SETTINGS USED IN THIS TUTORIAL

Magic Wand:

Mode: Add/Shift, Match Mode: RGB Value, Tolerance 0, Contiguous checked, Feather: 0, Anti-Alias checked and outside selected.

Drop Shadow:

Vertical Offset 2, Horizontal Offset 2, Opacity 80, Blur 5, Color Black

Step 1

Open up the mesh blinkie template and tube of choice. 

Step 2

Go to Adjust/Hue and Saturation/Colorize and move the sliders until you get a dominate color that is in the tube image you will be using.

Step 3

Left click the magic wand and use the settings from above.  Left click the magic wand inside the middle of the blinkie template, inside the large rectangle. 

Go to Effects/Texture Effects/Weave and use these settings: Gap 7, Width and Opacity 1,  Weave and Gap Color Black, and Fill Gaps checked.

Go to Selections/Select None.

Step 4

Go to Layers/Duplicate.

On the duplicate layer, on the top row of rectangles, left click the magic wand inside each of the corresponding darker colored rectangles and flood fill with the color of the lighter  rectangles.

Go to Selections/Select None.

Going from left to right, left click the magic wand inside the 1st, 3rd, and 5th rectangle on the top row to select them.  Flood fill those rectangles with the darker rectangle color. Go to Selections/Select None.

Step 5

On the bottom row of the duplicate layer, left click the magic inside each of the corresponding darker colored rectangles and again flood fill them with the color of the lighter rectangles.

Going from left to right, left click the magic wand inside the 2nd, 4th, and 6th rectangle on the bottom row to select them.  Flood fill those rectangles with the darker rectangle color.  Go to Selections/Select None.

Step 6

Open your tube graphic and go to Edit/Copy.  Make your tag graphic active and go to Edit/Paste as New Layer.  If the image is too large, go to Image/Resize using the percent option, bicubic and resize all layers NOT checked.

Step 7

Go to Effects/3D Effects/Drop Shadow and use the settings from above.

Step 8

Open up the doodles by Lori and select the doodles you like, one by one, using the selection tool set to rectangle, and copying and pasting each doodle as new layers on your tag. Apply the same drop shadow as above on each of your doodles.

Step 9

Go to Layers/New Raster Layer and add your text.  Apply the same drop shadow from above but change the shadow color to white to stand out on the dark mesh. if you have Eye Candy, you can apply a gradient glow to your text.

Step 10

Add your copyright information on a separate layer.

Step 11

Open up your layer palette and left click the eye on the two bottom layers that only have your blinkie patterns (no graphics, no text).  You should see a red X  on the eyes on both of these blinkie layers. These layers are now closed off.

Make sure you are now on the layer that has your tube graphic and go to Layers/Merge/Merge Visible. You should now have a layer that has your tube graphic, the Lori doodle graphics, your text and your copyright information all on the same layer. 

Go to Layers/Duplicate so that you now have two layers that contain your tube graphic, Lori's doodles, your text and copyright information. 

Left click the eye on one of these graphic layers close it off (you will see a Red X on the eye) but do leave the other graphic layer open.

Step 12

Left click the Red X on the eye on the bottom layer (that has your blinkie pattern) to open that layer up.  But do not open the duplicate blinkie layer. 

Make sure you are on the bottom layer (with the open blinkie layer) and go to Layers/Merge/Merge Visible.

Left click the eye on this merged layer (blinkie layer with graphics and text) to close it off.

Step 13

Left click the Red X on eye of the duplicate Blinkie Layer to open it up and also left click the Red X on the eye on the duplicate graphic layer to open that layer up.   Make sure you are on the duplicate Blinkie Layer you just opened up and again go to Layers/Merge/Merge Visible. 

Step 14

Left click the Red X on the eye of the closed merged layer to open that layer up.  You should now have two merged layers, both of them open.  Save this as a psp or psd file. We are now ready to finish the tag in animation shop.  Click here to continue.