SHAMROCK

Hooteye March 2010

This Tutorial will show you how to achieve the Shamrock effect shown in the
below tag, as it is only a 6 Frame Animation, it should prove quick and easy to do

Plugins are not required for this Tutorial

This Tutorial was wrote for PSP X but I have also tested it in PSP 9
any resemblance to any other tut on the web is purely coincidental.

This Tutorial cannot be done in PSP 7 or PSP 8
as they do not have the "Displacement Map" effect

Many of the steps in this Tutorial are similar
to the steps used in my Waterfall Tutorial

See my Waterfall Tutorial here

OK HERE WE GO.

( REMEMBER TO SAVE REGULARLY)

STEP (1)

Open your PSP Program (9, 10, or higher), go to the Overhead Bar, then go
to File and in its drop-down menu, click New, when its pop-up box appears
create a 650x650 pixel Document, with a Transparent Background, then click OK

Go to the Overhead Bar, then go to File and in its drop-down menu, click Save, when
its pop-up box appears name your file, (I have named it "Shamrock", then click Save

STEP (2)

Go to the Toolbar and select the Flood Fill Tool, then go to your Material Palette
and set the foreground color to R 128, G 255, B 128, click your Document to fill it

STEP (3)

Go to the overhead bar, then go to Effects and in
its drop-down menu, click on Texture Effects/Blinds

When this pop-up box appears make these settings,
set the Blind color to R 3, G 85, B 3, click ok

Again go to the overhead bar, and click Effects, and
in its drop-down menu, click on Texture Effects/Blinds

When its pop-up box appears make these settings,
(Blind color remains R 3, G 85, B 3,) click ok

Your Document should now look like this

STEP (4)

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

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

(In PSP 9 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 X: and Position Y: to 2,
(highlighted in pink) these are the only setting we will be adjusting for
each Layer we create, some settings will adjust themselves automatically

With Rasher 2, Layer still selected you will see your
Document has moved 2 pixels down and 2 Pixels to the Right

Following the below sequence, we now need to create the other 4 layers

Select Rasher 2, Layer, and Duplicate it, rename the Duplicated layer, Rasher 3,
then on the Overhead Bar change the setting for Position X: and Position Y: to 4,
again you will see your Document move another 2 pixels down and 2 pixels to the Right

Select Rasher 3, Layer, and Duplicate it, rename the Duplicated layer, Rasher 4,
then on the Overhead Bar change the setting for Position X: and Position Y: to 6,
again you will see your Document move another 2 pixels down and 2 pixels to the Right

Select Rasher 4, Layer, and Duplicate it, rename the Duplicated layer, Rasher 5,
then on the Overhead Bar change the setting for Position X: and Position Y: to 8,
again you will see your Document move another 2 pixels down and 2 pixels to the Right

Select Rasher 5, Layer, and Duplicate it, rename the Duplicated layer, Rasher 6,
then on the Overhead Bar change the setting for Position X: and Position Y: to 10,
again you will see your Document move another 2 pixels down and 2 pixels to the Right

STEP (5)

Go to the Overhead Bar, then go to Image and in its drop-down menu, click Canvas
Size, when its pop-up box appears change the Canvas size to 600x600 pixels, click OK

Hold down your ctrl Key and tap down your "A" Key, this will create a Selection around
your Document (Marching Ants) Note:- they will be hidden under the Canvas at this stage

Go to the Overhead Bar, then go to Selections, and in its drop-down menu, click Clip
To Canvas, you will now see the Selection (Marching Ants) around your Document

Again go to the Overhead Bar, then go to Image, and in
its drop-down menu, click Crop To Selection, this step
will also deselect your Document (stop the Marching Ants)

STEP (6)

Go to your Layer Palette, and arrange it like this

Go to the overhead bar, then go to Effects and in its
drop-down menu, click on Distortion Effects/Displacement Map

When this pop-up box appears make these settings, and click OK

Your Document should now look like this

Go to your Layer Palette, and select Rasher 2 Layer make it visible by clicking it's
Eye Icon, then using the same settings apply the Displacement Map effect to it

Following this procedure apply the Displacement Map effect to:-

Rasher 3, Layer
Rasher 4, Layer
Rasher 5, Layer
Rasher 6, Layer

STEP (7)

Go to the Overhead Bar, then go to Image and in its drop-down menu, click Resize
when its pop-up box appears reduce your Document size to 500x500 pixels, click OK

STEP (8)

Right click on the below Shamrock Template image, and in it's pop-up menu, click Copy

Back in your PSP program, go to the Overhead Bar, then go
to Edit and in its drop-down menu, click Paste as New Image

You will now have 2 Documents up in your PSP workspace the Shamrock Document,
and the Shamrock Template Document (automatically named "Image 1")

Click on the top of the Shamrock Template Document (Image 1) to make it the active Document

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, Shamrock 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 Shamrock Template Brush Tip is showing, like this

We have now finished with the Shamrock Template Document,
so click the X (top right corner) to close it down

STEP (9)

Go to your Layer Palette, and select Rasher 6, then create 2 new
Rasher Layers, name one Background and the other Shamrock Frame

Holding down your mouse, drag the Background Layer so its below Rasher 1,

With the Background Layer selected, go to the Toolbar and select
the Flood Fill Tool, then go to your Material Palette and select a
color/Gradient/Pattern of your choice, click your Document to fill it

You can if you wish use my Background it can be downloaded from here

STEP (10)

Go to your Layer Palette, and arrange it like this

Go to the Overhead Bar, then go to View and in its drop-down menu, tick Grid and Snap to Grid

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

The Grid Lines on your Document should now look like this

Go to the Toolbar and select the Paint Brush, then go to the overhead
Brush Tip drop down list, and select the Shamrock Template, Brush Tip and click ok

Go to the overhead bar and make these settings for your Brush Tip

Go to your Material Palette and set the Foreground color to R 128, G 255, B 128,

With the Shamrock Frame Layer selected, go to your Document, and
where the Grid lines cross, click your little Paint Brush icon
twice, the Shamrock Brush Tip, will accurately snap into position

NOTE:- you do not need to click the exact centre of the grid
lines, as the influence of the "Snap To Grid" will automatically
align your Shamrock Brush Tip 100% to the Grid Line Centre

your Document should now look like this

STEP (11)

On the overhead bar go to View and in its drop-down menu, click
Grid, the Grid lines are no longer showing on your document

Go to the Toolbar and select the Magic Wand Tool,
then go to its overhead bar and make these settings

With the Shamrock Frame Layer still selected, go to your Document, and click the Magic
Wand inside the Shamrock shape, this will make a Selection (marching Ants) around it

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

When this Pop-Up appears, set the Number of Pixels to 1, Click OK

On the overhead bar go to Selections and in its drop-down menu, click Invert

Go to your Layer Palette, and select Rasher 6 Layer, with the Selection
(Marching Ants) still active, go to your Keyboard, and tap down your
Delete Key (once only) to remove the outer part of your Document

leaving the Marching Ants active, in turn carry out this Delete step to:-

Rasher 5, Layer
Rasher 4, Layer
Rasher 3, Layer
Rasher 2, Layer
Rasher 1, Layer

On your Keyboard hold down your ctrl Key and tap down your D Key,
this will deselect your Document, (stop the Marching Ants)

STEP (12)

Go to the Overhead Bar, then go to Image and in its drop-down menu, click Resize, when
its pop-up box appears, size your Image, (I sized mine to 450X450 pixels) 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