Capricorn


Supplies:
ScrapCCD_AlenaLazareva-34-1
Tube from Alena Lazareva
RebelDezignsAnimation-1004 
Masks of choice.  I always use 2 or 3 in my tags.
Font: Al Fresco
Set of 2 Patterns.  Do not share this file. 

Please do not use any of the licensed supplies without purchasing them first.


First off, unzip all supplies.

To load the pattern file, go to Edit > Presets > Present Manager…

Choose Patterns from the Preset Type dropdown box.

Click the “Load” button on the right side and navigate to the pattern file you downloaded.

Click the “Open” button.  Now click “OK.”  Your patterns are now ready for use.

Open the mask you would like to use.  You don’t have to use the one I have chosen.

Select > All
Edit > Copy
Select > Edit in Quick Mask Mode
Edit > Paste
Select > Edit in Quick Mask Mode (uncheck)
Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection
Layer > Layer Mask > Apply
Layer > Matting > Remove Black Matte
Right click the layer thumbnail in the layers panel
Select Pixels
Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection
Layer > Layer Mask > Apply
Save this as a .psd on your desktop (or wherever you want)

Do this to each of the masks you plan on using.

Open a new canvas.  I always use 800×800 pixels.  Be sure your resolution is 72 Pixels/Inch.

I usually add a color fill layer to the tag so it is easily changed should I use it on a different color website.  Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color…
White usually works with most websites.

You can drag and drop items straight from your file browser into the canvas.

Browse to the mask that you just saved in your computer’s file browser.  Drag it onto your tag.

Don’t forget to set the Transformation by double clicking the layer on the canvas, or clicking the checkbox at the top of the window. 

Next, choose the paper you would like to use on your mask.

Drag the paper onto the canvas above the mask.

In your layers panel, right click on the paper layer and choose Create Clipping Mask.

Now, time for the elements!

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.

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.  We need to add a fill 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 wand options should look like this at the top of your window:

PointSample

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.

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 a layer (topmost works fine) and choose “Blending Options.”
I add a drop shadow and an outer glow.  It enhances the effect a bit.

shadow
shadow

Now after you have hit OK, right click the layer again and choose “Copy Layer Style.”
Highlight all of your 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!

Highlight your picture frame layer in the layers panel.

 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.

Layer > Layer mask > Reveal All

CTRL/CMD + click on your frame layer’s thumbnail in the layers panel.  This will select the pixels of the frame.   (You can also right click the thumbnail and choose “select pixels”)

Now click on the mask of your tube layer in the layers panel.

Use your eraser tool and erase the bottom portion of the tube in your tag.

Select > None
Apply the same shadow as before, but with one minor difference in detail:

This will ensure that the drop shadow of your tube doesn’t float above the frame.

Create a new layer above the tube layer.  Use your paintbrush and paint a small area at the bottom of your tube.

Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur: 10 pixels. OK.

Right click this layer in the layers panel and choose “Create Clipping Mask.”

You can use the move tool to position this shadow right where you want it.

This shadow makes a big difference in the perspective of your tag.

Don’t forget your copyright layer!
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:

When you get to the part with the pattern, click on the arrow beside the pattern thumbnail and choose one from the patterns that you installed earlier.

That leaves 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.

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.

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.  To conserve space, we will be cutting the animation time in half. 

You will see that all 25 layers are open and unhidden in the layers panel.
Highlight all of the odd numbered layers.  Hold the ctrl/cmd key and click each one.
In the menu choose Layer > Group Layers

If you would like to use the entire animation, just highlight all of the layers and group them.

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.”

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.

You will see that your tag only has one animation layer visible.  You want this!

You can collapse the group again now, so you don’t mistakenly unhide layers in there.
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 background layer.

Unfortunately, most of the time, that only unhides the last layer for the first animation frame.  Just hide it again, and then unhide once more.  Photoshop has a strange sense of background layers.  It doesn’t play nice.  Thankfully, the bottom-most layer is the only one you have to click 3 times.  (I sure hope you got all of that.  It is hard to explain…)

Now, one by one, unhide all of the layers to your tag.  DON’T touch the animation’s layers, though!  Those are already spaced out the way they should be.  Leave those alone.

Next, we are going to alter the layer styles of the bow and one mask layer.

You are on the FIRST frame in the animation panel, right?  Fantastic!

Double click the “fx” icon on the bow layer.  This will bring up the styles of the layer.

Don’t change the shadow or outer glow.  Just the Stroke.  Pay close attention to all of the check boxes.  Earlier versions of Photoshop may not have one certain option, but you can adjust it to fit your needs.  Click on the pattern dropdown and choose the AoRK_Glitter pattern that I provided earlier.

Now highlight one of your mask layers.  I have chosen the bottom-most mask.

Right click and choose Blending Options from the layers panel.  Add a Pattern Overlay.  Click on the pattern dropdown and choose the AoRK_LightPlay that I provided earlier.

In the Animation Panel, highlight the LAST frame in your animation.

Highlight the Bow layer again.  Go to the Stroke option.  DO NOT change any of the settings.

If you hover your cursor over the tag, you will notice that it changes to the mover tool icon.
Drag the pattern.  You will see that it moves the glitter in the stroke.  Move the pattern a significant amount.  Then click OK.

Highlight the mask layer that you added the pattern.
Double click the “fx” icon to open the blending options.
Choose the Pattern Overlay option.
If you hover over the tag, the icon will change to the Mover cursor again.
Drag the pattern around a significant amount.
Click ok.

Highlight the first frame in your animation panel.
Shift + Click on the last frame in the animation to select all frames.

In the layers panel, highlight the Bow layer.
Hold the ctrl/cmd button and highlight the mask layer with the pattern overlay.
This will select ONLY those two layers.
Be sure you have only those two layers highlighted.  Just two layers… You have two highlighted?  Great!

In the animation panel, do you have all of the frames highlighted?  Fantastic!

On the animation panel, click the button that looks like 4 horizontal lines.

Choose “Tween…”

Apply EXACTLY these settings.  Pay close attention to all of the dropdown and check boxes.

Now click play on the animation panel to see your masterpiece!

Oh, right!  Don’t forget to set your frame delay.

Now you will need to save your animation as a gif file.

In your animation dialog, use these settings:

NOTE:  This is a color rich tag and will have a bit of “grain.”  However, using the Pattern setting for the color diffusion will make the grain look good wink

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial!