How to Create Your Own Free Basketball Logo

Score big by making your own basketball logo.

Whether you've got Final Four fever or simply love free throws and hanging off the backboard, show off your love of basketball by making a logo. Logos are small graphical images that represent an organization, company or group. In just about as little time as it takes to run down the court, you can create your own free basketball logo, taking advantage of software programs already on your computer or by downloading free trials. Within minutes, you'll have a logo sure to score a three pointer.

Things You'll Need

• Windows Paint
• Microsoft Publisher
• Adobe Photoshop

Instructions

Using Paint

1. Open Paint, pull down the "Image" menu and select "Attributes." Set the dimensions for the logo, such as 4-by-4 inches, and click the "OK" button. The white Paint workspace adjusts.

2. Click the "Ellipse" tool, which looks like an oval, on the Tools palette. Select the bottom option below it, the nonoutlined rectangle. Choose an orange paint color from the Color Picker at the bottom of the screen. Draw a circle on the logo workspace, which fills in with color, forming the basketball.

3. Click the "Pencil" tool and select black paint. Draw the lines on the basketball and any other designs. Switch paint colors to add more accent designs to the ball.

4. Click the "Text" tool, which looks like an "A." Position your cursor under the ball and click, which should bring up a text toolbar. If not, click the "View" menu and select "Text Toolbar." Type a word or phrase for the logo, such as "Bobby's Basketball Lessons" or "Bernie's B-Ball Equipment."

5. Pull down the "File" menu and click "Save As." Type a name for the logo and select a place to save it to on your computer.

Using Publisher

1. Open Publisher or download a free trial. Click "Blank Print Publication," which opens an 8.5-by-11-inch page. Change the paper size by pulling down the "File" menu, clicking "Page Setup" and typing in new dimensions, such as 4.5-by-4 inches, and clicking the "OK" button. The Publisher workspace automatically adjusts.

2. Pull down the "Insert" menu, click "Picture" and select "Clip Art." Type "basketball" or "basketball player" into the "Search For" box and click "Go." Scroll through the results and double-click a graphic, which appears in place on the Publisher logo workspace. If the graphic opens too large, grab a corner and pull it toward the middle to shrink it.

3. Click the "Insert WordArt" icon, which looks like a tilting capital "A" on the Tools palette on the left side of the screen. Select a logo word style and type your logo information, such as "Basketball Club" or "Wild Cats Team." Click "OK" and position the words under the logo design.

4. Pull down the "File" menu, click "Save As," name the logo and save it to your computer.

Using Photoshop

1. Open Photoshop or download a free trial, click "File" and select "New." Name the file "BasketballLogo" and set your dimensions, such as 3.5-by-3.5 inches, and click the "OK" button. A blank Photoshop box appears on the screen.

2. Pull down the "File" menu again, click "Open" and navigate to an image to use for your logo, such as a basketball, hoop, pom poms or team symbol. Double-click the file, which opens in Photoshop. Click the "Lasso" tool, draw an outline around the part of the image you want to use and press the "Ctrl" and "C" keys together on your keyboard to copy the selection.

3. Click back to the BasketballLogo box and press the "Ctrl" and "V" keys to paste in the copied image. If it pastes in too large, pull down the "Edit" menu, click "Transform," click "Scale" and shrink it to fit.

4. Click the "Type" tool, which looks like a "T," on the Tools palette. Select a font, size and color from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Click the BasketballLogo box and type the logo information, such as "Go City Players!" or "We Support NY Basketball."

5. Pull down the "File" menu and select "Save As." Choose a place to save the logo on your computer.

Tips & Warnings

• The Paint software is included free on all Windows installations. Depending on your version of the Microsoft Office Suite, you may already have Publisher on your computer. It may be downloaded for a free trial from the Microsoft website. If you have the Adobe Creative Suite on your computer, you already have Photoshop. If not, you can download a free Photoshop trial and experiment with making basketball logos before sinking any money into buying the software.

References

• Windows: Using Paint
• In Pictures: Microsoft Publisher 2007 in Pictures
• University of Washington: Selections

Resources

• Microsoft: Free Office Trial
• Adobe: Adobe Photoshop CS5