Here's step by step instructions for making a signature that you can use in Amazing Charts.
It sounds and looks harder than it is, I promise!
If you want a word document that has some screen shots with these directions, just email me. Also, if you go through and get stuck and/or don't want to bother, you can email me a scan of your signature and I'll send you a png that's the right size for AC back to you as soon as possible. My email is in my profile.
1. Sign your name on a plain white piece of paper. Use a black felt marker for best results.
2. Scan your signature and save it as a .jpg file.
3. Open PSE (if you don't have it directions and a link are at the bottom of this post) and go to File/Open and pick your scanned signature file.
4. In the toolbar to the left of the PSE window, there's a little tool, 4th from the top that looks like a little stick with a star on the end. That's the magic wand tool. Click on that tool to use it.
5. So now you should have a big white image with a signature on it somewhere. If you can't see it, don't worry. If you can see your signature, you can skip the next sentence and go straight to cropping.
6. Press the <ctrl> key and then the - minus/dash key to shrink the image so you can see the whole image. Then click on the crop tool. That looks like a strange little square with a thin line slanting through it. It's usually between the capital T and the star. Click on that tool to use it, and then put it to the upper left of wherever your signature is. Hold the mouse button down and drag to make a square. You can adjust the edges of the square so your signature is inside the box. Click on the green check to crop the image.
7. Now we're going to make the background transparent. Click the magic wand tool and and check the settings, which will be above your image. Tolerance: 1, Anti-alias should be checked, Contiguous and All Layers should be unchecked.
8. Click anywhere in the white part of your image and hit the delete key. Now your signature should appear on a gray and white checkerboard pattern. This indicates that the background is now transparent. You can zoom in to check and be sure that everything looks good. Hold down the <ctrl> and then the + plus key to zoom in. <ctrl> and - will shrink things back down.
Almost done.
9. Make a new document that is exactly right for Amazing Charts by going to File/New/Blank File and use the following settings: Width: 264 pixels, Height: 30 pixels, Resolution: 100 Color Mode: Grayscale Background Contents: Transparent
10. Next we need to drag and drop your signature onto the new document. Select the move tool, which is the gray arrow at the very top of the toolbar, above the magnifying glass.
11. Drag and drop your signature. It won't fit so click on one of the corners to resize it. Make sure you get your whole signature to show. You don't want the bottom of your j or to get chopped off.
12. Finally, go to File/Save As and select png.
