Zwaan Tag Tutorial

By LismibaebisCreations
23 July 2022

I used the awesome art of Mariya Kutuzova.
You can buy her artwork from different outlets. (Different spellings of name possible).
I bought it from Creative Fabrica.
The image is from the album "Watercolor Swans".

Skill Level: Advanced Beginners & Adventurous Others
Filter is only suggested for Text, can be replaced by Drop Shadow of choice

This tutorial is my own creation; any resemblance to another tutorial is purely coincidental

Program shortcuts will be given in parentheses

Needed

Paint Shop Pro - I used X2
(Tutorial will work with other versions)
Free 30-day trial from Corel, available here

Image

Tube of choice

Texture

LB_texture25.jpg, available here

Filters

Eye Candy 4000 (used for text only)
(email me: Lismibaebi at gmail.com for a link)

Font

Font of Choice – I used Dupree (Free to use)

Performance Notes

This tutorial is in 2 parts:
- Preparation
- Tag

The settings for different Tools and Effects will stay the same throughout the tutorial, unless new setting instructions are given

Don't forget to save your work often

Click on the arrow and drag it to mark the progress on this page.

Preparation

1) Download the Texture and save to your Texture Folder

2) Download and install filter
(If desired)
(If you install filters you need to restart PSP afterwards)

3) File > Open
Open image of choice

4) Window > Duplicate
Close original

5) Dropper Tool (E)
Left click to choose a light Foreground color
(I chose #cfd1d6)
Right click to choose a dark Background color
(I chose #6c6a77)

6) Edit > Copy
Minimize

8) Flood Fill Tool (F)
Settings:
Match mode = None
Use all layers = Not checked
Blend mode = Normal
Opacity = 100

9) Left click to flood fill with Foreground color

10) Selections > Select All

11) Edit > Paste Into Selection

12) Selections > Select None

13) Effects > Image Effects > Seamless Tiling
Settings: Default
Corner = Checked
Bidirectional = Checked
Horizontal offset (%) = 0
Vertical offset (%) = 0
Transition (%) = 50
Linear = Checked

14) Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur
Settings:
Radius = 10.50

15) Layers > New Raster Layer

16) Materials Palette
Change Foreground to Gradient
Settings:
Foreground-background
Angle = 0, Repeats = 5
Invert = Not checked
Style = Linear
Texture = Not checked

17) Flood Fill Tool
Left click to flood fill with Gradient

18) Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur

19) Layers Palette
Change Blend mode to "Lighten"
Depending of image and colors you might have to play with blend modes and opacity to make sure that not one layer totally dominates the result

20) Layers > Merge > Merge Down

21) Effects > Art Media Effects > Brush Strokes
Settings:
Softness = 84
Bristles = 147, Width = 15
Opacity = 99
Length = 14, Density = 85
Angle = 17
Color = Background color

22) Effects > Distortion Effects > Wave
Settings:
Horizontal Displacement
Amplitude = 6
Wavelength = 100
Vertical Displacement
Amplitude = 4
Wavelength = 18
Edge Mode = Wrap

23) Effects > Texture Effects > Texture
Settings:
Texture = LB_texture25
Size = 40%, Smoothness = 0
Depth = 2, Ambience = 0
Shininess = 0
Color = White
Angle = 315, Intensity = 50
Elevation = 30

24) Edit > Paste As New Layer

25) Image > Resize (Shift + S)
Settings:
Width = 80 %
Height = 80
Resample using = Bicubic
Lock aspect ratio = Checked
Resize all layers = Not checked
ok

26) Edit > Repeat Resize
Repeat until you have the tube showing to your liking.
Depending on the tube you work with, you might choose to resize in 50% steps to start with

27) Adjust > Sharpness > Unsharp Mask
Settings:
Radius = 5.00, Strength = 30
Clipping = 30
Luminance only = Not checked
(Or a setting of your liking)

28) Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow
Settings:
Vertical & Horizontal = 2
Opacity = 44
Blur = 10.00
Color = Black
Shadow on new layer = Not checked
(Or a setting of your liking)

29) Move Tool (M)
Move tube into position of choice

30) Materials Palette
Change Foreground back to Color

31) Layers > New Raster Layer

32) Selections > Select All

33) Flood Fill Tool
Right click to flood fill new layer with the Background color

34) Selections > Modify > Contract
Settings:
Number of Pixels = 2

35) Flood Fill Tool
Left click to flood fill with the Foreground color

36) Selections > Modify > Contract
Settings:
Number of Pixels = 1

37) Flood Fill Tool
Right click to flood fill with the Background color

38) Selections > Modify > Contract
Settings:
Number of Pixels = 1

39) Edit > Clear

40) Selections > Select None

41) Layers > New Raster Layer

42) Add your artist's copyrights

43) Materials Palette
Reverse Foreground and Background color by clicking on the double ended arrow

44) Text Tool (T)
Settings:
Font = Dupree (or Font of choice)
Size = 48 Points (or what suits your Font and Text)
Alignment = Center
Direction = Horizontal and Down
Anti-alias = Sharp
Stroke width = 1.1 (or what suits your Font and Text)
Create as Vector
Auto kern = Checked
Kerning = 0 (or what suits your Font and Text)

45) Type Text of choice and click on Apply

46) Layers > Convert to Raster Layer

47) Move Tool
Move text to place of choice

48) Optional:
Effects > Plugins > Eye Candy 4000 > Gradient Glow
Settings:
Basic:
Glow width (pixels) = 3.00
Soft Corners (%) = 25
Overall Opacity (%) = 100
Draw Only Outside Selection = Checked
Color = Color of choice

If you do not have Eye Candy 4000, use a Drop Shadow of choice

49) Adjust > Sharpness > Unsharp Mask

50) File > Export > JPEG Optimizer
Settings:
Set Compression value to = 10
Chroma subsampling = YCbCr 2x2 1x1 1x1
Save Exif data = Not checked

You are done!

I hope that you enjoyed doing this tutorial. If you have any questions, please email me:
Lismibaebi at gmail.com
I would love to see what you create with my tutorial.

A special "Thank you" goes to my Tester Group.
Your help, support and patience has made all the difference.