Rotating Colors Bar

Created January 16, 2002 © Copyright Moon's Designs
Property of Moon's Designs
This is my creation, any similarity to other tutorials on the Internet is unintentional
Please do not copy or place this tutorial or any graphics to any other place without written permission directly from me. Thank you

 

I've had a number of people ask me how I did my bar that you see above, so I thought I would write a quick tutorial for it. In the MoonsDesigns bar that you see above I used the Sloop Script2 font. The Sloop Script fonts cost $35.00 each so this tutorial is using a free font, Chase Callas, that everyone can use. I used the gold_shiny preset in Super Blade Pro, but you can use a gold gradient or the gold in Ulead Art Texture if you prefer.

This tutorial is written in and for PSP Version 7.04 and Animation Shop 3.04 and assumes you have a working knowledge of PSP at a beginners-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
A script font ~~ If you would like the Chase Callas font you can get it HERE

Step 1:
Open a new image 500x150, 16 million colors, transparent background. We will resize it later but I have the large size so you will have plenty of room for your name. Don't forget to save your work often!

Step 2:
Add a new layer. Have your foreground color set to Null and your background color set to white. Open your text tool and type in the name you want on your bar. I used the Chase Callas font, although any script font will do, size 36, floating and antialias checked. Click OK and keep selected.

Step 3:
Either flood fill with a gold gradient or go to Effects-->Plugins and choose either your SBP or Ulead Art Texture. I used Flaming Pear's Super Blade Pro and the gold_shiny preset. Deselect and save.

Step 4:
Go to Layers-->Duplicate. Image-->Flip. If your flipped signature doesn't line up the way you would like it to, use your mover tool to move it.

Step 5:
Go to Layers-->Merge Visible. Pick up your crop tool and draw a rectangle around your signature. Go to Image-->Crop. Save in psp format. File-->Save As-->yourname.psp. Remember where you saved it, we will be needing it when we open Animation Shop.

Step 6:
Before we take this into the animation shop, you might want to tube your signature to use as a watermark on your creations. I add mine after I finish a graphic by adding a new layer, add my gold signature and then set the blend mode to Luminance. I then add a slight drop shadow and it really shows up nicely. Then I merge my layers again and save as a .jpg. This is only for when you are using it as a watermark on your creation.

Step 7:
Open your Animation Shop. Go to File-->Open and navigate to where you saved your signature. Press Open.

Step 8:
Go to Effects-->Insert Image Effect.

Step 9:
Scroll to the Rotate Colors Effect. Have Animation Frame Checked. I have my Effects length set at 3.3 seconds and frames per second set at 3fps. Press OK. See below:

Step 10:

To see what your image will look like, click on the filmstrip as shown in the illustration below.

If you are happy with the way it looks then go to Files-->Save As and name your animation. Depending on how you had your previous settings set you might get some black around the edges. If this is the case please look at my Bobblehead Snowman tutorial for changing your settings. You can access it HERE.

While I was creating this tutorial I decided to have a little fun and did some experimenting. If you would like your signature to have different colors rotating on the top and bottom of your signature you can do the following. Before merging your main signature and the flipped signature I went to the main signature and changed the color. You can either use PSP's colorize feature, Harry's Filters or Variation if you have them. I then went to the flipped signature and made that one a different color. I merged and saved and opened the new saved signature into Animation Shop. Follow the same procedure for Inserting Image Effect and this is what I had.