PSP7 tutorial
I posted this last Friday on my LJ, but I don't think anyone saw it, so I'm tossing it up here as well.
I've seen a lot of tutorials on how to make icons for LJ. I think these are very helpful, very nifty things. I've learned a few things from some here and there, though most of the stuff I do I learned on my own since they all seem to use Photoshop and I use Paint Shop Pro 7. So, here's my two cents worth.
I used this picture of Willow and Oz for demonstration purposes. You can follow along with the tutorial at my site, here: Tutorial.
1. First off, open the picture. Crop out the area you want using the Cropping tool. Just click and drag over the area you want for your icon, making sure to make it a perfect square, then release the mouse and double click inside the square. Try to make it more than 200x200 so it'll fit on step 3.
By the way, if you're a pixel or two off when cropping it, because your mouse is a bitch like mine, don't worry about it, just don't take the slightly bigger part all the way to the edge in step 4.
2. Go to Edit/Copy, then close down that picture, choosing 'No' when it asks if you want to save it. If you do save it, it'll save the cropped portion.
3. Open a New Image from the File menu. I always do mine double the icon size, 200x200. Edit/Paste As New Layer.
4. Now to make the pic fit. Click on the Deformation Tool in the toolbar. It looks like a grid of six points with a line around it. It puts squares and a line around the pic, these are handles to move the pic with. Use the corners to drag the picture to the exact edges of the background layer. You can't screw this up, drag the upper left hand corner, then reposition it and do the same to the lower right hand corner until it fits in the space and it'll be a perfect square.
4a. If you don't want to make the pic that small; you want it to be a certain part of someone's face or something, then this is a little harder, but not much. You do the same as the above step, only keep an eye on the middle part. That sits at exactly the middle and when you resize it to whatever size you want the pic to be, make sure that you move the sides in and out and move the pic itself to keep that middle part at exactly 100x100.
5. Go to the Layer Palette and duplicate your Layer 2, that's the pic Layer, two times, and turn off visibility on the top two Layer 2's. (I usually move Layer 1 up to the top and use it for the frame later.)
(This is just how I do things, and you in no way have to do the same. There is a lot of room to move around here in these next steps, it's just usually about personal preference.)
6. On the bottom Layer 2, (you can rename them if you like to keep track of them) go to Effects/Enhance Photo/Automatic Color Balance and pull that slider all the way to the left. Set the strength around 30... between 30 and 60 works well. Mostly I leave it on 30. Remove Color Cast should *not* be checked becuase it makes the picture a little grainy. The Color Balance makes your pic extremely yellow, but don't worry, it won't stay that way. Also, this is why I work on a copy of the original. If you mess it up, you always have the original.
7. Go back up to Effects/Enhance Photo, but choose Auto Saturation Enhancement. I have these set at: More Colorful, and Strong. If there's a person in the pic, make sure Skintones Present is chosen.
8. Again, go to Effects/Enhance Photo and choose Auto Contrast Enhancement with the settings at: Darker, Mild, Bold. Your picture looks horrible at this point, but it will get better. These steps make the pic richer and more colorful. We'll even it out as we go.
9. Down in the Layer Palette, click the eye on the layer 2nd from the bottom is visible, and click that layer to choose it. Go to Effects/Enhance Photo. Choose Auto Color Balance, but this time slide the slider to somewhere in the middle. I usually move it pretty close to Sunlight. Then do the Auto Saturation, and the Auto Contrast, leaving the settings the same as we used on the first layer.
10. Make the top layer 2 visible, and choose it, then go back to Auto Color Balance and pull that slider all the way to the right. Auto Saturation and Contrast again, same settings.
11. In the Layer Palette, slide the opacity for the top two Layer 2's all the way down and click the bottom layer. You're looking at the deep yellow layer, which is your base layer. Now, slowly slide the layer opacity for the layer above it to the right, making it visible until you like the look. It makes the colors richer and way more vibrant than they were before. Once you've gotten that one to where you like it, do the same to the top layer 2. Here's where it really becomes about personal choice. Just slide them until you like it.
