This tutorial is my own creation. Any resemblance to another is purely co-incidental. Please do not pull it apart and claim it as your own. Do not copy, translate or place on another site. You are more than welcome to use this tutorial in a group setting, but please link to this page only.

Tools needed to complete this tutorial:

Paint Shop Pro 8

Simple Filters

20/20

Ausmask8

A graphic of your choice. The graphic I have used for this tutorial is used with permission from Mr Jim Warren who has kindly allowed me to use his wonderful artwork in my creations.<> A gold gradient.

Ok, if you have everything you need, let's begin.

1. Open your graphic of choice. Resize if needed. Shift + D to duplicate the image, and close the original.

2. Using your eye dropper chose a light foreground colour and a dark background colour from your graphic.

3. Image, add border and add a 3 pixel white border (or light grey if white is on the outer side of your graphic.

4. Select the border with your magic wand. Flood fill with the gold gradient.

5. Effects, 3D Effects, drop shadow and use the following settings:-
   • Vertical & Horizontal:     4
     
   • Opacity:     85
     
   • Blur:     12
     
   • Color:     Black

6. Repeat the drop shadow changing the V & H to –4 (minus)

7. Deselect.

8. Image, add border and add 2 pixel border using your foreground colour.

9. Image, add border and add a 2 pixel border using your background colour.

10. Image, add border and add a 3 pixel white border. Flood fill with your gradient.

11. Deselect.

12. Image, add border and add a 5 pixel border using your foreground colour.

13. Select the border with your magic wand.

14. Effects, Plugins, Simple, Blintz.

15. Deselect.

16. Repeat steps 3 to 11.

17. Image, add border and add a 15 pixel white border. Select the border with your magic wand.

18. Effects, Plugins, Simple, Half Wrap.

19. Adjust, Blur, Gaussian Blur and use a setting of 3. Deselect.

20. Repeat steps 3 to 11.

21. Add a new layer, and flood fill with your gold gradient.

22. Layers, Load/save mask, load mask from disc and load the ausmask 8, making sure that invert transparency is Unchecked.

23. Layers, Merge, merge group.

24. Effects, 3D effects, inner bevel and use the following settings:-
    • Bevel:      11
      
    • Width:       8
      
    • Smoothness:      16
      
    • Depth:      4
      
    • Ambience:      0
      
    • Shininess:      20
      
    • Color:      White
      
    • Angle:      315
      
    • Intensity:      40
      
    • Elevation:      35

25. Effects 3D Effects, Drop shadow and use the same settings as before, but don’t repeat with the negative numbers.

26. Add a new layer for your watermark. Then merge all, flatten and save as your header in the jpeg format.

27. Shift + D to duplicate the framed image. Save one as your header and you can close it down.

28. Working with the other framed image, go to Effects, Illumination Effects, Lights and use the Star preset.

29. Save as your background and open in 20/20.

30. Image, muted background and making sure that Seamless Tile is checked, lower the opacity to around 50%.

31. Save and take back to PSP.

32. Adjust, sharpen, sharpen more.

33. Save and you are now ready to put it altogether in Letter Creator

          

    
    © An Aushorty Creation – November 2004