Basic Blending Tutorial For Paint Shop Pro Easy to follow

Hey!

Just thought that I would drop in a little tutorial on blending. I use PSP8 [Paint Shop Pro 8] for all my graphic needs, but I'm sure that it would convert to Photoshop really easily.

Today, we'll make a banner. I'm an avid member of The Dark Arts, which is another graphics community. The standard banner size on there is 700 x 100 pixels. So, let's begin!

Note: I've written this tutorial with the assumption that you have a reasonable knowledge of PSP and can navigate your way around well, as well as understand the terminology I'm using. If you don't just drop me a PM.

1. Open a new image, with dimensions 698 x 108, and a background of any colour, any colour you want. We'll add a border around it to make it 700 x 110, so don't worry about that. Click OK.

2. Pick a background image, and open it as a new image in your PSP program. If it's too big or too small for the width of the banner, resize this background image to a width of 720 pixels, and click OK. Then, copy your resized background image, and paste it as a new layer on your banner. Move it around until you like it, and then merge the layers by going to Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten).

3. I'm a Daniel-obsessed freak, so let's make this a Daniel Radcliffe banner. Get four pictures of him, and open them all as new images in your PSP program. If they're too big, resize them so that his face fits comfortably in the banner.

4. Now we'll blend and stuff. We need to feather the images, so in each image, get the Freehand Selection tool, and trace your way carefully around all the bits of Dan (*drool*) that you want in the banner. Then, in each image, feather the selection, by going to Selections > Modify > Feather. Make the Number of Pixels 10, and click OK.

5. Copy each feathered selection and paste them all as new layers on your banner. Move them around until you like them; ideally you should have two on each side. Then, merge the layers (see end of Step 2 for Merging instructions).

6. Increase the clarity of the banner, by going to Adjust > Brightness and Contrast > Clarify. Set the Strength of Effect or whatever it is to 5, and click OK. Then, colourise (for all the Americans, I know I spell it weird, but we Australians and British need power ...) the banner, by going to Adjust > Hue and Saturation > Colorize. Make the Hue whatever you want, but keep the Saturation below 77. Click OK.

7. Copy the banner, and then go to Edit > Undo Colorize. Paste the copied thing as a new layer on your banner, and lower its Opacity slider down to about 70 or 72 at the maximum. Merge the layers (see end of Step 2 for Merging instructions).

8. Duplicate the layers, and apply a Gaussian blur to the new top layer by going to Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 5.60 at the maximum, and lower the blurred layer's Opacity slider down to the maximum of 28. Merge the layers (see end of Step 2 for Merging instructions).

9. Choose the Flood Fill tool, lower its Opacity to a maximum of 35, and choose a gradient. Flood fill the banner with this gradient. If it's too strong or too weak, adjust the Flood Fill tool's Opacity.

10. On new raster layers add some text, in a colour that stands out against the banner but still suits the design, and then merge the layers one last time (see end of Step 2 for Merging instructions). Then, add a black one-pixel border by going to Image > Add Borders.

Tada! A cooooool blending technique that you can use whenever you want. And in ten EASY steps.

Best,

Xuan.

Can you provide an outcome for this tutorial? Graphic tutorials are usually useless, unless people like the outcome.

I ussaly don't like reading tutorials without images or something like that... sorry ... If you could post few images in that tut it would be awesome... GooD JoB I like this tut anyway

Awesome tut, I use this one all the time and I have PSP7.Similar enough except on step 6, it's:Colours---Adjust ---> Brightness & Contrast ---> and set it to about Brightness 3 and contrast between 15% and 25% Then, colourise the banner, by going to Colours --> Colorize. Make the Hue whatever you want, but keep the Saturation below 77. Click OK.-Step 7 etc. follow normally---Brilliant tutorial!Niz xxx