HEART BLINKIE AND SHAPES

HOOTEYE SEPTEMBER 2008

Many of the steps in this Tutorial are similar to the steps in my Blinkie Text Tutorial,
again I have tried to write this Tutorial with PSP beginners in mind, I have included
lots of screen shots, and have gone into much detail to explain the various steps

As this Tutorial is only a 4 frame animation, it should be quick and easy to do.

This Tutorial was wrote for Paint Shop Pro X, but I have also tested it in
PSP 8, any differences between the two PSP versions will be shown in red

Any resemblance to any other Tut on the web is purely coincidental.

After working through this tutorial you should end up with this type of result, you
can of course apply this effect to other shapes, and sizes, so please experiment,

OK HERE WE GO ( REMEMBER TO SAVE REGULARLY)

STEP (1)

For this Tutorial we will be working with the below 500x500 pixel Image, so right click on
it, when its pop-up menu appears, click on "Save Picture As" (usually saved to "My Pictures")

Note:- If you use your own Image or Background it is important that you
keep your Document to 500x500 pixels, as the settings we will be using to
form our animation have been accurately matched to this size Document, you can
of course reduce your Document to your preferred size at the end of the Tutorial

STEP (2)

Right click on this Black Heart Template image, when its pop-up menu
appears, click on "Save Picture As" (usually saved to "My Pictures")

STEP (3)

Open up your PSP Program, On the Overhead Bar go to File and in its drop-down menu click Open,
when its pop-up box appears, find and select the Black Heart Template image, and click open.

On the overhead bar go to File and in its drop-down menu, click on Export/Custom/Brush.

This Create Brush Tip Box will appear, name your Brush Tip, Heart Template, and click ok.

Go to your Toolbar and select your Paint Brush Tool, then go to the Brush Tip
drop-down list, and check your Heart Template Brush Tip is showing, like this

We have now finished with our Black Heart Template Document
so close it off by clicking the red X on the top right corner

STEP (4)

On the Overhead Bar go to File and in its drop-down menu click Open, when its
pop-up box appears, find and select the Heart Blinkie Draft image. and click open.

Go to the Layer Palette, and right click on the Background layer, and click Promote Background
Layer, it will automatically be renamed Rasher 1, right click on it and rename it Heart 1, Image

Still on your Layer Palette, right click on Heart 1, Image Layer, and click
Duplicate, then right click on this Duplicated Layer and rename it Heart 2, Image

Create a new Rasher Layer, when its pop-box appears name it Heart Base, and click OK

Go to the Toolbar and select the Flood Fill Tool, then go to your
Material Palette, and make sure the Foreground Color is set to white

With your Heart Base Layer selected, click your Document, the Heart Base Layer is now white

Go to your Layer Palette and create a new Rasher Layer, it will automatically be named Rasher 1,

Dragging your Layers, arrange your Layer Palette like this
note all visibility eye icons are off except the Rasher 1 Layer

STEP (5)

Go to the Toolbar and select the Flood Fill Tool, then go
to your Material Palette, and click on the Foreground Color

SETTINGS FOR FOREGROUND COLOR

When this Material Properties Box, appears make the settings highlighted in pink, then click ok

SETTINGS FOR BACKGROUND COLOR

With your Flood Fill Tool still selected, again go to your Material Palette, and click on the Background
Color, when the Material Properties Box, appears, make the settings highlighted in pink, then click ok

Tip:-To achieve other Blinkie looks, try different colors for your Foreground and Background

SETTINGS FOR GRADIENT

With your Flood Fill Tool still selected, again go to your Material Palette,and click on the Foreground
Color, when the Material Properties Box appears, make the settings highlighted in pink, then click OK

STEP (6)

With your Flood Fill Tool still selected, go to your Layer Palette and make sure Rasher 1, Layer
is selected then click and fill your Document, your Document should now look like this

Go to your Layer Palette and right click on Rasher 1, Layer, and click
Duplicate, then right click on this Duplicated Layer and name it Rasher 2,

With Rasher Layer 2, selected, go to your Toolbar and select the Pick Tool

(In PSP 8 you will need to select the Deform Tool to be able to make the following settings)

On the Overhead Bar change the setting for Position Y: to 4,(highlighted in pink) this is the only setting
we will be adjusting for each Layer we create, some settings will adjust them selves automatically

with Rasher 2, Layer still selected you will see your Document has moved 4 pixels down.

