For information about which fonts, programs, etc I used to construct my pages and my headers, click here.
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For this tutorial you will need: ULead PhotoImpact - available for trial or purchase here or Adobe Photoshop - available for trial or purchase here or Adobe Photoshop Elements - available for trial or purchase here or Corel Paint Shop Pro (or Jasc PSP pre version X)- available for trial or purchase here ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I used PhotoImpact XL, Paint Shop Pro XI, Photoshop CS2 and Photoshop Elements 5 This tutorial will work in any of these programs and previous versions as well, and will also work in most graphic programs that support layers and filters. Since I rely heavily on 3rd party filters so the tutorial can be used in any program, it should be easily done in any version of the program as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Filters and Materials needed Simple Filters-Quick Tile- available free here Fantastic Machine Paint Engine - available free here Presets for Paint Engine - download it here, instructions are at the top of the text file The link will open a text file. You can either copy and paste it from there or right click on the download link and click on "Save Target As" to save the text file to your hard drive. Bordermania - available free here Ulead Art Texture - available free here Visual Manipulation (VM) Distortion-Radial Pox and Toolbox-Instant Tile Entire VM filter set, download free here Picture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note: if at any time the filter links don't work, check my Resources page for the corrected address. I will periodically check to see if they have moved or are gone. If they've moved, I'll correct the address. If incorrect there, please let me know and I'll try and find it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. Click here to download it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 use: PSP is Paint Shop Pro, PI is PhotoImpact, PS is Photoshop, and PSE is Photoshop Elements. |
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Here are some arrows you can drag and drop
where you need to mark your spots. |
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Let's get started!
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Basic Steps 1. Create the basic tile (just below) (if not making stationery, skip to step 5 and you're done) 2. Frame picture click here (if not making border stationery, skip to step 5 and you're done) 3. Create and fill the stationery canvas click here 4. Add framed picture to stationery canvas if making a border stationery, click here 5. Apply watermark and save and optimize, click here |
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All Programs 1. Open your graphic if not open yet, duplicate twice and close original, minimize 1 In PhotoImpact it's Control-D, in Paint Shop Pro it's Shift-D; In PS/PSE: right click on title bar of the picture and pick Duplicate or go to Image>Duplicate. In older versions of PS you may have to use Control-A to select all, Control-C to copy, up to File>New>it will automatically be set up for what you have in the clipboard, so say ok, then Control-V to paste the picture in.  I am using "A Kiss to Remember" by Alan Ayers |
| Step 1 - Make the tile |
1.
Resize one of your duplicates to 300X300, retain aspect
ratio not checked |
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2. Effect or
Filter>Simple>Quick Tile It should look like this now.  |
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3.
Effect>VM Distortion>Radial Pox at default Settings: 175-99-109-39  It should look like this now.  |
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4.
Effect or
Filter>Simple>Quick Tile It should look like this now.  |
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5. Effect or
Filter>Fantastic Machines>Paint Engine Textured Glass preset, don't forget to check the Wrap Edges box Settings as shown, you can set this manually or add the preset available for download above  It should look like this now.  Steps 6 and 7 are optional, you can stop here if you want and save the tile or go to Step 7, Instant Tile |
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6.
Effect or
Filter>Fantastic Machines>Paint Engine (optional) Pastel Sponge preset, don't forget to check the Wrap Edges box Settings as shown, you can set this manually or add the preset available for download above  It should look like this now.  Step 7 is optional, you can stop here if you want and save the tile. |
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7.
Effect or Filter>VM
Toolbox>Instant Tile at default Settings: 77-31  It should look like this now.  What you end up with varies greatly with the picture you start with For instance, with a different picture I ended up with this one, after the Instant Tile  This is the one in the header, before I muted it with a blue from my picture for the final result (see just under tutorial header)  This is one where I skipped the Pastel Sponge and did the Instant Tile 
 This was done to the pastel sponge stage (picture on left) and then I adjusted the Hue Saturation, adding more green and red to make it the orange color (picture on right) When you are done, if it's too bright or not quite the right color, you can colorize it and/or mute it by adding a layer, filling with white or pale version of the tile color and lowering the opacity or transparency (PSP, PS, PSE) (In PI you go to Edit>Fill and pick the color to fill with and at the bottom of the window pick the transparency. I usually try 50% first) |
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Your tile is done. Save as jpg (to
back it up). If you are making stationery, go on to the next step. If you are only making the tile, save and optimize, click here You can also use the tile as a background and use the framed picture as a header in your stationery. Back to top |
| Step 2-Making the Frame |
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1. Go to your second duplicate picture Expand canvas by 2 In PSP, go to Image>Add Borders In PI go to Format>Expand Canvas In PS-PSE either right click on title bar of picture and click on canvas size (in newer versions) or go to Image>Resize>Canvas Size in PSE or Image>Image Size in PS In PS-PSE, to increase the canvas size you need to change the dimensions to the size you want the expanded canvas to be. For instance, to add 2 equally, you add 4 to the width and 4 to the height and leave the arrow in the middle. |
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2. Effect or Filter>Ulead>Artist's Texture (If you don't want to use the Artist's Texture filter, you can fill selection with a gradient at an angle)  Click on edit button, and pick 008 (gold) Click reset button and then pick pattern 3, then pick the thumbnail middle of bottom row It's necessary to click on the reset button as every pattern you pick adds to the last one. So to start from scratch you need to click the reset. Click ok and leave selected |
3. Effect or Filter>Bordermania-Frame 2, notch corners and bevel
checked, settings: 3-6-71-85 If you find your color is too dark in this tiny border, uncheck the bevel box and see if you like it better. Deselect |
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4. Add 10 equally Fill with tile (I used the final tile, the one after VM Instant Tile, but you can use any of the finished ones) If you are unsure how to do this step, click here for an explanation for your program It will open in a separate page, just close it to continue |
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5. Eye Candy>Glass>pick pale color that matches your picture Settings: 10-rounded-134-42-89-7-61-14-118-54-color: either a pale or medium color to match pic or white The one slider you may want to play with is the opacity one. The higher the number the less transparent the color you chose gets. If you want to see more of the pattern, keep it to around 14, if you want the color to affect it more, make the number higher, such as I have it here.  Deselect In PS-PSE right click on layer palette and merge visible. |
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6. Expand canvas by 2 Effect or Filter>Ulead>Artist's Texture (same as step 2, settings will still be there from before) |
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7. Effect or Filter>Bordermania-Frame 2, notch corners and bevel
checked, settings: 3-6-71-85 (same as step 3) It should look like this now. 
