Y'know Triz's userbar thread? I posted a tut there on making userbars with The GIMP, and I started with that exact tut. I use Photoshop now, but It's a great way to start, and you can make some kickass userbars with it. Just don't feel afraid to veer of from the tut if you think something else would look better, it makes your style more original
Just kidding, you may want to post some of your work though. And if you say that you use a userbar generator, I will find you, and I will kill you 
...
