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| Christmas Images can be a nice seasonal increment to your web pages and if done properly, on the contrary to Scrooge's point of view, they will not ruin your disk space or your patience while you await download. This tutorial aim at showing some easy tips to enable you to create your own original images, rather than just making you copy the sample presented here. Note that although it seems long and complicated, it really repeats the same tools over and over again (type, cutout, hot wax coating, brightness/contrast, colorize and sharpen more). Also, if you save its components in separate files as indicated, further images will be produced much easier and quicker. |
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| 1. Set background black and foreground white - FILE -NEW - width = 300; height = 300; background color = black; image type 16.7 million colors (don't worry, it'll not remain this size, it's just to give you working space). |
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A . BELLS 1. Click on the text tool button, then on your image (from now on = call text).Set: anti alias; font Wingdings; size 72; regular; floating; type " % " (without quotes); OK. A white outlined selected bell appears on your black background. DESELECT. |
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2. With the magic wand (tolerance = 20; feather = 0) select all the black area inside of the bell (hold shift to add selections). 3. Press Flood fill button - solid color - fill selections (white, as your foreground is white). |
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4. Go to: Image - Special effects - cutout uncheck fill interior color (always !); interior color = background; shadow color = green; opacity = 200; blur = 36; offset = 5 / 5. OK. Repeat the same with shadow color = blue; offset -5 / -5. |
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5. Image - special effects - hot wax coating 6. Colors - Adjust - brightness = 35, contrast =10 . OK 7. Colors - colorize - hue = 24, saturation = 255 8. Image - normal filters - sharpen more, 2 times. |
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(optional: Image - edge filter - enhance edge - once) DESELECT 9. Magic wand - select the bell-clapper (doesn't matter if edge or part of it selects too) 10. Image - special effects - cutout - interior color = background; shadow color = green; opacity = 200; blur = 10 ; offset = -2/ -2. 11. hot wax coating 12. colors - adjust - brightness = 35; contrast = 10 13. Colors - colorize - hue = 24 saturation = 255 DESELECT |
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14. Magic wand - select black background - Selections - INVERT 15. EDIT - COPY (if you plan to use this bell in the future: edit - paste as a new image - save as something.tif - close. Although the tif format makes bigger files than jpg, it doesn't lose quality each time you save).Back to our image (click on its bar) 16. Press text button to make our bell floating, move it in position (see sample). 17. Image - rotate - 15 degrees - left - DESELECT 18. EDIT - PASTE - as a new selection. Now you have the second bell. 19. Image - rotate - 65 degrees right - move the bell in position - assure that the text button is pressed ! DESELECT. |
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B. THE GREEN LEAF 1. call text - Set: ZapfDingbats BT; anti alias; regular; size 72; type ] 2. Place the star center between the upper parts of the bells. 3. Cutout - interior color = background; shadow = blue; opacity = 200; blur = 10; offset = 2 /2 ; OK 4. Repeat the same with shadow = green; offset = -2 /-2 5. hot wax coating 6. colors -adjust - brightness = 55; contrast = 0 (in case you'll want it in the future: edit - copy - edit - paste as a new image - save as - some.tif - close) 7. colorize - hue = 85; saturation = 255 8. sharpen more - 2 times. |
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C. SPHERICAL ORNAMENT 1. On your black background make a circular selection (selection tool - circular - feather = 0) the size you want for the ornament (see sample). 2. Flood fill button - solid fill - apply (white) These are the values used in the sample image. The larger the ornament, the higher the following values should be: 3. Cutout - interior color = background color; shadow = green; opacity = 210; blur =25 offset = 5 / 5. 4. repeat with shadow blue; offset =-5 /-5 5. hot wax coating 6. Colors - brightness = 10; contrast = 5 7. EDIT - COPY |
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(again, if you want to keep it, save it in a separate file) 8. click on the text button and move the ornament in place. 9.Colorize - for deep red - hue = 215; saturation = 255 10. Sharpen more - 1 time - DESELECT 11. FOR THE NEXT ORNAMENTS: EDIT - PASTE as a new selection - move into position - colorize - sharpen more once - DESELECT; for blue: hue = 145 saturation = 255; for red: hue = 1 saturation = 255; for silver: hue = any saturation = 0, brightness = 25; contrast = 0 |
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D. THE STAR 1. Image - plug in filters - Filter Factory B - Starmaker Always when working with this filter, first reduce the star to a comfortable size using soft radius and hard radius . Next ,give the star the form you like most using the rotation and beam controls. Then reduce it again to its definitive size ( hard / soft radius). Last, put it where you want it (in our case the center of the leaf) using the X and Y controls. In our sample the values of the controls were: 123, 46, 27, 42, 75, 85, 107, 129; but remember that as the other components were placed by hand, at least the X and Y controls you'll have to do by hand also. |
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E. ICE CRYSTALS Bigger ones 1. Call text - ZapfDingbats BT; anti alias; regular; size = 36; floating; type e 2. Put the white selection where you want it. 3. Cutout - background color - shadow = blue; opacity = 110; blur = 0; offset 1 /1. 4. EDIT - COPY (you can save a file here again) 5. Colorize - for light blue : Hue = 125; saturation = 255 6. sharpen more once - DESELECT Further ones: EDIT - PASTE as a new selection - place it - colorize - sharpen once - DESELECT for golden: hue = 24 saturation = 255 for red: hue = 10 saturation = 255 for silver: hue = any saturation = 0, brightness = 35; contrast = 25. Smaller ones 1.Call text - same font - anti alias - regular (or bold) - size 20 - type d 2. place where you want it - sharpen more - EDIT - COPY (you can save a file again) - DESELECT. Further ones: EDIT - PASTE as a new selection - place - DESELECT |
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AND NOW, THE IMPORTANT PART OF FILE SIZE REDUCING. 1. Make a rectangular selection (feather = 0) including your image as close as possible. 2. EDIT - COPY - EDIT - PASTE as a new image. 3. Colors - decrease color depth - 256 colors - OK 4. Colors - count colors = 245 ( in this particular instance, value can vary) 5 .Colors - increase color deep again to 16 millions 6. Colors - decrease color depth by X colors - type the number you have counted before - 245 in our case. OK 7. Save as something.gif |
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CONCLUDING REMARKS: Edit little imperfections (see spherical ornaments) selecting an appropriated color with the eyedropper tool and use pen - size 1 - round - texture none - to make corrections - save again. The image presented here is only one of infinite possibilities.If you also like cats and cartoons like me, press the button below - a plain image that was buttonized (image - special effects - buttonize - transparent edge) and see another PSP4.0 Christmas sample. |
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To use the saved components in other images, after opening your working image, just open the saved files (each at a time), select (magic wand) their backgrounds (feather =0 tolerance = 20), if necessary holding shift key to include all parts of it, go to Selections - invert. Edit - copy, click on your working image, - Edit - paste as a new selection |
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