Description:

• Manipulate a photo or object to create a beautiful card.
  

Skill Level:

• Beginner. I assume you know where the tools are in PhotoImpact.

Additional Files:

• An image or object of your choice or you can use the apple blossom object in the zip file.
• Goldfill image
• Simple Filters. Please read the instructions and download from here
• A nice font I am using: Elegance. Open the font and minimize it before you open PI and it will be available in your Text Panel. No need to install it into your Windows/Fonts folder.

Download the object, the fill and the font from here.

Author: Wouter Démoet.

Terms of Use: Please read

NOTE:

• Install the Simple Filters set into your plugin folder. Debbie's tutorial on how to do this can be found here
• Save your work often. I suggest you read the entire tutorial, before you start. And if you need help, or if you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me at wouter@demoet.nl
  

Open your apple blossom object. Control+D to duplicate it and close the original. Using the Eye Dropper Tool take two colors from the flower and set as foreground and background color. I am using #EFD7DB for the foreground and #BD6369 for the background.
Open a new white canvas of 500 x 400 pixels. Go to Edit in the Menubar and click on Fill - Gradient tab and use these settings: First color box is foreground color and second color box is background color. Fill type is: Circular fill.



Let us start with a simple frame. Right click: All. Right click: Border. Use these settings: 4 pixels Inward and Anti-alias checked. Right click: Convert to Object.



Edit - Fill - Image tab and browse to the wd-gold fill jpg. Make sure that: Tile the image has a checkmark



Right click: Shadow. With these settings:



Right click: Split Shadow. Right click: Shadow with the same settings but this time make sure that the 4th icon is checked:



Deselect. Your frame should look similar to this:



Now we will make a small inner frame. Right click: All. Right click: Expand/Shrink. Shrink the selection with 20 pixels. Keep selected



Right click: Border. 1 pixel Inward. Convert to Object and fill with gold like we did before. Same settings. Right click: Select all Objects - Merge as a Single Object. Photo: Focus - Options - Auto-adjust and click OK. Deselect.



Open your apple blossom image object , click on the flower to select it, press the Control button on your keyboard and drag a copy of the flower onto your main image. Place it on the left side but keep a few pixels away from the left border. Right click: Align - Center Vertically and deselect




Pick up your Path Drawing Tool     from the Tool Panel. Shape: Custom Shape and find the vertical lines shape (S53) It is almost at the bottom of your Shape library. Click it.

     

On the Attribute Toolbar use these settings: Mode: 2D Color - background color:



Make sure that in your Path Panel under the Options tab, Anti-alias is checked.



Draw a shape of about 260 pixels wide and 20 pixels high.
( If you can't draw to a specific size, right click on the object and click Properties. Under the Size and Position tab, adjust the size accordingly).



You should have 8 squares. We only need 7, so we will have to remove one. Click on the Editing button     to go into Path Edit mode. This is what you should see:



It is a single path shape containing 8 individual paths. Click on the background of your image to deselect all 8 paths.



Now click on a line of the last path to select that path. Right click: Delete Path.



Click out of Editing mode again by clicking the Editing button again. Now we should have 7 blocks.