If you're like me you can never find enough free plug-in filters. A couple of weeks ago I went on a quest to find a lot of them and it's going to take some time to play with them to see what I can come up with to help all of you out but I am getting there slowly but surely. Today's tutorial uses Mura's Filter Meister Cloud 2.2 and there are a lot of things I think I will be coming up with using this filter. Remember, these are only guidelines. I encourage you to play around with the settings making the end product yours.
There isn't much to this tutorial, it's rather quick and fairly easy to do, but the end results are rather awesome. I hope you'll agree.
This tutorial is written in and for PSP Version 7 and assumes you have a working knowledge of PSP 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
Mura's Filter Meister Cloud 2.2 Free Plugin - You can get it HERE
**Unzip to your plugin folder
A Graphic ~~ I used Together Again by Jim Warren. Mr. Warren has graciously
given me permission to use all of his works in my tutorials. You can view his
masterpieces at his website HERE.
Step 1:
Open your image in PSP and make a copy of it (Shift + D). The main reason for
making a copy is in case I want to use the image again and forget to change
the name when I save *S* You can close the original.
Step 2:
Depending on the size of your graphic you may want to reduce it by 75%. If you
resize it don't forget to go to Effects --> Sharpen --> Sharpen.
Step 3:
Choose two contrasting colors from the graphic you are using, one for the foreground
and one for the background. I used #1CB0A3 for the foreground and #0081A1 for
the background. Now go to your styles foreground pallet and choose the gradient
button.
Choose #1 Foreground-Background using the Sunburst Setting. Horizontal and Vertical set at 50 and 0 Repeats. Invert Gradient checked. See below.
Step 4:
Go to Image -->add borders Make sure symmetric is checked and enter 25
for the border size Click OK
Step 5:
Take your magic wand (tolerance and feather set at 0) and click on the border
- you will get marching ants around the border.
Step 6:
Flood fill with your gradient. Keep Selected.
Step 7:
Go to Effects-->Plugins-->MuRa Meisters-->Cloud... You want your Light
to be white and your FG and BG the colors that you had chosen earlier. Click
Reset Colors if those colors are not showing or click on the color and enter
your HTML number. Have Source base checked ~~ Blend mode from the drop down
menu as Multiply and Silk from the next Drop down menu. Change the other settings
as below:
Click
OK. Keep Selected.
Step 8:
Go to Selections--Invert.
Step 9:
Go to Effects-->3D-->Cutout and apply the following settings. Keep Selected.
Step 10:
Reapply the cutout but use Minus 8 in both the Vertical and Horizontal Offsets.
Keep Selected!
Step 11:
Go to Selections-->Invert and the marching ants should be around your border
again. Keep Selected!
Step 12:
This is where it all takes shape. Go to Effects-->3D-->Inner Bevel. Apply
the following settings and make sure you have the correct shape chosen from
the drop down menu or you will not get the proper effect.
You can deselect now ~~ You're done!
Oh My!! Wasn't that neat the way it grooved the border in just the right places **grins**.
If you are using this tutorial as a group lesson to be sent in we might need to have a Step 13 *S* It really depends on the size of your image to begin with. If you used Jim Warrens graphic, as I did, it is way to big to send to your groups especially after adding a frame.
Step 13 if needed:
If you need to resize your final work go to Images --> Resize. Here is something
you need to know about resizing. One of the tricks you should use to squeeze
the absolute best out of a resized image is to always try to resize to exactly
three-quarters (75%), one-half (50%), or one-quarter (25%) the original image
size. The mathematical reasons this works the best are beyond what I could explain
in this little tip; but trust me--it works. Basically, Paint Shop Pro uses a
complex algorithm to figure out which pixels to keep and which ones to throw
out. Using a standard resize value lets PSP work at its optimal levels. I also
have to add that ANY time you resize in PSP (including tubes!) you must sharpen
your image for optimal viewing. Go to Effects --> Sharpen -->Sharpen.
Here's my finished result after reducing to send to groups.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial as much as I enjoyed making it for you. Many thanks to my testers ~~ without you I wouldn't be where I'm at today.
If you have any comments or questions please do not hesitate to E-Mail me.
If you would like to be notified when there are updates to Moon's Designs (including new graphics, websets and tutorials) please sign up for my mailing list below.
Tutorial written and created by Patti Wavinak for Moon's
Designs. These Tutorials are copyrighted by law. You may LINK to them only.
You may not remove any of the graphics, zip files or html within these pages
to reproduce these Tutorials, without the expressed permission of Moon's Designs.
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may they be translated and placed on another site.
Creations made from these tutorials are your creations.
Moon's Designs holds the copyright to all selections, original tubes and original
images that I have created and provided for use within my tutorials. Page backgrounds
and images are created exclusively for this website and may not be downloaded
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If you would like to use any of my tutorials for group lessons please contact
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