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| You're done framing the picture. Watermark and save as jpg. If you aren't making stationery, you're done. |
| Step 3. Making and filling the stationery canvas |
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2. Open a new canvas
1280XHeight of your picture I usually check the width, if the picture is any wider than 350 maximum (with the frame), it will be too wide in your stationery. So use that as your guide. |
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3. Resize your tile to either the height of the new canvas or
half that. For instance, if your pic is 428 high, as mine is, either resize (aspect ratio checked) your tile to 428X428 or 214X214, which of course will give a smaller background pattern. It has to be the same height as your canvas or your background won't be seamless I found with one of them it just wouldn't go seamless, so I went to Effects>Simple>Quick Tile again and that fixed it. You can also use the tile as a background and use the framed picture as a header in your stationery. If you use the tile this way, you don't have to resize it to the same height as your picture. |
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Fill the
stationery canvas Paint Shop Pro In your color palette, pick pattern. Click on the color box to open the window to see the choice of patterns. At the top of the choices, you will see your new tile. Choose it. Leave it at angle 0 and 100% In your new canvas, use the Paint Bucket to flood fill the stationery canvas. PhotoImpact Go to your tile, Edit>Copy; go to the new canvas, Go to Edit>Fill, click on Image and then check Clipboard>Tile the image. Photoshop/Photoshop Elements Go to Edit>Define Pattern-name the tile pattern you just made.  (I know your pattern will look different than the black and gold above. I sometimes reuse screenshots. Especially if it involved having to reopen PS or PSE, they take so long to open! LOL) Go to a new canvas 1280X300 (or whatever height you need for your tube plus about 25), Now go to Layer>Fill Layer>choose pattern (I used PS CS2).  You can also, in PS go to Edit>Fill (in previous versions you may have to) In the next window click on the dropdown menu and pick the pattern you just made to fill the new canvas.  If you find the tile is too dark or busy for your picture, you can mute it, either with a pale color picked from your picture or your tile, or with white. In PI, Go to Edit>Fill>Color, pick the color and set the transparency to about 50 (depending on what you like), in PSP, PS or PSE, add a new layer, fill it with the color and reduce the transparency or opacity in the layer palette for that layer. |
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Your strip should now
look similar to this. It won't look exactly like this, depends on how the tile turned out. They're all different.  Back to top |
| Step 4. Adding the Framed Picture |
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Open up your framed picture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copy the open picture In Paint Shop Pro, go to Edit>Copy (or Control-C) In PhotoImpact, right click and copy (or Control-C) In Photoshop/Photoshop Elements go to Select>All, Edit>Copy (or Control-A to select all, then Control-C to copy) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Go to your stationery canvas and paste it as a layer. Control-V works in PhotoImpact and Photoshop/Photoshop Elements Control-L pastes it as a new layer in Paint Shop Pro Move the picture to the left side, make sure it's even between the top and bottom border.  You can also use the tile as a background and use the framed picture as a header in your stationery. If you use the tile this way, you don't have to resize it to the same height as your picture. Back to top |
| Step 5. Watermark, save and optimize |
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Merge all (or flatten), watermark and
you're done.
Save as a jpg and don't forget to optimize. Optimizing PhotoImpact: 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. Paint Shop Pro: I normally optimize at about 10-12 Photoshop/Photoshop Elements: I normally save at medium. ************************* Back to top |
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Some more examples.
Done in Photoshop Elements 5 Skipped the Paint Engine Pastel Sponge step but did the VM Instant Tile  Done in Photoshop CS2, done as far as the Paint Engine Pastel Sponge step, omitted Instant tile then I adjusted the Hue-Saturation to add more red and green  Done in Paint Shop Pro XI This one was done with the tile made just to the Paint Engine Textured Glass step  Back to top |
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If
you have any questions or suggestions, click on the email button
below to contact me. |
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These tutorials are all my own creations. |
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