Supplies
NO SCRAPKIT NEEDED
Tube of choice – I am using art that is ©Selina Fenech, www.selinafenech.com. I have purchased a license to use this work. If you do not have a license, please do not use this work. If you would like more info on purchasing a license, visit CILM
Font of choice – I am using “Bremen Bd BT,” but you can use whatever works with your tube J
That’s it! This tutorial is written using PSP X2 but should work in any version. The forum sizes used here are based on the guidelines used at The Zone Groups.
Let's Go!
First, open a new canvas 600 x 250. Open your tube and duplicate it into a new window (just use Shift+D). Close the original and leave the duplicate up for reference.
Using the selection tool (freehand or a shape), select a portion of your tube. This will be used as your background and border, so choose something that has colors that will work well. I selected the bottom of the pedestal on which the angel is sitting.
Once you have an area selected, choose Edit>Copy. Then Edit>Paste as New Image.
On your materials palette, in one of the material (color) boxes, choose “Pattern” (instead of color or gradient). From the pattern menu, find your selection and choose it. Set the angle to 45. The scale will depend on the size of your selection. Play around with it and see what you like.
Using your flood fill tool, flood fill your canvas with your pattern. Then, choose Adjust>Blur>Gaussian Blur – radius 10. Save your progress.
Open a new raster layer. Choose Selections>Select All, then Selections>Modify>Contract by 10 pixels. Now, Selections>Invert.
Go back to your materials palette and change your pattern angle to 135.
Flood fill your selection with your pattern. Selections>None. Save.
Add a drop shadow to this border layer. Go to Effects>3D Effects>Drop Shadow. I am using settings 0, 0, 100, 10, color black.
Copy and paste your tube onto the canvas. Resize it so that it fits on the far edge of the canvas. (To resize, click on your pick tool. At the top, you will be able to change the scale. Be sure to change the X and Y scales to the same percentage, so that you don’t alter the appearance of your tube.) After resizing, you may need to sharpen your tube. (Adjust>Sharpness>Sharpen) Save.
Duplicate your tube layer. Choose Image>Mirror. Merge the two tube layers together (right click on the top layer and choose Merge>Merge Down).
Add a drop shadow of choice. Save.
Next, set your foreground (stroke) color to a solid color from your pattern. Set your background (fill) color to your pattern, but change your pattern angle to 0. I changed the scale to 150, but that will depend on your pattern size.
Using a thick, chunky font, type your name in large letters in the center of your tag. Choose Objects>Align>Center in Canvas.
Convert your text layer to a raster layer. Save.
Add a drop shadow of choice. Go to Effects>3D Effects>Drop Shadow. I am using settings 1, 1, 70, 3, color black. Save.
Now add your copyright info, license number (if applicable), and tagger’s mark (if you use one). Save
You are done with your tag! BUT – leave it up with all the layers still separated.
Now, for your avatar –
Open a new canvas 150x150.
From your tag, copy the background layer (the blurred pattern layer) and paste it onto your avatar canvas.
Next, you can copy and paste your tube and resize/arrange to your liking. NOTE: If you use your tube, you MUST add the copyright / license info.
Or, you could simply add your name, or initial, in the same font and colors you used in your tag.
You could also add a border using the same steps we used for the tag. You will want to crop off the excess tube/background first.
For my first avatar, I used my tube as the top layer and added a border below that. For the border, I used the same drop shadow that we used for the border on the tag. For the tube, I used a drop shadow of 3, 3, 70, 3, color black.
For the second avatar, I added the border as the top layer. Below it, I added my name, using the same font and colors as in the tag. I then rotated my name 45 degrees to the left (Image>Free Rotate, “all layers” UNchecked). Then, Objects>Align>Center in Canvas. I used a drop shadow of 2, 2, 50, 3, color black.
I am sure you can think of lots of other ways to make your avatar, and I would love to see them!
I love to see all tut results, so email them to tutsbyj0eswife@gmail.com.
This tutorial was created on