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Glass Paper Weight
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Glass Paper Weight
Created by: Kiss

To use this tutorial you will need the picture tube from Jasc (I think it came from their Valentines Day tube collection). If you can't find the tube in your copy of Paint Shop Pro, you can download it by clicking the link above.

To install this tube in Paint Shop Pro, unzip it to your hard drive, then open Paint Shop Pro. Choose File || Open and browse to where you placed the tube on your hard drive, then click on it so it opens in Paint Shop Pro. Once the tube is opened in PSP, go to File || Export || Picture Tube. In the Cell Arrangement Box, put 2 in the Cells Across box and 3 in the Cells Down box. Make sure the Tube has a name (RedRoses) and press OK. Your tube should now be installed.

Open PSP and go to the right of your screen to choose the colors. Press on the top color rectangle to open the color selection box. I chose the top lightest red color. (Red = 255, Green = 192, Blue = 192, Hue = 255, Sat = 255, Light = 224) Press "OK".

Do the same for the bottom color rectangle, this time choosing white as the background color. Press "OK".

Create an image, 400X400 with a white background. Press on the Selection Tool button and in the Selection Tool Options Palette, choose "Circle" and make sure Feather is set to "0" and "Antialias" is checked.  Set

Place your cursor in the center of the white image and drag a circle about 3 inches wide. Then click on the Flood Fill Tool and fill the circle with pink.

Go to Image || Effects || Texture which will open the Texture Dialogue box. Click on the arrow in the Presets box at the top and scroll down the list to choose the "Paper" preset.
Use the following settings:

Size = 100%   Smoothness = 10%   Depth = 1%   Ambiance = 10   Shininess = 0   Light Color = White    Angle = 315   Intensity = 50   Elevation = 30

Press "OK". 

 

Now go to Edit || Copy and then, Edit || Paste as New Image. Your circle will reappear as a new image with a transparent background. You can now delete your first image on the white background as we won't be needing it anymore.
We'll need to make the canvas size bigger because one of the last steps in this tutorial will be to add a drop shadow, so go to Image || Canvas Size and set the width and height to 400 pixels. Make sure that the "Center Image Horizantally" and "Vertically" boxes are checked before pressing "OK".
In this tutorial, we'll be using several different layers, so it is a good idea to name each of them to avoid confusion. Press on the Layers Button to bring up the Layer Palette, which should open automatically when you slide your cursor over it. Right click where you see "Layer One" and choose "Properties". This will open the Layer Properties Dialogue Box. Where it says Name, rename the layer to "Base". Press OK.

Now go back to the Layer Palette, and make a new layer by clicking on the "Create Layer" button in the top left hand corner. This will bring up the "Layer Properties Box" again. This time, name the layer, "Roses". Press "OK".

Press on the Picture Tube button on the left hand side of your screen. In the Tool Options Box, scroll down the list until you find the "RedRoses Tube". You shouldn't need to modify the scale, so leave it at 100%. 

Now put a few roses on the circle, but try to keep them within the circle, at least one fourth of an inch away from the sides. If you don't like the position or the color of the rose you've just placed, hit the Back button and try again. When you're finished, if the roses are not exactly centered, press on the Move Tool and reposition them.

Now we're going to deform the roses a bit to make them look as if they're under glass. Go to Image || Deformations || Warp. In the Warp Options box, use these settings: 

Horizontal Offset = 0, Vertical Offset = 0, Size = 50, Strength = 10. Press "OK".

Now it's time to make the glass. In the Layer Palette, right click on the Base Layer to select it and to bring up the layer options. Choose "Duplicate". 

You can't see this in your image but you now have two "Base" layers, one on top of the other. Right click on your "Copy of Base" Layer to rename it in the Layer Properties box and rename it, "Shadow". Then, in the layer palette, slide (drag) the Shadow layer up so it is now the top layer in the palette.
YIKES! Where did the roses go??? Don't worry, they're still there but are hidden under your Shadow layer, which we will now turn into a proper shadow! 

