Di's Delights Members Only PSP8 Crystal Decanter Tutorial

PSP8 Crystal Decanter

By doing this tutorial you agree to my terms of use.

For this tutorial you will need Paint Shop Pro 8, a general knowledge of vectors and PSP and my supplies available here

Extract the jpg files to My Documents - My PSP8 Files - Bump Maps.
The PSP script files to My Documents - My PSP8 Files - Presets.

Here is a key to the short cuts used

Ctrl+1 = Curve before
Ctrl+2 = Curve after
Ctrl+A = Select all
Ctrl+F = Floats selection
Ctrl+Shft+F = Defloats selection
Ctrl+D = Select none
Shft+B - Brightness/Contrast

Remember to save often as I am not in the habit of making this reminder.

1. Create a new image 250x400. Null the foreground, set the background to white. Create a new vector layer

named crystal. With the preset shapes tool

, ellipse, antialias and vector checked, hold shft and draw out a circle approximately 72x72. Look to the bottom left of your screen for the figures to gauge the size of your shape. Objects -Align - Horz Center on canvas.

2. Create a new vector layer named bung. With the preset shapes tool, rectangle draw the shape as shown. Hold the curser over one of the outer bottom nodes, hold Ctrl and bring in the shape. With the pen tool

, edit mode

, double click on one of the nodes to select all, Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2. Click away from the nodes to deselect. Curve the top and bottom by pulling down the control arms of each node. Objects -Align - Horz Center on canvas. Layer - Arrange - Move Down.

3. Create a new vector layer named body. Draw a long thin rectangle for the body of your decanter, just wider than the bung. Hold the curser over one of the outer bottom nodes, hold Ctrl and widen the bottom. With the pen tool, edit mode, double click on one of the nodes to select all, Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2. Click away from the nodes to deselect. Hold the curser over one of the side edges, hold Ctrl and click to add a node, repeat for the other side. Curve the bottom of the shape by bringing down the control arms of the bottom nodes and do the same for the top. Bring the nodes you added at the side out. On the top nodes bring the side control arms down as shown. Objects -Align - Horz Center on canvas.

I wasn't too good at making the shape symmetrical so this is what I did -

I added a node as near to the top right and bottom right nodes as I could. Held Shft and selected the 3 nodes to the right of the added nodes. Delete. Layer - Duplicate. In the layer pallet click rectangle to select, doesn't matter which one. Image - Mirror. And there you have a symmetrical shape. Make it so that only the body and copy of body layers are visible. Merge visible. Rename body. Bring the other layers back in to view.

4. Create a new vector layer named rim. With the preset shapes tool draw a rectangle as shown for the rim of the decanter. With the pen tool, edit mode, double click on one of the nodes to select all, Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2. Click away from the nodes to deselect. Move the control arms of each node as shown to curve the shape.

Ok, if you're happy with the look and shape of your decanter, convert all layers to raster.

5. Make the crystal layer active. Ctrl+A. Ctrl+F. Ctrl+Shft+F. Selections - Modify - Expand by 2. Create a new layer named crystal2. Effects - Artistic Effects - Balls and Bubbles. Apply my di crystal preset. Ctrl+D.

Make the crystal layer active. Duplicate the layer. Effects - 3D Effects - Cutout at the given settings.

Make the crystal layer active. Effects - 3D Effects - Cutout. Change the vertical to 3, horizontal to -3, blur 20.

Make it so that only the crystal layers are visible. Merge visible. Rename to crystal. Bring the other layers back in to view.

Cutout
Vertical -6
Horizontal 6
Opacity 75
Blur 25
Colour #012929

6. Make the bung layer active. At this point it may help to make only the bung layer visible. Bring the opacity down to about 50. Ctrl+A. Ctrl+F. Ctrl+Shft+F. Selections - Modify - Expand by 1. Create a new raster layer named bung2. Apply the cutout.

Still with the selection, create a new raster layer named bung3. With the paint brush, foreground white, at the shown settings, paint a highlight (see screen shot). Adjust - Blur - Gaussian Blur at 3%. Ctrl+D.

With just the bung layers visible, merge visible and rename bung. Bring the other layers back in to view.

Paint Brush
Size 8
Hardness 30
Step 25
Density 100
Thickness 100
Rotation 0
Opacity 100
Blend Mode Normal.

7. Make the rim layer active. Bring the opacity down to about 30. Ctrl+A. Ctrl+F. Ctrl+Shft+F. Selections - Modify - Expand by 1. Create a new raster layer named rim2. Apply the same cutout as in step 6 but change the blur to 15.

Still with the selection, create a new raster layer named rim3. With the paint brush, paint a highlight (see screen shot). Adjust - Blur - Gaussian Blur at 2%. Ctrl+D.

With just the rim layers visible, merge visible and rename rim. Bring the other layers back in to view.

8. Make the body layer active. Create a new layer named glass. With the selection tool

rectangle, replace, feather 0, antialias unchecked, make a selection roughly as shown. Effects - Artistic Effects - Balls and Bubbles. Apply my di crystal2 preset.

To make sure of the effect, use the proof facility before applying. If needs be cancel the effect, alter the selection and try again.

Still with the selection make the body layer active. Ctrl+F. Ctrl+Shft+F. Selections - Invert. Make the glass layer active. Delete. Bring the opacity of the layer down to about 70.

Selections - Invert. Selections - Modify - Contract by 5. Selections - Load/Save Selection - Save Selection to Alpha Channel for future use. Ctrl+D.

9. Duplicate the body layer. Layers - Arrange - Send to bottom. Bring the opacity of the layer down to about 30.

Make the body layer active. Effects - 3D Effects - Cutout. Use the same cutout as in step 5 but change the blur to 50.

10. Make the crystal layer active. Create a new layer named contents. Selections - Load/Save Selection - Load from the alpha channel. You should only have the selection we saved earlier. Flood fill with the colour of a refreshment of your choice :o) I used #7E001E. Ctrl+D.

With the selection tool, ellipse, replace, feather 0, antialias checked, make a selection as shown. Selections - Invert. Delete. Ctrl+D.

Make a small selection at the top of your fill as shown. Shft+B, which will bring up the brightness/contrast window, change the brightness to -30. Ctrl+D.

There you have your decanter. Merge layers visible and save as a tube or in PSP format.

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