[Kaz]

Hi Lauren.

I'll try ............. what's the problem?

[Lauren]

Originally posted by Kaz
Hi Lauren.

I'll try ............. what's the problem?

Hiya
Well I read a post by Ice Maiden saying that it's best if I put my pictures on the banner the way I want them, but then to use the eraser tool to blend them together and fit them together.
I've tried this but each time I paste a new image into my banner it will only erase that bit.

I know the problem is something to do with layers, but all of that goes way over my head.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Actually, I think it was because I was pasting as new selection instead of pasting as new layer. I think this might help. Will experiment.

[Kaz]

Yep, it is to do with layers. They're a bit tricky to get the hang of but once you do, it makes life much easier.

Firstly, make sure you have your Layer Palette on display ..... View - Palettes - Layers. it should show up on the right hand side of the screen.

Firstly, open a new file. That becomes your background, and technically the first layer. You should see this appear in the Layer Palette. Then open up the first pic, and copy & paste it as a new layer on top of the background. if you look at the Layer Palette, this should appear as Raster 1 and if you hover your mouse over 'Raster 1', a thumbnail of the image will show up.

Then, open up an other pic and copy and paste this onto the same background - this will be Raster 2 and will also show up in the Layer Palette.

Now - if you click on Raster 1 in the Layer Palette, this layer becomes active and you can work on it. If you then click on Raster 2, it becomes active and can be erased, softened, smudged or whatever you want!

When you're happy with the result, click Layers - Merge - Merge All (Flatten) and this will join all the layers into one. You can then do a bit more softening and smudging to blend the edges together if you want.

Bit long winded answer ........ sorry! But it does get easier every time you have a go. Good luck!

[Lauren]

Originally posted by Kaz
Yep, it is to do with layers. They're a bit tricky to get the hang of but once you do, it makes life much easier.

Firstly, make sure you have your Layer Palette on display ..... View - Palettes - Layers. it should show up on the right hand side of the screen.

Firstly, open a new file. That becomes your background, and technically the first layer. You should see this appear in the Layer Palette. Then open up the first pic, and copy & paste it as a new layer on top of the background. if you look at the Layer Palette, this should appear as Raster 1 and if you hover your mouse over 'Raster 1', a thumbnail of the image will show up.

Then, open up an other pic and copy and paste this onto the same background - this will be Raster 2 and will also show up in the Layer Palette.

Now - if you click on Raster 1 in the Layer Palette, this layer becomes active and you can work on it. If you then click on Raster 2, it becomes active and can be erased, softened, smudged or whatever you want!

When you're happy with the result, click Layers - Merge - Merge All (Flatten) and this will join all the layers into one. You can then do a bit more softening and smudging to blend the edges together if you want.

Bit long winded answer ........ sorry! But it does get easier every time you have a go. Good luck!

Wow! Thanks Kaz. Thats really helped me. All of the online tutorials all assume you have a basic knowledge of PSP, but I really don't Thanks for taking the time to explain to me.

[Kaz]

No problem.

I've been learning PSP for over 3 years now, and still learning new things all the time! Best thing to do is play about with all the tools to find out what they do and, if you get stuck with anything, shout for help!

There are loads of really talented banner makers on this site now so you'll never be short of help. I'm sure we can all learn new tricks from each other.

[stacey]

on paintshop pro can anybody help me because im stuck on how to use a downloaded picture tube
i download the one i want and when its unzipped and everything but how do i get it on psp to use it as a tube

[Lauren]

Originally posted by x-stacey-x
on paintshop pro can anybody help me because Im stuck on how to use a downloaded picture tube
i download the one i want and when its unzipped and everything but how do i get it on psp to use it as a tube

Get the tube file, and copy it. Then go to:

C:\Program Files\Jasc Software Inc\Paint Shop Pro 9\Picture Tubes

And paste it into one of the files.

I think that should work. You will have to restart PSP if you have it open already for it to work.

[stacey]

thanks lauren ill try it

[stacey]

thanks i forgot to tell you it worked

[Siouxsie]

omg what the hec is all this about
I dont know where to start to make a banner

[stacey]

Originally posted by Siouxsie
omg what the hec is all this about
I dont know where to start to make a banner

you need to start by getting a program theres a lot about mainly around here people use paintshop pro or photoshop

[Bells]

I don't even know what a picture tube is.

If anyone could explain, that'd be helpful!

[Kaz]

The picture tube icon in PSP9 is just below the eraser tool ..... it's a blue pen with 3 dots underneath it.

When you click on it, it allows you to 'stamp' various images on your banner .... stars, leaves, animals, flowers etc. There are default options in PSP, but you can search for more and download them and then add them to the 'Picture Tube' file in your PSP programme.

[Bells]

Thanks Kaz! Because I was just wondering, when exactly to use them and how it would make my banner better etc. As you can see I experimented and have a random tube on the top left corner of my current signature banner.

Now that I'm more aware though I'll have a look round for some more, thanks.

I have one more question however - what are 'accents' i.e. what do they do, and how do I use them? I typed 'accents' in the PSP help topics section and nothing came up.

[Kaz]

I'd never heard of them either, but apparently they're the same as picture tubes.

Just type PSP(version) accents into Google and see what comes up!

[Bells]

Thanks very much Kaz.

[Kaz]

You're welcome!

I've found a few great new picture tubes myself while I've been having a browse around!

[GlitterEyes]

I have hundreds of accents & tubes if anyone wants any...ranging from stars, sparkles, lips, hearts, swirls, music notes, bows, butterflies, moons, jewels Etc Just u2u me

[Bells]

If you're merging backgrounds of pictures together and sticking to the same backgrounds, how do you get rid of just certain items in the background you might not want?

[Bells]

Anybody?

[Emilee]

LOL i have no idea actually... Which PSP do you use Ash??? 9?

[Bells]

10! And I'm not sure how to make different sorts of banners.
What did you do for yours Em, just place the pics on a white background? How did you get funky colours/contrasts whatever it's called like that?

[Emilee]

right....

[Emilee]

To change the colours and contrasts and stuff....
Once you have placed your pictures... preferably with the same type of background so you can blend them easily, and then click the merge button so they are all merged as one bit picture/banner.

Then click in: Adjust >>> Colour balance >>> Manual Colour Correction.

Then you can choose what type of colour you want and change it that way.
or...

Adjust> >>> hue and saturation >>>> colourise
or...

Layers >>> New Adjustment layer >>> and choose one of the colour changers in there.

Hope that helped on colour changing and contrast.

[Bells]

OMG thanks Emilee!

That's dead helpful.

So it should be a similar colour sort of background, but it doesn't need to be one plain colour?