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Sidebar with Dingbat Cutout

In this tutorial you will use features native to PSP5 and PSP6. They include layers, the text tool, the fill tool, and the selection tool.

1. Set your color swatches to the same color family making the Foreground a darker shade and Background a very light shade. (I used RGB 192/135/134 as my foreground color and 233/212/211 as my background color.)
   
   
2. New image 150x300 Background = Foreground Color
   
   
3. Activate the text tool, click on your image, and choose a dingbat font that you like. (I used Celtic Patterns lower case a, Size = 60)
   Antialias = checked
   Alignment = Centered
   Floating = checked
   OK
   NOTE: If you're using PSP6, be sure to change the text color in the text dialoque box to match your foreground color before clicking OK
   
   You may want to move the text so that it is approximately centered top to bottom and slightly more to the left than to the right to leave room for the horizontal shading bars that we will be adding in step 13.
   
   
4. Leave text selected. Create a new layer and call it "cutout1".
   
   
5. With layer "cutout1" active and text still selected:
   Image/Effects/Cutout:
   Fill Interior with Color = Unchecked
   Interior color doesn't matter
   Shadow = Black
   Opacity = 100
   Blur = 10
   Offsets; Vertical = 2, Horizontal = 2
   OK
   
   
6. Make new layer. Name "cutout2"
   
   
7. With layer "cutout2" active and text still selected:
   Image/Effects/Cutout:
   Fill Interior with Color = Unchecked
   Interior color doesn't matter
   Shadow = Black
   Opacity = 100
   Blur = 1
   Offsets; Vertical = 1, Horizontal = 1
   OK
   
   
8. Selections/Select None. Shut off the visibility of the background layer by clicking on the colored band (PSP5) or glasses (PSP6) to the right of the layer name on the layer palette. Activate one of the cutout layers by highlighting it and right click. Choose Merge/Merge visible
   
   
9. Make foreground color swatch Black. Leave background as is
   
   
10. Activate the Background layer by clicking on it's name in the layer palette.
    
    
11. Double click on selection tool. Set:
    Left = 140
    Right = 145
    Top = 0
    Bottom = 300
    Custom Size and Position
    OK
    
    
12. Activate Fill tool:
    Fill Style = Linear Gradient
    Match Mode = None
    Opacity = 100
    Click Options Button:
    Blend Mode = Normal
    Degree = 90
    Click inside selected area. (Use the zoom tool to zoom in on the selection if you need to.)
    
    
13. Double click on selection tool. Set:
    Left = 145
    Right = 150
    Top = 0
    Bottom = 300
    Custom Size and Position
    OK
    
    
14. Activate Fill tool:
    Fill Style = Linear Gradient
    Match Mode = None
    Opacity = 100
    Click Options Button:
    Blend Mode = Normal
    Degree = 90
    Click inside selected area
    
    
15. Selections/Select None
    
    
16. Image/Canvas Size:
    New Width = 1600
    New Height = 300
    Center Image Horizontally = Unchecked
    Center Image Vertically = checked
    "Top" and "Bottom" should be grayed out
    Left = 0
    Click inside box "Right" and it should change to 1450
    OK
    
    
17. Make any final adjustments to the placement of your dingbat now by using the mover tool. Flatten your image once you've done that. This background is 300 pixels high with quite a bit of space between the dingbat repeats. If you'd like less space between the repeats, just crop the image to a height you like.   :)
    
    
18. That's it! Save a copy as jpg or gif for use on your web page.