STEP 1
Open the ss-canningjars.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!
The second download for this tutorial contains genuine raspberry and peach jam fillers, as well as zucchini relish, bread and butter pickles, and salsa fillers, made from actual photos of our canning results! Open the filler you are going to use, set the foreground style to pattern, and select your filler. These fillers are delicious! I used the peach jam fill, Scale = 100%, Angle = 45.
You'll also want a printed or plaid fabric-type filler for your jar topper. Finally, select a contrasting color for the string and bow - select a color from your topper material, and make it a few shades darker, if you want. I used green, #5D7B5D.
For some of the parts of the canning jar, I've included simple directions for "creating your own" using Bezier lines or vector shapes - even though the selections are provided in the alpha channels. These instructions are set off from the rest of the tutorial with Do-It-Yourself labels! Feel free to experiment, making your canning jars truly yours!
STEP 2
Add a new raster layer, naming it "jar". I provided 3 jar sizes for this tutorial - a tall jar, a short jar, and a round jar. Load whichever jar selection you want from the alpha channel. I'll be using the rounded jar for demonstration purposes. Apply a cutout effect with the following settings:
Vertical offset (0)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (100)
Blur (22.5)
Shadow color (black)
Instead of black for the cutout shadow, you may want your glass jar to have a colored tinge. For my round jar, I used my contrasting color, #5D7B5D, for the shadow color.
Keep selected and save!
STEP 3
Add a new raster layer, naming it "fill". Contract the selection by 2 pixels, and flood fill with your chosen fill. Move this layer below the "jar" layer on the Layer Palette.
Deselect and save!
STEP 4
Glass jars usually reflect some light along their edges, so we're going to add a highlight. Activate the "jar" layer and add a new raster layer, naming it "highlight". Reload whichever jar selection you are using - this will keep the highlight within the confines of the jar, preventing it from spilling over outside the jar! Set your foreground style to solid and color to white - background style should be null. Using the Draw tool, Width of about 12, draw a line along the left side of the jar. If you are using the round jar, you'll want to set the line Type to "Freehand Line", and draw the line following the curve of the jar, like this:
If you are using the tall or short jar, set the line Type to "Single Line", and draw a straight line, like this:
Now apply a Gaussian Blur with Radius of about 15.
Note: Though the highlight is shown BEFORE the label has been created, you may want to move the "highlight" layer above the label and text layers on the Layer Palette after you have completed Steps 5 and 6! This is a matter of personal preference, and whether your label material is shiny enough to reflect light, like glass does!
Deselect and save!
STEP 5
Add a new raster layer, naming it "label". I've included 2 label styles in the alpha channels - the round label will work on any jar, and the rectangular label will work on both the short and tall jars.
Load the label selection you want from the alpha channel. I used the round label for my jar.
There are many ways you can make your label - on the peach jam jar, I flood filled with my chosen topper fill, contracted the selection by 5 pixels, and then flood filled with a very light shade of my contrasting color, #DAE0DA.
You can also add thin stripes to your label by repeatedly contracting and flood filling. Here an example using the rectangular label. For this one I flood filled with the dark green, contracted by 2, flood filled with the light green, contracted by 2, flood filled with the dark green again, contracted by 2, and finally flood filled with the light green again:
Here's another example using the round label, with a faded image in the background. For this label, I used a patterned fill, and then contracted by 5 pixels and flood filled with white. Finally I added another layer, added a tubed flower, and lowered the opacity on the tube layer to 35% - light enough to still add text!
Deselect and save!
STEP 6
If you want to add text to your label, add a new raster layer, naming it "text". For my text, I used the Kinders font, Size = 10, using my dark green color. Center your text on the label.
Deselect and save!
STEP 7
Add a new raster layer, naming it "topper". Load the topper selection from the alpha channel, and flood fill with the fabric fill you chose for your topper in Step 1.
Keep selected, and add a new raster layer, naming it "toppershadow1". Invert the selection and apply a drop shadow with the following settings:
Vertical offset (-3)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (65)
Blur (21)
Shadow color (black)
Keep selected and add a new raster layer, naming it "toppershadow2". To get some shadow below the topper, invert the selection and apply a drop shadow with the following settings:
Vertical offset (3)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (75)
Blur (35)
Shadow color (black)
Still on the "toppershadow2" layer, load the jar selection again, invert the selection, and press DELETE - this will remove the extraneous shadow outside the jar, leaving it on the jar only!
You can merge the 2 shadow layers now, if you want to cut down on layers, naming the merged layer "toppershadow"
Do-It-Yourself: If you make many canning jars, you'll probably want to change the shape of the topper, to add variety to your jars. It's quite easy to do, using vectors. Just start with a vector rounded rectangle - that will give you 8 nodes - and add maybe 2 more nodes at the red X's:
Then, in Node Edit, move the nodes around to get the shape you want!
