This is a real easy tutorial using PSP7. It is a 2 part tutorial...the first part uses selections
to make the heart, and the second part uses a mask..both ways are easy and fun :o)
I am going to leave the decorating of the heart up to you though, but I will give some hints..lol :o)
I am assuming that you pretty much know your way around the PSP workspace.

What you will need:

  • Paint Shop Pro 7
  • Looped heart selections
  • My loopy heart mask

    Unzip the mdg_loopedheart selections and place them in your selections folder.
    If you do not have a selections folder, then browse to your PSP7 folder, open the folder, and create a new folder, and name it Selections. Unzip the mdg_loopyheartmask and place it in your mask folder. If you do not have a Masks folder, then browse to your PSP7 folder, open the folder, and create a new folder, and name it Masks.


    • Part 1 Using the selections

    1. Open a new image 400x400, background transparent
    2. Create a new raster layer
    3. Go to Selections>Load from disk> and find the mdg_heartloops.sel
    4. Flood fill the selection with your color choice. I am using #CD352A. Now back up to Selections>Select none
    5. Create a new raster layer.
    6. Go to Selections>Load from disk> and find the mdg_heart4loops.sel and flood fill with your color choice..I am using #CD352A. Now back up to Selections>Select none
    This is what you should have now:


    7. Now if you want to decorate your heart, grab your selection tool set it to rectangle with ANTIALIAS CHECKED, and draw some marching ants around the heart layer, then click anywhere on your heart, and the marching ants will grab a hold of the edge, and you can begin to decorate.

    I shaded the edges a bit with a darker red and then added another layer and sprayed a little paint with the spray can set to a size 25, hardness set to 9, 85 opacity and density around 20. I used a darker red and then a light red(almost pink) and then smudged it from left to right, then sharpened it a bit. I also added 2 dots of black paint then used my retouch tool to soften the "button holes". Add some lines for the thread, and well ..there you have it..You can fill it with pattern, of add some noise to it..whatever you can dream up.

    When you are happy with the way it looks, then go to Selections>select none, and the Layers>merge>merge visible, and you are all done..save it as a jpg/gif or a tube. :o) See?..wasn't that easy? :o))
    Here is my heart:



    Part 2 Using the loopy heart mask

    1. Open a new image 400x400, background transparent
    2. Create a new raster layer and flood fill with your color. Again I am using #CD352A.
    3. Go to Masks>Load from disk> and find the mdg_loopyheart.msk and highlight it, then click Open.
    4. Now back up to Masks>delete, and answer yes when it asks you if you would like to merge this with the current layer.Your image will now look like this:(I have reduced the actual size of the image to help downloading time)


    5. Now just go to Image>Resize> and make sure that All Layers is NOT checked, and set the resize to about 85%. And once again if you want to decorate your heart, grab your selection tool set it to rectangle with ANTIALIAS CHECKED, and draw some marching ants around the heart layer, then click anywhere on your heart, and the marching ants will grab a hold of the edge, and you can begin to decorate.

    I shaded the edges a bit with a darker red and then a light red(almost pink). I added a tube and some text, a drop shadow, and done!! :o))Like this:




    When you are happy with the way it looks, then go to Selections>select none, and the Layers>merge>merge visible, and you are all done..save it as a jpg/gif or a tube. :o) See?..wasn't that easy? :o))

    I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial!

    ©January 29, 2004
    Moedog's Garden