Sirens Song

YOU WILL NEED:

* Paint Shop Pro and Animation Shop or similar. I used PSPX but you should be able to make this tag in earlier versions.

* Image of choice (with a fairly uncluttered background). I am using the artwork of Abranda Icle Sisson. You need a license to use her artwork. Tubes, images and lots of other goodies can be purchased from Muddvision Studios

* Font of choice. I used Arial in the first example and Beautiful ES in the second.

* Tramages Pool Shadow Filter HERE (click on Graphisme Photoshop then on the next page Filtres then Tramages).

* Black and White Scrapkit by Fee from Scrappy Dayz. You can download it HERE.


LETS START!

1. Open your supplies in PSP. Open your font (by double clicking on it in Windows Explorer) and minimise to use later.

2. Open a new image 500 x 500 with a white background.

3. Resize your tube/image to 80% and copy and paste to your canvas. Sharpen if necessary. If your tube is small it may not be necessary to resize. Select - select all - float - defloat.

4. Add a new raster layer. Floodfill with black or a dark colour from your tube. Select none. Apply Gaussian Blur at the following settings -

5. Apply the Blinds effect to this layer at the following settings. Repeat the effect and untick the Horizontal box.

6. Copy the beads layer from the scrapkit and resize to 80%. Position at the edge of image and duplicate. Mirror the duplicate. Duplicate the layer again and Image - Free Rotate 90 degrees (duplicate this layer after you have erased some of the beads to make it fit, if required.). Carefully erase some of the beads and make a frame from the bead layers. When you are satisfied with the position of the beads, merge the four bead layers together.

7. Activate your blur layer. Copy and paste the black flourish to your canvas. Position it at the top right hand corner so that it shows from under the image. Duplicate, mirror, reposition if necessary and merge to the other flourish layer. Duplicate, flip image, reposition if necessary and merge to the other flourish layer.

8. Activate your tube/image layer and duplicate twice. Close off two of the layers. Use your magic wand on the following settings to select the parts of the background you want to animate. Once selected, apply Tramages Pool Shadow at the setting given below. Change the Diagonal and Centre by 20 for each of the other layers.

9. I added some accents from my tube/image to fill out the side of the frame.

10. Merge your white background layer, black blur layer, black flourish layer and accent layer (if used) together. Duplicate twice. Merge a pool shadow layer to each background layer.

11. Activate your frame layer layer and add copyright information and watermark. Merge these layers together and duplicate twice. Merge a frame to each backgroud layer.

12. Activate your text tool and select a complimentary colour for your text. Type your title or message at the following settings. Promote selection to layer and position your text. Repeat process with your name. NOTE We are going to apply pool shadow to the text so don't use black or white as your text colour. I used #808080.

13. Merge your text layers together and duplicate twice. Apply Pool Shadow at the settings previously used to your text layer. Merge a text layer to each of your background layers. Save as an Animation Shop .psp file.

14. Open your file in Animation Shop. Edit - Select All. Animation - Frame Properties - change to 40.

15. Save as a .gif and you are done. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Here is an example of the technique used on a coloured image

Sepia Tones

YOU WILL NEED:

* Paint Shop Pro or similar. I used PSPX but you should be able to make this tag in other versions.

* Black and white tube of choice. I am using the stunning artwork of Abranda Icle Sisson. You need a license to use her art which you can purchase from Muddvision Studios. The tube I am using is called Roses for Katherine.

* Texture filter of choice. I am using Xero Tekstya which you can download from HERE.

* Text filter of choice. I am using Super Blade Pro with a glass preset. You can substitute Eyecandy Glass or an inner bevel if you don't have this filter.

* Font of choice - I used Handscript SF HERE

* Bent Photo frame by Melissa of Sentimental Style. You can check out her blog HERE. Download the frame HERE.


LETS START!

1. Set up your supplies ready for use.

2. Open a new image 500 x 500 with a white background. Copy and paste your tube and Melissa's frame to the canvas. Resize and sharpen the tube if necessary (I resized to 70%).

3. Close off the frame layer for the moment. Activate the tube layer (if you are using the same tube I am, I carefully erased the disk behind her head) and apply Effects - Photo Effects - Sepia Toning. The settings I used are given below but experiment and find something you like.

4. Activate your freehand selection tool and using the following settings, trace around the sections of your tube that you want to colour. With this type of art, less is more so pick an accent you want to stand out. Select all the areas for one colour at a time ie I did all the leaves in one hit, then coloured them, then selected the roses, then coloured. Use Adjust - Hue and Saturation - Colorize to colour the areas you have selected. The settings I used are given as an example below (green = hue 75), but experiment and find a colour you like.

