SINEDOTS RIBBON TAG

Supplies needed:

Paintshop Pro - I used PSP9. This tut should work in any version.
AAA Frames foto frame plugin
Sinedots II - download and extract the files into a folder on your desktop. Move the entire folder to your plugin folder.
Tube of choice. Preferably a floral tube.
Font of choice if you wish to include text on your banner. I used Sheffeld.ttf

Open your tube in PSP. Resize it so that it will work with a 400X400 image. Your tube should be no larger than 380 pixels on the longest side.

Select a bright color from your tube for your foreground color.

Open a new image - 400 X 400 pixels - raster layer, transparent.
Floodfill it with your foreground color.

Layers > New Raster Layer.

Effects > Plugins > Dragonfly > Sinedots II
At the bottom of the window, click OPEN
Browse to your Sinedots II folder in your plugins and select PSP_PluggersPresets.cfg.
Click the dropdown arrow next to the selections window and select ts_ribbon2.

The color will be blue and show blue against black in the preview window.
Click in the color selection window and click over to your image. (If the plugin window is in the way, move it so you can click on the background layer in your image.) The preview window will show you what color your ribbon is going to be.

Click OK.

Your image will have a colored ribbon with a black background.
Use the magic wand tool at these settings:

Click once on the black part of your image to select all of it.
Tap your delete key once.

Copy your floral tube and paste it into the Sinedots image as a new layer.
You may want to move it, rotate it slightly or use the raster deform tool to position it so it 'snuggles' against the folds of your ribbon.
If you look closely at this example, you will see that I grabbed the rotation node that is attached to the center of the image and turned it counter-clockwise to tip the top of my tube to the left.

Your tube should be the top layer of your image.

Lower the opacity of your image to about 40% so you can see the edges of your ribbon clearly thru the tube.

Set your lasso tool to these settings and draw a box around the lower part of the ribbon where you want the flowers to be hidden behind it.

You don't have to be accurate, but you do need to be sure to extend the box along the ribbon to make the hidden part of the flowers look natural behind the ribbon...

Right click on the ribbon layer (Raster 2) and select Promote Selection to Layer.
Right click on the Promoted Layer > Arrange > Bring to top.

Change the opacity of the floral layer back to 100%.

Let's add a drop shadow to these layers, shall we?
Starting with Layer 2, add a drop shadow using these settings:

Click on the floral layer and add the same drop shadow.

Click on the top layer and add the same drop shadow... oops!
The dropshadow on the top layer extends onto the ribbon below and just doesn't look right.
Use your lasso tool and clip around the end of the ribbon on the top layer, surrounding the dropshadow.

Tap your delete key. None of the flower should be showing on top of the ribbon. Remember, undo is your friend.

Looking good. So let's add the platform that the flower and ribbon are placed over.

Click on the bottom layer in the layer palette to select it.
Effects > Plugins > AAA Frames > Foto Frame with these settings.

If you want to add text to this ribbon, please refer to this tutorial to place your text on a curved line.

Add your text and a drop shadow to finish your ribbon, hide the line, and convert your text to a raster layer. Add a dropshadow if you want. ( In my example, I used the same settings as above, but changed the blur to 7 and chose the shadow color from the darker background.)

Add your signature or watermark to your work.
Layers > Merge > Merge All (flatten.)

Resize to 80%.

Export your tag as a jpg at a compression of 8.

Here are two more examples of the tag. I hope you enjoyed this tut as much as I enjoyed writing it for you.

vetch