*Technique
TECHNIQUE: Creating Backgrounds
By Anna
Mar 6, 2005, 13:57

Submitted by and © 2003 Anna

I use Paint Shop Pro Version 7 exclusively in my CG layouts and here is a simple tutorial for creating a background, adding a title, and a picture or 2.

First I open a new image using these settings:

Then, I will choose the dropper tool in my tool palette to choose a color to fill in my white space:

I will go over to my color palette on the right side of the screen and choose a color with my dropper by LEFT clicking on my chosen color:

I will then go over to my tool palette and choose the paint bucket which is the flood fill tool

After I have chosen my flood fill tool, I go to my tool bar at the top of the screen and choose my tool options button so that I may change the settings on my flood fill tool:

these are the settings you should change your flood fill tool to:

You will now go to your 12X12 white image and fill the box with your chosen color:

At this point, you many choose to use a "filter" or plug-in" to change the background somewhat. You might want to give it texture or ect. There are many programs available for download online or in the store near the image software that you can download into your PSP's plug-in folder. You can play around with the different effects by going up to the "EFFECTS" drop down menu at the top of your screen. Here, I used a software called "Eyecandy"'s swirl filter to give the background a subtle design:

To add a title and such I made a selection by choosing the selection button:

and then I chose to select an upper portion of my 12X12 layout with the selection tool:

After that I will use the flood fill tool again and give it a "vellum" look by choosing these settings: Simply change the opacity box to 50

and flood fill the selection:

Now you may add text, but before you do that, you must unselect the selection you just made by going to SELECTIONS at the top of your screen and then SELECT NONE.

Now, to add your text, go to your Text button on your tool palette

Here, you can kind of play around with the text you wish to apply to your title (font, font size, color,ect):

drop shadows are a nice effect to your text and can be applied by going back to the top of your screen to EFFECTS > 3D EFFECTS > DROP SHADOW

NOW WE WILL ADD THE PICTURE TO THE LAYOUT:

Go to FILE > BROWSE > and find the picture you want to use on your hard drive.  After you have chosen the picture, add a border to it to make it stand out. Choose the color you want for the border by RIGHT CLICKING the color in your color palette on the right side of your screen. Go to IMAGE > ADD BORDERS  and make sure that SYMMETRIC is checked and then you can play around with the numbers, it doesn't have to be 6:

you can then resize your image to fit your layout by going to IMAGE > RESIZE and play around with the size:

After you have resized your picture, you can copy the picture by going to EDIT > COPY and then go to your layout and go to EDIT > PASTE > AS A NEW SELECTION. You should be able to move the picture where you want it.

You can now add journaling by using your TEXT tool again and adding a drop shadow as explained above:

And your first Computer Generated Layout is COMPLETE!

ENJOY!!