This tutorial is written in Version 9 but will work well in Version 8 and X. You will need only a basic knowledge of PSP, including the names of tools and where to find them. All other instructions are written in detail.

Let's start.

Open a new image:
Width and Height: 300 x 300
Raster Background
Transparent

Step 1:  Create a new Raster Layer. Name it Heart

Step 2:  Find the chocolate heart Picture tube and place it in the center of the image.

I suggest that you save now as a .pspimage in case of a crash and save often throughout the tutorial, but I'm not going to remind you. :-)

Step 3:  Set the background color to #6E3405

Step 4:  Select the heart. To do this go to Selections/Select All then Selections/Float.

With the heart still floating, click on Layer 1 to make it active and create a new Raster Layer. Name the new layer Heart Back. Make sure the Heart Back layer is active and select the Flood Fill Tool and right-click to flood fill.

Ctrl D to Deselect and you will now have a brown heart on the layer below the Heart Picture Tube.

Step 5:  Create a new layer at the top of the Layer Palette and name it Text.

Step 6:  Choose the font and size you wish to use. Set your background color to any color that you can clearly see over the chocolate heart. Color does not matter at this time. Set the foreground color to Null, i.e. Turn it off

Step 7:   Create the text as Floating and leave it selected. While it is floating, place the text over the heart where you want it to be.

Step 8:   Go to Effects/3D Effects/Cut-Out and use the settings shown in the screen shot below.

After you deselect the text it should look something like this:

Step 9:   Add embellishments with Dingbats. Choose a Dingbat that you like and add them the same way that you added the text. Once you have the dingbat placed where you want it, go to the Cut-Out effect again and use the same settings as above.

The example below is using Davy'sDingbat with the letter "a" placed near the bottom of the heart. Continue to do as many embellishments on the heart as you want.

Step 10:  Add color to the heart using a Vector Preset Shape. Choose the Preset Shape tool and find the flower shape in the drop-down window.

Choose a light color or gradient in the Background/Fill area of the Materials Palette and set the Foreground to Null. I'm using a light pink color for my flower. The settings for the preset shape are:
Retain Style = unchecked
Create as Vector = Checked
Antialias = Checked
Line style and settings have no purpose since we don't have a stroke color set.

Draw a small flower over the heart (so you can see it) and use the handles to resize the flower so it will fit in the flower area of the dingbat. If you used a different dingbat, place the flower anywhere you wish.

Step 11:   When you have the little flower the size that you want, right click on the Vector Layer created by the flower and choose "Convert to Raster Layer". Rename the new layer Flower 1.

Your new flower should look something like this:

Step 12:  Make sure the Flower 1 layer is highlighted and go to Effects/3D Effects/Inner Bevel. Use the settings below and your little flower should look like the bottom one in the example below-right. I think it looks like those little colored candy flowers.

Step 13:  With your Flower 1 layer active, copy using Ctrl C then Paste as a New Layer using Ctrl L. (You could have duplicated the layer but the flower would be in the same place as the previous one and would have been more difficult to separate out.)

Name the new layer Flower 2. and move it to the position you want using the Move Tool.

Note:..This tutorial will only use 3 flowers but if you wish to decorate with more, Ctrl C to copy and Ctrl L to Paste as a New Layer so that you have more to work with and they will be easier to manipulate if they are on separate layers.

Highlight Flower 2 layer and we'll make it a different color.

Go to Adjust/Hue and Saturation/Colorize and you can make the flower any color you wish. I made my second flower purple using the settings below.

Step 14:   Duplicate the last flower as many times as you wish and use the Adjust/Hue and Saturation/Colorize to adjust the color. If you wish to use a color you already have you only need to highlight the layer it is on and paste that one. I have used only 3 flowers and used 3 different colors on the example below.

Before we merge layers and finish the valentine, you may wish to look at your heart and determine if it looks a bit too dark. If you wish to lighten it, highlight only the Heart layer and go to Adjust/Brightness and Contrast/Brightness-Contrast and use the preview windows to determine the strength you wish to use for lightening. The example below shows the lightened result on the right.

Settings used were
Brightness = 12 and Contrast = 1

Step 15:  On the layer palette, hide the two bottom layers (Raster 1 and Heart Back). "A" below.

Make the top layer active, right click on that layer and go to Merge/Merge Visible in the menu. Name the merged layer Heart again and make the bottom layers visible. "B" below.

Step 16:  Use the Move Tool and move the Heart a little bit so that you can see the background heart, Heart Back layer. Make the Heart Back layer active and go to Effects/3D Effects/Inner Bevel. Use the settings below to give the back layer of the heart some depth.

  
Click OK.

After you have applied this last bevel, reposition the original heart so that the lighter side of the Heart Back shows making it appear to be a thick piece of chocolate. You can now merge the top two layers leaving the bottom layer available for you to apply a background if you wish or further decoration.

Then just highlight the top layer, right-click on it and Merge/Merge All (Flatten). Exporting as a .jpg will probably give you the best quality and the smallest file size.

The heart below is one idea of how to finish off your new one. I've added roses tubes, used a stock PSP pattern for the background, called Ricepaper. Then selected a border and filled it with a pattern I made from the unfinished heart tube and bevelled the selection.

Terms of Use

This tutorial is copyrighted....©RollieB. Any similarity between this and any other tutorial is coincidental. The Picture Tube used herein is also copyrighted by me and you can use it in this any any other graphic but do not share it or offer it in any way for download or for sale. The image you make with this tutorial is yours to do whatever you like with.

You may link to this tutorial using a text link only but may not share this tutorial in any other way through e-mail or on another site. If you are a member of a group and would like to share or do this tutorial in a group setting, please e-mail me for permission using the link below.

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