MelissaVgraphics

 

Supplies

PSP (written in 8)

 

Font of Choice—I’m using Black Jack

Umbrella Tube—I don’t remember where I got this tube from.
I have tried to find the creator, but haven’t had any luck.
If this is your tube, please contact me so that I may give proper credit.

 

Mask—I’ve used Becky_Mask003, from Becky at Secrets of the Imagination 
Click on Resources and choose masks; it’s in the first zip—save to your PSP masks folder.

 

Vanderlee Snowflakes filter—save to your plugins folder

 

All settings given are those that I have used to create my tags and are just a suggestion.
Adjust accordingly if you make any changes. Remember to save often!

 

Open your umbrella tube and font and minimize for now.
You can install the font, if you’d like, but it isn’t necessary;
PSP will recognize it if it is open and you can use it that way.

 

Open a new image, 450x250 and flood fill white.

 

Add a new raster layer and flood fill with #A7ADBC.

 

Add another new raster layer and name it puddle. Set foreground color to #C5CBD9.
Click on your paint brush tool and adjust settings:

Style: Round, Size: 40, Hardness:50, Step:1, Density: 100, Opacity: 65.

Swish your brush around to make a “puddle”.

 

Click on the Deform tool and pull the sides across the image.
Click on the top middle node and push it down to make the puddle appear to be flat.

 

Still working with the puddle layer, go to Adjust>Blur>Gaussian Blur, set radius to 5, click OK.
Then set the blend mode to Lighten.

 

Maximize your umbrella image and recolor to your preference.
I’ve saved the selection to the alpha channel to make it easier for you.
Just go to Selections>Load/Save Selection>Load Selection from Alpha Channel.
Then go to Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Colorize and adjust your H &S values as desired
and then deselect (Selections>Select None).

 

Copy your umbrella image and paste it as a new layer on your rain image;
resize it by 65%, smart size checked, UNcheck Resize all layers.
Rename this layer umbrella. Make sure to sharpen it, twice if you'd like (Adjust>Sharpness>Sharpen).
Now move it to the left of the image (see example).

 

Time to add your name/text. Click on your Text tool and choose ‘create as vector’.
Select your font and set your size to 72, stroke to 0 and choose a background/fill color that compliments your umbrella.
Type your text and place it on the puddle so that it’s under the umbrella. Convert to a raster layer.

 

Now apply an inner bevel (Effects>3D Effects>Inner Bevel) with these settings:

For the color, you can use white, or right click on the color and choose the background color you used for your text.
Now sharpen it once or twice.

 

Make sure your name & umbrella are where you like.
Hide your bottom layer by clicking the eye in your layer palette
 Merge visible (Layers>Merge>Merge Visible) 
Un-hide your bottom layer. Activate your top merged layer by clicking on it in your layer palette.
Go to Layer>Load/Save Mask>Load Mask from Disc and locate your Becky_Mask003.
Select ‘Source luminance’, ‘Fit to layer’ and ‘Hide all mask’.

 

Now add your tagger credit and merge visible again.
You should now have one layer. Duplicate it twice.

 

Time to add the rain! Activate your top layer (Copy (2) of Merged),
rename it Rain 1 and add a new raster layer (no need to name it).
Go to Effects>Plugins>VanDerLee>Snowflakes and apply the following settings:

 

Now, go to Adjust>Blur>Motion Blur and set your angle to 320 and your strength to 60.
Sharpen twice. Then right click on your layer palette and choose Merge>Merge Down
to merge your rain with your top layer. Now hide this layer.

 

Activate your middle layer (Copy of Merged), rename it Rain 2 and add a new raster layer.
Repeat snowflake effect, changing the seed amount to 75.
Apply the motion blur, using the same settings, sharpen twice, and merge down. Hide this layer.

 

Click on your bottom layer (Merged) , rename it Rain 3 and add a new layer.
Repeat snowflake effect, changing seed to 80. Apply motion blur, sharpen twice and merge down.

 

Now you should have three layers, Rain 1, Rain 2, Rain 3.
Unhide all of your layers and save as a psp file.
Make sure you have your ‘Save As’ options set to “Save as PSP 7 compatible”
(click the options button) so that you can open it in Animation Shop.

 

Open Animation Shop, locate your file and open it. Each layer will open as a frame.
View your animation, and if you’re happy, save and you’re done!

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed doing my tutorial as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to show off your results.

 

 

This tutorial is © to MelissaV and was written on 6-18-07. This is my original idea, and any similarity to another tutorial is purely coincidental. Do not copy or place this tutorial or any graphics in it to any other place. You may share my tutorial by a text link only to my home page.  Please be sure to read the rest of my terms of use regarding all of my tutorials.


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