Pearl

I would like to be working on alphas for the Alpha Advent Calendar, but I'm sooooo busy at work and I'm still sick.  I think I'm allergic to the medication that my doctor prescribed as it appears to prevent me from breathing.  I'm going back to the doctor tomorrow.  The downside of all these health problems and working so much is that I'm very tired at night so I haven't been able to do much.

As requested, here is a 3 inch pearl for non-PSP users to re-color.  Would you call this a template?  I'm unsure.  It isn't perfectly gray.  It is 900 x 900 pixels at 300 dpi.  I'm not certain if anyone would ever need a pearl larger than that since a normal pearl is only about an eight to a quarter inch in size.

Pearl

Pearl Preset

I was trying to make a nice looking opalescent pearl preset for Balls and Bubbles when I was side-tracked into the the Christmas Ornament.  Here is the preset that I finally decided on for the pearl.  I am currently working on a script that will do all the gradient settings for pearls in different colors.  And you can ignore the Creative Commons non-commercial sticky in the bottom left of the preview.  I forgot to remove it from my preview template.  This preset is commercial use ok.

To use the preset, unzip the preset into your Presets folder (usually, My Documents > My PSP Files > Presets).  Go the Balls and Bubbles effect, then click the preset dropdown menu and select the HGG pearl.

Preset

Saving Styles in Photoshop

Since people were interested in my puffy felt style, I thought I would write up how to save an existing set of layer styles.  I am using my puffy felt heart as an example.

1.  Assuming that you have a layer with styles that you want to save, select that layer in the layer palette.

2.  Go to the Styles palette and click either the icon which looks like a folded canvas

or the set of three lines in the upper right hand corner and select New Style in the menu.

3.  A dialog will appear that will ask you to give the style a name. It will also provide a miniscule preview of the style to the left of the name.  Make sure Include Layer Effects is selected.  The Layer Blend for this style is normal, so I chose to leave Layer Blending Options unchecked.  However, if you style uses a blend mode, then select Include Layer Blending Options.

4.  Once you click OK, the style is saved and will appear in your Styles palette.

5.  If you decide that you don't like the name you gave the style, then you can right-click on the style in the Styles palette and then select Rename Style.

Alternative
1.  The other way to save a style is to click New Style in the Layer Style Dialog.

2.  A dialog will appear that will ask you to give the style a name. It will also provide a miniscule preview of the style to the left of the name.  Make sure Include Layer Effects is selected.  The Layer Blend for this style is normal, so I chose to leave Layer Blending Options unchecked.  However, if you style uses a blend mode, then select Include Layer Blending Options.

3.  Once you click OK, the style is saved and will appear in your Styles palette.

Saving Style Sets
I made a set of different puffy felt styles in different colors.  To save all of them as a set, I went into the Preset Manager.

1.  Go to the Style Palette and click on the three lines in the upper right hand corner.

2. Select the Preset Manager.

3.  Select the styles you want to save by clicking on the first one, pressing Shift, then holding the Shift key down and selecting the last style to choose all the styles next to each other.  Or,  press Ctrl, hold it and select individual styles.  Then select Save Set.

4.  A dialog will appear that will ask you to give the style set a name.  Also pick a location for saving.  I save my styles in My Documents > Adobe > Styles.

Here is a set of Puffy Felt styles that people can use with the Stitched Puffy Felt tutorial.

Styles

Ornaments

I appear to have moved back to the main scrapping category at Digifree.  Woo.

Here are some Christmas Ball Ornaments made by my Script Testing Team.  They are from Lena and Lou.  If you are interested in the Christmas Tree, come back for the Holiday Train.  It will be part of that kit.

Elements

Christmas Ball Script

This script will make four different kinds of Christmas ball ornaments.  The user can choose from a matte or glossy finish or a gold or silver hanger.  My Script Testing team also made a huge bunch of samples since I had them test this script 3 separate times.  I will offer them soon because they all look so pretty.

Script 

And, have you seen the new categories offered by Digifree?  I was mis-categorized yesterday, but hopefully that has been corrected now.  We'll have to see what the computer thinks tonight.

Christmas Ball Ornament

This tutorial will show you how to make a Christmas ball ornament in Paint Shop Pro.

Supplies:

Balls and Bubbles Preset

1.  Open up a new canvas.  Mine is 600 x 600.

2.  Use the Balls and Bubbles effect to generate the ball.  I have provided a preset as the three different lights are hard to reproduce.  Unzip the preset into your Presets folder (usually, My Documents > My PSP Files > Presets).  Click the preset dropdown menu and select the HGG Christmas Ball preset.  Then, to customize, change the material in the surface tab to whatever color, gradient or pattern you want.

This is what the canvas will look like after Balls and Bubbles.

