Welcome to Wouter's Designs & PhotoImpact - Rhododendron Card Tutorial

Rhododendron Card Tutorial
PhotoImpact 12.
(Can be done with earlier versions).

75%

Description: Create a beautiful card using PhotoImpact's Grid and Partition feature.
Author: Wouter Démoet.
Terms of Use: Please read
Skill Level: Intermediate. I assume you know where the tools are in PhotoImpact.
Additional Files: A photo and a gold fill of your choice or you may use mine. I have included 4 different photos in the download with 2 different gold fills. I took them last year in my garden. I have done that so we don't end up with lots of the same image on the board. ;-) If you use a different photo than the tutorial shows, you may need to adjust the colours and fills for the frame and card. Please download all the materials for this tutorial.

NOTE: Save your work often. I suggest you read the entire tutorial, before you start. Where it reads "Rc" in this tutorial, it means right click. And if you need help, or if you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me at: wouter@demoet.nl

At the top of the Instructions below, you can find an arrow image. You can drag this pointer as you go to keep track of your place in the tutorial. Many thanks to my friend Rosalie (ggrannyrose) for letting me know about this script. I hope you will find this feature useful. Please let me know if you encounter any problems with it. Script: Courtesy Dynamic Drive.

Instructions:
You can drag this pointer as you go to keep track of your place in the tutorial. For this tutorial you need to load PhotoImpact's Full Edit Workspace, so all tools will be availble: Open the photo of your choice. For this tutorial I will use the wd-rhodo photo. Ctrl+D to duplicate it, close the original. Change to your Standard Selection Tool with these settings: Width: 460 pixels Height: 345 pixels Click near the left top of the photo and using the arrow keys on your keyboard, move the selection to the center of the photo to make a nice composition. Menu bar: Edit - Crop (Ctrl+R). My cropped photo (50%) looks like this: Ctrl+D to duplicate the photo and minimize one. Now comes the fun part. Set your background color to #C16888. Menu bar: Web - Grid & Partition with these settings. Grid colour = background colour. Click OK. Open your Layer Manager. You will see that you have base image (photo) with 12 objects above it, all of them are selected and locked. Deselect all objects and fill your Base Image ( the photo) with the background colour. Change to the Pick Tool and select the top left image object and hit the Delete key on your keyboard. Do the same with the bottom right image object. Your image should look similar to this: Rc.: Select All Objects. Rc.: Merge as a Single Object and keep selected. Menu bar: Edit - Trace Edges - Selection Marquee. Accept the default settings and click OK. In the Attribute Toolbar of the Path Drawing Tool change the Mode from Horizontal Deform to Selection. Rc.: Expand/Shrink and expand the selection with 3 pixels like so: Rc.: Convert to Object. Keep selected. Menu bar: Edit - Fill - Image tab. Browse to the folder where you keep your downloaded materials for this tutorial and click one of the gold fill images. I am using the wd-gold.jpg here. Make sure the Tile the Image radio button is checked like so: Rc.: Shadow with these settings: Deselect. Change to the Path Drawing Tool, Colour: Any for now. Mode 2-D. Shape: Custom Shape: F110 With your Shift key (in order to keep the aspect ratio 1:1) pressed, draw a shape of about 65 x 81 pixels and using the Transform Tool, rotate this object 90 degrees to the right. Rc.: Duplicate. Flip the duplicated object horizontally. Select the 2 shapes and merge As a Single Object and fill with the gold pattern like before. Add a Drop Shadow with the same settings as above. Move it in place like this. Keep selected. Duplicate this shape and Flip it Vertically and put in place at the bottom right where you deleted the image. Select both gold objects. Merge as a Single Object. Rc.: Align: Center Both and Deselect. Your image should look similar to this: Rc.: Merge All. Press Shift+N to expand the canvas. Expand with 3 pixels colour: White Rc.: All. Rc.: Border. Create a 3 pixel border Inward. Convert to Object and fill with the gold of your choice. Keep selected. Rc.: Shadow with these settings: Rc. Merge All. Menu bar: Photo - Focus - Options - Check the Auto-adjust box and click OK. Rc.: COPY. Open a new white image of 600 x 500 pixels. With the new image active: Rc.: Paste. Rc.: Properties - Position & Size tab with these settings and Deselect. Open the photo you minimized at he beginning. Rc.: Copy. You may close it. Return to your main image and make sure the flower object is deselected!. Rc.: All. Menu bar: Edit - Paste - Fit Into Selection. Keep selected. Menu bar: Photo - Blur - Gaussian Blur - Options: Set the Radius to 23. Keep Selected. Menu bar: Photo - Light - Brightness & Contrast. Set the Gamma correction to 1.20 like so: Keep selected. Menu bar: Effect - Fill & Textures - Texture filter with these settings: Translucent Glass - Deselect. Rc.: All. Rc.: Border. Create a 5 pixel border Inward. Convert to Object, Rc.: Arange - Bring to Front and fill with your background colour: #C16888. Rc.: Shadow: Deselect. Rc.: All. Rc.: Expand/Shrink. Shrink the selection with 6 pixels. Rc.: Border. Create a border of 3 pixels inward. Convert to Object and Arrange: Bring to front. Fill with the gold. Rc.: Shadow: Using the Text Tool with a font of your choice, colour: white, mode: 2-D, add a greeting to your card, fill the text with gold and add the same drop shadow as the last one. Optional: Using the Outline drawing Tool, Line Width: 2, draw a box around your text with the same width as the flower object and fill with gold. Path Drawing Tool: 2-D Rectangle - using your background colour, draw a background for your text. Rc.: Arrange - Send Backward, repeat Arrange: Send Backward and position it . Select the text, outline and text background object and Merge as a Single Object. Select the flower object and the merged text object and Merge as a Single Object and Rc.: Align - Center Both. Add your watermark or name with the same materials. Merge All. Menu bar: Photo - Light - Brightness & Contrast. Click the third thumbnail on the second row. Optimize and save your work as a jpg. Below you can see two extra examples of what you can do with this tutorial, created by Rosalie. Thank you so much for allowing me to show your beautiful results, Rosalie! That is all, I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I liked writing it for you.

