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PSP9 TUTORIALS
Aqua Orb
1. Create a New 300x300 image with a White Background. Create a New layer. Press S to activate the Selection Tool. Make a 270x270 circular selection in the center of the canvas. (Your cursor should start at x:150 y:150) Make sure Anti-alias is checked. Press F to activate the Flood Fill Tool, the fill the selection with the following Gradient.
Settings used:
- Gradient = Duotone light blue
- Angle = 0
- Repeat = 0
- Style = Linear
- Invert = Unchecked
2. Create a New layer. Go to Effects | 3D Effects | Cutout... use these settings.
Settings used:
- Vertical = 0
- Horizontal = 0
- Opacity = 100
- Blur = 5
- Shadow Color = Black
- Fill interior with color = Unchecked
Press Ctrl+D to Select None.
Make the middle layer active, then go to Effects | 3D Effects | Drop Shadow... use these settings.
Settings used:
- Vertical = 0
- Horizontal = 0
- Opacity = 100
- Blur = 5
- Color = Black
- Shadow on new layer = Checked
Make the new shadow layer active, then go to Adjust | Blur | Gaussian Blur... blur by 4.
3. Hide the background layer, then merge the visible layers. With the new merged layers active, go to Effects | Illumination Effects | Lights... use these settings.
Settings used:
- Darknes = 50
- Light 5 = On (all other lights should be off)
- Color = White
- Intensity = 10
- Direction = 0
- Horizontal = 0
- Vertcical = 50
- Scale = 10
- Smoothness = 100
- Cone Size = 50
- Asymmetry = 1
4. To add the highlight, activate the Ellipse Tool. Set the Background to the following Gradient.
Settings used:
- Gradient = Black-white
- Angle = 0
- Repeat = 0
- Style = Linear
- Invert = Unchecked
Create an ellipse on the upper half of the orb, as shown in the above image. Then set the layer blend mode to Screen. Finally, Merge Down the layer (Layer | Merge | Merge Down).
That's it! Now you can create an aqua orb.
Aqua Pill
5. Copy the aqua orb you just created by pressing Ctrl+C. Create a New 1000x1000 image with a White Background. Press Ctrl+L to paste the orb as a New Layer. Press S to activate the Selection Tool. Reset the Tool by pressing Presets in the Tool Options palette, then pressing the Reset to default button. Next, in the Tool Options palette, press the "Custom Selection" button. Enter these settings.
Settings used:
- Top = 350
- Left = 350
- Right = 500
- Bottom = 650
Hold shift and press the left arrow key ONCE. Press Ctrl+Shift+P to Promote Selection to Layer. Press Ctrl+D to Select None. This seperates the orb into two-halves and puts them on different layers.
6. Go to Effects | Image Effects | Offset... use these settings.
Settings used:
- Horizontal offset = -200
- Vertical offset = 0
- Edge Mode = Transparent
Select the middle layer. Do an Offset again, but this time, change the Horizontal offset to 200. This creates a space between the halves.
7. Press S to activate the Selection Tool. In the Tool Options palette, press the "Custom Selection" button. Change Left to 700 and Right to 701.
Press Ctrl+F to float, Ctrl+C to copy, then Ctrl+Z twice to Undo. This copies a small sliver of the orb (and undo's the image to its original state).
8. Press Ctrl+V to paste the sliver as a New image. This will be our repeating pattern. So now, set your Background color to the following Pattern.
Settings used:
- Pattern = Image3 (Or whatever number the sliver image is)
- Angle = 0
- Scale = 100
Back to the split orb image, select the Rectangle Tool and create a rectangle of any size, anywhere on the canvas. Make sure Create On Vector is checked. Anti-alias should be Unchecked. Width should be set to 0.
Now, in the Tool Options palette, press the Edit Mode button and enter 400 for the Width and 289 for the Height. Next go to Objects | Align | Center in Canvas. Hide the Background layer, then merge the visible layers.
That's it! If you want see-through aqua, Flood Fill the Background with a pattern of your choice, then set the aqua pill layer to Multiply or Luminance.
Now you can create an aqua pill.
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