Supplies:
Tube: yurikoshirou-21-2.htm
Scrap: scrapaork_mignightcalling-mega.htm
Font: fieldstone and amelia-script-fine-version
Mask: 3 masks of choice. I am using a few from my own collection.
Extra Supplies: AoRK_Darkness-Supplies.zip
Please do not use any of the licensed supplies without purchasing them first.
First off, let me start by saying, yes… I know the kit is misspelled. Apparently, it has been that way for almost a year! Ugh… I only just noticed haha! Oh well. It’s MIGnight now… 
Unzip all supplies.
Open the two pattern images. These are seamless, so no need to alter them.
For each… Go to Edit > Define Pattern…
They should already be named for easy finding in your pattern list.
That’s it for these for now. You can close them both.
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.
If you would like to have a darker mask, you can easily fix that, too!
In the layers panel, double click on the mask thumbnail. This will open a whole new window of options. On the right side, there is a bunch of sliders you can play around with. The settings will vary with each mask you use. I will show you what I did with AoRK-Mask-93.
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.
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.
Now, I want the tube to be inside the frame. So let’s get rid of the parts that aren’t in there.
First, add a layer mask to your tube. Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All.
Then, right click the frame layer thumbnail in the layers panel and choose “Select Pixels.”
Back to your tube. Make sure you have the black and white thumbnail active in the layers panel. You will have a little box around the thumbnail to show you which part you are working with.
Use your eraser tool to remove parts of the tube that lie over the bottom of the frame.
One more thing.
You notice that the shadow of the tube is over the frame where it shouldn’t be… that is also easily fixed.
Open the blending options of the tube and check the box that hides the styles.
It’s like even more magic going on! How cool is that?
Let’s get rid of those pesky leftover shadows.
Select all of your element layers, including the paper layer behind the frame and the tube. Don’t include the background layer or the masked layers.
Layer > Group Layers
You can name it “Elements” if you like.
This adds a group to your layers panel. However, you will need to expand it by clicking on the little arrow beside the group icon. 
Since our tube has a mask on it, we are going to have to do it first. This way, we won’t have to go back and alter the selection.
Right click the thumbnail of the tube layer and “Select Pixels.”
You will notice that it also selected the area you removed by the mask. This is because we didn’t actually erase parts of the tube, we just hid it.
Right click the black and white mask thumbnail and choose “Intersect Mask with Selection.” This will remove the masked part of the layer from the selection.
Now that the hard part is done, let’s get to the rest of them!
Right click the black and white thumbnail of your mask layer and choose “Add Mask to Selection.”
As you can see, the marching ants are all around your layer!
Repeat this for all of your mask layers.
You can also use a keyboard shortcut.
Hold Shift and CTRL (cmd on mac) on your keyboard and simply click on the thumbnail of the next element layer. Repeat this for all element layers. DO NOT include the paper layer! This will select the entire canvas. We don’t want that.
After you have included all of your element layers in the selection, go back to the paper layer. Hold Shift and CTRL (cmd for mac) and click on the black and white mask thumbnail of your frame.
This will include the inner portion of the frame in your selection.
This is what you should have now:
Highlight the group in your layers panel that has your elements in it.
Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection.
This will chop off all of the unnecessary shadows and leave your tag clean in the background.
You can close up this group by clicking on the arrow icon beside the group thumbnail in the layers panel. This is just so we can keep track of what we are doing next.
Now, let’s add that background text.
Highlight the top of your masked layers. It should be under the group you created for the elements.
Grab the text tool. Using the Feildstone font, write out your text large enough to be seen behind the elements.
Now we need to add the layer style to it.
You remember the patterns we saved earlier? This is where those come into play.
But let’s make one more.
***** If you have already done a tutorial using these steps, you can skip it and move on to the text part.
Open a new image. File > New 300×300 pixels should be good enough.
Fill the layer with gray. Some version of a middle gray, or you can go to
Edit > Fill… and choose 50% gray from the dropdown.
Filter > Nose > Add Noise
Image > Adjustments > Desaturate
Edit > Define Pattern… Name it whatever you like. We will be using this as the stroke on the text layer.
You can now close the image without saving.
Back to the tag.
Open the blending options of the text layer and add this style.
After you have added your style, go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Pattern…
Name it whatever you like. In the next window, grab the other pattern from you supplies zip.
This will add a new layer to your tag. Right click the layer and choose “Create Clipping Mask.”
This will clip the pattern to your text layer.
At the top of the layers panel, there is a dropdown box of blend modes. Choose “Soft Light” and change the opacity to 20%.
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:
Don’t forget your copyright text!
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.
Duplicate that first frame by clicking on the little plus sign at the bottom of the animation panel. (a folded paper icon for older versions)
Go back to your layers panel and highlight the pattern layer that is clipped to your background text.
Using the move tool, give it a good couple of swipes to move it around the tag.
Now, highlight the name text and open the blending options. Choose the stroke option.
If you hover outside of the styles window, your cursor will turn into the move tool. Give that a good couple of swipes to move the stroke pattern around.
Go back to the first frame of the animation panel (you should have 2 frames.)
Up at the top right of your animation panel, there are 4 horizontal lines. Click that and choose “Tween…”
You can now click play at the bottom of the animation panel to check out your creation!
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 respective Fotki folders 