The second one I like the most, but others are too simple for me but that's just me, everyone has its own taste...

Or you can use the format that most everyone uses for transparency: GIF.

To do transparent backgrounds and colors, use Microsoft Photo Editor (included in Windows 97, available for download elsewhere). Really simple.

I like the second one best. Its got a nice feeling to it--the colors are bright and get their point across. The only thing is, I wouldn't know if that would be considered professional, although using that as a header would probably be fine. I don't like the first one that much, it reminds me of the days I used MS Word to create alterations on text. MS word had a set of patterns to alter text, and I originally thought it was great but eventually found the horrors of it. The third one is too stark. I don't think its that professional, and its also slightly...well, I can't seem to grasp the word--weird. It doesn't befit AstaHost. The fourth one is okay (it is professional), but the text is too jumbled.

omg!!!!!!!! BoA yei i thoguth im aloen here... lol
i lvoe yoru BoA banenr *steals*

The first one isn't good. Lacks contrast, uses visible lame effects like bevel and glow. I don't see how it would fit into Astahost.

The techie feel in the second banner, together with its color scheme, fits much better Astahost. Did you make the whole thing? The font style doesn't match the style of the banner, though.

Golden version of the pixel-based one is good, but the font isn't very nice. You could make the characters using the "pixels". The same for the circle.

The Japanese girl one isn't really my style, but the colors and fonts blend very well. It's not very Astahost like, but still, well-made.

A comment about all of them, is that these images looks very blurry. I'm not sure if it's the JPG quality you saved them at, or if they were resized to bigger dimensions, but you should look into that in all of them (maybe in the last one it isn't really necessary to have crispiness). They definitely need a sharpen...

I like the second one. It has an awesome 3-d effect to it, and looks quite snazzy. Nice work, and keep it up!

I don't like them because they don't fit. Or well, the style does not appeal to me.

First is basic, nothing really bad about it.

Second is tasteless. Forgive me for being unable to describe it well, but it does not feel together. It doesn't stand out, it feels dull.

Third is the best. As it is simple! But shouldn't be an evil guy. You're not trying to hurt someone using astahost are you?

Fourth is irrelevant. I like asian girls. The rest of the banner isn't bad at all actually. But its not as if I associate hosting with cute girls (the opposite actually).

Making a good banner isnt about trying out effects or copy pasting images, it has to appeal and speak and send a message across. You labelled them as banners and thus I include that in ""rating"" them. It isn't bad.

They are good banners! I like that you have varied the style in them! But try vary other aspects too! Use different words/text. Also, try them in varying sizes! There are several 'standard' banner sizes, try them out!

I think with a bit more variation, help from the users and practise you can make some really awesome banners!

PS- All your banners are better than anything I could make, Im not trying to say Im better than you, just trying to help!

Personaly I don't like them I think they're too big and the're not concordant with the style of the website...

I prefer smaller and simpler ones

Talk about bumping a topic, it's over a year old!