So, you can't make a good banner or button yet? Well, here I'll share my tips and tricks to making some of the graphics I make.

Step 1: You must have a good graphics program, I recommend you use Adobe Photoshop. You can download a trail version at www.download.com and search for Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2: Find good quality images and cool fonts that you want to use on your banners/buttons. Once you have alot of these, The harder part comes that might be tricky and frustrating at first, but remember not to give up.

Step 3: Open Adobe, then go to file, "New". Select the banner/button size by typing it in then click "ok". NOTE: Make sure the size is in pixels and the mode is RGB Color, not gray scale. The recommended sizes for Top banners is around 780x185 pixels. A standard button (for example, affiliate link buttons) are 88x31 or 88x33. 

Step 4: Go to File, "Open", then find the image or images you want to use on your banner/button. use the selector tool (looks like a rectangle) and right click on the image and select "Select All". This will have the whole image surrounded by a box. If the image is big and you want it smaller, right click again on t he image and select "Free Transform" and use the corner to shrink the image to the size you want. Then right click again and go to edit, "Copy". Now go back to your blank button or banner and go to go to edit "Paste". This will paste that image onto your banner/button and make it a layer that you can move later on with the moving tool (that looks like an arrow). 

Step 5 (for Buttons): Next, put the text on after you have the image where you want it. To make the text, click on the button that has a "T" on it on the tool bar. then click on your button where you want it and a Text editor will come up and it'll have all the text styles you have on your computer. Once you put the text on, add some other stuff to it like an outer glow or a 3D effect. Go to image, "Effects" Then select outer glow, Then another mini editor will come up. In there you can choose what color the glow is and how strong or weak you want it to be. To make 3D text, go to image, "Effects" and select Bevel and Emboss. At the bottom of the editor, you'll see different kind of bevel effects, choose either inner bevel, emboss, or pillow emboss, for 2 cool 3D text effects.

Step 5 (for banners): Put several images on your banner and put then all mixed together where you want them. Next, click twice of the eraser tool button on the tool bar and change the setting to "Airbrush" and change the pressure to about 4. Next, select the layers on top of the other and begin carefully brushing away the border of the image. This will make it look like the whole thing is one image and it won't look crappy. Then add the text on and any other image with the background gone, and your done.

Step 6: Go to file, "Save As" then save the image as a JPEG. A quality chooser bar should pop up next after you save and will ask what level quality you want, for banners choose 8, and for buttons choose 10.

Extra Tip!: To remove the blank background of an image, use the magic wand and click on what you want clear, and go to Image, "Clear", then the background will be clear and you can put the image wherever.