3.  Increase the height of the canvas (Image > Canvas Size).  I re-sized my canvas to 600 x 800.

4.  Select the Rectangle Tool.

5.  In the Material Palette, set the foreground material to transparent.  Set the background material to a nice metallic gradient.  I chose Metallic gold 02 which comes with PSP.

Angle = 90
Style = Linear

6.  With the Rectangle Tool, draw a rectangle at the top of the ball.  This will be the cap.

7.  Right-click on the rectangle and select Convert to Path.


8.  Go to the Object Selection Tool (or Pick Tool).  Press and hold the Ctrl key.  Hover one of the bottom corners of the rectangle and draw to the outside of the canvas, turning the rectangle into a trapezoid.

9.  Go to the Pen Tool.  Select the node at the bottom left of the trapezoid.  Right-click, select Node Type and then Curve Before.

10.  Pull the handle down to create a curve.

11.  Select the node at the bottom right of the trapezoid.  Right-click, select Node Type and then Curve After.

12.  Pull the handle down to create a curve.

13.  Select None.

14.  Create a new vector layer (Layers > New Vector Layer).  I called mine Interior.

15.  In the materials palette, invert the gradient.

16.  Go to the Ellipse Tool and draw a small ellipse at the top of the trapezoid.

17.  Convert the vector layer into a raster layer (Layers > Convert to Raster Layer).

18.  Darken the ellipse with Brightness/Contrast (Adjust > Brightness and Contrast > Brightness/Contrast).

Brightness = -30
Contrast = 10

19.  Go the Materials Palette and swap the Foreground and Background Materials.  Change angle of the foreground gradient from 90 to 0.

20.  Go to the Circle Tool, make sure the line style is +Solid and that the width is 9 or 10.   Draw a circle over the ellipse.  This circle will be the hook for hanging the ornament.

21.  Convert the vector layer to a raster layer.

22.  Apply the inner bevel effect (Effects > 3D Effects > Inner Bevel) to make the ring look three-dimensional.

Bevel = 3
Width = 20
Smoothness = 30
Depth = 19
Ambience = 15
Shininess = 91
Color = White
Angle = 319
Intensity=30
Elevation = 30

23.  In the Layers Palette, select the Interior layer.  Select All (Ctrl + D).

24.  Float the selection either by clicking on it or with the float command (Ctrl + F).

25.  De-float the selection (Ctrl + Shift + F).

26.  In the Layer Palette, select the remaining vector layer.

27.  Convert to the vector layer to a raster layer.

28.  Hit the delete button.

29.  Move the layer to the top.

The Christmas Ball is now complete. I am working on a script, but it needs to be tested.

Stitched Puffy Felt

This tutorial will show you how to make stitched puffy felt in Photoshop.  If you do not want the stitches, then skip the stitching steps. I wrote this tutorial in CS3, but it should work in other versions of Photoshop.

Create the Felt Pattern

1.  Either make or find a felt pattern. You can use the felt pattern provided for the PSP Puffy Felt tutorial if you do not have a felt pattern.  Open it in Photoshop.

 

2.  Go to the Edit menu and select Define Pattern.

3.  Give your pattern a name.

Puffy Felt

1.  Open a new canvas 900 x 900.  If you choose to use a larger canvas, then you need to change the size number in the styles or the middle of your object will look too flat.

2.  I am going to use a custom shape, but you can use anything you like.  Go to the custom shape tool.

3.  Make sure shape layers is selected.  Choose your shape.  I chose the heart shape which came with my Photoshop CS3.   Set the color you wish the shape to be.  I used #fdc0ff.

4.  Go to layer styles (Layer > Layer Style) and set the Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Bevel and Emboss, Color Overlay and Pattern Overlay.  Remember to increase the size option in each style if you have chosen a larger canvas.

Inner Shadow

Inner Glow

Bevel and Emboss

Color Overlay

Choose the same color as your object.

Pattern Overlay

Select the Felt Pattern that you created earlier.  If you are using my felt image and you are creating an image larger than 900 x 900, then you need to increase the scale proportionally.  For example, if you make a 2400 x 2400 image, then you need to increase the scale 2.6X or about 266%.

5.  In the layer palette, right-click on the layer and select Copy Layer Style.

6.  Go the Path Palette and right-click on the Vector Mask (if you are using a custom shape).  Choose Make Selection.  If you already have a Raster Selection, then you can skip this step.

7. Now that you have a selection, make a work path from the selection.

8. Make a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Shift + Ctrl + N).

9.  Increase your canvas size to 1000 x 1000 (Image > Canvas Size or Alt + Ctrl + C).

10.  Select a brush for creating the edging around the object.  I chose a basic round brush because I wanted a flat, plain edge.  Permanent Marker Medium Tip is a brush preset in the Dry Media Brush set that comes with CS3.  The actual brush is Hard Round 32.