5. Position your tube and frame on your canvas. When satisfied, duplicate your tube and place one tube layer above and one below the frame. On the bottom tube layer, apply Gaussian Blur at the following settings -

6. Activate your background layer and add a new raster layer. Activate your frame layer again and using your magic wand, click inside the frame. Selection - Modify - expand by 6. Flood fill on the new raster layer with a complimentary colour from your tube (I used #eae4e4) and select none. Apply Tekstya at the following settings -

7. Lower the opacity of the Tekstya layer to 60%. Activate your top tube layer. Select your text tool and write your name using a complimentary colour from your tube (I used #c1b0b1 for foreground and background). Position and duplicate your text. Apply Gaussian blur to the bottom text layer but adjust the radius to 12. Apply your text filter to the top text layer. My settings are below -

8. Add drop shadow to the top text layer at the settings shown below. Use a dark colour from your tube for the shadow (I used #4b4239).

9. Add copyright information and your watermark. Crop excess white space from your canvas. Save as a jpeg and you are done. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Sparkle

YOU WILL NEED:

* Tube of choice. I am using the artwork of Abranda Icle Sisson. To use her art you need to have a license. You can purchase individual psp tubes of her artwork or an unlimited license (and many other goodies) from Muddvision Studios

* Accent tube to make the circle - I used a rose from the tube

* Font of choice - I used Wishing Type

* Xero Tekstya filter

* Mura Meister Copies filter

* A sparkle filter - I used Constellation but you could substitute VM Natural

* DSB Flux Bright Noise filter

* Gold pattern tile (right click and save)

LETS START!

Set up your supplies ready for use ie you want your gold pattern on the materials palette, install any fonts or plug-ins and restart PSP if necessary. Have your tube open in PSP.

Open a new image 400 x 400. Choose two complimentary colours from your tube, one light and one dark. Have your light colour as the foreground and the dark as the background. Change the material palette to gradient and find the Foreground-Background gradient. Make the gradient style sunburst.

Floodfill your canvas with your gradient. Duplicate the layer. Close off the duplicate layer and make sure the bottom layer is active. Apply Xero Tekstya filter at the following settings.

Activate the duplicate gradient layer. Add a new raster layer and floodfill with the gold pattern. Select all, selection - modify and contract by 8. Hit the delete key. Selection - modify - contract by 4 and floodfill the selected area with the gold pattern again. Merge the gold layer with the duplicate gradient layer. Selection - modify and contract by 2. Hit the delete key again and rename the layer frame. Apply dropshadow to your frame at the following settings -

Apply the drop shadow again but change the Vertical and Horizontal to -2.

Open both your tubes and copy and paste as new layers. Resize both tubes to compliment each other and the size of your canvas. If your tube is a little blurry sharpen it (Adjust - Sharpness - Sharpen).

Close off the main tube and activate your accent tube. Make sure it is roughly in the middle of your canvas. Apply Mura's Meister Copies at the following settings.

Adjust the number to suit how full you want your circle to look. I used the settings given then duplicated the rose layer and mirrored it, then merged the layers.

Duplicate your circle layer twice so that you have three circles. Apply your sparkle filter to each layer, changing the random seed for each layer. Reduce the opacity for each layer to 75%.

VM Natural Settings -

Activate your tube layer and bring to the top. Position the tube where you want it on the circle and duplicate the tube. Place the duplicate tube under the circle layers. Apply drop shadow twice using both settings given before ie 2 and -2. Your layer palette should look like this -

Activate your top tube layer and carefully erase the parts of the tube you want to look hidden behind your circle. Use the soften tool to help blend any rough pixels. Apply drop shadow to the top tube using the -2 setting.

Merge your bottom tube layer, the frame layer and the gradient background layer. Duplicate twice.

Duplicate your top tube layer twice. Arrange your layer palette so that you have three sets of (from the top down) top - circle - gradient. Merge each set so that you have three layers again.

Activate your top layer. Set the foreground and background to the gold pattern. Select your text tool and with your font set on the following settings -

Type your name, promote selection to layer and deselected. Duplicate so that you have three layers apply the Bright Noise filter at the following settings remembering to click on Mix for each layer

Apply same drop shadow as before. Repeat for each name layer.

Merge the name layers to each background.

If you want an accent on your text like I have then add it now and duplicate and merge.

Add the appropriate copyright information and your watermark on another layer. Duplicate the layer twice and merge to each background layer.

Save image as an Animation Shop .psp file.

Open image in Animation shop. Save as a .gif and you are done.