Glass Owl Tutorial PSP8 and PSP9 version This tutorial was created 26th August 2002©Copyright Artwork by EssexGirl Updated for PSP8 12th March 2005 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 Paint Engine Super Blade Pro (optional) Materials :- There is a text file included in the zip, if you don't know where to place the items. My Owl.cfg, Selection file, SBP presets and sg_spider texture Here I originally used Tephra's polyurethane and goldambercrackle SBP presets in this tutorial, but they are no longer available, so I have replaced them with my sg_smoothplastic and sg_crumpled gold which are similar some images have been made smaller to shorten file size

Step 1. Open a new Image 200 x 300 transparent. I have flood fill with a dark colour so that the sinedot image will be easier to see. Add a new layer. Go to Effects...Plugins...Sinedots... Open the sg_owl.cfg and choose the magic_dust2 preset (it's the only one in there) 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:- Click ok

Step 2. Go to Image...Canvas Size... Change the size of the canvas to 400 x 400 in the image placement section choose the left centre square. Your sinedots will be on one side of the image. It needs to be positioned this way, so that when we apply the CurlyQ's in the next step, they will be in the correct position. I flood filled the background layer for the screenshots, but it doesn't really matter if you do this or not.

Step 3. Make sure that the layer containing your sinedots image is active, then go to Effects...Distortion Effects...CurlyQ's... Use these settings

Step 4. Go to Edit...Copy...(Ctrl+C) This image is no longer needed Open a new image 400 x 400 transparent Flood fill with a dark colour (you can change the colour later if you want to). Add a new layer, then go to Edit...Paste...and Paste as a new selection(Ctrl+E) Postitioning the image at co-ordinates 66,20 (you can see the co-ordinates at the bottom left of the screen). De-select.

Step 5. Go to Layers...Duplicate...then Image...Mirror... Go to Layers...Merge...Merge Down... I then made my sinedots image a bit thicker by duplicating the layer and merging down again. The owl and his perch need to be selected seperately for colouring. This can be a little tricky, so I have included some selections, which you can download from the link at the top of the page. If you would prefer to use them go on to step 7. If you want to make the selections yourself go to step 6

Step 6. Using the Freehand Selection(lasso) Tool Selection type=point to point Mode=Replace Feather=0 Smoothing=0 Antialias=ticked make a selection surounding the top part of the image, as in the next screenshots. You will need to work your way carefully around the bottom edge, but you can draw anywhere on the outside of the other edges. I have made another screenshot here with the bottom line marked in red (not very neat I'm afraid, but at least you can see where the line should go. Click once in the middle of the surrounded area and the selection will float. Go to Selections...Save to Disk... navigate to the folder where you keep your selections (make a new folder if necessary) name the selection 'owl' and click save. Your selection will then be saved for future use. De-select. Now you need to select the bottom part of the sinedot image in the same way as you did for the owl. his will be a perch for your owl. The line along the join between top and bottom will be in exactly the same place as for the owl, but the area surrounded will be the bottom instead of the top of the sinedot image. The selected area should look something like this. Click once in the middle of the selected area to float it. Save it to disk in the same way that you did for the owl, naming this selection 'perch'. De-select.

Step 7. Go to Selections...Load from disk... navigate to the folder that you saved the selections in and open the owl.sel (if you are using my selection it is called SG_owl) Go to Effects...Plugin Effects... Flaming Pear...SuperBladePro... Apply the sg_smoothplastic preset. If you are going to use a different colour background you may want to change the colour of the lights on the setting. Just click on each of the coloured boxes circled in the next screenshot and choose an appropriate colour, the shade needs to be pale, to make it seem like a reflected colour, of course you can use a darker shade if you want to make the glass look coloured. There is an example at the end of the tutorial where I changed the lights to green #C0FFC0 and used a green background. When you are happy with the colour of the lights Apply the preset then de-select.

Step 8. Go to Selections...Load from disk... and open the perch.sel (if you are using my selection it is called SG_owl_perch) Apply the sg_crumpled gold preset apply it for a second time to make it thicker. You can use any preset that you want to, or flood fill with a colour or pattern if you prefer. If you flood fill you will need to click several times until it's thick enough.

Step 9. De-select. Go to Effects...3D Effects... and add a drop shadow with these settings

Step 10. You may want to make up your own background, but to make the background like mine flood fill the background layer with #A16Ab6 (you may want to use different colours). Make the background layer active. Activate the Selection tool, then Click the Custom Selection icon in the toobar and put these numbers in the dialogue box top=0 bottom=280 left=0 right=400 Make the foreground colour of the palette #4D3858 and the background black. Change the style to gradient. Click in the foreground and stroke properties box and in the dialogue box choose foreground+background, linear gradient, angle=0 with no repeats and while the dialogue box is still open, put a tick next to textures, from the dropdown list of textures choose sg_spider texture Angle=0, Scale=100 Flood fill the selection. Go to Selections...Invert... Open up the forground and stroke properties box again untick the texture, then flood fill the selection. Go to Effects...Plugin Effects... Fantastic Machines...Paint Engine... I used the 'ice crystals' preset, in case you don't have it the settings are here De-select and merge all. Change the background colour of the palette to white. Go to Image...Add Borders... Add a symetric border of 10 Select the border with the magic wand and apply SuperBladePro. I used SBP's own Gold Furnace preset.De-select and resize if you need to, but if you resize don't forget to sharpen the image. I use Sharpen...Unsharp Mask... Radius=2.00 Strength=50 Clipping=15

Here are some example using different presets Have fun making some variations of your own

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

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