Hanging Basket

PSP 7

*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
Eye Candy 3

Materials :-
There is a text file included in the zip, if you don't know where to place the items.
My sg_windchime.cfg and selection file Here
Flower tubes (I no longer have a link to the flower tubes that I used, but you
can use any flower tubes that you have instead).

some images have been made smaller to shorten file size

Step 1.
Open a new image 200 x 200 transparent.
Flood fill with a dark colour and
add a new layer, naming it 'basket'.
Go to Effects...Plugins...Sinedots...
Open the 'windchime.cfg' and choose the
'shallow dish' setting.
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 Edit...Copy...This image will be needed
again later so minimize it for now(or save it).
Open a new image 400 x 400 transparent
Flood fill with a dark colour, then go to
Edit...Paste...Paste as a new layer
Go to Effects...Plugins...Eye Candy...Chrome...
Use the Copper preset with the default settings
If you haven't got Eye Candy, you can get a
similar effect with psp's sculpture, using the
copper preset with the depth changed from 3 down to 1

Step 3.
Add a new layer.
Make the foreground colour white, style=solid fill
and the background style=null. With the Preset Shapes
tool type=elipse width=2 antialias ticked, draw a small
circle on the top left of the basket

Step 4.
Go to Effects...Texture Effects...Sculpture...
Use the 'copper' preset found in the drop down list
at the top of the dialogue box (if you used this instead
of Eye Candy, on the basket don't forget to change
the depth back to 3, or choose the preset again)

Step 5.
Go to Layers...Duplicate...then Image...Mirror...
this gives you a matching loop on the opposite end
of the basket. Duplicate this layer and use the
Mover Tool to position the loop on this layer (it's
covering the one on the last layer) to one side of
the V at the front of the basket.

Duplicate the layer and mirror to get a matching
loop on the other side of the V. I also made 2 loops
in the same way, for the back of the basket,
it's up to you whether you do this, as they will
probably be covered by the flowers (depending on
how they are arranged). I put the loops in so
that I could save the empty basket to fill with
fewer flowers later if I wanted

Step 6.
Make the layer containing your first loop active and add
a new layer. Use the Draw Tool type=single line, width=1,
antialias ticked, to draw a line from the loop to a point
in the centre horizontally and above the basket, this is
the first of our hanging cords. I've turned on the grid
(100x100) to help show the position, but this is only
a guide, you can make it higher or lower if you want to.

Apply the same sculpture effect that we used on the
first loop. To get the matching line the other side
duplicate the layer and mirror the in same way as
we did with the loops.

Turn off the visibility of all the layers except the
two outside loops and their joining cords, by opening
the layers palette and clicking the glasses.
Go to Layers...Merge...Merge Visible
Rename the merged layer 'outside cords',
turn visibility back on.

Repeat this step with the two front loops
(either side of the V), this time renaming
the merged layer 'front cords'

Repeat again with the two back loops (if you made them,
if not just draw the cord and duplicate mirror
and merge). Rename 'back cords'.

Step 7.
In the layers palette move the 'front cords' layer to
the top and the 'ouside cords' layer just below it by
dragging them. The layer palette should now look like this.

The back of the basket needs to be separated from
the front for the flowers to go in between.
To do this, the back has to be selected you can
either use my .sel file or make your own selection

Firstly, make the basket layer active. If you are
making your own selection, use the Freehand (lasso) Tool
type=point to point, feather=0, antialias ticked,
carefully draw along the V shape at the front of the
basket and around the outside of the back.

Turn off the visibility of all the cord layers if it
makes it easier. If you are using my selection
(available for download at the top of the page)
instead of making your own, go to
Selections...Load from disk...
and load the basket_back.sel

With the Freehand Tool, click on the selected area,
then go to Selections...Promote to layer...
Rename the promoted section 'basket back', move the
basket layer to just below the 'front cords'(2nd from
the top). I then duplicated the 'basket' layer to thicken it.
The layers palette should now look like this

Turn off the visibility of all the layers except the
basket and copy of basket, merge visible, then turn
visibility back on. This is a good time to save
the basket for future use

Step 8.
Use any tubed flowers to fill the basket, placing each
tube on a separate layer so that they can be moved,
mirrored or flipped. The scale will need adjusting, you
will have to try out different sizes to find what suits
the picture and delete those that are too large or small.

Depending on the tubed flowers that you use, you
might need to sharpen them, so if they look fuzzy, go to
Effects...Sharpen... and sharpen.

Also depending on the flowers you may want to
add a small drop shadow to them, if so, go to
Effects...3D Effects...Drop Shadow.
The amount will depend on the flowers used, but
start with horizontal=2 vertical=2 opacity=75 blur=12.3
you can see the effect in the preview picture in the
dialogue box and adjust the settings if you want to.

The arrangement is up to you, most will be on layers
between the 'back cords' and the 'outside loops' or
between the 'outside loops' and the 'basket' plus the
trailing ones above the top layer. If you place one on
a layer at the back, which should be at the front or
vice versa, just drag the layer into position in the layers
palette. This was how mine looked with the flowers in place

When you are happy with the arrangement,
turn off the visibility of the background layer,
Merge Visible, then turn visibility back on.

Step 9.
Now for the window.
While we are working on the window, turn
the visibility of the 'hanging basket'
layer off, it'll be less distracting.

Open up the the sinedot image that you
minimized or saved in step 2. This is going
to be used to make the lace curtains.