12. Resize the pic by going to Image, Resize. Put in 100x100 in the top boxes: Pizel Size. Make sure Resize All Layers is chosen, as well as Resize Type set to Smart Size. Maintain Aspect Ratio of 1.0000 to 1. (I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what the aspect ratio is for or the Smart Size, but those are default, and they work, so I use them, lol)
13. Make sure all layers except Layer 1 is visible, then right click one of the Layer 2's and Merge/Merge Visible. Right click on the Merged layer and duplicate it a few times, just to be on the safe side. (you don't want to lose all that work you just did. Saving as a psp file might be a good idea too. Psp files save all layers, so make sure you save it as a psp file)
14. I usually do a frame about now, using the Layer 1 still sitting there at the top of the palette. Click it to make it visible.
Okay, some people say you *have* to choose a color in the pic in order for it to look good, but I say, what the hell, it's art. Who's to say what looks good and what doesn't? I say it's up to you.
14cont. Now, on to the frame. Go up to Selections, Select All. Now go back up there and choose Modify/Contract. In the box I generally choose 3, and then Invert. Flood Fill with the color you want the frame to be. If you want it two-toned, flood fill this section with the outside color you want, say black. Then go to Select All again, and back to Contract, this time put in 2, and then Invert again. Flood Fill with your second color, say white. Select All, Contract 1, Invert, Flood Fill with black, Select None.
(Another thing to do is, on the second step, when you put in 2 and then Invert, hit Delete, and finish the way I stated up there. This gives you an open area in the middle between two thin black lines, which looks cool.)
15. Creative parts now. I do all sorts of things to my pic now, I can't possibly tell you all of them. (if you'd like a specific effect explained, ask away) I most often use the Motion Blur tool under Effects/Blur. Make sure the top merged layer is chosen, then do a Motion Blur. Direction 45, Intensity 40 is what I usually use. This makes your pic blurred. Simply turn down the opacity for the layer until you can see the layer beneath it and zoom in. Get out the Eraser Tool. I have mine set to Round, (size varies) Hardness 25, Opacity 75, Step 1, Density 50. (It's not an exact science, fool around with it) Now, erase the parts you don't want blurred, such as people, or a specific item. Put the Opacity for the layer back up and zoom out to take a look.
16. Something else I do a lot is take the top layer, and instead of doing the Motion Blur, I go to Effects/Texture Effects/Silver preset. Then go to Colors/Colorize and use a color you like. Then do a Motion Blur, same settings as above (45 angle, 40 intensity). Effects/Texture/Mosaic Glass. These settings are as follows:
Number of Columns: 50
Number of Rows: 50
Symmetric checked.
Glass Curvature: 100
Edge Curvature: depends... I like 7.
Grout Width: 0
Grout Opacity: Doesn't change much. Mine is on 50
Now, I either reduce opacity to the layer and erase the person if I like the effect just as it is, or I'll soften the glass a bit with a Motion Blur, then erase the parts I don't want covered and restore opacity to the layer.
I learned the glass step from someone over at
buffy_graphics, but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was. :(
17. Another thing you can do is make those lines in a pic that give the icon a cool look. Merge the previous layers--all but the frame--to give you one layer to work with, then duplicate. Using the top layer, go to Effects/Texture/Texture.
I use image 61 sized at 25.
Smoothness: 0
Depth: 4
Ambience/Shininess: 0
Color: white
Angle: 307
Intenisty/Elevation: 45
Mess around with these until you find something you like. I use these settings a lot, and then lower the opacity of the layer so that it's not as glaringly bright. You can also mess with the Blend Modes. Hard Light, Soft Light, Multiply, and Screen work well, it really just depends on the pic and the steps you've used to get to this point.
18. Something else I just recently learned is the glowing thing. Making a person look soft and glowy? Take your person layer--you can do this before or after any of the effects like Motion Blur or Textures... before is probably best--and duplicate it. On the top layer go to Colors/Adjust Brightness/Contrast. The Brightness should be set anywhere between 10 and 30, the Contrast between 30 and 55, so say, these nice people, and I've found they're pretty damn right. Then use a Gaussian Blur set to 1 or 2, depending on how much you want it blurred. In the layer palette, reduce the opacity of the layer until you like it. Merge.
Text. The best part, eh? The hardest in my opinion. There's color, text, placement, what to use, if anything, and what effects to use on it, again, if any. I put the text portions up on my site rather than here since it's already a long tutorial, the link is up above.
