CHRISTMAS TREE BAWBLE

Paint Shop Pro Tutorials by Karen

I make my virtual Christmas Tree bawbles using a quick and easy method, which I devised when making a bawble for an online competition for Christmas 2001. For this tutorial you will need a fill pattern, a glass globe tube and a decoration top tube. I made all my own but any you have will work fine. If you don`t have suitable tubes you can download mine HERE. You will need to extract the files into your tubes folder before you can use the tubes. If you want my fill pattern feel free to right click the pattern below and save on your computer.

...This is how I make my bawbles...

Not shown full size

Start a new transparent image 300 x 300 pixels If using my fill pattern, open it in psp and minimise it (click the minus sign at the top) Click on your flood fill tool, then open your "styles" pallette. Select the pattern you want to use with settings as fig 1. Click ok.

Click on your blank canvas to fill with the pattern. (fig 2)

Next go to effects / geometric effects / circle. You should now have a patterned ball as fig 3.

You now need more blank canvas so you can work on making the ball into a bawble. Go to image / canvas size and make settings as in fig 4

If the image is now too small to work on, go view / zoom in by 1. Repeat if needed. Now go to layers / add new raster layer and make settings as in fig 5.

Click on your tubes tool, right click it and select tool options. Choose your globe tube and resize to fit the ball if needed. Click ok. (fig 6)

Click on the ball to add the tube. Click on the deformation tool and resize/reposition the globe to fit the ball. Now go back to the deformation tool / tool options and click apply (fig 7,8 & 9)

Close the deformation tool dialogue box. Now your image is looking realistically spherical, but it needs a top. First you need to convert your work into a single layer ( layers / merge / merge visible.) Next click on your retouch tool, right click on it and select tool options. You now need to set two boxes in this tool, make the box settings as in fig 10 & 11.

Close the retouch tool dialogue box. Now use the tool to "push" colour from the ball top onto the canvas, to make a "neck". Use small, steady upward strokes. You don`t need a perfectly level top edge, (your decoration top tube will tidy it up later.) see fig 12

Now add a new layer ( layers / new raster layer) make settings this time as in fig 13.

Click on your tubes tool, right click it and select tool options. Choose your decoration top tube and close dialogue box. (fig 14)

Now click above your bawble to add the top, click the deformation tool and use it to resize / reposition the top until it looks like fig 15.

Click the deformation tool then right click it. Select tool options and click apply. Close the dialogue box. Next go to layers / merge / merge visible. Click on the magic wand tool then click on a blank part of the canvas. Then go to selections / invert to select just the bawble. Now go to edit / copy / edit / paste as new image. That`s it, your own Christmas tree bawble. You can now tube it to use any time you want. Go to file / export / picture tube. Name your graphic then click save. Easy wasn`t it?

This tutorial was written for P.S.P version 7, but should easily convert for other versions.

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Once you have practised this tutorial, you may like to try different bawbles. Change the fill pattern and add a christmas tube to the ball after you apply the circle effect... You can even add sparkle animations, jewells, bows, holly and other decorations... The possible effects are only limited by your own imagination, so let it go wild and see what you can do!

Shown smaller than actual size.