I am going to change the colour of mine to
white, (but you can certainly have coloured
ones if you prefer). Go to
Colours...Adjust...Hue/Saturation/Lightness...
Move the lightness slider to 100 and the
saturation slider to minus 100

Go to Edit...Copy...this image is no longer needed

Back to the main image, make the background the
active layer, then go to
Edit...Paste...and Paste as a new layer
Go to Effects...Sharpen... and sharpen,
I repeated the sharpening once

Step 10.
Go to Effects...Reflection Effects...Pattern...
I used these settings. You can play around with
the settings to get different patterns

Change the blend mode for this layer to
'hard light' in the layer palette

Step 11.
Go to Effects...Texture Effects...Blinds...
Use these settings

Re-name this layer 'curtains'
The appearance of these curtains can be changed a lot
by changing the colour of the background layer, I
am going to do this near the end of the tutorial, but will
leave it as it is while we finish the window

Step 12.
Add a new layer, naming it 'bricks'
Go to Selections...Select all...(or ctrl+A)
Selections...Modify...Contract...contract by 40 pixels
Selections...Invert...(shift+ctrl+I)
you should now have a border selected around the edge

Left click the little arrow on the foreground styles box
and change the style to 'pattern fill'.
Left click the styles box to bring up the dialogue box
and from the selection of styles choose 'bricks', or
whatever you want your outside walls to be covered in :)
scale=50 angle=0

Flood fill the selected area with bricks
and de-select.(ctrl+D)

Step 13.
Add a new layer, naming it frame.
Left click on the styles box and change
the pattern to 'finished wood'.
With the Draw Tool, type=single line
width=20, antialias ticked, hold down
the shift key and draw a line from
co-ordinates 30,30 to 370,30

This part is a little tricky, but it makes
neat mitred corners on the window frame.

We are going to use the Freehand (lasso) Tool,
type=point to point, feather=0, antialias ticked,
to select a diagonal section from the end of the
line that we have just drawn, repeat on the
opposite end, then delete.

It only takes four mouse clicks.
Watch the co-ordinates at the bottom left
of the screen. Move the mouse to co-ordinates 30,20
left click, then move the mouse diagonally downwards
and to the right until the first set of figures after
the = sign (circled in the screenshot) says 20x20
Make the second click there.

That is the difficult part over, exact co-ordinates
are not crucial for the next part, move the mouse
downwards and to the left (outside of the wooden line)
and make the third click. the last movement is a right
click back at the starting point.
The selected area should look something like this

Hold down the shift key and select a similar
area at the opposite end.
Make the first left click at 370,20, move
the mouse diagonally downward and to the left
until the figures after the = sign read 20x20
and make the second click. Move downwards to
the right and click again, then right click
at the starting point.
Hit the delete key, de-select
and this is what you should have.

Step 14.
Go to Layers...Duplicate...then Image...Rotate...
Rotate Left by 90° and use the Mover Tool to
position it so that it joins the top line at the corner

Turn off the visibility of all the layers except
'frame' and its copy. Merge Visible...
Duplicate the merged layer. Go to
Image...Mirror...then Image...Flip...
Use the Mover tool again to join this half of
the frame to the first one...

Step 15.
Add a new layer
Change the width of the Draw Tool to 10.
Still using the wood pattern fill, hold
down the shift key and draw a line from the
left centre of the frame to the right using
co-ordinates 40,200 to 360,200.

Duplicate the layer, then go to
Image...Rotate... and rotate 90° any direction

Move these two layer underneath the two halves of
the frame. We want to merge the frame parts together,
so turn off the visibility of all the layers except
the two halves of the frame and the horizontal and
vertical lines and merge visible.

Rename the merged layer 'frame'.
Turn the visibility of the layers
(except the basket) back on again.

Step 16.
To give it a more 3D effect we will apply a cutout
Using the Magic Wand, sample merged UNticked,
feather=0, tolerance=0, hold down the shift key and click
each of the squares inside the frame to select them.

Add a new layer, then go to
Effects...3D Effects...Cutout
Use these settings

Step 17.
Turn the visibility of the basket layer back on,
make that the active layer and with the Mover Tool,
move the basket close to the top right corner of
the image, then go to Effects...3D Effects...
Drop Shadow...and use these settings

Step 18.
Make the background (layer 1) active. I had a lot of
fun experimenting with different colours and colour
combinations on this layer, so do experiment for yourself
and see what you can come up with.
I used a linear gradient, angle=332,
foreground=#000040, background=#C0C0FF

Step 19.
To finish we are going to add a frame
and hang the basket from it.

Go to Layers...and Merge All
Change the background on the palette to white.
Go to Image...Add Borders...
Add a symmetrical border of 5.

Select the border with the Magic Wand
go to Effects...Texture Effects...Sculpture...
and apply the 'mahogany' preset (found in the drop
down list of presets at the top of the dialogue box).

Click on the background colour box and change
the the colour to one of the colours from your
image, using the eye dropper.

Add another symmetrical border this time of 15.
Select it with the Magic Wand.

Go to Effects...3D...Cutout...
Change the opacity to 12, and the
vertical and horizontal settings to 1.
Repeat the cutout with a horizontal
and vertical setting of minus 1

Change the background back to white and add
another symmetrical border of 5.
Select it with the Magic Wand and apply the
mahogany sculpture effect that we used before.
De-select.

Step 20.
Add a new Layer
Make the palette foreground white, solid fill
and the background null.
Use the Preset Shapes Tool
type=elipse, width=2, antialias ticked,
to make an elipse around the hanging basket
and the first border of the frame, then use the
Eraser Tool to erase the parts that go behind
the frame and cords

Go to Effects...Texture effects...Sculpture...
and apply the copper preset.
Merge all layers.
I resized mine to 350 x 350 and then sharpened
with the unsharp mask
radius=2.00, strength=50, clipping=5

This is one I made with different
background colours and different
pattern settings for the curtains

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
Thankyou to my very helpful testers
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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