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Software: Ulead PhotoImpact 10
Author: Claudia Conover A.K.A. Dia (Deeya)
Home page: Dia's Dimensions
Terms Of Use: Please Read

Title: BATTENBURG LACE & BACKGROUND

Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced

Featured Tools:
Text tool - Resize tools
Selection tools

You will need:
Super Blade Pro
WhiteLinen_dia.jpg
DividersTwo.ttf
battenburg_laceX-SEL_dia.ufo
These 3 files above are in this zip file named Lace
and my SBP preset - Dia'sFuzzyCottonII

Description: Battenburg Lace for PI v.10

Unzip my preset to your Super Blade Pro folder in Environments & Textures.

Open the DividerTwo.ttf file and minimize it to your task tray.

1. Create a New Image, Custom Color #EEEEEE, 600x600. Save file as Battenburg lace.ufo.

2. Text tool, bring up your divider two font. Set your size to 100 and your color to White, 2D. Type the lower case x on your image.

3. Click on the Resize tool, and use the Rotate and Flip icon to flip this piece to the Left.

4. Unlock the Lock on the far right, and resize this to 200 px in Height.

5. Click on the Pick tool and Align: Left and then Top.

6. Rclick, duplicate twice. Move each one down under the other until you have them lined up 'end to end' just touching each other. Use your keyboard up/down arrow keys to move them. Zoom in if you need to.

7. Rclick, Select all, Group. Use your Resize tool, Unlocked, to stretch your lace to 104px Wide.

8. Your dimensions need to be exact for the selection pattern to fit correctly later on. Over all dimensions for the lace are 104x600 px. If they aren't, make them so.

9. Move your lace 3px to the right using your keyboard arrow keys.

10. Select the background. Using Adjust, Expand Canvas, expand your image 50 px at the top and at the bottom. Use color #EEEEEE to match your background, and Apply.

11. Click on the Magic Wand set up like so:

Click on the beige area to select around the divider letter. Rclick, Invert, Rclick, Expand 20 px, (Circle, not box).

Rclick, Soften 2px.
Now Invert again.

12. Click on the beige background in your Layer Manager, and hit your delete key to delete the rest of the beige on the right.
Rclick, Select None.
Hide the lace object.

13. Click on the beige area with the Magic Wand. Rclick, Expand 8 px, (Circle, Keep Soft Edge checked). This gives you a selection into the white area.
Rclick, Soften 2 px.
Rclick, Convert to Object. This makes the first part of your white line trim.
(You wont see any difference except in your Layer Manager. There will now be an object between your background and your hidden lace object.)

14. Select the background Layer (bottom), and fill with the #EEEEEE with the Bucket Fill tool.

15. Click on the + sign above on the Magic Wand tool, and choose this first object (new object) above the background with the white line to work on.

16. Click on the 3 white line places.
Rclick, Shrink 2, and Soften 1px.
Rclick directly over this selection and Convert to object.
This white line will now be your top object. (If it doesn't show up as the top object you were not on the right object to start with. See the paragraph above.)

17. Go to your first object above the background and with the Bucket fill, Image tab, find your WhiteLinen_dia.jpg and apply.

18. With the top object now chosen in your layer manager to work on, go to Effects, Flaming Pear, Super Blade Pro and find my Dia'sFuzzyCottonII preset. Apply the preset.

19. Click on the lace object, unhide. In Super Blade Pro apply my preset to this object also.

20. Click on the background layer in your Layer Manager.

21. In the menu above, choose Selection, Import Selection, File, and navigate to where you saved the battenburg_laceX-SEL_dia.ufo file and Apply.

22. Use your Down Arrow key to move this selection down and center the holes where they fit to open up for your lace effect. Check by Zooming in to see if the selection is correct.

23. Make sure you're on the background layer and Hit your Delete key twice.

24. Choose the object above the background, and Delete twice. Rclick over the selection and Select None.

25. Now, you're almost done!
Rclick over the Layer Manager , Select All, Merge as Single Object.
Hide this new lace object.

26. Click on the background layer. Click on the Bucket Fill tool, Color Tab, and fill this area with the color of your choice.
Or you may use the Image tab and fill it with the whitelinen_dia file.

 

27. Click on Adjust, Expand Canvas. Click on Expand sides Equally, Black, 10px, Apply.

28. With the Magic Wand select this black area, and click on the lace object.
Unhide it, and Hit the Delete key once.
Rclick, choose None.

29. Still on the lace object, Rclick, choose Shadow from the menu at the bottom, and give it this shadow setting - Color: #7E4E54, first square (shadow right and down), 8 - 8 - 70 - 100 - 20.
Rclick, Split Shadow.
Add another shadow, using the third (shadow up and to the right) setting with the same numbers as the first shadow.

30. Save one last time, and then Save As a jpg. Check the Options on the Save As window on the lower left.

31. When the Optimizing window comes up, remove the subsampling by changing it to 'None'. Subsampling is what runs Red colors, and gives images those fuzzy/squiggly lines when even slightly over optimized.

Your Battenburg lace and background is finished!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial! Please let me know what you think.

Feel free to contact me if you get stuck and need help!

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