Topaz and Gold Clock Tutorial This tutorial was created 3rd Sept. 2002©Copyright Artwork by EssexGirl please do not copy it, or put it anywhere else without my written permission. *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 Dragonfly's Sinedots II Super Blade Pro Materials :- There is a text file included in the zip, if you don't know where to place the items. My sg_clock.cfg Here The topaz SBP preset that I use in this tutorial was made by Joe Cilinceon and can be found at dizteq on This Page put the preset and bmps in SBP's Environments and textures folder some images have been made smaller to shorten file size

Step 1. Open a new Image 200 x 300 transparent. Flood fill with a dark colour and add a new layer Go to Effects...Plugins...Sinedots... Open the sg_clock.cfg and choose the ballet dress preset If you are new to sinedots and don't know how to open the .cfg file click HERE for more information Some presets use different 'blend' settings and it is important for this tutorial to make sure that the blend in the sinedots setting is set to 'screen' like this:-

Step 2. Go to Image...Canvas size... Tick the centre vertically and centre horizontally boxes and change the canvas size to 400 x 400 Make the background layer active and flood fill with your dark colour. Make the sinedots layer active again. Duplicate the image (shift+D) and minimise the duplicate for now you will need this soon Go to Effects...Reflection Effects...Rotating Mirror.... Horizontal offset=0, Vertical offset=0, Rotation angle=270 Save this Image naming it 'winged brooch' You can either close the image or minimise it.

Step 3. Open the copy of your sinedots image that you made earlier Go to Effects...Rotating Mirror... Leave the Horizontal and Vertical offsets ay 0 and change the Rotation Angle to 205 Save this image, naming it 'winged droplet' but don't close it yet. You may find other uses for these two images if you do I'd love to see what you come up with :)

Step 4. To use this image in the clock it needs to be resized and rotated slightly, so Go to Image...Resize... with the 'resize all layers box' unticked resize to 60% Next, go to Image...Rotate... and with the 'all layers box' unticked rotate by 20° Right The image will need sharpening so go to Effects...Sharpen...and Sharpen... Go to Edit...Copy...(Ctrl+C) This image can now be closed

Step 5. Open a new Image 400 x 400 transparent Flood fill with a dark colour and add a new layer Go to Edit...Paste...and paste as a new selection at co-ordinates 11,216 and de-select(you can see the co-ordinates at the bottom left corner of the screen) Go to Layers...Duplicate...then Image...Mirror... Turn the visibility of the background layer off, by opening the layers palette and clicking the glasses Go to Layers...Merge visible... Duplicate the layer again and this time go to Image...Flip...then Layers Merge Visible... Re-name the layer 'frame 1' Turn the visibility of the background back on.

Step 6. Go to Layers...Duplicate... Re-name this layer 'frame 2' We are going to rotate this layer, but first it needs to be resized, so Go to Image...Resize... with the 'all layers' box unticked resize to 80% Go to Image...Rotate...and with the 'all layers' box unticked Rotate 45° in any direction then go to Effects...Sharpen...and Sharpen.

Step 7. Open the 'winged brooch' image Go to Image...Resize... with the 'resize all layers box' unticked resize to 60% Go to Effects...Sharpen...and Sharpen... Copy (Ctrl+C) and close this image. Back on your main image, add a new layer. Paste as a new selection at co-ordinates 25,111 De-select. Turn off the visibility of all layers except the currently active one(layer 3). Duplicate the layer. Image...Mirror... go to Layers...Merge Visible... Duplicate the layer again, this time Image...Rotate...with the 'all layers' box unticked rotate Rotate 90° in any direction. Merge Visible again. Re-name the layer 'frame 3'then turn visibility of all layers back on.

Step 8. Make sure that the 'frame 3 layer is active. Go to Selections...Select all... Then Selections...Float... Go to Effects...Plugin Effects... Flaming Pear...SuperBladePro... Apply the Topaz preset and de-select.

Step 9. Repeat step 8 on the 'frame 2' and 'frame 1' layers I moved the'frame 3' layer below the other two by dragging it down in the layer palette, but this is a matter of preference. It doesn't make a lot of difference, but seemed to make the V shape on the top and side wings stand out a little more. This is my screenshot

Step 10. Make the background the active layer and add a new layer. Name this layer circles. Make the palette foreground colour white, the foreground style solid fill and the background style null. With the Preset Shapes Tool, type=elipse, line width=5 create as a vector unticked, antialias ticked, Hold down the shift key and use the right mouse button to make a circle starting in the centre (co-ordinates 200,200) and finishing at co-ordinates 112,112. Make another circle in the same way, starting at 200,200 this time finishing at co-ordinates 25,25.