Go to Image || Effects || Cutout to open the Cutout Options Box. Use these settings: 

Leave the "Fill Interior with color" box unchecked. Opacity = 90, Blur = 60, Vertical offset = 0 and Horizontal Offset = 0. Press "OK".

 

Okay, this time we'll work on the lighting effects. We'll do the same thing as we did before. Run your cursor over the Layer Palette to open it, right click on your Base layer to duplicate it. Rename your "Copy of Base" Layer to "Lighting1" by right clicking on it and changing the name in the Layer Properties Dialogue Box. 

Back in the Layer Palette, slide your Lighting1 layer up to the top so that it looks as if everything else has disappeared again in your image.

Now click on the Selection button, which should still be set to circle. If it's not, change it in the Tool Options Palette. Place your cursor so that it's about a half an inch down and a half an inch to the right of the center of your circle. Then drag your cursor towards the bottom right hand corner of your image, so that the selection covers most of the circle, but leaves an unselected crescent at the top left hand part of your circle, about a half an inch wide at it's widest part. Take your finger off the cursor's button, leaving the selection as is, then hit the delete (Del) button on your keyboard.  Then Invert the selection by pressing:  Selection || Invert.  Its also a good idea to click the make the background layer invisible so you can see where to move the next step.  To do this click the small "glasses" icon next to the background layer in the layer pallette.

Go to Colors || Adjust Brightness and Contrast. In the Brightness/Contrast Box, slide the brightness arrow all the way over to the right to 255. Press OK. 

Now go to Image || Blur || Blur. Your image should have a white blurry crescent covering some of your circle and roses. This white crescent will be a part of the lighting.

 

Go to the left of your screen and press the Deformation button which will place guide lines around your white crescent in the image. Place your cursor in the little top right hand square of the guideline rectangle and slide it towards the bottom left hand corner of your image a bit (about a half an inch again). In the Tool Options box, press "Apply".

Now press on your Move tool and move your white crescent so that it's placed evenly over the left hand side of your circle image. Then go to the Layer Palette and slide the Layer Opacity arrow (The double arrow situated in the right hand side of the shaded box located directly to the right of the layer name and glasses) to the left to about 40%.

Now your image should look like it's under glass.

 

We're going to add one more little lighting effect to finish off out image. 

In the Layer palette, create a new layer and name it "Lighting2". Press on the selection tool and in the Tool Options Palette, choose Rounded Rectangle. It's not necessary to change anything else.

Now draw a rounded square selection to the right of the center of your image, then hit the Flood Fill Tool and using your right mouse button, fill the square with white. 

Deselect by going to Selections || Deselect

Next, hit the Deformation tool button to bring up the guide lines and holding down the Control (Ctrl) key on your keyboard, place your cursor in the top right square in the guides and move it to the left a bit so your square now looks like a triangle with the top cut off.

Now find the little Rotation square in the middle of the guides, which shows two curving arrows when the cursor runs over it. When you've found it, rotate the square to the left about 45 degrees. In the Toggle Tool Palette, press "Apply". You can then use the Move Tool to reposition your square if needed.

In the Layer Palette, lower the opacity as before to about 30%. 

 

Now we're going to add the drop shadow to give the image a bit more depth.

In the Layer palette, press on the "Base" layer to select it, then go to Image || Effects || Drop Shadow and use these settings: 

Color = Black, Opacity = 60, Blur = 10, Vertical Offset = 7, Horizontal Offset = 7.
That's it. Your paperweight is finished! You now have two possibilities depending on what color background you'd like for your image. 

If you'd like a white background, go to Layers || Merge || Merge All and the image will be merged with a default white background.

If you'd like a background with another color, you'll have to create a new layer which you will place below all the others in the Layer Palette. Choose the color you'd like and fill your layer with the flood fill tool, then go to Layers || Merge || Merge All.