100% Accurate vBrawl Name Tags!

[Tiberious]

This guide is written with Photoshop 7.0 in mind, but it should work with any image editor that has the following features:

- 'Smooth' Anti-Aliasing
- Faux Bold
- Independent Horizontal and Vertical Scaling
- Per-Character Kerning
- Character Tracking
- Image DPI on Creation

Of course, the first thing you'll need are the fonts themselves. These are confirmed perfect match for the original Brawl name tags on the character select screen (the one will also work for the in-battle name, but I haven't messed with that yet, so it's not covered). These can be downloaded here. Once installed, they will show up as 'FOT-Rodin Pro', 'DF*Mincho-UB' and 'DF*Mincho-SU'. Rodin is for the 'small' name tags (which are layered over the small character select box images), and DF*Mincho is for the large name tags (layered over the 'main' CSPs).


MenSelchrChrNmS.* Image Creation (this is the small one):

1. Create an image with the following dimensions and attributes:

Height:
For one line: 14 pixels
For two lines: 24 pixels
Width: * x 8 pixels (Minimum 48. Don't go over more than about 80 unless the name is all one word, or else it will squish horribly)
Dots Per Inch: 95.987 (Yes, this is odd. It's not 96. I'm attributing this to a floating point error)

2. Fill the background with color 34, 34, 34.

3. Use the following text settings on a new layer:

Font: FOT-Rodin Pro EB
Color: 221, 221, 221
Size: 9 point
Leading: 8.25 point (this is the space between lines)
Anti-Aliasing: Smooth
Character Width: 95%
Faux Bold (instead of UB, which, at least in my Photoshop, has rendering issues)
(Optional) All Caps

4. Type your desired name on the type layer, remembering to use all caps if you didn't set the optional parameter.
4a. If you find your name going off the edge of the image, bump the canvas size up by another 8 pixels. Repeat until it fits with at least 1 pixel of pure background on either side.
4b. If this resizing goes beyond 64 pixels and the name has more than one word, change the height to 24 instead, and line break on the second word. In this case, you can switch to centered text mode instead of left-aligned text to save time.

5. Position the text so that the following conditions are satisfied:

- Name is centered horizontally
- Horizontal lines at top and bottom of letters have similar anti-aliasing on each side. In Photoshop 7.0, this can be adjusted by holding Ctrl and dragging the layer in type mode. Use higher zoom levels (I recommend 800%) to make the aliasing as even as possible.
- Name is given 1 pixel of background on bottom and 2 pixels of background at top. This does not count any anti-aliasing pixels.

6. Once everything looks good, flatten or rasterize the text layer onto the background and save.

7. Try it out in Brawl!


MenSelchrChrNm.* Image Creation (the big one, and more complex):

1. Create an image with the following dimensions and attributes:

Height:
For one line: 24 pixels
For two lines: 32 pixels (2-line name guide to come later)
Width: 144 pixels
Dots Per Inch: 95.987 (Yes, this is odd. It's not 96. I'm attributing this to a floating point error)

2. Fill background with solid black (0, 0, 0).

3. Determine if the character name has any descenders.
- The characters that do are as follows, case-sensitive: g, j, p, q, y
3a. If you have descenders in your name, go to step 4a.

4. Use the following settings on a new text layer:

Font: DFPMincho-SU
Color: 255, 255, 255
Size: 20 point
Anti-Aliasing: Smooth
Tracking: 75
Character Width: Variable (Maximum 133%)
Character Height: 111%
Faux Bold (with some exceptions)

4a. Settings for one-line name with descenders:

Font: DFPMincho-SU
Color: 255, 255, 255
Size: 20 point
Anti-Aliasing: Smooth
Tracking: 75
Character Width: Variable (Maximum 133%)
Character Height: 99%
Faux Bold (with some exceptions)

5. Type your character name out. If it runs off the edge, start by lowering the tracking (select the entire line and type the new tracking value in the character floater) in increments of 25. After the tracking hits 0, begin lowering the character width on the entire line.
5a. If you get down to less than about 60%, break into two lines. (The two line guide is coming as soon as I can figure out the settings)
5b. If you need a period, disable Faux Bold for it. In Photoshop 7.0, this can be done by selecting the period in type mode and unchecking the option. Compensate for this by setting the kerning for the next character to 65.

6. Clean up the text by adjusting the kerning between characters in increments of 25 if you had to adjust overall character width. This can be done in Photoshop 7.0's type tool by putting the cursor after the character, and typing in the character floater. Otherwise, go to Step 7.
Notes and tips:

- You want at least 1 pixel of solid black around each letter.
- Some character combinations can benefit further than others by doing this. 'Ye', for instance, can have the 'e' moved to the left quite a bit. Doing so can keep you from having to squish a long name down too far.
- Another place where you can adjust character spacing easily is with a space between words. Bumping the kerning down to -50 or -75 can get you a few useful pixels.
- If you get thin, curvy characters like 'f' looking odd at lower character widths, change affected characters to DFPMincho-UB. The goal is legibility at 100% zoom.

7. Position the text so that the following conditions are satisfied:

- Any aliasing aligned on the bottom
- Center text if very short. Aliasing along the side edges is acceptable.
- The bottom of the y will have solid white against the bottom edge. This is also acceptable.

8. Once satisfied with your text, flatten or rasterize your text onto the background, then save.

9. Check it out in Brawl.


Edit (4/2/15): Repaired font collection link for SSS name guide.

 

[Tiberious]

Of course, what guide would be complete without examples of the finished product?
These should fit just fine in a Brawl menu without any visual modifications:

(with this one, you can see how far in you can get with the 'Ye' combination and thinner characters)