Sunday, June 30, 2013

PSP-Works Plaid Tiles


Short Terms:

  • You can use this set in your commercial or non-commercial art projects.
    -Attribution is requested for personal, non-commercial use.
    -Attribution is required for commercial use. (Please use http://psp-works.deviantart.com or link directly to this post.)
  • You can republish this set FOR FREE on your website as long as the set stays together and all of the original previews and .txt files are included. (Notification is requested.)
  • You cannot sell the set unmodified.
  • You cannot extract individual contents and distribute those without the documentation.
  • You cannot include the set in a package with other resources unless you include all the relevant credit documents and previews and have the rights to redistribute all of the content.
  • Please notify me by commenting on this post or sending a note to psp-works.deviantart.com

    Full TOU can be viewed here and is included in the zip file.


Larger Preview Below

6.13_Stripe Tutorial Tile Pack

Here's a zip pack of all the various stripe tiles that I created for my recent stripe tutorial.  I'm not including a gallery because you can view all of the patterns in the tutorial post.  These are unrestricted, sorry I forgot to put a label on the preview.



.jpg format only

Monday, June 24, 2013

Tutorial: Striped Backgrounds in Paint Shop Pro

Stripes are a pretty popular effect.  I've said before that I think they're more useful as an accent than as a main background, but I know a lot of folks who like striped backgrounds.  There are several ways to create striped backgrounds in Paintshop Pro.  This tutorial will take a look at all the methods and give some tips on other cool things you can do using a simple stripe pattern as a base.

All of the patterns and example images from the tutorial are free to use for any creative purpose.  You may not re-package or re-sell as resources.

Text content of the tutorial may not be re-used or reprinted without written permission.

Warning: This tutorial is long and image heavy.


Program: Paint Shop Pro (Any version)
Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate (Tutorial has multiple methods; some may be easier than others, but detailed explanations are provided)
Translatable: Partly (Methods 2 and 4 should work in any program that has basic selection tools and an offset filter/effect.)



Friday, June 21, 2013

PSP Basics #5: Getting Content into PSP

The most common way to get content into Paint Shop Pro is with the open dialog. Corel's help file is here.  It's fine for anyone who understands how the menu works, but it doesn't give much information for a beginner.

To start, go to File>Open, press "Ctrl + O" ("Cmd + O" on a Mac) or press this button on your toolbar.

This dialog box opens up:

open-open

 I'm going to assume that you are familiar enough with computers that you won't need a total breakdown of the open screen.

As with most programs, simply point and click where you want to navigate, or use the standard icons at top of the window to brows in different folders.  Use ctrl or shift to select multiple files.

The features I really want to look at are the ones specific to Paint Shop Pro.  My favorite is the "favorite paths" icon.  This lets Paint Shop Pro store the directory path to locations you use a lot.

For example, most of my content for this blog is stored on an external drive.  I can navigate to that drive, or to folders on it that I use often, then click "add current" and the folder location will be saved so I can get there in one click the next time.

This feature is available from almost any dialog in the program, but each one operates independently, so a path you save in the open dialog won't necessarily appear in other menus or dialog boxes.

Clicking the "show preview" checkbox will allow you to see a thumbnail of the image you're opening.  It's usually adequate for browsing through your folders.  If you want to see more images at once, you can click the "browse" button.

In older versions of PSP, the browse button will open a separate menu that looks like this.  In PSP X5, the browse button will change your workspace to the manage pane and show your thumbnails in the new organizer  I've never really cared for either of these features.  They're slow to load on my computer, and I prefer to drag and drop files directly from Windows Explorer anyway.  I'll talk more about that further down.

In either case, you can browse and click on your images to add them to the program.

Another option for loading content is to import it via a camera or scanner.

Going to file>Import>From scanner or camera will tell PSP to detect any such device that is currently networked to your computer.  Since each set-up is different, you'll have to rely on the program wizard or Corel's help files for more specific information.

PSP also has a screenshot function, which you can access by going to File>Import>Screencapture.  I'll be doing a separate quick tip on the screencapture menu in the near future.  For our purposes, the first time you use it, you need to click "Set-up." after that, you can take screencaptures easily by pressing Shift +C.

The easiest way I've found to get material into PSP is by dragging and dropping it from Windows Explorer.  I set my program up in windowed mode (rather than full screen) then open the folder I want in Windows Explorer and set the window up like this.  Then I can quickly get to whichever images I want without having to wait for the organizer or the browse images feature to load.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Dragons: Free To Good Homes!


These dragons were a coloring experiment.  The lineart was provided by Dee Dreslough and used with her permission.  Dee is one of the people who inspired me to start sharing art and resources online.  I wish I could draw as well as she does, but at least I get to play with her stuff.  Check out her galleries for some cool free-to-use artwork.

Here's how this is going to work.

-Comment on this post with the number or numbers of the dragons you want.
-I will add your name to the reserve list.
-You have 2 weeks from your comment date to do something awesomely creative featuring the dragons.
-It doesn't matter what.  Here are some ideas:
  • Draw a picture (I don't care if you're not a great artist, just try.)
  • Write a story or poem
  • Bake a cake and decorate it as a dragon 
  • Write a character biography 
-Comment again with a link to your artwork (or a picture of it if you are awesome enough to have baked a dragon cake.)
-Within 48 hours, I will send you a transparent version of your dragon.
-I will also feature your artwork on my blog (especially if you bake a cake.)

Limits and rules

No re-selling these dragons for cash or internet currency of any kind.
Plagiarism is stupid, don't try it.
It doesn't matter if someone else has already claimed the same dragon that you want.  You can as well.  
Everybody who participates will get their dragon, but the blog feature will be limited to one per person

Because I am a nice person:

If you are really, really lazy and can't think of anything creative to do, you can donate $2.00 USD  per character to my paypal account (fandombouquet [at] gmail [dot] com.) or 16 DA points, but you need to remember this is not an adoption offer.  Other people will be able to use the same dragon.

Like Fortune Cookies?

I don't like Chinese food. Yes, I know, it's sacrilege. I do like fortune cookies, and I thought these were really cool. Links will take you to the MyMemories Suite website. You can print these out or use the templates in any image program, but if you are interested in buying MyMemories Suite, my Share the Memories code will give you a $10 discount, plus $10 in free store merchandise.

Use code STMMMS69181 at checkout.
STM Freebies - Fortune Cookies
For complete assembly instructions Click Here
Available free until June 30th.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

[Old Set] Grunge Stripes

RBF_grunge stripes 7RBF_grunge stripes 1RBF_grunge stripes 2RBF_grunge stripes 3RBF_grunge stripes 4RBF_grunge stripes 5
RBF_grunge stripes 6

4.13_Grunge Stripes, a set on Flickr.

I can't remember if I posted these or not, but they've been on my Flickr account for a while. Enjoy.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

[Old Set] Layered Paper

RBF_layered paper_002RBF_layered paper_001RBF_layered paper_004

5.13 Layered Paper, a set on Flickr.
Here are some layered paper backgrounds I made with MyMemories Suite. I can't find the zip file right now.