Ellie's Treasures - Art Nouveau Stationery

Header

Background tile

For this tutorial you will need:
ULead PhotoImpact - available for purchase here
or
Adobe Photoshop - available for purchase here
or
Adobe Photoshop Elements - available for purchase here
or
Jasc Paint Shop Pro - available for purchase here
This tutorial will work in any of these programs.

Filters needed
Funhouse filters - Twister - available free here
Simple filters - Quick Tile - available free here
Fantastic Machines Paint Engine - available free here

My plugin windows may look different from yours as I use Filters Unlimited 2 to manage my plugins - available for purchase here.
I am assuming you know the basics of your graphics program and where the tools can be located.

Some abbreviations I used: PSP is Paint Shop Pro, PI is PhotoImpact, PS is Photoshop, and PSE is Photoshop Elements.

Let's get started!

HEADER

1. Choose 4 pictures all about the same size that will work nice together. Resize as necessary to make them all the same size.

I used 4 beautiful fairies like this one, art is by Selina Fenech. For more of her wonderful art, click here.

Frame each picture with a simple beveled 10 pix frame:
2a: add border, equally on all sides, any color not in your graphic;
in PI it's Format>Expand Canvas 10, Expand sides equally checked,
in PSP, it's Image>Add Borders, 10 - Symmetric checked)
in PS, it's Image>Canvas Size, if you want 10 all around make it 20 in each window;
in PSE it's Image>Resize>Canvas Size and then the same as PS;
in PSP add border 10 symmetric checked),

2b: Select with magic wand, fill with a coordinating color, leave selected.
In PI go to Easy Palette, Button Gallery, Any Shape and double click on A19;
in PSP, inner bevel as shown, Bevel 2, 8-40-3-0-0-315-50-30;
in PS, select border, fill, right click on the layer in layer palette, pick Layer via copy,
leave that layer selected, go to Layer>Layer Style>Bevel and Emboss, Inner bevel, settings as shown,
all are left at default except change soften to 5 and angle to 145;
in PSE it's like PS except for Inner Bevel, for that you go to the Styles and Effects Palette,
in drop down menus pick Layer styles and Bevels, click on icon for Simple Inner.

3. Open new canvas, width of all 4 plus 175, height of pix plus 35. I made mine 720X345.
Fill with gradient with colors that coordinate with your graphics.
For best results you need a gradient with a few different colors

In PhotoImpact, pick the two colors, then go to Edit>Fill>Gradient tab and choose the diagonal style,
in the two little color boxes, right click on each and choose the two colors you picked.
Make sure transparency is at 0 and apply the gradient.
I used Magic Gradient 009, Mode 16;

In PSP, click on your color palette and choose Gradient. Left click on the thumbnail and it will open the window
to choose a gradient. Choose your gradient. Angle 45, repeats 3, Style Radial.

In Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, go to layer palette, click on the gradient icon at the bottom of the window,
in the window that comes up, pick the gradient you want, pick angle style, leave the rest at default; go to Layer>Flatten image.)

It should look like this now, of course it varies according to the gradient you pick.
This screenshot is greatly reduced in size.

4. Filter (or Effect)>Funhouse>Twister at default setting of 47

5. Filter (or Effect)>Fantastic Machines>Paint Engine.
Select the Blur Water Preset, or use these settings if you don't have it.
Make sure to save the setting if you had to put it in manually.

It should look like this now.

6. Add border of 10 pixels, fill with same gradient as used in background,
(In PS and PSE use the Linear gradient style instead of Angle ;
you will now need to right click on this layer in the layer palette and click on rasterize layer);

Go to Effects (or Filter)>Fantastic Machines>Paint engine, Blur Water Preset as before, wrap edges checked.

7. Apply a bevel to the border as before
In PI go to Easy Palette, Button Gallery, Any Shape and double click on A19;
in PSP, inner bevel as shown, Bevel 2, 8-40-3-0-0-315-50-30;
in PS, select border, fill, right click on the layer in layer palette, pick Layer via copy,
leave that layer selected, go to Layer>Layer Style>Bevel and Emboss, Inner bevel, settings as shown;
all are left at default except change soften to 5 and angle to 145;
in PSE it's like PS except for Inner Bevel, for that you go to the Styles and Effects Palette,
in drop down menus pick Layer styles and Bevels, click on icon for Simple Inner.

8. Copy and paste the 4 pix in, space evenly and align
Watermark and Merge All (flatten image in PS/PSE)

You're done the header, save a a jpg. Don't forget to optimize.

BACKGROUND

9. Open a new white canvas 500X500, fill with same gradient as above
In PI, at 75% transparency,

in PSP add a new raster layer, fill with the gradient and slide opacity down to about 50;
in PS/PSE fill tile w gradient as above, Layer>flatten image, Layer>New Fill layer, solid color,
leave next window at default, click on ok, pick white in the color window, click ok;
now in the layer palette, slide the opacity down to 50%)

These tile screenshots are greatly reduced

10. Effect (or Filter)>Funhouse>Twister at default setting of 47

Effect (or Filter)>Simple>Quick Tile

You're done, save as a jpg.

It will look like this but bigger! LOL

ASSEMBLE IN LETTER CREATOR

1 Make sure Show Sample Text is checked at the bottom of the window.
   Click on the header tab, insert the header you made; click on Center.
2 Click on the Body tab, click on Image, and browse to the tile you made. Now click on "Tile" to tile the image.
3 Choose a font and font size. I recommend not going below 18 for most fonts as they end up too small to read.
4 Choose a text color and link color. Please be very careful that you don't pick a
   shade or color too close to the background or it will be hard to read. Pick a signature color as well.
5 Set the margins: set the top margin to 10, and set the left margin to 30, don't change the right margin
6 Click on the Footer tab, in the footer, it's good to put the name of your font, credit the artist or tube maker
   if you know that information and link to them if they have a website (to link, just select the text, click on the
   link icon that's just above the footer edit window, it's the one on the right.
   When the little window opens, put the address in there).
   Highlight what you typed and click on Center, then pick the font you used for the body of the stationery.
   You don't need to change the color, the program does that automatically for you to match the text and link colors
   you chose for the stationery (to see that, scroll down in the sample text to the footer and you will see that it's changed).
7 Click on the 3D Effects tab, and pick an animation you like for all of the categories there.
8 Click on the Finish tab and name your stationery in Letter Name.
   I add my initials to it so it's unique and won't get overwritten.
   In Collection Name, pick a folder that you would like the stationery to install to.
   I name mine Ellie's Treasures Christmas, Ellie's Treasures Floral, etc. For Type, pick Letter.
   In the Text box, I have the copyright symbol and my company name.
   For the copyright symbol, hold down the alt key while on the number pad you type in 0169,
   let go of the alt key and the copyright symbol will be there.
   In the little window below that, you can choose Email in the dropdown menu and add your email address
   to the window next to it, or you can leave it at URL and put your website address in there.
   Click on Save Project and then click on Add to Incredimail. You're done!

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

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.
©2005 Ellie's Treasures

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