Well, I guess this is rather Christmassy looking isn't it? This tutorial is done by request for Tammy after she saw my SinedotsAddicts site. Because I am not one to do a tutorial that only takes a couple of steps I have expounded on the original background in question and given you several variations below.

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* Remember to save your work often! **If this is the first time you have used the Sinedots II filter you might wish to go to my Using Sinedots II tutorial and review it.

You will need:

JASC's PSP (30 day free trial)- You can get it HERE
Sinedots II ~~ You can get it HERE.
**If this is the first time using the Sinedots II filter then create a new folder in your Plugins Folder and unzip your Sinedots II into this folder.
My Presets1 file ~~ You can get it HERE.
**Unzip into your folder you have made for your Sinedots II.
20/20 - You can get it HERE

Step 1:
Open a new image, 250 x 250; 16 million colors and a transparent background.

Step 2:
Add a new layer. Go to Effects-->Plugins-->Dragonfly-->SinedotsII. Towards the bottom of your screen you will see this:

Press open and navigate to your Sinedots folder and open the md-backgrounds.cfg file. Press the drop down arrow and click on md-background1.

Step 2:
Go to Edit -->Copy (Ctrl+C). Open your 20/20 program and Paste as New Selection (Ctrl+V). Leave your PSP program open and don't delete your original image, we'll be using it down the road. Before you start emailing me and asking me about this step ~~ Yes, I am doing this differently then previous tutorials using the 20/20 program.

Step 3:
On your 20/20 tool bar you will see Image. Click that on.

Another toolbar will open where you click to make it seamless.

Most people like their backgrounds muted so after you make your background seamless you can click on the muted background button and using the slider make it about 66% or whatever your preference.

Step 4:
After you apply your muted background, copy (Ctrl+C) and go back to PSP and paste it as a new image (Ctrl+V). You should have enough resources to keep both programs open at the same time. You might want to set up a separate folder for Sinedots Backgrounds and save your backgrounds in there. Save seamless muted background as .jpg.

Okay ~~ We're done! What?? You say you want to know some other things we can do? How about duplicating layers and rotating and changing blend modes? Okay, I have given you two different background presets in the md-background.cfg file. Let's play around a little bit and see what we can come up with.

Now that we are back in PSP, activate your original image. Go to Images-->Rotate and rotate to the right, 90 degrees and make sure that all layers is unchecked.

Copy in PSP and Paste in 20/20 and follow all of the steps in Step 3.

Save this as an .jpg in your Sinedots Backgrounds folder.

Let's go back to PSP ~~ but leave 20/20 open if you can. One of my most favorite functions in PSP7 is the undo feature. Activate your image and Edit-->Undo (Ctrl+Z). Go to your layer palette and duplicate your layer. Rotate this layer 45 degrees to the right ~~ all layers unchecked. Duplicate layer 1 again and this time rotate the layer 45 degrees to the left. The black around the preset will also rotate and it will look rather strange, but that's okay because we're going to apply a little magic here. Change the following blend modes to your layers on your layer palette.

Now you should have this.

Go to Layers-->Merge-->Merge Visible. Once again copy in PSP and Paste in 20/20 and apply the seamless background and mute it.

Once again save your muted background in your Sinedots Background folder. Go back to PSP and change the blend modes on your layers to this:

After bringing it into 20/20 you will have these results.

Remember to experiment with your blend modes and rotating ~~ it's amazing all that you can do. I told you that there were two presets in the .cfg folder that I gave you in this tutorial. Make sure you have everything saved and then clear them all out. Open a new image as in step 2. Open your Sinedots II filter and in the dropdown menu go to md-background2. Let's change the color on it. Click on the color bar:

Your color wheel and colors will come up.

Choose the color that you want and click OK. In the illustration below I duplicated the first layer, rotated by 45 degrees and merge the layers.

I then brought it into 20/20 by copying and pasting and following all of the instructions above and got this result.

Remember there is much you can do in PSP by using duplicate layers, rotating and the blend modes. Play around and see what YOU can come up with.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I have creating it for you.

If you have any problems, comments or questions please do not hesitate to E-mail me.

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