Creating high impact images with Paint Shop Pro

Special Effects

Something that is far easier to do in a package like PSP rather than a darkroom, is to create special effects. By this I mean manipulating the image to create an entirely new effect or image, possibly completely unrecognisable from the original. Patterns, blends, montages and fancy text are all included in this.

The photo I have chosen to work with is a strong image of some wicker baskets outside a shop window. As a photograph it doesn't really need any more work. This photo was taken on fairly expensive Ectachrome film.

This picture offers some interesting areas of light and dark, various textures, and a pleasing blend of subtle blue and brown shades. These are core elements that can be built upon to create some entirely new images. Using textures from an image like this can often result in more dramatic graphics than attempts to create them by hand. Hand drawn attempts often have a predictability about them that makes them less appealing.

Step 1: Single Textures

This texture was created by applying image: deformations: wind to the picture, with direction left and strength 20%. This is exactly the texture I used to create the text for the title of this page. The box highlights the area used for the text. To use the texture for the surface of text, do the following.

click on the texture with the text tool in the centre of the area you want to choose
choose your font and size and type your text in the dialog
ensure you uncheck the floating option. This makes your text a cutout of the image.
click ok. Your text should now be a selection on the texture.
choose edit: copy
create a new image, big enough to hold your text.
on your new blank image, choose edit: paste as transparent selection
whilst selected, apply shadows, cutouts etc. as you see fit.

Always remember to work in 16 million colours and anti-alias all text, when you produce web graphics.

Step 2: Repeating Textures

Judicious selection of parts of the image, and use of PSP's image: special effects: create seamless pattern command can create some interesting patterns for tiling. These patterns can then be used as backgrounds, or adapted for use as filling or texturing of other objects and text, using the fill tool with the fill set to pattern. source selection for basket handle pattern
Generally, the smaller the area selected the more obvious the tiling.

The selection on the right was used to create this pattern.

The pattern on the right was created from the small, brightly-lit basket on the left of the picture. I used the image: rotate command, with direction left, degrees 15 to line it up horizontally. Once again, I used the image: special effects: create seamless pattern command to produce the tile, shown in the inset. Because this pattern is less contrasty (i.e. it is of fairly constant brightness), it would be possible to place dark text over it satisfactorily. It is unwise to place text over contrasty images, as it makes it very hard to read.

Step 3: Creating 'artwork'

By combining the effects of various PSP tools you can create some quite remarkable pictures that blend a look of the hand drawn and the computer generated. In my opinion, there are two secrets: experimentation and subtlety.
This picture was created, in the main, by applying hot wax coating with a foreground colour of white. It was applied 7 or 8 times, using a very dark grey mask, so that the effect was minimal each time. This creates the subtle, soft glow, whereas a single 100% application creates a much starker image. Other effects include changing the hue slightly and increasing brightness and contrast. The final touch was to apply motion blur in a diagonal direction to give a softness and slight hint of brush work. This was done using a very dark, plain, mask.