STEP 1
Open the ss-bigblinkie.psp image. Duplicate the image and close the original. Don't panic - all the selections are there, stored in alpha channels - you just can't see them yet!
Flood fill the image with the color, pattern, or gradient you want for your edges - I used a wood pattern for the sample image, with a crossways grain.
On the same layer, load the inside selection from the alpha channel, and flood fill this selection with the color, pattern, or gradient you want for the center of your blinkie. You can add a texture to the center if you want, or apply one of your favorite BladePro or Super Bladepro presets - do whatever you want to the center while it is still selected. I used a gradient for my center, and applied a linen texture using the Texturizer filter.
If you want a little shading on the center, to give it more depth, float the selection, and apply a cutout effect with the following settings:
Vertical offset (0)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (61)
Blur (15)
Shadow color (black)
You can even apply different effects to the frame of your blinkie. Invert the current selection to do this. I applied an inner bevel to my frame using the following settings:
Bevel (2nd one, top row), Width (13), Smoothness (0), Depth (3), Ambience (17),
Shininess (0), Color (white), Angle (27), Intensity (32), Elevation (40)
When you are satisfied with your background and frame, deselect and save!
STEP 2
Add a new raster layer and add your text, making sure your text fits within the borders of your blinkie. On the opening image, I used the Kinders font, Size = 20. Adjust until you have your text the way you want it. You might want to add a small drop shadow to your text - I used the following settings:
Vertical offset (1)
Horizontal offset (1)
Opacity (95)
Blur (2)
Shadow color (black)
Save your work!
STEP 3
If you want to add any small decorative images, do this on a new layer so you can adjust as needed. I applied the same inner bevel to my gift image as used in Step 2.
Save your work!
STEP 4
Merge the 3 layers, naming the resulting layer "blinkie1". Duplicate this layer twice, naming the duplicates "blinkie2" and "blinkie3". Your Layer Palette should look like this:
Hide the "blinkie3" and "blinkie2" layers. Activate the "blinkie1" layer, and load the blinkie1 selection from the alpha channel. Flood fill with your choice of colors, patterns, or gradients. I used Dee's D_gold fold pattern, with Scale set to 50%. Deselect and save.
Activate the "blinkie2" layer, and load the blinkie2 selection from the alpha channel. Flood fill with the same fill. Deselect.
Finally, activate the "blinkie3" layer, and load the blinkie3 selection from the alpha channel, and flood fill as before.
Note: If you want to add images outside the blinkie, you will need to expand the canvas size. For the example below, I expanded my canvas size to 400 x 150, then added a layer, and selected the bear tube shown. Once I had the bear tube positioned, I duplicated this layer twice, and merged one of the duplicates with each blinkie layer, again leaving me with 3 layers!
Save the image as a PSP file, making sure all 3 layers are visible before saving. Saving it this way makes animation a cinch - you only have to open the image in Animation Shop and save it as an animation! So, let's do that!
STEP 5
Open Animation Shop. Before we open our image, we need to be sure Animation Shop is set up to handle a layered PSP image like this correctly. Choose File...Preferences...General Program Preferences, and click on the Layered Files tab. Make sure "Keep layers as separate frames" is checked. Click OK to exit and save your settings.
Open the PSP big blinkie image (File...Open) you just saved in Paint Shop Pro. Click on the View Animation button on the tool bar and your animation will run! That's how easy it is! Now the only thing left to do is to save the animation - click on File...Save, give your animation a name, and accept all the defaults (see following note) in the ensuing screens!
Note: Images with tubes added outside the blinkie require special care - be sure to check the Glossary for tips on saving animations as transparent gifs for this type of blinkie!
The animation should end up being less than 10% of the size of the saved PSP file!
And there you have it, a great big fat blinkie for tired old (I mean "mature") eyes!
Here's another big blinkie, hanging from a blinkie rack!
And here's a big blinkie using the square template:
A blinkie made from one of the bonus rectangular templates:
A blinkie made from the second bonus rectangular template:
And finally, a valentine made from the bonus heart-shaped template:
Have fun making fat blinkies!
If you have any problems, comments, or questions, please do not hesitate to Email me.
