For information about which fonts, programs, etc I used to construct my pages and my headers, click here.

 


   
 
Click here to see more examples.

This will open in a new window and print out on standard 8½" X 11" paper
For this tutorial you will need:
ULead PhotoImpact - available for purchase here
Filters and Materials needed
 Simple-Quick Tile, available free here
or
20-20, download it free here

Picture or tube, object, psd files

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I use a little program called the The Image Tiler to preview my tiles to see if they're seamless. Not necessary in PI but useful in the other programs.
It's license says it's free to be redistributed and all of the links I found for it are dead, so I've uploaded it.
Download it here
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My plugin windows may look different from yours as I use Filters Unlimited 2 to manage my plugins - available for purchase here.
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I got the idea for the basic image from this tutorial - click here
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I am assuming you know the basics of your graphics program and where the tools can be located.  

This is pretty simple. Here are the basic steps
1. Create the tile (you must do this first)
2. Duplicate the tile
3. Make the tile seamless
4. Open the duplicated tile
5. Expand canvas
6. Bevel the image, then bevel the borders and apply the presets
7. Merge all, apply watermark and you're done.
8. Save and optimize.

Create the tile, you must do this first
1. Open graphic you would like to use for the image. You can right-click and save the image below if you like.
Duplicate and close original.
Copy it (Control-C)and paste down again as object. (Control-V)
Right click and Convert Object Type from Text/Image to Path.
2. In your toolbar, click on the path drawing tool , click on 3D round for the mode,
the color white or any other color you want (the golden yellow here (#FAB86E)
made the resulting picture gold, see the Golden Roses below).
If you left the color at white, your canvas will be a pale grey


 
This is what it should look like.
3. Click on the Material Panel icon


Click on Border/Depth tab, change border to 1, don't change the depth


Click on the Bump tab, browse to your graphic, click ok, click on invert bump map,
( or leave it unchecked if the particular graphic looks good that way, I left it unchecked
for the flower photograph and the golden roses pictured at the bottom of the page,
and I checked it for the Angel picture). Leave everything else in this tab at default settings


Click on the Shading tab and click on Metallic (it doesn't matter which metal it's on,
copper, gold, steel, it doesn't change anything. Leave everything else in this tab at default settings


Click on the Color/Texture tab and here you can change the color
if you didn't do it in the Drawing Path Panel or change to a gradient
If you leave it white you will get the grey color as shown just below.
Just click on the color box to get the menu to choose the color.
If you left it at white, this is what it should look like.

If you changed it to the golden yellow color I chose, it will end up like this
4. In the Easy Palette, in your material attributes panel, click on Reflection and pick a preset.
 I used R01 for my silver graphic. Double click on it to apply.

For the copper and gold ones, I didn't use the Reflection preset.
For the Gold one I just changed the color to yellow gold as mentioned, and
for the copper one I applied Copper 5 from the Metallic category instead of the Reflection preset.
(To apply a metallic preset, don't forget to right click and modify, and change the settings as shown above.
You will also need to pick your bump again.)

 Do not merge, leave it as an object.
Duplicate it, minimize the duplicate, it will be for the image.
Merge all

 

I used R38 on the Golden Roses and got this.
I liked it better when I used the golden orange color in the material palette,
rather than this reflection preset, so I will use that one (see above)
 


5. Go to Effect>Simple>Quick Tile and apply. Your tile will now be seamless.

*Note: At this point, if you want a different metallic shade or maybe a natural texture, pick the one you want
(only from the Material Attribute Gallery Texture or Metallic groups, the ones in the realistic group pretty well cover the
picture right up), for the metallics, right click and modify and apply. Go to the bmp tab and browse for your picture again. Apply.
You will find that some already have a bmp file checked and used. These will not turn out well.
You need to use a preset that has no bump file already associated with it.
If you are using one from the Texture group, just double click to apply.
If you are finding that the bump window is greyed out, you forgot to change the Path Tool from 2D to 3D.
I applied the Copper 5 in the Material Attribute Gallery>Metallic and got this with the Roses,
and the next one is where I applied Texture>Wood 7 to the graphic
  

If you want it lighter, mute it by adding a layer of the color you want to mute with at about 50% transparency.
I usually like to mute with a lighter shade of the main color.

This is the silver one muted.
Don't forget, the next time you use the fill tool, it will still be at 50% transparency,
so make sure you change that before using again for something else.

Merge all, and you're done this part.  Save as a jpg and don't forget to optimize.
See below for optimizing tips,
click here, it will open in a new window
Create your Header Image
1. Go to Format>Expand Canvas, and expand sides equally, white, 20 pixels, click ok.


 
2. Select the graphic, which is an object, and, in the Path Tool panel change border size to 20.



 
This is what it will look like.
You may find that it darkens or dulls the color somewhat. My gold one did that,
so I clicked on the Material panel, picked the same yellow-orange color I used to make it initially (see above),
changed the Shading to Metallic and picked the bump again. That made it a great gold color.


Deselect the object (hit Enter to deselect)

This is the color I used for the gold in the material palette (#FAB86E)


See below for the result or click here
6. Select white border with magic wand , right click and convert to object, right-click again,
convert object type from text/image to path. Apply Reflection preset R01
(or the same Metallic or Texture preset you used for the graphic).
Change the border size to 20 in the Material Palette.

Again, for the gold one I used the same color in the material palette when I changed the border size to 20.
Right click, merge all.
7. This is what it will look like.



Here's the gold one


Merge all, watermark and you're done this part.  Save as a jpg and don't forget to optimize.
Optimizing
 I normally optimize the jpg at anywhere from 60-80, just check the preview window
and see how it looks. I use 60 the most but sometimes you need it optimized less for a good graphic.

If you have any questions or suggestions, click on the email button below to contact me. Have a wonderful day!

More Examples
A different result using a photograph of flowers my husband, John, took. I left the invert bump map in step 3 unchecked for this one)
     
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I opened a tube here (tubed by ~V), duplicated and closed the original, then merged all to get this graphic, and saved it.
Gold one-I just used yellow gold ((#FAB86E), in the Material panel instead of the white-
no Reflection or Metallic preset was used afterward.
The Copper one-no Reflection preset was used, but I did use Material Attribute Gallery>Metallic preset Copper 5
The Wood one-no Reflection preset was used, but I did use Material Attribute Gallery>Texture>Wood 7 preset
        
 

These tutorials are all my own creations.
Any resemblance to any other tutorial is purely coincidental and unintentional.
Feel free to share any of my tutorials on this site by a link back to my site,
but do not copy and send the entire tutorial to anyone or any group.
©2003-2006 Ellie's Treasures







 

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Webpage Design Information
 This webpage background was made in PhotoImpact with a tutorial by Deb DeHaven.
Sadly, she passed away but her tutorials just came back online, thanks to PIRCNet.
You can find it here.
 The tutorial for the gel buttons I make, including a menu bar to go with it, is here and is for PhotoImpact
The font I used for the lace headers is BrockScript and you can get it by clicking here
The font I used for the tutorial header is Gallery.
Click on the font name to download the font.
I use PhotoImpact to make all of my headers due to the amazing
3D text it has and the wonderful presets available free online
 Most of the presets I use are either the ones that come with PhotoImpact, usually the Gel ones,
or from Deb's PI Tutorials and More (see below) or Carol Oyl's site
 This is the address to Deb's old pages
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/millenit/1716/pitutorials/objects/presets/presets1.html
I can't find any links to her new pages but the presets are still on this page for download.
 For more sites to find PI Presets, take a look at my Great Beginnings page.