I've seen a lot of tutorials on how to make icons for LJ. I think these are very helpful, very nifty things. I've learned a few things from some here and there, though most of the stuff I do I learned on my own since they all seem to use Photoshop and I use Paint Shop Pro 7. So, here's my two cents worth.
I used this picture of Willow and Oz for demonstration purposes. You can follow along with the tutorial at my site, here: Tutorial.
1. First off, open the picture. Crop out the area you want using the Cropping tool. Just click and drag over the area you want for your icon, making sure to make it a perfect square, then release the mouse and double click inside the square. Try to make it more than 200x200 so it'll fit on step 3.
By the way, if you're a pixel or two off when cropping it, because your mouse is a bitch like mine, don't worry about it, just don't take the slightly bigger part all the way to the edge in step 4.
2. Go to Edit/Copy, then close down that picture, choosing 'No' when it asks if you want to save it. If you do save it, it'll save the cropped portion.
3. Open a New Image from the File menu. I always do mine double the icon size, 200x200. Edit/Paste As New Layer.
4. Now to make the pic fit. Click on the Deformation Tool in the toolbar. It looks like a grid of six points with a line around it. It puts squares and a line around the pic, these are handles to move the pic with. Use the corners to drag the picture to the exact edges of the background layer. You can't screw this up, drag the upper left hand corner, then reposition it and do the same to the lower right hand corner until it fits in the space and it'll be a perfect square.
4a. If you don't want to make the pic that small; you want it to be a certain part of someone's face or something, then this is a little harder, but not much. You do the same as the above step, only keep an eye on the middle part. That sits at exactly the middle and when you resize it to whatever size you want the pic to be, make sure that you move the sides in and out and move the pic itself to keep that middle part at exactly 100x100.
5. Go to the Layer Palette and duplicate your Layer 2, that's the pic Layer, two times, and turn off visibility on the top two Layer 2's. (I usually move Layer 1 up to the top and use it for the frame later.)
(This is just how I do things, and you in no way have to do the same. There is a lot of room to move around here in these next steps, it's just usually about personal preference.)
6. On the bottom Layer 2, (you can rename them if you like to keep track of them) go to Effects/Enhance Photo/Automatic Color Balance and pull that slider all the way to the left. Set the strength around 30... between 30 and 60 works well. Mostly I leave it on 30. Remove Color Cast should *not* be checked becuase it makes the picture a little grainy. The Color Balance makes your pic extremely yellow, but don't worry, it won't stay that way. Also, this is why I work on a copy of the original. If you mess it up, you always have the original.
7. Go back up to Effects/Enhance Photo, but choose Auto Saturation Enhancement. I have these set at: More Colorful, and Strong. If there's a person in the pic, make sure Skintones Present is chosen.
8. Again, go to Effects/Enhance Photo and choose Auto Contrast Enhancement with the settings at: Darker, Mild, Bold. Your picture looks horrible at this point, but it will get better. These steps make the pic richer and more colorful. We'll even it out as we go.
9. Down in the Layer Palette, click the eye on the layer 2nd from the bottom is visible, and click that layer to choose it. Go to Effects/Enhance Photo. Choose Auto Color Balance, but this time slide the slider to somewhere in the middle. I usually move it pretty close to Sunlight. Then do the Auto Saturation, and the Auto Contrast, leaving the settings the same as we used on the first layer.
10. Make the top layer 2 visible, and choose it, then go back to Auto Color Balance and pull that slider all the way to the right. Auto Saturation and Contrast again, same settings.
11. In the Layer Palette, slide the opacity for the top two Layer 2's all the way down and click the bottom layer. You're looking at the deep yellow layer, which is your base layer. Now, slowly slide the layer opacity for the layer above it to the right, making it visible until you like the look. It makes the colors richer and way more vibrant than they were before. Once you've gotten that one to where you like it, do the same to the top layer 2. Here's where it really becomes about personal choice. Just slide them until you like it.
