Gift of Music

Gift of Music

Created May 28, 2002 © Copyright SuzShook
Property of SuzShook


 
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This tutorial is my own creation;
however, most of the techniques used in this tutorial, I have learned from others!
Therefore, if you recognize any contribution you have made, I thank you!
And I thank you as well for respecting this as my work by not posting it,
in whole or in part,
in any other location without written permission from me!

Individuals and PSP graphics groups are invited to share my tutorials with others with TEXT LINKS ONLY.
You can e-mail me to let me know you are adding one or more of my tutorials to your list if you like -
it's always fun to know who is doing them!



tips & tricks button


I saw this frame in a Cross Stitch catalog, and loving music as much as I love Cross Stitch and PSP, I decided I had to make this frame in PSP! There's lots of room for creativity here - you can use whatever musical symbols you wish, even musical instruments! I've included a brush file with 20 symbols in case you don't have a musical symbol font, so make your image uniquely yours!

As with my last several tutorials, I am continuing to make the tutorial itself very brief, without the customary paths, details, and how-to's. For those veterans among you, this will be a welcome relief! But for those less familiar with PSP, I included a "Glossary" that contains all the details omitted in the tutorial! If you need a little extra help, check the Glossary section! It's on a separate page, so print it if you like, and follow along. To view the Glossary, just click on the button below - the Glossary will open in a new window.

The feedback to this method of tutorial writing continues to be extremely positive! I'd really like your opinion, either for or against - please EMAIL ME and tell me what you think! Thanks! Now, let's make some music!



glossary button


This tutorial assumes you have a working knowledge of Paint Shop Pro at the intermediate to advanced level (or advanced beginner level with the Glossary), and is written in and for PSP Version 7. It will probably work just as well in version 6, with a few adjustments in paths!

Screen shots in this tutorial are resized - your work will be larger than this!



Supplies - For this tutorial, you will need the following:

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Ok, now we're ready to begin! Grab your mouse and let's get started!

Remember to save often!

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STEP 1

Open a new transparent image 300 x 300. Add a new layer and flood fill with whatever color you wish to use for your background - I used #EBE6E0 for the sample image. Apply a texture effect to the background - I used the PSP Texture effect with the linen texture that you downloaded, and these settings: Size = 25, Smoothness = 0, Depth = 2, Ambience = 0, Shininess = 0, Color = white, Angle = 315, Intensity = 50, and Elevation = 30. Add some noise - I used 7% uniform.


STEP 2

Add a new layer. Set the background style to null. Set the foreground style to solid and color to black. Using the Preset Shapes tool set to rectangle, draw a rectangle from coordinates (30,30) to (270,270). This rectangle will be used to align the text only.

Save your work!


STEP 3

Add a layer. Set your background color to black or any color you want to use for your text - it should be a dark color. Using the Text tool (Antialias and Floating checked, Size 20), type "The gift of".

Rotate the text 90 degrees left, making sure All layers is UNchecked. Move the text up near the top corner of the rectangle - I aligned the top of the lower case letters along the edge of the rectangle. Deselect.

Apply a drop shadow to the text, with settings of Horizontal and Vertical offsets = 0, Opacity = 88, Blur = 19.8, and Color = #004000 (I chose this color to match the frame) - or use the drop shadow we'll be using for the musical symbols in Step 7 below.

Save your work!


STEP 4

Repeat Step 3 for words "music . . .", with no rotation. Move the text to the top inner edge of rectangle.


STEP 5

Repeat Step 3 for words "is a gift . . .", with rotation 90 degrees right. Move text to the lower right side of rectangle.


STEP 6

Repeat Step 3 for words ". . . from God!", with no rotation, moving text to lower inside edge of rectangle.


Save your work! Here's what we have:

step 6 image



STEP 7

Now add musical symbols using the music brushes you downloaded - you can vary the colors or use gradients or patterns! I used different colors for the first image, and then used the gold fold pattern for the second example.

With your foreground style set to the color, pattern, or gradient you have selected, use the paint brush tool to place each symbol on a different layer, adding a drop shadow to each (Horizontal and Vertical offsets = 2, Opacity = 88, Blur = 3.7, Color = black).

Save your work!


STEP 8

To add a musical staff, add a new layer, and use the Draw tool with Type = Freehand Line and Width = 1. With background style set to null and foreground color black, draw a wavy line across the image. When you're satisfied with your line, add the same drop shadow as you used for the musical symbols, except lower the Opacity to 33. Now duplicate the layer 4 times, using the Mover tool to move each line below the first until you have 5 lines evenly spaced - a musical staff! Hide all layers except the musical staff lines layers and merge visible.

Save your work!

Make all layers visible again. When you have everything the way you want it, delete the layer with the rectangle on it, merge all layers, and add a frame! If you'd like to use the frame I used, continue below.


STEP 9

Set the background color to #004000, or whatever color you want for your frame. Set the foreground style to pattern, selecting the D-gold fold pattern with Scale = 100 and Angle = 0. Add a 7-pixel border. Select the border, invert the selection, and apply a cutout with the following settings: Horizontal and Vertical offsets = 0, Shadow color = black, Opacity = 67, and Blur = 31.3.

Select all. Contract the selection by 2 pixels, invert the selection and flood fill with the gold pattern.

Deselect and save.


STEP 10

Set the background color to #6E7E6E, or a lighter muted shade of the color you used in Step 9. Add a 30-pixel border, select the border and apply the Brush Strokes Artistic effect, using the Impasto preset. The settings for this preset are: Length =20, Density = 12, Bristles = 256, Width =3, Opacity = 50, Softness = 80, Lighting = 101, and Color = #A6937E.

Apply the cutout effect with the same settings as in Step 9, except change the Horizontal and Vertical offsets to 5. Re-apply the cutout effect, changing the offsets to negative 5 (-5).

Deselect and save.


STEP 11

Change the background color back to #004000 (or the color you used in Step 9). Add a 5-pixel border, select the border and flood fill with the gold pattern. Apply an inner bevel using the Bead preset. Deselect and add a final 2-pixel border.

All that's left to do is watermark your image and save!

Don't forget to sharpen your image if you resize it at this point!


Here's another Gift of Music image I made using the gold fold pattern for all the words and symbols, a font called Honcho, and some decorative brushes for the frame:

Gift of Music 2


Hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I did creating it!
If you have any problems, comments, or questions, please do not hesitate to Email me.

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All graphics and content © 2002 by SuzShook