Candy Kisses IM Letter

PSP X

*NOTE*
Sometimes the links for filters change, it's difficult (and a lot of work) to
keep changing them on individual pages, so I have created a page with
links to filters and programs that I have used in my tutorials.
That way it is easier for me, because when there are changes I will
only have one page to update and hopefully better for you, because I'm
less likely to miss a page out when doing the updates :)

You will find links to filters/programs used in this tutorial Here
the link will open in a new window

Filters and programs used in this tutorial :-
Paint Shop Pro
Simple Filters - Top Left Mirror and Top Bottom Wrap
(Top Bottom Wrap is one of the bonus filters)

Materials :-
quote texture Here
unzip into your textures folder

some images have been made smaller to shorten file size

Step 1.
You should have your framed image from page 1
of the tutorial still open in PSP.
Go to File...Export...JPG Optimizer...

I usually use a compression value somewhere between 10 and 20,
you can vary it, higher values will give a lower file size, but
the quality starts to deteriorate, lower values give better quality,
but higher file sizes. It's a case of striking a balance that suits
you. You don't want your letter to be too heavy, but it's a shame
to ruin a beautiful peice of work by compressing too much.

Give it any name you want, I called mine 'candykisses-header'
You can save your jpg in any folder that you want, as long as you
remember where to find it when you create your letter. I created a
folder for all my incredimail letters, inside that I make individual
folders for named each letter, I put my images in these so I know
where to find them (I wasn't always so organised lol)

Don't close you image yet as we are going to use part of it

Step 2.
We are going to select and copy the top left corner
of the image for creating the side border.
If the placement of your tube covers this corner, you
can go to Image...Rotate Right...twice and you can use
the opposite corner instead :)

Activate the Selection Tool
Selection type=Rectangle
Mode=Replace
Feather=0
Anti-alias=unticked
Click on the Custom Selection icon on the tool options palette
Use these settings:-
Top=0
Left=0
Right=40
Bottom=80

Go to Edit...Copy...
then Edit...Paste As New Image...
You should have something similar to this

Minimise your header out of the way

Step 3.
Go to Image...Canvas Size...
Width=80
Height=160
Placement=Top Right corner

Go to Effects...Plugins...Simple...Top Left Mirror

Step 4.
Go to Layers...Duplicate...
Effects...Plugins...Simple...Top Bottom Wrap...
Open the Layers Palette
There are a couple of options here, you could lower
the transparency of the top layer to 50, or you
could change the Blend Mode of the layer
(try them all and see what you like best)
I changed the Blend mode to 'Lighten'

Go to Layers...Merge...Merge Visible...

Step 5.
Go to Image...Canvas Size...
Width=1024 pixels
Keep the original height (160 pixels)
Placement= any one of the 3 left boxes

Add a New Raster Layer and in the layers palette drag it
to the bottom (or go to Layers...Arrange...Send to Bottom)
Flood fill with your light colour

Go to Effects...Texture Effects...Texture...
Use the same settings that were used previously. They should
still be there, but I'll give the settings again here anyway,
just in case you took a break and worked on something else :)
Texture=moonsurf
Size=70
Smoothness=6
Depth=1
Ambience=0
Shininess=0
Colour=white
Angle=315
Intensity=50
Elevation=30

Go to Effects...Image Effects...Seamless Tiling...
Tiling Method=Corner
Direction=Vertical
Vertical offset=0
Transition=50

Step 6.
This step is optional, you can use the textured
background as it is if you wish.