12. Resize the pic by going to Image, Resize. Put in 100x100 in the top boxes: Pizel Size. Make sure Resize All Layers is chosen, as well as Resize Type set to Smart Size. Maintain Aspect Ratio of 1.0000 to 1. (I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what the aspect ratio is for or the Smart Size, but those are default, and they work, so I use them, lol)
13. Make sure all layers except Layer 1 is visible, then right click one of the Layer 2's and Merge/Merge Visible. Right click on the Merged layer and duplicate it a few times, just to be on the safe side. (you don't want to lose all that work you just did. Saving as a psp file might be a good idea too. Psp files save all layers, so make sure you save it as a psp file)
14. I usually do a frame about now, using the Layer 1 still sitting there at the top of the palette. Click it to make it visible.
Okay, some people say you *have* to choose a color in the pic in order for it to look good, but I say, what the hell, it's art. Who's to say what looks good and what doesn't? I say it's up to you.
14cont. Now, on to the frame. Go up to Selections, Select All. Now go back up there and choose Modify/Contract. In the box I generally choose 3, and then Invert. Flood Fill with the color you want the frame to be. If you want it two-toned, flood fill this section with the outside color you want, say black. Then go to Select All again, and back to Contract, this time put in 2, and then Invert again. Flood Fill with your second color, say white. Select All, Contract 1, Invert, Flood Fill with black, Select None.
(Another thing to do is, on the second step, when you put in 2 and then Invert, hit Delete, and finish the way I stated up there. This gives you an open area in the middle between two thin black lines, which looks cool.)
15. Creative parts now. I do all sorts of things to my pic now, I can't possibly tell you all of them. (if you'd like a specific effect explained, ask away) I most often use the Motion Blur tool under Effects/Blur. Make sure the top merged layer is chosen, then do a Motion Blur. Direction 45, Intensity 40 is what I usually use. This makes your pic blurred. Simply turn down the opacity for the layer until you can see the layer beneath it and zoom in. Get out the Eraser Tool. I have mine set to Round, (size varies) Hardness 25, Opacity 75, Step 1, Density 50. (It's not an exact science, fool around with it) Now, erase the parts you don't want blurred, such as people, or a specific item. Put the Opacity for the layer back up and zoom out to take a look.
16. Something else I do a lot is take the top layer, and instead of doing the Motion Blur, I go to Effects/Texture Effects/Silver preset. Then go to Colors/Colorize and use a color you like. Then do a Motion Blur, same settings as above (45 angle, 40 intensity). Effects/Texture/Mosaic Glass. These settings are as follows:
Number of Columns: 50
Number of Rows: 50
Symmetric checked.
Glass Curvature: 100
Edge Curvature: depends... I like 7.
Grout Width: 0
Grout Opacity: Doesn't change much. Mine is on 50
Now, I either reduce opacity to the layer and erase the person if I like the effect just as it is, or I'll soften the glass a bit with a Motion Blur, then erase the parts I don't want covered and restore opacity to the layer.
I learned the glass step from someone over at
buffy_graphics, but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was. :(17. Another thing you can do is make those lines in a pic that give the icon a cool look. Merge the previous layers--all but the frame--to give you one layer to work with, then duplicate. Using the top layer, go to Effects/Texture/Texture.
I use image 61 sized at 25.
Smoothness: 0
Depth: 4
Ambience/Shininess: 0
Color: white
Angle: 307
Intenisty/Elevation: 45
Mess around with these until you find something you like. I use these settings a lot, and then lower the opacity of the layer so that it's not as glaringly bright. You can also mess with the Blend Modes. Hard Light, Soft Light, Multiply, and Screen work well, it really just depends on the pic and the steps you've used to get to this point.
18. Something else I just recently learned is the glowing thing. Making a person look soft and glowy? Take your person layer--you can do this before or after any of the effects like Motion Blur or Textures... before is probably best--and duplicate it. On the top layer go to Colors/Adjust Brightness/Contrast. The Brightness should be set anywhere between 10 and 30, the Contrast between 30 and 55, so say, these nice people, and I've found they're pretty damn right. Then use a Gaussian Blur set to 1 or 2, depending on how much you want it blurred. In the layer palette, reduce the opacity of the layer until you like it. Merge.
Text. The best part, eh? The hardest in my opinion. There's color, text, placement, what to use, if anything, and what effects to use on it, again, if any. I put the text portions up on my site rather than here since it's already a long tutorial, the link is up above.