| Creating Sparkles in PI 4.2 | |
Sparkly sparkles are very popular, and there are some great tubes and tutorials out there for Paint Shop Pro. When I originally started using PhotoImpact, I tried following a PSP tutorial that used the airbrush...and it took me forever to get a decent sparkle. So, I did nothing with it, until a couple of days ago when a friend needed a sparkle...and this little light bulb popped up over my head...duh! Making a sparkle in PhotoImpact is remarkable easy! If you want to use my sparkles, you can get them at my PhotoImpact Objects page.
1.
Open a new image, taller than it is wider (I used 200x300) with
a dark background.
2. Using your Selection Tool, set to Ellipse with a soft edge of 3-5, draw a vertical, thin elipse.
3.
Right click on your image, and select "Convert to Object." (You
can also do this under Edit-->Selection-->Convert to Object).
Flood fill your new object with the color you want your sparkle
to be, in this case white.
4.
If you are satisfied with how this looks, great! If not, I like
to use the transform tool to make the sparkle a little longer
and thinner.
5.
Right click on your ellipse and select "Duplicate." Rotate it
90 degrees, (Edit-->Rotate & Flip-->Rotate left 90 degrees).
Use your transform tool/Resize to make this spike shorter than
the first one. Align it in the center of the first spike.
6. Now, right click and duplicate this image. Select the duplicate, and rotate it 45 degrees to the right with the transform tool. Then use the resize feature of the transform tool to make it even shorter.
7.
Duplicate the shortened spike, and rotate it right 90 degrees.
Line all of the spikes up so they meet in the center.
8.
If you are satisfied with your sparkle as is, then combine all
of the objects as one (select each spike with the shift key
pressed, then right click and combine as single object). Some
people like to have a flare around the center of the sparkle,
so to add that do this:
9.
Go back to your selection tool, set as a circle with a soft
edge of 20-50 depending on the size of the circle you are going
to draw. Draw a circle smaller than the shortest spikes. Right
click, convert to object, and flood fill with while. Move it
into place, then combine the objects as a single object.
10. You can adjust the brightness and color until you get the desired effect. Resize as necessary. I save most of my objects large so that I can resize them as needed. To add your sparkle to the object library, right click and select "Copy to Object Library."
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