A Covered Swing (2): The Swing
Created by: Barb's Playground

Ready to start? Let's roll!

Create the Swing Seat

Create a new raster layer, name it 'Frontbench'.

Your Materials should still be the same as in part 1: Foreground Material set to Null, Background Material set to Pattern: the wood pattern.

Select your Preset Shapes tool, settings the same as in part 1:
– Shape = Rectangle
– Retain style = unchecked
– Create as vector = unchecked
– Anti-alias = checked
– Line style = +Solid

Draw a long thin rectangle between the two front arches.

Go to Effects || 3D Effects || Inner Bevel with the following settings:
– Bevel = bevel 2
– Width = 8
– Smoothness = 0
– Depth = 1
– Ambience = 12
– Shininess = 19
– Color = white (#FFFFFF)
– Angle = 13
– Intensity = 45
– Elevation = 30

Create a new vector layer (Layers || New Vector Layer), name it 'Bench'.

Select your Preset Shapes tool and change only this setting:
– Create as vector = checked

Draw a long thin rectangle above the Frontbench piece, making it the same size.

Turn on the grid (View || Grid), go to View || Change Grid, Guide & Snap Properties and change the Current Image Settings to 25 pixels for both horizontal and vertical grids.

Select the Pen tool, pull the two back vector nodes and pull them up and in some. Use the grid to make sure your line is straight. See the images on the left for guidance.

When you are satisfied, convert the layer to a raster layer (Layers || Convert to Raster Layer) and go to View || Grid again to turn off the grid.

Create the Seat Railings

Create a new raster layer, name it 'Rail 1'.

Select your Preset Shapes tool and change this setting back:
– Create as vector = unchecked

Draw a long thin rectangle to the left above the bench piece.

Duplicate this layer 4 times and move them in position along the bench (see image on the left). You can rename each layer 'Rail 2' etc. if you want.

Create a new raster layer. Draw a long rectangle above the railings. See the image on the left for guidance.

Create the Swing Chains

Move the merged 'Arch' layer to the top in the Layer palette.

Create a new vector layer, name it 'Chain 1' and move it right below the 'Arch' layer.

Set your Background Material to Color: Black.

Select your Text tool and select the font "Moonbeam". If you do not have the Moonbeam font, you can use any font with a letter "O" that will look like my chain, or you can download my chain with the download file above.

For the Font Size, your dropdown list will only show as low as 8. However, we are going to make it size 4. Just highlight the number that is currently in there and change it to 4.

Note: If you choose to use a different font, you may have to adjust the font size.

Somewhere above the swing image, position your Text tool and click. Type in a line of the capital letter "O". Make it fairly long as we can erase the excess if we have to.

Using the Object Selection tool, grab the handle and rotate the chain to a vertical position (see the bottom image on the left).

Convert this layer to a raster layer (Layers || Convert to Raster Layer).

Duplicate the 'Chain 1' layer three more times and move the chains into place. Erase any excess chain if you need to.

Merge all layers: Go to Layers || Merge || Merge Visible.

You can now decorate it any way you like.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it stimulated your creative juices. If you have any questions or problems, don't hesitate to email me.