Instructions:

You can drag this pointer as you go to keep track of your place in the tutorial.

For this tutorial you need to load PhotoImpact's Full Edit Workspace, so all tools will be availble:

Open the photo of your choice. For this tutorial I will use the wd-rhodo photo. Ctrl+D to duplicate it, close the original. Change to your Standard Selection Tool with these settings: Width: 460 pixels Height: 345 pixels

Click near the left top of the photo and using the arrow keys on your keyboard, move the selection to the center of the photo to make a nice composition. Menu bar: Edit - Crop (Ctrl+R). My cropped photo (50%) looks like this:

Ctrl+D to duplicate the photo and minimize one. Now comes the fun part. Set your background color to #C16888. Menu bar: Web - Grid & Partition with these settings. Grid colour = background colour.

Click OK. Open your Layer Manager. You will see that you have base image (photo) with 12 objects above it, all of them are selected and locked.

Deselect all objects and fill your Base Image ( the photo) with the background colour. Change to the Pick Tool and select the top left image object and hit the Delete key on your keyboard. Do the same with the bottom right image object. Your image should look similar to this:

Rc.: Select All Objects. Rc.: Merge as a Single Object and keep selected. Menu bar: Edit - Trace Edges - Selection Marquee. Accept the default settings and click OK. In the Attribute Toolbar of the Path Drawing Tool change the Mode from Horizontal Deform to Selection.

Rc.: Expand/Shrink and expand the selection with 3 pixels like so:

Rc.: Convert to Object. Keep selected. Menu bar: Edit - Fill - Image tab. Browse to the folder where you keep your downloaded materials for this tutorial and click one of the gold fill images. I am using the wd-gold.jpg here. Make sure the Tile the Image radio button is checked like so:

Rc.: Shadow with these settings:

Deselect. Change to the Path Drawing Tool, Colour: Any for now. Mode 2-D. Shape: Custom Shape: F110

With your Shift key (in order to keep the aspect ratio 1:1) pressed, draw a shape of about 65 x 81 pixels and using the Transform Tool, rotate this object 90 degrees to the right. Rc.: Duplicate. Flip the duplicated object horizontally. Select the 2 shapes and merge As a Single Object and fill with the gold pattern like before. Add a Drop Shadow with the same settings as above. Move it in place like this. Keep selected.

Duplicate this shape and Flip it Vertically and put in place at the bottom right where you deleted the image. Select both gold objects. Merge as a Single Object. Rc.: Align: Center Both and Deselect. Your image should look similar to this:

Rc.: Merge All. Press Shift+N to expand the canvas. Expand with 3 pixels colour: White

Rc.: All. Rc.: Border. Create a 3 pixel border Inward. Convert to Object and fill with the gold of your choice. Keep selected. Rc.: Shadow with these settings:

Rc. Merge All. Menu bar: Photo - Focus - Options - Check the Auto-adjust box and click OK. Rc.: COPY. Open a new white image of 600 x 500 pixels. With the new image active: Rc.: Paste. Rc.: Properties - Position & Size tab with these settings and Deselect.

Open the photo you minimized at he beginning. Rc.: Copy. You may close it. Return to your main image and make sure the flower object is deselected!. Rc.: All. Menu bar: Edit - Paste - Fit Into Selection.

Keep selected. Menu bar: Photo - Blur - Gaussian Blur - Options: Set the Radius to 23. Keep Selected. Menu bar: Photo - Light - Brightness & Contrast. Set the Gamma correction to 1.20 like so:

Keep selected. Menu bar: Effect - Fill & Textures - Texture filter with these settings: Translucent Glass -

Deselect. Rc.: All. Rc.: Border. Create a 5 pixel border Inward. Convert to Object, Rc.: Arange - Bring to Front and fill with your background colour: #C16888. Rc.: Shadow:

Deselect. Rc.: All. Rc.: Expand/Shrink. Shrink the selection with 6 pixels. Rc.: Border. Create a border of 3 pixels inward. Convert to Object and Arrange: Bring to front. Fill with the gold. Rc.: Shadow:

Using the Text Tool with a font of your choice, colour: white, mode: 2-D, add a greeting to your card, fill the text with gold and add the same drop shadow as the last one. Optional: Using the Outline drawing Tool, Line Width: 2, draw a box around your text with the same width as the flower object and fill with gold. Path Drawing Tool: 2-D Rectangle - using your background colour, draw a background for your text. Rc.: Arrange - Send Backward, repeat Arrange: Send Backward and position it . Select the text, outline and text background object and Merge as a Single Object. Select the flower object and the merged text object and Merge as a Single Object and Rc.: Align - Center Both.

Add your watermark or name with the same materials. Merge All. Menu bar: Photo - Light - Brightness & Contrast. Click the third thumbnail on the second row. Optimize and save your work as a jpg.

Below you can see two extra examples of what you can do with this tutorial, created by Rosalie. Thank you so much for allowing me to show your beautiful results, Rosalie!

That is all, I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I liked writing it for you.