11.  In the Path Palette, stroke the path with the brush to create an edge around your shape.

12.  Return to the Layer Palette and right-click on the new layer.  Then choose Paste Layer Style.

The puffy felt shape is now complete.

Stitching

1.  Open a new canvas.  Mine is 50 x 100 pixels.

2.  Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to draw a rectangle.

3.  Fill the rectangle with black.

4.  Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset to save the rectangle as a brush.

5.  Give the brush a name.

6.  Go into the Brush Palette and increase the spacing in Brush Tip Shape to allow for single stitches.  If you make the brush in the same direction as I did, then change the angle to 90.

7.  So that the stitching will follow the shape of the object, go to Shape Dynamics in the Brush Palette.  Make sure that Angle Jitter Control is set to Direction.

8.  Return to the canvas with the puffy felt object.  Make a new layer (Shift + Ctrl + N).

9.  Go to Edit > Transform Path > Scale.

10.  Resize the work path so that it now outlines the edge of the puff.

11.  Press the Return or Enter key to commit to the warp.

12.  Stroke the path with your stitch brush.

13.  In the Path Palette, click the trashcan and delete the work path.

14.  Go to layer styles (Layer > Layer Style) and set the Drop Shadow and the Bevel and Emboss styles.

Drop Shadow

Bevel and Emboss

The puffy felt object has now been stitched.

I'm not sure if people want my layer styles, my felt pattern or my stitch brush.  Please a comment if you are interested in these items.

Sprinkles Action

So, I recorded an action for the sprinkles while I was writing up the tutorial.  I wrote it in CS3, so if you actually use this action in a different version of photoshop, please leave a comment so that everyone will know that it works in a different version.

I really like my new comment tracker in the sidebar as I'm actually seeing all the comments that people leave.  Unfortunately, this does mean that I'm not seeing a lot of the comments that people leave at 4shared (until much later as I don't check it very frequently) as I can't seem to get a RSS feed for the comments. So, I noticed that Yanti has given me an award!

Now, I'm supposed to hand out the award to some people (not sure how many) and I'm supposed to scrap about 10 things about myself, but since I don't scrap, I will just write them.

1.  I believe in the Public Option and support Health Care Reform in the United States as a means of lowering costs for everyone.
2.  I have a day job which pays the bills and make digital alphabets and designer items for fun.
3.  I support the re-instatement of the Glass-Steagall Act to prevent investment companies from owning bank holding companies and eliminate companies which are "too big to fail".
4.  I'm still sick and both of my kids are sick.  One went to the ER on Monday.
5.  I have a worm bin in the basement where I compost our kitchen waste.  It appears to have infested our house with fruit flies.
6.  We own a hybrid vehicle to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
7.  I do not scrap, which means that I do not make layouts.  Wierd, I know.
8.  I grow orchids.
9.  I hate cleaning.
10. This morning I saw a cat on my garage roof.


Now I have to pass the award on, which as everyone knows, is always a difficult task for me.

1.  Americo of Creativemundi
2.  Delicious Scraps
3.  Create with TLC
4.  The Scrappin Cop

I suspect I am supposed to hand the award out to more than four people, but once again, my lack of blog reading is working against me.

Action

Sprinkles

Here is a tutorial on how to make candy sprinkles in Photoshop.

1.  Open up a new canvas, 300 x 300.

2.  Select your color and set it as the foreground color, then use the Rounded Rectangle tool to draw a rectangle that spans the canvas from top to bottom.

3.  Go to layer styles (Layer > Layer Style) and apply the Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Bevel and Emboss, Contour and Satin styles.

Inner Shadow

Inner Glow

Bevel and Emboss

Contour

Satin

4.  Next, go to the warp transform.

5.  Go to the square (node) in at the upper right of the rounded rectangle and drag the node down.

6.  Repeat for the node in the upper left of the rounded rectangle.

7.  Go to the node at the bottom right of the rounded rectangle and drag the node up.

8.  Repeat for the node in the bottom left of the rounded rectangle.

9.  Press the Return or Enter key to commit to the warp.

The sprinkle is now complete.  For a cookie, make several sprinkles, rotate them, resize and then paste onto the cookie.

Candy Corn Script

For the last day of the 13 Days of Halloween blog train (or the bonus day, depending on how you choose to count), I decided to not give out an alpha.  Now, it is time for something different.  Instead, here is a script for making your own candy corn.

Script

You can also pick up the numbers for the strawberry licorice alpha.

If you liked this series of alphas, please remember to visit during the month of December when I will giving away an alpha a day during the Advent season.

Numbers