Tutorial: Making a Frame using the Blast'em! Plugin (v7)
Have you tried using plugin filters with your Paint Shop Pro? Many plugins are free downloads -- and great fun to work with!
For this tutorial, let's try an interesting frame effect, using a really interesting free plugin! We'll be using Toadies Blast'em.
We're going to take this image:
And frame it so it looks like this:
Before we begin, you'll need the proper plugin filter! To download this, first go here. At the bottom of the page in the lower right-hand corner you'll see the following:
Toadies II If you're looking for old and long abandoned Toadies II plugins, they are here. Developing of Toadies plugins was cancelled many years ago, so no preview, no support, just plain plugins archive.
Click one of the two visible links. (Toadies II or here.) When your file download window pops up, select Open. (Optional: If you wish you can also Save this to your hard drive.)
This will bring up the Toadies installation window. BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THE INSTALLATION, BE SURE TO READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES!
IMPORTANT Notes:
I. Be sure to click the Browse button and select where you want these filters installed! That should be here:
C:\Program Files\Jasc Software Inc\Paint Shop Pro 7\Plugins
II. You might need an additional file (or files) to make these PhotoShop filters work with PSP. To read more about this and locate the downloads, go to PSPUG - Installing Plug-ins & Filters.
Once you have the Toadies plugin filters installed, you're ready to begin!
You can use any image you wish, but for the purposes of this tutorial I'll suggest trying this one:
- Open PSP.
- Right-click on the image above and Save it to your hard drive. Go to PSP and Open the image you just saved.
Tip: It's quicker and easier to simply right-click and Copy, then go to PSP and right-click and Paste as New Image. Then you have the option to save, if you wish -- or to skip saving the image entirely!
- Go to your Color Palette (on the left-hand side of the workspace). Under Styles, turn Foreground off. (Click the drop down arrow and select Null.) Select something bright that contrasts with the colors of your image. For this image, I used a shade of pink -- HTML: #ff40ff
But if the image you're using contains reds and pinks, you'd want to select a different color!
Note: Whatever we set here will be our background color.
- Now let's start by adding a border to the image. Go to Image > Add Borders.
Make sure Symmetric is selected. (Check-marked.) Then make the size of the border 20. Click OK.
- Open your Tool Options palette. (Click on the Toggle Tool Options button on your Standard Toolbar.)
- Go to your Tool palette and select the Magic Wand tool.
Use the following settings:
Match Mode: RGB
Tolerance: 20
Feather: 0
Sample merged: selected
- Now click the Magic Wand inside the border of your image.
IMPORTANT Note: Leave this area Selected (with the active marquee displayed) until you're told to deselect!
We now want to change the color of the border to something that will work well with the image we're using!
- Go to your Tool Palette and select the Dropper Tool. Click this on one of the colors of your image. This will change the Foreground color (under styles) to whatever color you click on.
For the above image I ended up selecting -- HTML: #66b983
- Go back to the Tool Palette and select the Flood Fill Tool. Use the following settings:
Blend mode: Normal
Match mode: None
Tolerance: is grayed out
Opacity: 100
Sample merge: Selected
- Click the Flood Fill Tool inside the selected area. You'll now have a border that contains a complimentary color for your image frame.
- To make the frame stand out a bit, we'll add a drop shadow! Go to Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow. Use these settings:
Offset
Vertical: 5
Horizontal: 5
Attributes
Opacity: 40
Blur: 7.00
Color: Black
Click OK.
- Now repeat the drop shadow. Go to Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow. Use these settings:
Offset
Vertical: -5
Horizontal: -5
Attributes
Opacity: 40
Blur: 7.00
Color: Black
Click OK.
It's time to use our free plugin filter!
- Go to Effects > Plugins > Toadies > Blast'em!
Use these settings:
Diffuse: 20
Transparency: 255
Click OK.
We want to repeat this twice, so do the following:
- Go Effects. Blast'em! will now be the selected plugin filter, down at the bottom. Select it. Use these settings:
Diffuse: 20
Transparency: 255
Click OK.
- Repeat step #12 (the last step).
- Go to Selections > Select None.
Now all you need to do is Save!
Isn't that a marvelous effect?
Optionally:
You can also try using a Gradient or Pattern for the frame color, as I've done below.
Here I took my image of an Irish church and used my own custom gray gradient for the border (keeping the drop shadow), before applying the Blast'em effect. (You can select a Gradient by going to the Color Palette under Style and selecting Gradient for Foreground, using the drop down menu. Pick a gradient and change the angle to something like 50.)
Below I used the same image, but this time I applied the PSP pattern 'Driftwood ' for my border (angle at 50), changing my Blast'em settings to:
Diffuse: 20
Transparency: 100
(Remember to reset each time you apply Blast'em.)
I needed a lower transparency setting, as I wanted to maintain some of the definition of the wood! (smile) I also only applied Blast'em twice, and in place of adding a drop shadow used the Chisel effect. Effects > 3D Effects > Chisel.
Settings:
Size: 2
Background color: selected
Below I used the same image, but this time I again applied my own custom gray gradient for the border and I (again) skipped the drop shadow. I used the original Blast'em settings (20, 255) and then applied the effect three times. Finally I finished by going to Effects > 3D Effects > Cutout, using these settings:
Offset
Vertical: 15
Horizontal: 15
Attributes
Opacity: 60
Blur: 30.00
Color
Shadow color: Black
Fill interior with color: deselected
So don't be afraid to play around this tutorial and come up with your own variations! And remember -- we love seeing what you can create with the tutorials in this community!
Have fun!
==CharlieMC, assistant moderator