Obsidian Sig (PSP9)

[cien]

Well hello there! I notice some folks here seem to like my tutorials and I remember MahuD posting in my shoutbox. So I thought I'd share an exclusive tutorial (for the time being anyway) with all of you.

For Paint Shop Pro 9

I call this tutorial an Obsidian Sig. It's like a grunge sig, but with no brushing required. Let's start, shall we.



Before you begin, you may want to have a render ready to go. You can get them at www.render-world.com/ or www.clantemplates.com/



1. Create a new 360x120 image with the Pattern “Paper” as the Background.



2. Duplicate the layer.

Go to Effects | Edge Effects | Find All. Set the layer to Multiply. Merge Down the layer (Layers | Merge | Merge Down)



3. Duplicate the layer.

Go to Effect | Artistic Effects | Glowing Edges. Use the Default settings. Change the Layer Blend Mode to Lighten.

Duplicate the layer.

Change the Layer Blend Mode to Soft Light with an opacity of 50. Merge All the layers (Flatten)



4. Press Shift+L to Colorize. Set the Hue and Saturation to 0.

Go to Effects | Illumination | Lights… Load the Soft Light (top) preset, then change these settings.

Color = White
Intensity = 60
Vertical = -100
Cone Size = 89

(At this point, you may want to use Effects | Reflection Effects| Rotating Mirror… to change the pattern. Hit Randomize until something
desirable comes up . This step is completely optional, though.)



5. Now it’s time to paste your render.

Create a New layer. Copy your render by having a selection around it. Press Ctrl+E to Paste as a New Selection, then Ctrl+Shift+F to Defloat it.



6. Now we will blend the render.

Your selection should still be active. Press Ctrl+H to Feather the selection by 25. Press Ctrl+Shift+I to Invert the selection. Hit delete once. Press Ctrl+D to Select None.

Change the Layer Blend Mode to Luminance (Legacy). Duplicate the layer. Change the Layer Blend Mode to Dodge with an opacity of 50. Merge All the layers (Flatten)



7. Go to Adjust | Color Balance | Color Balance… and change the color to your liking. When you have a shade of color you like, Duplicate the layer. Go to Adjust | Softness | Soft Focus… and use the Default settings. Finally set the Layer Blend Mode to Multiply, Screen or Overlay.

That’s it. Feel free to add typography and a border to complete the look.

[matthew]

I saw your name in the info center but it didn't click who you were until i saw the post, lol. and yep we've really enjoyed doing your tutorials, and I've learnt quite a lot of new stuff. I have difficulty finding tutorials that I like and psp is still a bit of a mystery to me, so your site was a real find (via Pixel2life) .

Thanks for posting this tut, it looks great.

[admin]

Yeah. I'm also looking forward to doing this tutorial. I have really been enjoying your tutorials on your site as well. Even though I have PSP8, most things are the same and I have learned a lot. Plus, Mahud and I have been doing them together most of the time and have been teaching each other things that we know as well, so it has been just a really good experience for the both of us! Thanks for writing them and thanks for posting this one. I look forward to doing it!

[admin]

Here's what I came up with. My background turned out quite differently. It appears that it grabbed more edges when I did the find ages stage. But, it still looks quite cool, I think. Thanks for the tut!

[cien]

It still does look great, Shan! The Find edges command is different between v8 and v9. But that doesn't matter as long as you can create something unique. And be able to choose a rad font.

Oh, and I lurve LOTR. Gollum was great.

[admin]

Thanks, cien Yeah. I am slowly noticing all the differences between v8 and v9. Mahud and I were talking earlier today and realized even more differences with art media area. Some day I'll have to update. hehe

And yeah. I am one pretty big LOTR fan, here. Gollum is overly sneaky.

[BMB]

This is what I came up with:

just something for my site...

By the way, Cien, what's your website? I'd like to see it.

[matthew]

Cien's site is pretty awesome, BMB. here's the link

www.cienpsp.com/

I had a bit of trouble with the tut though when it came to applying the soft light preset. I kept ending up with this.




i went through the tut a number of times, and even got Shan to go through it with me, and double check that the preset settings and changes were right. i think it might be a bug or something.

[Michael]

That's what happened with mine... I just figured I was doing it wrong so I just gave up that little project. lol...

[40ringz]

Great tutorial! mine came out wierd though:

[+mw.siCk]

Now this was a nice tutorial to follow.

This is what i got by changing the color balance and not colorizing it:


Then this is what i got when it colorized it:


I rely on brushes, but i personally think that this sig i did using this tut, turned out pretty good, and it looks good also that it has no brushes, and im proud of it
Im gonna use this more often, and play about with settings etc, hope you dont mind

[kreig]

I just started makin graphics with PSP 9 and stuff and i cant find how to get the pattern! >< plz help! and how do i get the rendars on here and stuff?!?!?

[Michael]

When you open a new image, a window pops up asking for dimensions, etc. Below the dimensions part, there is a white square. This square shows what color the bg will be. Click it and another window will appear. At the top of the new window there will be three different tabs: Color, Gradient, Pattern. Click pattern and scroll through the options until you find "Paper."

As for the renders, the tutorial answers your question:

Before you begin, you may want to have a render ready to go. You can get them at www.render-world.com/ or www.clantemplates.com/

[kreig]

><
ok i got the render and everything but when i put it on it only showed the black and the picture in my render...i cant see the sigggy!

[Michael]

When you copy the render go to PSPy (y being the version you have) and press Ctrl + V. This creates a new image. Now, select the "magic wand" tool. Do this by clicking the "dashed" rectangle three tools down from the top (on the left tool table) and then click the magic wand. Now, click one of the empty spaces on the render. Empty space meaning, the solid color surrounding the render. Now press "deleted." Do this with the other empty spaces until all you have is the render itself. Now copy the image again and paste it onto the siggy. Do this by using the key command "Ctrl + L" to paste it as a new layer on the siggy. Viola! You're finished! ^^

[kreig]

>:(Ok, i know everything, when i go to delete the freakin space it goes to checkered instead of the backround! ><"><"

[Michael]

That's fine. The reason why it goes checkered is to show that you are deleting something from the original and only layer. Therefore, it'll be transparent. It is okay if it is checkered because you are pasting the render on your sig. ;]

[GeEq]

heres what i made from that.... nice tut dude!

[Demetra]

I opted for no text.

[Bisurge]

demetra said:

I opted for no text.

You have Paint Shop Pro too?