Be posted on the real deal, I'll post it here o.o
( Nor do I think it fits into any category o.o )

Hmmm, I got photoshop the other day, and I wanted to experiment with it. So I took a bunch of scans from a bunch of different animes and collided them with each other to play with photoshop.

You'll notice that some scans were badly cut, but I got better later on, and discovered more tools thus making them better as I got to the newer scans. Please tell me how I can improve.

PLEASE Don't say I suck, I don't think anybody would, but I know I suck, and I'm just trying to improve. So please, tell me where I went wrong, not just say I'm bad at making wallpapers o.o.

Not bad at all for a first timer, and I doubt anyone would say your wall sucks...^^

Of course, as with everything in life..there are always room for improvement..

The first thing I notice about your wallpaper is the resolution...Although "bigger the better" applies to wallpapers, but making it too bit (3,008 x 2,000) might actually end in your wall getting rejected due to size factors...check out the FAQ for accepted dimensions...easy to fix, IMO..

Then, as you have said, there are obvious jaggedness as a result of extraction, most obvious the character on the upper left, and the robots(is that what you call them?) in the middle...It appears that you did not completely erase the lasso lines after extraction...one way to prevent that is to turn off the visibility for all the other layers, then set the background layer to black, so you can easily spot any leftovers...

As for extraction itself...while the lasso tool may work fine on straight surfaces (like the robot's wing), but it doesn't fare so well when it comes to curved surfaces, such as curly hair, or the craine...I HIGHLY recommend using the Pen Tool for working with anime characters, it works GREAT and you'll actually get your job done faster with it...PS. If you feel more comfortable with the lasso tool, then you might want to consider using the Feather feature (0.2-0.5px should be fine), Feather tool makes your edges seem anti-aliased, and though you may lose some details on the edge, the image extracted would look a lot more smooth..

As for the placement of characters...frankly, it is a bit too crowded...since you are not making a collage(ah..collage...I'll try that with my next wall), you might want to limit the # of characters you use in your wall...unless you want to achieve some special effect with it...too many characters make the wall look messy IMO..

Lastly, for the BG...It is a bit too bland..and simplistic...add more stuff to the BG, be creative...^^

All in all, not bad at all for a first timer...keep up the good work! ^^

In truth >.> I don't know how to resize the resolution. I'll look around though. Thanks for the advice.

Oh and yeah, I know! Theres a lot of clutter etc, but I really was just experimenting with photoshop and learning how to do things >.> I still have a lot to learn. Like making effects and stuff like that. But as long as I keep trying and don't give up I'll improve ( right? )

First of all this isnt a good resolution..not acceptable
second this wont get accepted cause you combined 4 animes together and thats not good.. only 1 anime per paper...

Say, could someone tell me a good place to find backgrounds? o.o. I can't make my own, so where would a good place to find a background be?

To resize the wall? simple...select the crop tool, enter the desired resolution at the top, then just start dragging, and the crop tool will automatically make a selection based on the dimension you entered.

However, if you do not want to lose the borders of the wall, you could try the resize image function by pressing Alt-Ctrl-I...the H&W are initially linked, meaning the change in one will result in the change of the other, but you can break the link, though your image may look distorted...


As for BG...I usually go to Stock Exchange for my scraps...since that's the only stock site I have found to be free...Deviantart is okey, but the problem is that most of the stocks there are in rather poor quality and resolution...

Thanks for the tips! I'll go look at stock exchange then..

Seeing as you know that you have to go back to the drawing board, i won't be commenting on the image that you posted up. but there are still a few things that i wanted to say.

Bladester50

But as long as I keep trying and don't give up I'll improve ( right? )

right! having the right attitude seriously counts for a lot. if you are willing to work hard, you'll be able to get past the bumpy beginning.

Dignity

only 1 anime per paper...

wrong. while AP does not have the "crossover" or "other" category, crossovers may be submitted to the category to which the dominant character(s) in the wallpaper belong. it is not clearly stated so in the FAQ the last time i checked, but i heard this directly from an admin. xD just thought i'd clear this up.

Bladester50

Say, could someone tell me a good place to find backgrounds? o.o. I can't make my own, so where would a good place to find a background be?

mm, this is a bit of a weird question, no offense intended. ^^; walling is about creation and since the foreground images aren't your art, the background is where that "creation" happens. so asking to find backgrounds is... yeah o__o remember that learning to wall is to challenge yourself. set your goals outside of your current skill limit but within your learning limit. don't say "i can't"; do your best to figure out how. that's the way to grow as a waller. come up with ideas; attempt to execute them (and thus gaining experience with various tools); look for tutorials and ask questions here (if you're having trouble). you might not succeed right away but hey, that's where that "keep trying" you mentioned comes in. ;D

and a note about what shawnhao mentioned (stock photo site). while http://www.sxc.hu/ is an excellent source of material, use with a LOT of care. generally, the amount of original effort (aka how much you created yourself) has a direct positive relationship with the probability of the wall getting accepted. effort is highly encouraged. so when it comes to using stock photos, you'll still have to do lots of work. for example, filtering them will not suffice.

ganbatte! :]

Hmmm... No theme?

Thanks for the mass amounts of comments there =D Hmm I guess its true that its lame if I jack up someone else's background. Meh, I'll make my one one day... I'll keep trying and do my best.

Also there isn't a theme because the wallpaper was started when I decided I wanted to experiment with scans.

Mmm if I can somehow make a good background for a wallpaper, I'll make one with one theme.. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to go mess around for a while.

I really appreciate the comments. Hontouni Arigatou!