GOLD MESH FRAME

Created February 10, 2002 © Copyright Moon's Designs
Property of Moon's Designs
This is my own creation, any similarities to any other tutorial on the Internet are unintentional.
Please do not copy or place this tutorial or any graphics to any other place without written permission directly from me. Thank you

 

August 19, 2002 ~~ How thrilling to open my email this morning and finding yet another Award from PSP Magic. They had recently used my Gold Mesh Frame tutorial for a lesson and the response was tremendous. You may view their creations HERE. "Thanks from all of us for the time, effort, and talent you so willingly share with the PSP community!" ~~ The PSP Magic Members.

It so much fun stumbling on a unique frame totally by accident. I wanted a similar type frame as my Gold Oval Frame along with a mesh style, I was pleasantly surprised when I applied the Ulead Art Texture filter and the results that were obtained.

Ulead Art Texture is a free filter that has many uses. Please check out my tutorial on using this filter if this is a new one to you. We will also be using the Weave Texture, in PSP, for the mesh effect.

This tutorial is written in and for PSP Version 7.04 and assumes you have a working knowledge of PSP and filters at an intermediate level. I am sure this can easily be done in Version 6 with a few adjustments in paths but I have only used Version 7 so I can't make promises *S*

You will need:

JASC's PSP (30 day free trial)- You can get it HERE
ULead's Art Texture - You can get the free version HERE
**When executing the setup, the program will look for Photoshop on your computer to install Art Texture. Click on the Browse button and navigate to your PSP PLUGINS FOLDER and install Art Texture there. If you don't do this the program will not work properly for you.
A graphic ~~ I used Unicorn by Jim Warren. Mr. Warren has graciously given me permission to use all of his works in my tutorials. You can view his other masterpieces at his website HERE. If you would like to use this graphic please right click and save it to your hard drive.

Step 1:
Open a new image 300x400, 16 million colors, transparent background. Set your foreground color to #FDF2DB and your background color to #DBBE7F. Add a new layer, name it frame, flood fill with your foreground color.

Step 2:
Go to Selections-->Select All (Ctrl+A). Selections-->Modify-->Contract and enter the number 20, press OK. Go to Edit-->Cut or press your Delete Key on your keyboard. Go to Selections-->Invert, you will have the marching ants around the border. Keep selected.

Step 3:
Go to Effects-->Plugins-->Ulead Effects-->Art Texture. You will have this screen. Press Edit.

The next screen will appear. Select Pattern 5 ~ the Gold. Click OK.

One more screen will come up. I used the pattern on the top, right side.

Click OK, keep selected and save. Go to Effects-->3D-->Inner Bevel and apply the following settings:

Deselect and Save. Your image should look like this.

Step 4:
Pick up your selection tool, , set at Ellipse, 0 feather and antialias checked.

Starting at coordinates 150,200 draw an ellipse to about 240,340. You can see the coordinates on the lower left corner of your work area. Flood fill your ellipse with your foreground color, keep selected. Go to Selections-->Modify-->Contract by 20, press OK. Press Delete, deselect and Save.

Step 5:
Pick up your magic wand (tolerance and feather at 0) and select the oval. Apply your Ulead Art Texture as you did before. Apply the same Inner Bevel, deselect and save.

Step 6:
Go to your color palette and change your foreground styles to gradient. Choose foreground/background, the Sunburst Gradient with the following settings:

With your magic wand, touch the area between the oval and the rectangle to select it. While the marching ants are around the selections, activate layer1 and add a new layer, name if fill. Keep selected. Go to Selections-->Modify-->Expand and enter the number 3, press OK. Flood fill with your gradient.

Keep selected and add a new layer naming it mesh.

Step 7:
Change back to your solid color and flood fill your layer. Keep selected. Go to Effects-->Texture Effects-->Weave and apply the following settings. Make sure fill gap is checked. Deselect and save.

Step 8:
Pick up your magic wand, set the tolerance to 40, click on the mesh. All the mesh should be selected. Go to Selections-->Invert, then Edit-->Cut (or the delete key on your keyboard), keep selected. All of the black should be gone from the area now. Go to Selections-->Invert and apply the same Ulead Art Texture. Keep Selected and Save.

Step 9:
Go to Effects-->3D-->Inner Bevel. Use the same settings that we have been using.

Step 10:
Go to Effects-->3D-->Drop Shadow and apply the following settings:

Deselect and Save. Go to Effects-->Sharpen-->Sharpen.

At this point you may wish to make a copy (Shift+D) of your frame. On the copy, merge your layers and save it in your PSP Frames folder with the .pfr extension.

Step 11:
Activate layer1 and add a new layer, name it picture. Activate your frame layer and with your magic wand click on the transparent area inside the oval. Go to Selections-->Modify-->Expand. 3 should still be entered, click OK. Keep selected and save.

Activate the graphic you would like to use. Make a copy of your graphic (Ctrl+C). Go back to your frame image, activate the picture layer. Go to Edit-->Paste-->Into Selection. Keep selected. Go to Selections-->Float. Go to Effects-->3D-->Cutout and apply the following settings:

Reapply the cutout, but this time change the Vertical and Horizontal offsets to Minus 6.

Step 12:
Merge your layers and resize your image (Image-->Resize) as desired. If you resize your image make sure you go to Effects-->Sharpen-->Sharpen for clarity. Save your new frame and you are done!