I claim the copyright to this tutorial.  You are free to do whatever you please with what you make, but please do not take my tutorial.  Do not send the tutorial through email.  Only share my link.

This tutorial was created for some friends of mine who wanted to begin learning more about PSP.  It is intended for intermediates to learn how to use filters and layers.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

To do this tutorial you will also need Paint Shop Pro.  I used Paint Shop Pro 8, but the steps used may also be done in Version 7.04.  You may download a free trial at Jasc.

You will need a bird tube.

Remember to save as a psp file often!

1.  Open a new transparent image, size = 400 x 600.

2.  Choose your preset tool, shape = ellipse, Create as Vector UNchecked.  Set your foreground color to null, background color= color, gradient, or pattern of your choice

3.  Draw an ellipse about 150 pixels tall, and about 50 pixels wide.  Where you draw it doesn't really matter right now.  We will move it.

4.  With your mover tool, move your ellipse so that horizontally, the right edge is about at 160, and vertically the bottom edge is about at 200.  I also decided that my ellipse needed to be wider.  So I chose the deformation tool (2nd tool) and pulled the left center node to the left some until it touched the 100 mark.

Note:  The placement and size of your ellipse will determine the twirl shape.  So if you don't like the shape you get in Step 5, undo, and move your ellipse or resize it.

5.  In top menu, click Effects > Distortion Effects > Twirl.  Apply degree = 720 (Your degree settings may vary.  Play around with this setting and see what you like best)

6.  Now Choose the Deformation tool (2nd tool) and rotate the arch to the left some so that the top tip is a little past vertical of the bottom tip.  To rotate, grab the solid handle in the middle (the red one not the white one) and drag it up and left to rotate left.

7.  In the layer Palette, right-click on the layer and choose Duplicate.

8.  In the top menu, click Layers > Merge > Merge Visible

9.  In the Layer Palette, right-click on the merged layer and choose duplicate.

10.  Duplicate the layer again so that you now have 3 layers.

11.  On the first copy of the merged layer, choose the deformation tool.

12.  Push in the left and right center nodes to squeeze in the arch.

13.  Now click on the top layer in the Layer Palette and repeat Step 12.  Make this third arch, stop between the other two.  See picture at top.  You should now see 6 bars in your cage.  My screen shot is only showing 4.  If you want to stop at 4, it is ok.  But I went back and decided 6 bars looked better.

14.  In the Layer Palette, right-click on the layers and choose merge.

15.  If you want to change the shape of your cage, choose the deformation tool and push down a little on the top center node to give a rounder shape.  You can even pull out on the left and right center nodes.

16.  In the Layer Palette, right-click on the merged layer and choose Duplicate.  Then click on the bottom layer of the Layer Palette.

17.  In the top menu, click Image > Mirror

18.  In the top menu, Choose Adjust > Brightness and Contrast > Brightness/Contrast.  Set Brightness = - 35 (negative) and Contrast = 0.  This gives the illusion that the bottom layer is in the back.

19.  Now SAVE this as a .psp image with layers to use again and again. *S*

20.  Duplicate the cage image by pressing Shift + D.  Close the original image.

21.  Open up the bird tube that you want to use.  In top, click Edit > Copy.

22.  Now click on the cage image.  In the Layer palette, click on the bottom layer to highlight it.

23.  In the top menu, click Edit > Paste > Paste as New Layer.  And the bird layer should be BETWEEN the two cage layers.  You may need to resize your bird tube.  Click Image > Resize.  Make sure that Resize All Layers is UNchecked.

24.  With the Bird layer highlighted in the layer palette, click on Selections > Select All.  Then click on Selections > Float.  Then Selections > Defloat.  This puts a selection area around the bird image. 

25.  In the Layer Palette, click on the top cage layer to highlight.

26.  Get your eraser tool, set to size = 6 or so, and erase parts of the cage to make it look like the bird is sticking out.  I have circled where I erased some of the cage.  Having the bird selected means that I will not erase any part of the cage that extends beyond the cage.  *S*

27.  Deselect.  (Selections > None)

28.  Now open up a flower tube to decorate with.  In top, click Edit > Copy.  Then click on the cage image, and on the top layer of the cage. Then in top, click Edit > Paste > Paste as New Layer.  And your flower tube should be on top of your cage.

29.  You probably need to resize your flower tube.  In top, click Image > Resize.  Make sure that Resize All Layers is UNChecked.  I had to resize mine 50%.

30.  With the mover tool, move the flower tube into place under the cage.

31.  In the Layer Palette, Right-click on the top (flower tube) layer and choose Duplicate.

32.  In the top, click Image > Mirror.  You may need to use the mover tool to move this layer into place on the other side of the cage.

33.  In Layer Palette, right-click on top layer and choose duplicate.

34.  In top  Image > Resize.  Make sure that Resize All Layers is UNchecked, and resize to 85%.

35.  In top click Adjust > Brightness and Contrast > Brightness/Contrast.  Set Brightness = - 35 (Negative), Contrast = 0.

36.  With the mover tool, place this darkened flower layer in the middle under the cage.

37.  In the layer palette, drag the darkened flower layer all the way to the bottom.  This makes it look like that flower is behind the cage.

38.  In the layer palette, right-click on the top layer and choose Duplicate.

39.  With the mover tool, place the flower layer at the top of the cage.

40.  I wanted to rotate my flowers some.  In tool menu, choose deformation tool (2nd tool), and rotate the flowers to the right.

41.  When You rotate, you lose some of the definition of the image.  In top menu, click Adjust > Sharpness > Sharpen

42.  In the Layer palette, right-click on the top layer and choose duplicate.

43.  In the top menu, click  Image > Mirror.  With the mover tool, move into place if necessary.

44.  Save this as a .psp image with layers intact so you can adjust later or make changes.

45.  If you want to make a name tag out of this, you will have to resize your image smaller (to about 300 pixels in height).  Then add your name.  Some more examples are below.
 

This result was submitted by my friend, Angel.

This result was submitted by Kathleen

If you want to see this graphic used in a web page, click here.

 Please do not remove this tutorial from my site.  Share my url.