To create a titlepanel image, download my Titlepanel Template pack. This has a PSD template for Photoshop and a PSP template for Paint Shop Pro. This guide assumes you know how to use the basic features of either Photoshop (PS) or Paint Shop Pro (PSP).
Step 1: Adjusting the source logo
Before you can use the Titlepanel Template you must first adjust your source logo. Your logo must be 120px wide and can be any height upto 120px high. This is the same dimensions as the "huge" logos used in EHM. Load the image into either PS or PSP. The image needs to have a transparent background. If it does not have one then you will have to use the eraser tool or the marquee tool to "cut-out" the logo and give it a transparent background. It should then look something like this:
Rotate the image 5 degrees to the right:
Then adjust the logo's opacity to 10% (or in other words, make the logo 90% transparent):
Save the image as a PNG file with transparency.
Using the template
Open the Titlepanel Template into your graphics program (either PS or PSP). Make the layers named "Background" and "Outer template" visible. Make sure all of the other layers are invisible.
Copy the logo you have prepared and paste it into the template as a new layer. Make sure the logo layer (the one you have just pasted) is below the layer named "Outer template" and above the layer named "Background".
Align the logo so that it is centred vertically and aligned to the far right:
Go to the "Outer template" layer and use the Magic Wand Marquee to select the grey colour:
Then change to the layer that has your logo and then delete/clear the area of the logo covered by the marquee. This should cut-out the top and bottom parts of the logo that overlap with the "Outer template" layer. Make the "Outer template" layer invisible. Your titlepanel should now look like this:
Next, make the "background" layer invisible:
Save the image as a PNG. The file name should be that of the logo's team name. Titlepanel background images belong in NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007\data\pictures\logos\clubs\background\. Within this folder the there must be a sub-folder with the name of the team's country (or in the case of North American leagues, the league name). The titlepanel image then goes in this sub-folder.
If you have any problems/questions about the template or this guide, ask in this thread in the Graphics Forum.