STAINED GLASS TUTORIAL

The first step is to select a frame. I have been using frames I found at Cole Brothers (the free site). For purposes of this tutorial, we will use this frame:

This is a gif file, so you need to convert it to full color before making any modifications. Do so now and crop to the black outer border.

The second step is to apply a texture filter in PSP, Soft Plastic.

Be sure your settings for blur, detail and density are as indicated. A 45 degree lighting angle is OK for this frame, but you might want to experiment with others. So far I have made no changes to the soft plastic setting.

The next step is to apply a Super BladePro preset to the result. The preset, brass impressions, can be downloaded from my website.

The two files in the ZIP file need to be unzipped in the textures and environments sub-folder of Super BladePro.

Filling is pretty much a matter of taste and eye. I have used some PSP gradients in this picture. First, use the magic wand tool to select whichever black space you want to fill. If the boundaries are rough, or if there are small unselected pockets in the middle of the selection, you can modify the selection and expand its boundaries by 1 pixel. This can be done in the selection menu.

The final step is to apply the Eye Candy 3.0 filter to the selection(s). This is again, pretty much a matter of eye and taste. The only changes I usually make are to the direction and color of the light, and the height of the button:

Don't get discouraged if it doesn't come out right the first time. Just keep making adjustments 'til you like what you see! As encouragement, here are some samples.