Supplies:
Tube and Scrap: scrapkbk_annamarine-package-84
Font: https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/omnivorous-2/
Mask: 444 and 447 from Package 9
Animation: rebeldezignsanimation-623 and rebeldezignsanimation-726
Filter Forge
Please do not use any of the licensed supplies without purchasing them first.
First off, unzip all supplies.
Open the mask(s) you would like to use. You don’t have to use the ones I have chosen.
Select > All
Edit > Copy
This will save a “selection” of the white areas in the mask.
You can now close that mask.
Open a new 800 x 800 pixel canvas. Be sure it is set to 72ppi resolution. You can always resize later.
Thanks to Gail Wilson for this little trick, we can eliminate a step later in the tut.
Layer > New Layer…
You will now have TWO blank layers on your tag. The bottom layer should stay blank for the entirety of the tag creation.
Edit > Fill… this layer with white. You can change this to whatever color you like to match the website you will display it on, though.
Place the paper on the canvas that you would like to use. You can either drag and drop it onto the canvas from your file browser, or you can use the File > Place… method. Just browse to the folder with the kit when prompted.
With the paper layer highlighted in the layers panel…
Select > Edit in Quick Mask Mode.
Edit > Paste
This will leave parts of the paper in red. This is good! If it doesn’t, then you will need to open and copy the mask again.
It seems that our mask was too big for the tag. Let’s fix that.
With the red “quick mask” still in effect, go to Edit > Free Transform
Fit the red mask inside your tag.
Select > Uncheck the Edit in Quick Mask Mode.
Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection
Magic, right?? now you don’t have to worry about having an extra clipped layer.
Instead, you have a mask thumbnail attached to your paper layer.
Place another paper on your canvas and repeat the process with any other masks you want to use.
That’s it! How easy is that?
Now, time for the elements! This is where the real magic begins.
You can drag and drop items straight from your file browser into the canvas. This makes it faster to place items.
Instead of telling you exactly where to put what and what size to use, I am just going to show you a animated image of what I did. This way, you can create your own version of the tag without doing exactly what I have done. Plus, those types of tuts get a little boring after a while! We know how to move elements at this point, I hope!
When placing your elements, you can transform them again by going to Edit > Free Transform. Just be sure you hold the shift key to constrain the proportions.
As you can see, it is pretty random. I just place the items where I think they might work.
Now, back to the frame element layer. You have a frame, right? If not, you can skip this part. We need to add a fill layer to the picture frame.
Highlight the layer UNDER the frame in your layers panel. Now drop the paper you would like to use onto the canvas.
Grab your selection wand from the tools panel. If you can’t find it, check out the basics page for a better understanding of the tools layout.
The Selection Wand options should look like this at the top of your window:
Click on the center portion of the frame.
In the upper menu of Photoshop, click on Selection > Modify > Expand…
Expand your selection by 2px.
Now highlight your paper layer.
Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection.
Now you have a fill to your frame. Easy Peasy!
We definitely want to add some shadows to our elements. Without shadowing, the tag will just look flat. The secret to a good tag, is a good shadow effect.
Right click (or ctrl+click) a layer and choose “Blending Options.”
I add a drop shadow and an outer glow. The glow enhances the effect a bit.
Now after you have hit OK, right click the layer again and choose “Copy Layer Style.”
Highlight all of your element layers (click the top one, then shift + click the bottom one) and right click again. This time, choose “Paste Layer Style.”
It makes a HUGE difference to add shadows:
Now that we have all of that done, time to add the next details. Tube and text. Fun!
Choose where you want your main tube to be placed.
Now drag and drop your tube onto the canvas. Resize and adjust it to your liking. Always make sure you constrain your proportions while resizing. Hold the Shift key while you drag the corners.
Add the same drop shadow you did before.
CLICK HERE to add a mask to all of your elements. This gets rid of the shadows hanging over the edge.
Resize before adding copyrights!
Highlight the top layer of the layers panel.
Grab your text tool and add the name you would like. Position it just where you want it and add a layer style. This is mine:
Let’s use an overlay.
Create a new layer above your top element layer. Flood fill it. Color doesn’t matter 
Filter > Filter Forge > Filter Forge 10
Before you click on anything in Filter Forge, visit this page: https://www.filterforge.com/filters/8478.html
On the right side, you will see a button that says “open in filter forge.” Click that button and it will bring back up your filter.
Over on the left side of the panel, click on the settings and add these:
You can change the settings up to fit what you want it to look like. The main things to keep the same are the Background settings. Don’t change anything that has to do with the background.
Apply the filter and set the blend mode of this layer to Linear Dodge (Add).
That leave us with the non-animated version of the tag! If you wold like to keep the JPG version, you can save here. Simply File > Save As… and choose the jpg option from the drop down box at the bottom of the dialog.
Here’s where it starts getting complicated. We want to add animation!