Step 11. Hold down the shift key and use the magic wand sample merged unticked, tolerance=0, feather=0 elect both of the circles. Apply SuperBladePro's gold basic and de-select.

Step 12. With the magic wand (sample merged unticked) click on the area in the centre to select it Go to Selections...Modify...Expand... and expand the selection by 1 pixel Add a new layer naming it 'clock base' Change the foreground colour to #EFECDB and flood fill the selection, then De-select. Move the layer below the 'circles' layer

Step 13. Add a new layer. It is best to put each number on a seperate layer so that they can be moved individually. Change the palette background colour to black, make the foreground style null and the background style solid fill. With the Text Tool place each number in position on the clock face on separate layers, re-positioning with the Mover Tool as necessary. Choose any font that you like. I used Arial Narrow size 18, with 'bold' style selected. I found it easiest to position the numbers 12,3,6 and 9 first. When you are happy with the position of the numbers, turn off the visibility of all the layers except those with the numbers and merge visible. Re-name the layer 'numbers' Go to Effects...3D Effects...Inner Bevel... Use psp's 'metallic' preset, found in the drop down list of presets at the top of the dialogue box.

Step 14. Add a new layer naming it 'big hand'. Change the type in the Preset Shapes Tool to 'pentagon' and make a long narrow pentagon for the big hand of the clock. The size is a matter of personal preference. The screenshot shows mine. Move it into position with the Mover Tool and apply the same inner bevel as before. Add a new layer naming it 'small hand' and make a shorter, wider shape using the Preset Shapes Tool, again using the 'pentagon' shape. Unless you want the time to be 12 o'clock, you will need to rotate and/or flip this hand. I rotated by 125 ° Left (make sure that the 'all layers' box is unticked). I also needed to sharpen the layer (Effects, Sharpen, Sharpen). When you have the hand pointing in the direction that you want, move it into position with the Mover Tool and apply the same inner bevel as before

Step 15. Add a new layer naming it 'centre'. Change the shape of the Preset Shapes Tool to ellipse, hold down the shift key and with the right mouse button make a small circle in the centre, starting at co-ordinated 200,200 make it just large enough to cover the join between the big and small hands of the clock. Apply the same inner bevel as before. Turn off the visibility of all the layers except the numbers, big hand, small hand and centre. Merge visible. Rename this layer 'clock face' Go to Effects...3D Effects...Drop Shadow... using these settings Turn visibility of all layers back on.

Step 16. Make the 'clock base' layer active. Click in the centre with the Magic Wand to select the circle. Make the 'clock face' layer active and add a new layer. Go to Effects...3D Effects...Cutout... Vertical=15, Horizontal=15, Opacity=16, Blur=36.3, colour=black Add a new layer and apply another cutout changing the settings to Vertical=minus 15, Horizontal= minus 15, Opacity=40, blur=43.7, colour=black Add a new layer. Make the foreground colour white and the style solid fill. Make the background style null. With the Draw Tool, Type=freehand line, width=10, antialias ticked, create as a vector unticked Draw a curved line around the top left of the face of the clock and a smaller curved line at the bottom left. You don't need to be accurate with this, as we are going to blur it. Go to Effects...Blur...Gaussian Blur... Apply a radius of 4.00 and de-select.

Step 17. Turn off the visibility of the background Merge Visible and turn the background visibility back on. You can tube the clock (you will need to delete the background layer first), or flood fill the background layer with a colour, texture, or pattern of your choice. If you want to use a background colour other than black You will probably need to apply a drop shadow to the clock. Vertical=6, Horizontal=6, Opacity=65, Blur=33.3, colour=black. If you resize, dont forget to sharpen the image I use the unsharp mask (Effects, Sharpen, Unsharp mask) Radius=2.00 strength=50 Clipping=15 For the following example I applied SBP's germanium preset to the circles instead of gold basic and used a black background.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Thankyou to my great testers To see my other tutorials click Here

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