Shell Topper
For this tutorial you will need PSP 8.
For filters you will need MuraPro Copies(here) FM Tile Tools Emboss(here) and Eye Candy 3(here). If you'd like to use my graphic so it's easier to follow along, you can get that here.
Let's get started!
1) Open the graphic you would like to use and pick two colors from it, one light, one dark. Copy down the light color so you don't lose it because we are going to use that color as our background when we take the topper into the Outlook Express Wizard to assemble it. The colors I'll be using with this shell tube are tan - #FBE6BB and orange - #F28031.
2) Open a new canvas 1024px X 400px, transparent.
3) Next, we will use the Preset Shape tool. In your color pallet, make sure your foreground color is the dark orange and the background color is set to null. We only want an outline here.
The setting for the Preset Shapes tool should be as follows:
4) Have a ball and draw circles of different sizes all over your canvas like so:
5) Do a drop shadow with these settings: V - 5; H - 3; Opacity - 100; Blur - 9.9; Color - black
6) With Eye Candy 3.1 choose Jiggle with these settings: Bubble Size - 30; Warp - 30; Twist - 20 and Movement Type - Bubbles.
7) Choose MuraPro Copies with these settings: Feedback(center) in the bottom left option and leave the rest alone. It will default to the proper settings.
This is what your canvas should look like:
Pretty scary, huh? Not to worry, we're going to make it beautiful!
8) Go to Effects/Art Media Effects/Brush Strokes and use these settings: Softness - 0; Bristles - 196; Width - 9; Opacity - 52; Length - 4; Density - 72; Angle - 195 with the color black. This is what you should have now:
9) With your tube open, copy it and paste it into your canvas as a new layer. Resize it if you feel it's too big. Just make sure you have "resize all layers"; unchecked.
11) Merge Visible.
12) Make a new raster layer. With your foreground the tan color and your background the orange color, change your foreground to "Gradient". Click on the gradient box so that it opens. Select #1 Foreground-Background with an angle of 320 and 2 repeats with a linear pattern:
Flood fill your new layer with this gradient. Move the layer in the layer pallet to the bottom, beneath your graphic layer. Make sure your bottom layer is highlighted to perform the next steps.
13) Go to Effects/Distortion Effects/ Polar Co-ordinates. Check "rectangular to polar" and "repeat".
14)Go to Effects/Reflection Effects/ Feedback and use these settings; Opacity - 100; Intensity - 100; Horizontal - minus 57; Vertical - 39 and with elliptical checked.
15) Under Effects select the FM Tile Tool/Blend Emboss to these settings:
16) Choose the Selection tool and starting at the bottom left, draw out a bar on the bottom of your graphic. Flood fill with a color of your choice and apply an inner bevel of your choice.
The last thing you need to do is run your topper through the OE Wizard. If you need help doing that, please go here.
That's it! You are done! You should have something resembling the picture at the top of the page. If you have any questions or problems, contact me!