Make sure your Animation Panel is open. Window > Timeline (or Animation, if you are on earlier versios)
You will need to click the “Create Frame Animation” button. If you do not see this button, please refer to THIS page for more information about the timeline.
You will see that your first frame is already there. But… ignore it! We don’t need it.
Highlight your tube layer (or whatever layer you want the animation to rest on).
File > Open… choose an animation that you’d like to use. I am going to show you how to use the 25 frame animations that I have at CDO.
You will see that all 25 layers are open and unhidden in the layers panel.
In the menu, choose Select > All Layers.
Layer > Group Layers
Now right click on your group in the layers panel and duplicate. BUT DON’T HIT OK, YET!
In the duplicate dialog, choose your tag from the dropdown box. If you haven’t saved by this point, you should see an “Untitled-1” option. (but you definitely should have saved before now. Remember, always save often.)
After you have chosen your tag, hit ok. You can close the animation file without saving.
Back to your tag.
You can resize and rotate the group using the Edit > Free Transform option. Be sure you are resizing the whole group, not just one layer. Don’t forget to hit the check mark at the top of the window to apply the transformation.
On the right side of your animation panel, click the 4 horizontal lines. Choose the option that says “Make Frames from Layers.”
Oh no… your frames are empty! Don’t worry, it’s a quick fix. In the layers panel, simply unhide your main group. Now you should have some frames!
Now, this made a mess of things, didn’t it?? LOL! But no, not really. You will see that it created a frame for every layer in your tag. And that’s ok!
Click on the first frame in the animation panel. At the bottom of the window, there is a trashcan icon. That deletes the frame. Delete all of the frames that aren’t part of the animation. You should be left with 25 frames that contain only the animation layers.
You will see that your tag only has one animation layer visible in each frame. You want this!
You can collapse the group again now, so you don’t mistakenly unhide layers in there. Click on the little arrow icon beside the group icon in the layers panel.
In the animations panel, click on the first frame. You MUST BE ON THE FIRST FRAME to do any kind of editing from here on out. ALWAYS make sure you are on the first frame. ALWAYS! I can’t stress that enough.
Are you on the first frame of the animation yet? Good. Now we can continue.
In the Layers panel, unhide the color fill layer from the beginning of the tut by clicking the little square box beside the layer thumbnail. An eye should appear…
But, for any of you who have followed other tutorials of mine, you notice that you don’t need to click 3 times anymore!! Thank you Gail!
Now, one by one, unhide all of the layers to your tag. DON’T touch the animation layers, though! Those are already spaced out the way they should be. Leave those alone.
After you have unhidden all of your tag layers, you can click play at the bottom of the animation panel to check out your creation!
BUT!!! We aren’t finished.
It get REALLY complex now, so pay close CLOSE attention to each step.
Highlight the layer where you want the second animation to go.
Open the second animation.
Do the same as with the first animation. Select all layers and add them to a group. You can name this one “Animation 2” or something, so you can keep track of which folder contains which animation.
This is going to take a little longer.
Are you on your first frame? Good.
Hide all of the new animation layers in the layers panel. Alllll of them. I really hope you are working with groups. It sure does make things easier.
Now… here is where the fun begins.
In the animation panel, duplicate the first frame. You should now be on the SECOND animation frame. THIS IS IMPORTANT! SECOND frame. You are on the second frame, right? Look again, just to be sure.
In the layers panel, unhide only the first layer in your new animation.
Back the animation panel. Select the FIRST frame, again. Delete it. You should now have 25 frames in your animation panel, again.
Was that confusing? Of course it was. But, that little move will keep you from having to hide the first layer with each frame.
Are you still on the first frame of your animation? Great!
Select the second frame in your animation panel.
Unhide the second layer of your new animation.
Select the third frame in your animation panel.
Unhide the third layer of your new animation.
Select the fourth frame in your animation panel.
Unhide the fourth layer of your new animation.
You see where I am going with this? Yep. Do this with all of the frames / layers. It might take a few minutes to get them all in their proper place.
Did you end with 25 layers into 25 frames? Good!
Now select your first frame in the animations panel. Click play to see if your animation resulted the way it was supposed to.
If it doesn’t look right, you will need to click on the 4 lines at the top right of your animation panel and choose “Delete Animation” and start over with all of the animation steps. I hope that doesn’t discourage you… sounds pretty daunting…
But if it looks good, HOORAY! That means you are done!
If you would like to make your animation smaller, you can highlight all of the odd numbered frames and then click on the little trashcan icon at the bottom. I like to keep mine at full size. It’s just a personal preference.
Oh, right! Don’t forget to set your frame delay.
Highlight all of your frames in the animation panel. Highlight the first frame and then hold shift. Click on the last frame. Now all frames are highlighted.
Click on the little arrow beside the time of the last frame. This will bring up a popup for more “delay” options.
Now you will need to save your animation as a gif file.
In your animation dialog, use these settings:
My “Forever List” can find their tags in their Fotki Folders.