrupted, and I remember it was a nightmare adding the hair to Guy on that one as well ( though it turned out much better )

 

Beyond that, I'm debating whether to update The Offering and Thricegiving.  I know I have the original female images for both, as well as the egyptian chest I turned into an altar and the backdrop for Offering.  Depends upon how I feel when I scroll through all the images, and whether they look out of place.

 

There are a couple of others that are remote possibilities, but the bulk of the updating is done, and I'm quite happy with the results

[Darkniciad]

These are three of the ones I've been dreading *laugh* They didn't turn out too bad, and they're certainly better than the originals.

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/king_thakkorias_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/thakkor_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/royal_sacrifice_09_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ars_09_cover.jpg

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/royal_sacrifice_14_cover.jpghttp://www.darkniciad.com/covers/ars_14_cover.jpg

 

There are a couple I still want to highlight text on, and still a couple of "maybe" updates ( The Offering and Thricegiving ) but I'm absolutely in the home stretch.