*Element
ELEMENT: Creating a Postage Stamp Element
By Zee Helmick 2006
Apr 7, 2006, 04:30

This tutorial will show you how to create a postage stamp element featuring your favorite photo in Paint Shop Pro 9.0.

1.  Begin by creating a new layout with square dimensions, 300 dpi and a transparent background.  The size will depend on how large you want your postage stamp.  (File > New)

2.  Activate the Rectangle Tool (keyboard shortcut:  G).

3.  Select white for your background or fill color and leave the foreground or stroke color transparent.

4.  With the Rectangle Tool, draw a square onto your layout and position it in the center of your layout.

5.  Select the Eraser tool (keyboard shortcut:  X) and choose a small round brush at 100-Hardness and 100-Opacity.  The size of the brush will depend on the size of your postage stamp.

6.  Activate the Grid by opening the View menu and clicking on Grid.  Make sure the Snap to Grid option is toggled off by opening the View menu and clicking on Snap to Grid and testing your layout to see if the function is off.

7.  In order to see your work more easily, fill the background layer with a contrasting color such as black.  This will be deleted later so the color doesn’t matter.

8.  Set guidelines at all four sides of your postage stamp.

9.  Using the Eraser tool, begin “stamping” around the edge of the stamp to give it its perforated look, using the guidelines and grid to keep the erased areas evenly distributed.  Zoom in if necessary.

10.  Continue erasing the edges until you have a perforated edge square.

11.  Open the photo you wish to put onto your postage stamp and create a duplicate of the photo (Keyboard shortcut:  Shift+D).  Close the original.

12.  Crop a square area of the photo using the Crop tool (Keyboard shortcut:  R).

13.  Resize the cropped image so that it will fit onto your postage stamp (this will depend on how large your stamp is).

14.  Copy the resized photo and paste it as a new layer onto your postage stamp.

15.  Delete the background layer that contains the contrasting color.

16.  If you wish, you can add text to the postage stamp.

17.  Merge all visible layers (Layers > Merge > Merge Visible).  Your postage stamp can now be saved as a PNG file and copied into your layout.  Be sure to add a drop shadow to create depth.