Dark Dreams


Supplies:

Tube: https://www.cdoestore.com/product-p/simonacandini-58-2.htm
Scrap: https://www.cdoestore.com/product-p/scraphonored_ib-ashwood-27-3.htm
Font: https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/renaissance-garden/
Mask: 513 and 524 from Package 11

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.

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.

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?

Sometimes, this method will leave a dark line around your tag. You can take a very small round eraser and click in the very corner of the mask. Hold shift, and then click on the next corner. This will erase in a straight line. Repeat this until you have gone all the way around your tag, ending in the corner you started. You will need to do this for all masks. It only takes a couple of minutes, but it makes a big difference. My tag has the line still left intact. I don’t mind the line, but some may find it annoying.

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.

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.

Element 11

Element 10

Element 12

Frame 01

Element 24

Element 04

Element 06

Element 01

58-2 SimonaCandini

Element 14

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. 

If you would like to remove the excess shadows from around your tag, I have explained how to do that HERE.

We won’t be resizing this image, so go ahead and add those 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:

And here we have our completed tag! You can now save it as a PNG or a JPG file. I prefer using the Export feature, so I know it is at the proper resolution for web-display.

Here are the settings I used:


But we aren’t finished! You’ve saved your tag as a PSD file, right? If not, now is the time.
You can close the tag now. Just remember where you saved it.

Open a new image that is the same size as your computer resolution. If you don’t know what your resolution is, or how to find it, you can take a full screenshot of your desktop and open it in PS for reference.

Place one of the papers from the kit on your canvas.

As you can see, it doesn’t fit. But not to worry! DO NOT RESIZE IT! That will distort it and it will lose quality. We don’t want that.

Instead, duplicate the layer.
Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal
Then move it to match up perfectly to the side of the other layer.

As you can see, it isn’t quite big enough. Duplicate that layer, flip it again, and move it over to match up with this layer.

Highlight all of the layers in the layers panel. Right click and Merge Layers.

Move it to the upper center of your canvas.

Duplicate this layer.
Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical
Move this layer to match up to the bottom of your previous layer.

Right click and merge down.

This will leave you with a “seamless” pattern on your canvas.

Now… if you don’t want it to be so symmetric, there is a trick.

Grab your lasso tool and select some of the areas where the parts look a little too symmetrical. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

This is what I selected:

Edit > Content Aware Fill…

Select > Deselect

You can do this as many times as you want to get it just how you want. The colors will ALWAYS be perfect wink

After you are done playing with that, place your tag onto the canvas as a smart object. DO NOT resize your tag. Doing so will reduce the quality of your copyrights.

If you need it to be resized, you will need to double click on the thumbnail of the tag.

This will open the tag as a new file. Don’t worry, the original tag file will not be affected. Smart objects are just a copy of your original file. That is why I love them so!

Now, hide the copyright layer, save, and close. The tag will be adjusted on your canvas, but your saved tag file will not be altered. Genius, isn’t it??

Now resize your tag and readd the copyrights to the wallpaper.

Add a shadow to your tag so that it stands out from the background a little. Or you can leave it as-is, because it’s beautiful, right??

Viola! Now save as a JPG into the folder that you keep your wallpapers.

You can close this without saving, since your tag is already saved. This is a good way to make a wallpaper out of any tag you create.

flyinghearts My “Forever List” can find their tags in their Fotki Folders. flyinghearts