Atomic Glow Tutorial

This tutorial is entirely my own work and any resemblance to any other is purely co-incidental. Please do not copy, duplicate, translate, script or use in any groups without my permission.

My thanks, as always to my testers at Force Fantastic. You rock girls!!

Atomic Glow Tutorial

This is a multi-choice tutorial. It makes into three different letters so you can choose to make one or make them all. The instructions on this first page are common to each style and on the next page I tell you how to change one image into three different IM letters.

You can make this

or this

or this!

So make one or make them all. The choice is yours!

You will need:

Paint Shop Pro. I have used PSP X but it will work just as well in 9. If you are using PSP 8 you will need to add a different background to the image and to the letters as I have used the displacement maps and they are not present in PSP 8.

A Tube or a Graphic. For the purposes of this tutorial I will be using a graphic but the instructions for both are the same.

RCS Filter Pack. Atomic Split

20-20 Mask Here

Here is what you do!

1. Open your chosen graphic in PSP. Duplicate and close the original. This tutorial works well with an image that uses just a few colours. Like the one of the rose I have chosen. I have cropped the image so that it has just the parts I want to use.

2. Eyedropper Tool/Select a dark colour from your image for your Foreground colour and a slightly lighter tone of the same colour for your background colour. Don't choose a very light colour for the background as this will create glare in your letter background.

Here is what I chose as an example:

2. Image/Resize so that it no larger than 260 pixels on it's longest side.

3. Layers/Load/Save Mask. Add 20-20 mask to the graphic.

4. Layers/Merge/Merge Group.

5. Edit/Copy and close.

6. File/New. Open a new transparent image 260 x 260 pixels.

7. Materials Palette/BACKGROUND/Tab Gradient/Foreground-Background using the following settings: Angle 0/Repeats 0/Invert CHECKED/Style Linear

8. Flood Fill Tool/Flood Fill your new image with the gradient.

9. Effects/Distortion Effects/Displacement Maps/using the following settings: Displacement map/Paper Standard/Tile Map to cover image CHECKED/Size 40/Blur 0/2D Offsets CHECKED/Intensity 70/Rotation 0/Repeat CHECKED

10. Edit/Paste as New Layer. Paste you graphic onto your background.

11. Layers/Merge/Merge all Flatten

12. Image/Add Borders/5 pixels/Symmetric/White

13. Image/Add Borders 5 pixels/Symmetric in your dark foreground colour

14. Image/Add Borders 5 pixels/Symmetric/in your background colour.

15. Repeat steps 13 and 14.

16. Selections/Select all

17. Selections/Modify/Contract 20

18. Selections/Invert

19. Effects/Plugins/RCS Filter Pack/Atomic Split/Effect 152

20. De-select.

21. Selection Tool/Magic Wand/Select the white border/using the following settings:-Mode/Add (Shift)/RGB Value/Tolerance 0/Use all layers and Contiguous CHECKED/Feather 0/Anti Alias CHECKED.

22. Selections/Promote Selection to layer

23. Deselect.

24. Close your image layer by clicking on the eye in the layer palette

25. Check your white border layer is still highlighted and Selection Tool/Magic Wand/Same settings/Select the centre transparent area of the white border layer.

26. Effects/3D Effects/Cutout using the following settings:Vertical/horizontal 0/Opacity 50/Blur 10/Colour Black/

27. Deselect and re-open your image layer

28. Layers/Merge/Merge all Flatten

29. Materials Palette/Foreground/TabGradient/Foreground-Background/Angle 45/Repeats 3/Invert NOT CHECKED/Style Linear.

30. Selection tool/Magic Wand select the two light coloured borders at the top of your image, the white border and the two light borders at the bottom of your image.

31. Flood Fill Tool/Left click to Flood fill selection with your foreground gradient.

32. Effects/3D Effects Drop Shadow using the following settings:Vertical and Horizontal 1/Opacity 75/Blur 1/Colour Black/Shadow on New Layer NOT CHECKED.

33. Repeat Drop Shadow with minus settings.

34. Deselect.

35. Image/Add Borders/5 pixels/Symmetric/White

36. Image/Add Borders 5 pixels/Symmetric in your dark foreground colour

37. Image/Add Borders 5 pixels/Symmetric/in your background colour.

38. Image/Add Borders 5 pixels/Symmetric in your dark foreground colour

39. Repeat Steps 37 and 38.

40. Selections/Select all

41. Selections/Modify/Contract 25

42. Selections/Invert

43. Effects/Plugins/RCS Filter Pack/Atomic Split/Effect 152

44. De-select.

45. Selection Tool/Magic Wand/Select the white border

46. Selections/Promote Selection to layer

47. Deselect.

48. Close your image layer by clicking on the eye in the layer palette

49. Check your white border layer is still highlighted and Selection Tool/Magic Wand/Same settings/Select the centre transparent area of the white border layer.

50. Effects/3D Effects/Cutout using the same settings

51. Deselect and re-open your image layer

52. Layers/Merge/Merge all Flatten

53. Selection tool/Magic Wand select the two light coloured borders at the top of your image, the white border and the two light borders at the bottom of your image.

54. Flood Fill Tool/Left click to Flood fill selection with your foreground gradient.

55. Effects/3D Effects Drop Shadow using the same settings as previously used

56. Repeat Drop Shadow with minus settings.

57. Deselect.

58. Image/Add Borders/5 pixels/Symmetric/White

59. Image/Add Borders 5 pixels/Symmetric in your dark foreground colour

60. Image/Add Borders 5 pixels/Symmetric/in your background colour.

61. Repeat steps 59 and 60 TWICE more

62. Selections/Select all

63. Selections/Modify/Contract 30

64. Selections/Invert

65. Effects/Plugins/RCS Filter Pack/Atomic Split/Change the effect to 150

66. De-select.

67. Selection Tool/Magic Wand/Select the white border

68. Selections/Promote Selection to layer

69. Deselect.

70. Close your image layer by clicking on the eye in the layer palette

71. Check your white border layer is still highlighted and Selection Tool/Magic Wand/Same settings/Select the centre transparent area of the white border layer.

72. Effects/3D Effects/Cutout using the same settings

73. Deselect and re-open your image layer

74. Layers/Merge/Merge all Flatten

75. Selection tool/Magic Wand select the three light coloured borders at the top of your image the white border and the three light coloured borders at the bottom.

76. Flood Fill Tool/Left click to Flood fill the whole selection with your foreground gradient.

77. Effects/3D Effects Drop Shadow using the same settings as previously used

78. Repeat Drop Shadow with minus settings.

79. Deselect.

80. Add a new layer and add your watermark if you wish.

You should now have this:

Now you need to decide whether you are going to make the main frame letter, the top border or the side border.

Made your mind up yet?

If you choose to make all three save this image as a PSP file now and then it is safe for later use.

Instructions for each are here