How To Create Eye Catching Banner With Photoshop?

here, very true...
but i believe it is about knowing what you want exactly first, then going for search on specific tricks

then, it is about developing your own taste & style in design
start by hoarding banners that you like is osme folder, then after a while study them, note down the elements that you like, stalk the designers that you love, then learn how you can accomplish a specifc effect...

*** This post is not specifically to the OP, although it will be helpful but in general to anyone who wants take a shot at graphic design ***

This is a very common problem that people who own photoshop or some other graphics software deal with all the time.

Having the tools but not the know how to do the job professionally, meaning they can make a banner template, add graphics, text and color but then afterwards they realize that the banner they just designed actually is not very appealing to the eye. ( no offence meant, just being honest, been there and done that myself )

The problem is this; There are things that you have got to learn and understand, before you can really design any professional looking graphics.

The solution is this; You have got to learn "basic design principles" to start, in order to truly design something that looks great and then you have to understand the tools you are working with and their capabilities and the tricks of the trade to do some of really cool graphics you see online.

The great thing is this; A Graphic Designer nowadays is a profession/hobby that you do not neccessarily have to be an artist to become, it can be learned nowdays by almost anyone willing to learn and apply specific principles of design. It really does help though to have an artistic eye, thats for sure, it gives you a huge edge.

But you or anyone else can do it, "kittyd" suggested I believe to make yourself a swipefile of banners and other designs that are visually appealing to you, which anyone who wants to be a great designer should do. Then you need to study the placement of the elements, (its layout) and its overall design and even its use of colors and note what works well.

Just remember this though; most people see designs that are visually appealing but they do not know the principles of design behind them that have been used to make the design visually appealing, such as the composition, typography and color choices.

So, in order to learn from other designs and actually apply what you are seeing that attracts you, you should first understand what principles (laws of design) are being applied and why they are being applied, in order to make the design work. (this is if you are serious about getting to be great a designing)

You could go even further and learn the psychology that is employed in graphic design. Because all people are emotional beings, they react and are motivated basically by their emotions.

Many of the best Graphic Designers understand these types of things and even though when you look at art work of any kind it may seem simple and easy, it usually has had lots of thought and planning that went into it that was specifically meant to target and trigger certain emotional reactions.

In the field of Graphic Design, and especially webgraphics for Internet Marketing you are wanting to trigger an emotional response from people, you want to motivate them to do something, Copywriters know this and use words to do it, but there is an old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" I will leave it at that. Usually you want someone to sign-up on your list or purchase something from you.

So, don't let yourself be fooled into thinking that just because you have an expensive graphics software program that you are going to be able to all of a sudden produce designs that are professional, unless you have done your homework. (no offence meant nor discouragement, just reality)

Alot of IM's just think of graphics as an added touch, not that important, but they are so, so much more. Or at least they should be considered as more, especially in Internet Marketing. Offline marketing agencies and Advertisers understand this very well, but there is a very, very habitual pattern and attitude that I have seen from IM's that I believe will have to change, and that is that they do not consider their graphics very important. If you are seriously trying to make money and convince someone to trust you and your product, you should present it very well.

Internet marketing in my opinion is not full throttle yet, but will be very, very soon and when that wave hits, the best of the best are going to do well. Because when the offline marketing professionals finally realize that everything is going online and they start to adapt to then the quality of presentation of things will have to step up.

There are many places online to learn how to do webgraphics, some people even have specific membership sites that teach you how to do graphics, I know of one that in my opinion is one of the best out there, if you want to know the name just P.M. me.

YouTube has lots of great videos and other places websites online have great tutorials. But if you are seriously wanting to learn I would start by learning the "basic design principles" and how to apply them, because these principles are almost like physical laws, in that once you know them they can be applied to any designs you produce and they will work all time. Its almost like a science of design. If certain principles are understood and then applied you will have a great visually appealing design all the time.

Here is a link to some knowledge concerning design principles, Design Principles. And here are some other informative things. More. This next link contains information about another very important rule of design, its called "The Rule of Thirds" .

This process of learning can take a while and unless you plan on doing this alot its probably a waste of your time if you value your time. Its much better to hire someone who can do the job for you at a competitive price.

The free banner makers, eCover sofware, actions scripts and banner software that have pre-made templates or produce product boxes for you usually just give you the basic framework for your design. Some offer template type graphics that are okay if you know how to position the design elements to make them look great. But when it comes to actual professional designs, it still takes a trained eye to get the banner, eCover, eBox or eBook to look professional.

In a nutshell, if you are wanting to do IM'ing and plan on doing your own graphics and making money with your product/s, you can't just throw something together that does not look professional by using graphics software and expect to honestly turn your website visitors into buyers.

You can and may go the cheap route at first by not hiring a designer, and if you are on a budget like me, I understand. But after you make your first few dollars or so, its much, much wiser to spend that little extra money to hire a professional graphics designer and have a minisite, squeezepage, eCover, eBook, eBox, banner, ect.... designed so that you are proud having your name being displayed on the same page as the graphics .

There are so many designers on this forum that are very reasonable that should be utilized more often.

(*** If I have offended anyone in this post with my honesty, I will apologize but honestly you have to be honest in order help people, I in no way am calling any specific person or product out, just giving my input and experiencial knowledge about the subject ***)

I would personally stick to what you are good at rather than trying to do everything yourself, in my opinion there is no point spending hours trying to create a professional looking banner when you can outsource the job and spend you time more productively.