String Art Background Tutorial

PSP 8 and 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

Some images have been made smaller to shorten file size

Please Note*
My tutorials were written for people to learn
from, so PLEASE DO NOT SCRIPT THEM.

Step 1.
Open a new image 300 X 300 transparent
In your Foreground and Stroke Properties box choose a fairly dark colour
and in the Background and Fill Properties box choose a lighter shade.
Change the foreground to Gradient with these settings:-
Foreground-Background
Angle=0
Repeats=8
Invert=unticked
Style=Linear

Flood fill your image with the gradient

Step 2.
Go to Effects...Distortion Effects...Spiky Halo...
Use these settings :-

Step 3.
Go to Layers...Duplicate...then Image... flip...
On the layers palette change the Blend Mode to Lighten
(as a variation try the other Blend Modes instead, you
can get some interesting effects and colours

Go to Layers...Merge...Merge visible

Step 4.
Go to Effects...Image Effects... Seamless Tiling...

Resize if you want to (resample using bicubic)
I resized the background tile for this page to 150x150

If you want to create a pale version for putting under
text, add a new layer and flood fill with white, or a
pale shade and lower the opacity of the layer, by moving
the slider in the layers palette, until you get the
transparency you want. Here are a couple of examples

You can vary the result by changing the number of repeats in your
gradient and by using a gradient with several colours instead of
the plain foreground-background one.
I though this example looked very effective, for this I used a
plain foreground-background gradient with no repeats at all, then
did exactly the same steps as the background in this tutorial.

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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