Right click on the Rasher 2, Layer, and click Duplicate, and then right click on this Duplicated Layer
and name it Rasher 3, With Rasher 3, Layer and the Pick Tool selected, again go to your Overhead Bar
and increase the Position Y: setting to 8, again you will see your Document move another 4 pixels down.

We must do this step once more, so right click on the Rasher 3, Layer, and click Duplicate, and then right click
on this Duplicated Layer and name it Rasher 4, With Rasher 4, Layer and the Pick Tool selected, again go to your
Overhead Bar and increase the Position Y: setting to 12, again you will see your Document move another 4 pixels down.

Step (7)

Go to View, and in its drop-down menu tick Grid and Snap to Grid.

Again go to View and its drop-down menu, click on Change Grid, Guide & Snap Properties,
when the pop-up box appears make these settings, (the Grid color is optional)

Step (8)

Arrange your Layer Palette like this, Note:- the visibility Eye Icons for all Layers are on

Go to your Toolbar and select your Paint Brush Tool, then go to your Material Palette,and make your
Foreground color Black, or simply hold down your ctrl key and shift key together, and tap down the F6 key

With your Paint Brush Tool selected go to the above Brush tip drop down list, and select
the Heart Template brush tip, then on it's overhead settings bar make these settings

With the Heart Base Layer, selected go to the centre of your Document and click
your mouse (once only) the 330 size black heart will accurately snap into position

Again go the overhead settings bar and change the Heart Template brush tip size
to 70, then click your document (once only) in the 8 Grid positions as shown below

Tip:- Experiment with different heart sizes and layout patterns

On the Overhead Bar go to View and in its drop-down menu
click Grid, the Grid lines on your Document are now off

Step (9)

Go to your Toolbar and select your Magic Wand Tool, then on it's overhead settings bar, make these settings
Note:- These are important settings, as they will prevent our Blinkie heart edges being raggedy

With the Heart Base Layer, still selected, hold down your Shift Key, then go to your
Document and click your Magic Wand on all the black hearts, you should now have a
Selection (Marching Ants) around each black heart, your Document should now look like this

With the Marching Ants still active, go to your Layer Palette, and
select Heart 1 Image, Layer, then tap down your Delete Key (once only)

On the overhead bar go to Selection, and in its drop-down menu, click on Invert then go back
to your Layer Palette and select Heart 2 Image, Layer then tap down your Delete Key (once only)

On the overhead bar go back to Selection, and in its drop-down menu, click
on Invert then go back to your Layer Palette and select Heart 1 Image

On the overhead bar go back to Selection, and in its drop-down menu, click Modify/Expand

When the Expand-Selection pop-up box appears set the Number of Pixels to 1, then click OK

With Heart 1 Image Layer selected tap down your Delete Key (once only)

STEP (10)

Hold down your ctrl Key and tap down your D Key, this will deselect the (Marching Ants) around your hearts

Go to your Layer Palette and select and delete the Heart Base Layer

Right click on Heart 2, Image Layer, and then click Merge Down

On the Overhead Bar go to Image, and in its drop-down menu, click Resize, when
its pop-up box appears size your Document to your requirements, then click OK

That's it we are done, all you need to do now is add a tube etc, and
take it into Animation Shop, set the display times for all frames to 1

If you need some help Animating your Layers, check out my Tutorials:-

Animating your PSP work with Jasc Animation Shop (Method 1) here

Animating your PSP work with Jasc Animation Shop (Method 2) here

Animating your PSP work with Ulead GIF Animator (Free Trial) here

This is what the effect looks like when applied to a Shamrock shape

If you would like the Black Shamrock Template it can be downloaded here