Add a New Raster Layer
Open up your header (minimised earlier) and use the
Dropper Tool to select a darker colour for the background
of your palette (right click) I chose #5c0202 (dark red)
You can close the header image now

Click on the Background and fill properties box to open the Material
properties dialog box. Tick the Texture box (top right), in the textures
window choose the quote.bmp it's in the download zip at the top of this page.
Angle=0 Scale=100
Flood fill the layer with your background (right click)
Go to Effects...Image Effects...Seamless Tiling...
Use the same settings as previously

If the fill is darker than you want you can lower the transparency
of the layer, on the layers palette, I lowered the transparency to 60

Step 7.
I added a small drop shadow to side panel, this is optional
Make the top layer active, go to
Effects...3D Effects...Drop Shadow
Vertical=0
Horizontal=2
Opacity=40
Blur=5

Export as a jpg into the same folder as your header
I called mine 'candykisses-bg'

Step 8.
If you want to make a button open a new image 175 x 50
Flood fill with your light colour
Go to Effects...Texture Effects...Texture
Use the same settings as previously

Apply an inner bevel of your choice (or if you are using
the plain textured background you could leave it flat)
These are the settings that I used
Bevel=2
Width=20
Smoothness=15
Depth=1
Ambience=50
Shininess=10
Angle=354
Intensity=50
Elevation=20

Step 9.
Activate the Text Tool
Use a font of your choice
The size will depend on the font you use
Alignment=Center
Create as Vector

On the palette change the background to the colour that you want to
use for your text (I used #5c0202). If you used the textured flood
fill in step 6 you need to remove the texture from your palette so
click on the Background and fill properties box to open the Material
properties dialog box and Untick the Texture box.
Make the palette foreground transparent

Click the centre of the button image and Type
'Letter by' or 'Created by' and your name
(not mine I only wrote the tutorial, this is your creation)

When you are happy with the size and position of your text
Go to Layers...Convert to Raster Layer
You can add a small drop shadow to your text if you wish
I used Vertical and Horizontal=1, Opacity=50, Blur=5

Export as a jpg into the same folder as your header and background
I called mine 'candykisses-button'

Step 10.
Now you just need to add them to Letter Creator
Open Letter Creator

We'll start with the header so that it will be available
to choose colours from when you put in the text settings

Select the Header tab

In the Header and Content section click on the 'image' icon

Use the navigation box to got to the folder that
you saved your jpgs in and open your Header image,
you will see it appear in the large preview window

To centre your header, in the header section Click the
Text alignment dropdown list and choose center

Step 11.
Next open the 'Body' tab

In the Background section click on the image icon and choose
your background jpg, this will give you your background in a
single strip. To tile the image click on the Tile icon

At the moment your text runs across your side panel,
so you need to add a margin.
The sidepanel that we created was 80 pixels wide you need to add a
little bit so that your text isn't too close. In the left margin
box put 90 The other margins you can leave at the default settings

In the Text section you can also choose your font and font size
you can also choose your text and link colours
Click on the Sample Text Colour icon. The cursor will turn into a
Dropper which you can use to choose a colour from your image, if
the shade is too dark (or light) click on the Text Color icon.
On the far right there is a slider that you can move up or down
to make the shade lighter , or darker. You can choose the link
colour in the same way. You can see the results in the preview window.

Step 12.
Open the Footer tab next

In the section 'Footer Content and Layout' click the 'image' icon
and open your button image. To centre it choose the center alignment
in the same way as we did for the Headers.

Below your button you can add any copyright information for images
that you have used and any other credits that are appropriate.
If you have followed a tutorial to create your letter, it is a
courtesy to include a link to the tutorial, highlight the text
that you want to turn into a link, click on the 'Link' icon and
put the url into to box provided to add a hyperlink

Step 13.
For this tutorial we are not using the Left, Right,
or 3D tabs, so open the 'Finish' tab.

Give your letter a name, the collection name is where Incredimail
will save your letter, you can call it whater you like, you can
even choose a category for your letter, you might want to keep
similar themes together

Click on the 'Save Project' button and save in the same folder as
your images, if you want to make changes later, you will be able
to open the project and change images, fonts, colours etc

When you have finished, click the 'Add to Incredimail button
and your letter will be added to Incredimail under the name and
category etc that you have chosen

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
To see my other tutorials click Here

If you wish to contact me you can find an email address to use included on my Site Map
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