Swing Tutorial - page 1
 

                                                               
This tutorial was done using PSP 8. It is not designed for the psp beginner but I encourage you to try it anyway. You will learn about the deform tool and how to do perspective correction. It is intended to serve as a learning tool. The images on this page are reduced for space. I encourage you to make it uniquely your own creation. We will create this in 2 parts. First, we will make the arch and then the swing. I will leave the decorating up to you. You will need:          
** Paint Shop Pro - download a trial version here   
** My wood pattern which you need to unzip into your psp patterns folder, you can get it in a zip file here. You can also use your own wood pattern.
** A good working knowledge of psp tools, vectors and working with a lot of layers.

Getting started
Open a new file 300 x 300 and save it as "swing". You may flood fill it with a color if you want to make it easier to see just make sure you keep it on a separate layer so you can delete it later. I will have my images on a white background to make it easier for you to see. Please make sure you save often.

Make the Arc
* Make a new raster layer and name it arch1.
* Make your foreground null and your background the wood pattern, angle 0, scale 100..
* Select your preset shapes, rectangle, create as vector not checked and Anti-alias checked, line style solid.

* Using the numbers at the bottom right, draw a long rectangle starting at 40/68 and ending at 45/259.

* Duplicate this layer twice renaming them arch2 and arch3. Move each layer next to arch1 putting arch2 in the middle. Leave enough space between them. See the image below for guidence.

* Move arch2 layer to the bottom.

* Select arch1.
* Go to effects, 3D effects, drop shadow with the following settings... Color = #000000, Vertical = 0 Horizontal = 1, Opacity = 40, Blur = 1. Do the same for arch3 changing the horizontal to -1.



* Create a new raster layer name it connect1. Move this layer below arch1 and arch3 layers and above the arch2 layer.

* Select your preset shapes, rectangle, create as vector not checked and Anti-alias checked, line style solid.

* Using the wood pattern, draw a small sideways rectangle starting at 42/68 and ending at 63/77.

* Go to effects, 3D effects, drop shadow with the following settings... Color = #000000, Vertical = 1 Horizontal = 0, Opacity = 40, Blur = 1. Center this if you need to. Make sure layer connect1 is below the arch1 and arch3 layer and above arch2 layer. 

* Duplicate this layer 11 times. You can name each one but we will be merging soon so you don't have to. You can use the grid (View Grid) if you need to for alignment. See the image below for placement.

                 
* Make sure you have all the pieces straight! This is very important before you merge. If you have a background color for visibility, click on the eyeball next to the layer in the layer palette to turn it off and go to Layers, Merge, Merge Visible.  Rename the layer to leftarch.

* Select Effects, 3d Effects, Inner Bevel using these settings:
  Bevel 2
  Width 4
  Image Smoothness 0
  Depth 1
  Ambience 12
  Shininess 19
  Color #ffffff
  Angle 13
  Intensity 45
  Elevation 30

If you haven't been saving your file now would be a good time to do it.

* Duplicate the merged layer 4 times naming them rightarch and toparch, backleftarch and backrightarch. Put the backleftarch and backrightarch off to the side for now.

* Select the move tool and arrange all three layers like the image below. For the top, select the deform tool, deform, then grab the handle and rotate it 90 degrees, then move it to the top. (You can also go to Image || Rotate || Free Rotate and rotate by 90 degrees, All layers = unchecked, to accomplish that.)



* Now move the backleftarch and backrightarch layers below the rest of the layers and position them next to the front arches and up just touching the top of the top arch.
* The deform tool should still be selected. Select the backleftarch and on the bottom middle handle, push up to the top of the forth connection. Do the same to the backrightarch.

When you finish, you should have an image like the one below. Once you are satisfied with the way they look, select layers, merge visible. Click the reset arrow in the tool options window above the deform tool to turn the deform tool off.


 
Create the Roof.
* Move the merged layer to the bottom center of your image to make room to draw the roof.
* Create a new raster layer.
* Select your preset shapes, rectangle, create as vector not checked and Anti-alias checked, line style solid.
* Using the same wood pattern draw a long sideways rectangle above the toparc layer.



* Select the deform tool, Perspective Correction tool. Move the node to the positions shown below. NOTE: You will notice after this step, the grain of the wood looks more in perspective and realistic.

 

* Now click on the "apply" check mark tool. If you need to re-align then click edit, undo and try again.   



* Select the deform tool, deform and grab the node on each side and pull in to line up with the edges of the toparc.



* Go to effects, 3D effects, drop shadow with the following settings... Color = #000000, Vertical = 1 Horizontal = 0, Opacity = 40, Blur = 1. Your arc should look like this.

 

* Click the reset arrow in the tool options window above the deform tool to turn the deform tool off.
 * Merge all visible name it arch and go get something to drink. We will continue on after you have had your break :)

    Are we saving our file as we go along? Good for us :)