Most often, I define my nodes as Cusp nodes (CTRL + X while in Node Edit) - I find this usually gives me the flexibility I need. If the node handles are not visible, define the node as Symmetric (CTRL + S) to get the handles, and then redefine as Cusp! Then, shape your topper and you're in business!
Don't forget to save your topper shape, perhaps to an alpha channel, so you can use it again! To get the selection to save, use Selections...From Vector Object. You'll need this selection to do the shading at the beginning of this step!
Save your work!
STEP 8
Add a new raster layer, naming it "string" - this should be the topmost layer in the Layer Palette. Load the string selection from the alpha channel, and flood fill with your contrasting color - I used the dark green, #5D7B5D.
Keep selected, and add a new raster layer, naming it "stringshadow". To add a bit of shadow to the string, and give it some "volume", invert the selection and apply a drop shadow with the following settings:
Vertical offset (-1)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (58)
Blur (0.9)
Shadow color (black)
Invert the selection again, and apply a second drop shadow with the following settings:
Vertical offset (1)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (100)
Blur (6.2)
Shadow color (black)
Finally, to clean up any extraneous shadow, load the topper selection again, invert the selection, and press DELETE.
Deselect and save!
Do-It-Yourself: If you want to draw your own string, use the Draw tool set to Bezier Line, with Width of 3! Position your cursor at the left side of the topper, where you want your line to begin (red dot 1 in the following diagram). Holding down the mouse button, drag to the right side of the topper, where you want your line to end (red dot 2 in the following diagram). Release the mouse button and click slightly below the line, about 1/3 of the way back towards the left (red dot 3 in the diagram). Finally, click again, slightly below the line, about 2/3 of the way back towards the left (red dot 4 in the diagram)! This gives a slight curve to your string.
If you make your own string, don't forget to select it and save it to an alpha channel, so you can use it again. You'll also need this selection to apply the shading to the string at the beginning of this step!
Save your work!
STEP 9
Add a new raster layer, naming if "folds". Move this layer below the "string" layer. We're going to add some dark highlights to suggest the folds and gathering of the cloth topper where the string is tied around it. Set your foreground color to a dark grey or black (background style set to null). Using the Draw tool, Type = Freehand Line and Width = 2, add some lines both above and below the string to simulate these folds, making sure the ends of the lines are hidden under the string:
When you have finished adding your lines, reload the topper selection and apply a small Gaussian Blur with a Radius of about 1.5 - the selection will keep the blur from spilling outside the topper.
You might want to soften those fold lines a bit more! Try using the Retouch tool in Soften mode, adjusting the settings to suit your tastes!
STEP 10
Activate the "stringshadow" layer. Add a new raster layer, naming it "bow". Load the bow selection from the alpha channel, and flood fill with the contrasting color - again, I used the dark green.
Add a new raster layer, naming it "bowshadow1". Invert the selection and apply a drop shadow with the following settings:
Vertical offset (-2)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (65)
Blur (2.2)
Shadow color (black)
Keep selected and add another raster layer, naming it "bowshadow2". Apply another drop shadow with the following settings - note the shadow Color is white this time:
Vertical offset (2)
Horizontal offset (0)
Opacity (65)
Blur (2.2)
Shadow color (white)
Change the Layer Blend Mode on this layer to Luminance, and lower the Layer Opacity to about 45% - just enough to lighten the tops of your bow loops!
Invert the selection again, and add 1 more raster layer, naming it "bowshadow3". This time, apply a drop shadow with these settings - shadow Color changed back to black:
Vertical offset (2)
Horizontal offset (2)
Opacity (65)
Blur (6.2)
Shadow color (black)
You can merge the 3 bow shadow layers now, if you want, naming the merged layer "bowshadow".
Do-It-Yourself: If you want to draw your own bow, use the Draw tool, set to Freehand Line, with Width of 3! And don't forget to select your bow and save the selection - you'll need this selection to do the shading described earlier in this step!
And that's it - you're done! You may have noticed that all the shading was done on separate layers! This was done intentionally, so that the color of the string and bow, and the fabric of the topper, could be changed easily without redoing the entire tutorial!
To make another canning jar, using a different topper fabric, all you have to do is activate the topper layer, switch the Transparency button ON on the Layer Palette, and flood fill with your new fabric! Same for the string and bow! So save your canning jar in PSP format as a model, and you can use it over and over again! The alpha channels are saved with the image, so you can create new labels at will!
Now for tubing your canning jar - to tube an empty jar so you can fill it later, duplicate the image and delete the "fill" and "text" layers, merge visible layers, and tube! You can even remove the label if you want, and tube that way! Or tube the filled canning jar! The possibilities are endless!
Here are some more canning jars - bread & butter pickles and some salsa - sitting on my Paper Towel Shelf!
Here's another idea - decorative canning jars using solid fills, noise, and tubes instead of labels! Here's one with my signature hummer embossed on the side:
Have fun canning - definitely the easiest canning you'll ever do! Don't forget to sharpen if you resize!
If you have any problems, comments, or questions, please do not hesitate to Email me.
