Ellie's Treasures - Chelsey Stationery

Header

Background tile (if you just want to do the background tile, click here)

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 and Materials needed
Funhouse filters - Twister - available free here
Simple filters - Quick Tile - available free here
FM Tile Tools - Blend Emboss - available as a trial here
(7 of these filters continue to work when trial is over, Blend Emboss is one of them)
Mura Pro Seamless (if you are using PhotoImpact, Photoshop or
Photoshop Elements) - available free here (bottom of page)

Mask from ArtMania, click here, you need r@bn_mask15, bottom right corner

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. Open your graphic, duplicate it, close the original and resize the copy to about 350 or 400 on longest side.

This beautiful baby is called Chelsey, and is used with permission from her Mom, Joyce Fischer

Pick two coordinating colors from picture
I used for light: #b8f2a3, and for dark: #4fa230

Open the mask into your program.
Step 2 and 3 for PhotoImpact, click here Step 2 and 3 for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, click here

ADDING GRADIENT AND MASK - PSP

2. Add a new raster layer
Fill with gradient foreground-background, angle 45, repeats 3
it will look like this now:

3. Go to Layer>Mask Layer>From Image
In Source Window, click dropdown menu and find the mask you have open.
Source luminance checked
Right click in layer palette on mask layer, merge group.

for the next step for PSP, click here

ADDING GRADIENT AND MASK - PHOTOIMPACT

Step 2 not needed in PhotoImpact

3. Resize mask to match your graphic, this particular mask will look ok
if Keep Aspect Ratio is unchecked while resizing so it can match exactly.
Go to Format>Data Type>Grayscale 8 bit

Back to your graphic, go to Selection>Import Selection>Open Grayscale Image
and you will see your open mask as a thumbnail

It should now look like this

Now right click and convert to object. You will see marching ants around the selection now.
Now we will fill it. Go to Edit>Fill>Gradient, choose Multiple Colors,
and click on the color box to find a gradient that will work well with the picture. I chose 002.

It should look like this now

Leave selected
For the next step for PhotoImpact, click here

ADDING GRADIENT AND MASK - Photoshop and Photoshop Elements
Step 2 not done in these programs.

3. Resize the mask to fit the picture (image>image size, constrain proportions may be unchecked to fit properly).
Select>All, Edit>Copy
Back to picture, Edit>Paste mask over top, now you will see only the mask, you won't see your graphic
If you are using a different mask and your mask happens to be opposite, with the white part covering what you want to see
instead of the black then go to Image>Adjustments>Invert
Go to the layer palette, with mask layer active, change blending (where it says normal) to screen.

Using the Magic Wand set to tolerance of 5, and Add to selection (second icon over) picked,

Choose all of the white parts of the mask.
Go to Layer (in the menu bar)>Merge Visible.

Choose the Gradient Tool (if you don't see it, it will be in the dropdown menu for the Flood Fill (Paint Bucket) tool
In the toolbar for the Gradient tool, change mode from Screen back to Normal.
Choose a gradient that will look well, linear style (first icon over), and starting in the top left corner,
drag down to the bottom right corner, filling the white parts with the gradient. Leave selected.
*note, when I did this I didn't realize that PS/PSE had a Foreground-Background gradient
or I would have chosen that and done it with 2 coordinating colors from my graphic as I did with PSP.
Foreground-Background is the first choice in the gradients, top left

4. DROP SHADOW
PSP
Go to Effects>3D Effects>Drop Shadow, 2-2-80-10

Merge all. For the next step, click here

PHOTOIMPACT
Right click, pick Shadow, put checkmark in and leave it at the far left setting
Use these settings: 3-3-65-100-3

Merge all. For the next step, click here

PHOTOSHOP AND PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS
Right click on Background layer in the Layer palette and click on Layer via Copy.
Go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow
Leave all at default except change Distance to 3

In Photoshop Elements, instead of going to Layer>Layer Style, go to the Styles and Effects Palette
and in the dropdown menu pick Layer Styles in the left one and Drop Shadow in the right window.
Double click on Low, top one in the middle

Merge visible.

5. BUTTONIZE

PSP
Go to Effects>3D effects>Buttonize> h5, w10, opacity 50, transparent edge

You're done this part, save as a jpg. Don't forget to optimize!
Click here for the background tutorial

PHOTOIMPACT
Go to the Easy Palette, Button Gallery and double click on A17

You're done this part, save as a jpg. I usually save at about 60 in the optimizer.
Click here for the background tutorial

PHOTOSHOP AND PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS
Right click on background layer in layer palette, click on Duplicate layer
Go to Layer, Layer Style, Bevel and Emboss>Inner Bevel
Choose the Chisel Hard preset but change the Size to 3, leave all else at default

Click here for the background tutorial

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 Sharp Inner, second row from top, middle.

Layer>Flatten Image. You're done this part, save as a jpg. Save at about level 5, medium.

BACKGROUND

Open new canvas 400X400

APPLY GRADIENT
PSP
I used for the dark color: #4fa230 and for the light color: #80d163

Go to Material Palette, pick Gradient and click on the color window for the gradient menu.
Pick Foreground-Background Gradient angle 45 repeats 0. style linear (first icon)

PHOTOIMPACT
Pick two coordinating colors from your graphic, one medium and one darker.
Go to Edit>Fill>Gradient, pick upward diagonal as shown and check Two colors.

PHOTOSHOP AND PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS
Choose the Gradient Tool (if you don't see it, it will be in the dropdown menu for the Flood Fill (Paint Bucket) tool
Pick two coordinating colors from your graphic, one medium and one darker.
pick foreground-background (first choice at top left)
linear style (first icon over), and starting in the top left corner of your graphic,
drag down to the bottom right corner, this will fill the gradient in at an angle.

TWISTER FILTER
10. Effect (or Filter)>Funhouse>Twister at default setting of 47
Repeat 3-4 times if you use a subtle color difference like I did

SEAMLESS TILING

PSP
Effects>Image Effects>Seamless Tiling, set at 100-100, Edge, Bidirectional

PHOTOIMPACT, PHOTOSHOP AND PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS
Go to Effects>Mura Pro>Seamless and apply the default settings as shown

FM BLEND EMBOSS
Effects>FM Tile Tools>Blend Emboss at default, 1 or 2 times, till you like what you see

Save as jpg

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ASSEMBLE IN LETTER CREATOR

1 Make sure Show Sample Text is checked at the bottom of the window.
   Click on Header tab and just above the edit window, click on Image,
   Browse to your header image and after inserting it, click on center (the icon to the right)
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!

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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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