Darren

This tutorial may seem a bit large but it will give you a good idea on how to combine various features found within Visualizer Photo Studio. In this tutorial you will be learning how to use the Paint kit, how to work with selections, how to work with photo filters, how to work with the rotation options, how to work with clipart, how to embed an image and how to frame an embedded image.

Creating a new image.

Before creating a new image you will need to setup the colors you will be using for this tutorial. Click on the foreground color on your toolbar and enter the following R G B values (R 156 - G 187 - B 255). Click the OK button when you are done. Now click on the background color on your toolbar and enter the following R G B values (R 93 - G 51 - B 253). Click the OK button when done. Your foreground color and background color should look like the image below.



To create a new image you will need to click on the New image button in the upper menu area. If you are currently working in Full screen mode you can return to Normal mode by pressing the F key on your keyboard.



Once you click on the New image button a screen will appear which allows you to setup your new image. For this tutorial we will just be using the default width and height values. Enter the name Water in the name field and set the Background color to Background color in the dropdown menu (also illustrated in the image below).



Click the OK button and you will see your new image appear in the screen area and as a thumbnail in the thumbnail viewer.

Working with selections and painting areas.

It's time to do a little painting and in order to paint on your new image you will need to click on the Embed layer selection button.



Start by creating a selection that is as wide as two sqaures and as high or higher than the actual image. If you are not sure how to create a selection this is how it is done. Start by clicking with your left mouse button and hold down the button. Now make a selection by dragging from left to right and from top to bottom. Release the mouse button when you are done.

You may need to align your selection once you have created it. Move your mouse cursor inside your selection and you will see a hand cursor appear. Click with your left mouse button and hold down the button. Now you can move your selection and align it to one of the lines on your grid display. Release the mouse button again once you have aligned your selection.



From the paintkit panel (illustrated above) click on the Paint bucket button. You can use this tool to fill your selection with the foreground color selected on your toolbar.



Once you have clicked on the Paint bucket button move your mouse cursor inside your selection until you see the Paint bucket cursor appear. Click with your left mouse button to fill your selection using the selected foreground color.

Now move your selection 4 squares and repeat the paint option. The illustration below will give you an idea of what I mean.



Repeat the paint option until you have filled the entire width of the image with bright blue stribes. Click on the Embed layer selection button to exit the paint screen. You should now have an image which looks almost like the image below.



Adding filters to your image.

To give the image it's water effect you should start by using the Gaussian blur filter. Select the Gaussian blur option from the photo filters menu.



Set the Gaussian blur value to 45 and click the OK button.



Your image should now look something like the illustration below. As you can see you are making your waves appear more smooth.



Next you will need to add the Twist effect. Select the Twist option from the photo filters menu.



Set the Twist value to 50 and click the OK button.



As you can see from the illustration below you are twisting your waves into circular angles. You will need to do this again but before adding the twist effect again, you will need to rotate the image 90° clockwise. Click on the Rotate 90° CW button.



Now select the Twist option again from the photo filters menu. Set the Twist value to 50 and click the OK button.



Your water effect is beginning to take shape. As you can see from the illustration below you have created an effect which illustrates the effect of "throwing a stone into a pond".



Let's rotate the image back to its original layout by rotating the image the opposite way (counter clockwise) of what you did previously. Click on the Rotate 90° CCW button to rotate it.



To give your image a smoother layout you will have to add the Gaussian blur once again. Select the Gaussian blur option from the photo filters menu and set the Gaussian blur value to 10. Click the OK button when you are done.



You have now completed the water effect and your image should look almost like the image illustrated below.



You can wrap things up by smoothing the pixels within the image. Right click on your image and select Image mode and then select the Anti Aliasing option. Visualizer Photo Studio will automatically smooth the pixels for you, as indicated in the lower right corner while Visualizer Photo Studio is working.



Enhancing the colors.

The colors of your image may appear too sharp, let's say you would like to use the image as a background image. You can tone down the sharpness of the image in several ways. The common ways are the RGB variations option and the Brightness/Contrast option. You will be using them both in this section.

Gray scale the image by clicking the Gray scale button on your toolbar.



You are now left with a water effect with no colors as illustrated on the image below.



Let's tone down the sharpness even more by adjusting the brightness and contrast of the image. Click on the Adjust colors button in the upper menu area.



Set the Brightness value to -30 and the Contrast value to -55.



Click on the OK button when you are done and you will notice that your image has become darker and you have removed some of the contrast from the wave effect. Now let's bring back your blue color, only this time it will be darker. Click on the RGB variations button in the upper menu area.



Click on the B thumbnail which represents the blue color and make sure that the opacity option is set to 100%.



Click on the OK button to add the blue color to your image. Your image should now look something like the illustration below.



Working with clipart and embedding images.

Now that you have turned your image into a background image you can begin embedding photos and clipart. In this section we will start by adding clipart to the layout of the image. Click on the Embed layer selection button to enter the paint area.



When you are working inside the paint area you will notice the clipart panel below the paintkit. This is where all the designer objects can be found and used within your projects. There are various objects which you can use but for this project we will be using the Various objects library. Click on the small arrow button in the lower right corner of your clipart panel, and select Various objects from the menu. From the dropdown menu you can select any object within this library, however, for this tutorial we will only be using the bubbles.



To add a clipart to your project click on it with your left mouse button and hold down the button. Now drag the object into your work area (image) and release the mouse button. You can keep dragging the object around until you embed it. Let's align a bubble object in the upper right corner.



To embed the object click on the Embed layer selection button. When clicking the button you will exit the paint area and automatically embed the object you have added.

Now let's try that again but this time we will use a different approach. Click on the Embed layer selection button to enter the paint area again.

Add a new bubble object but this time align it in the lower right area of your image. Now click on the Flip horizontal button on your toolbar and click on the Flip vertical button after that.

Flip horizontal.

Flip vertical.

Embed the bubble object by exiting the paint area. Your image should now look something like the illustration below.



To wrap things up let's embed an image inside the image. Click on the Embed layer selection button to enter the paint area again. Create a selection inside the center area of your image by clicking on the image with your left mouse button and holding down the button. Drag from left to right and from top to bottom. Release the mouse button when you are done. You can align your selection by moving it around if it is necessary.



Click on the folder button on your paintkit panel to insert any image of your choice.



Once you have selected an image click the open button on the dialog to insert it. The image will automatically be resized into your selection and you can then drag it around to align it in the center.



Before you embed the image we should try adding a frame around it. I will let you decide the choice of color for the frame. Click on the foreground color on your toolbar and select any color of your choice by clicking on the color palette. Click the OK button when you are done.

From the thumbnail viewer click on the small arrow button to bring up the menu for the highlighted thumbnail.



Select the Add border option from the menu. You will now be able to add a frame to your inserted image. You can choose between 3 different colors those being: White, Black and the selected Foreground color on your toolbar. Click on the last option which is the Foreground color. You can also set the thickness of your border by dragging the knob at the Border thickness option. I have set mine to 10.



Click the OK button when you are done and Embed the image by exiting the paint area (click on Embed layer selection button).

If you are not satisfied with the ourcome you can undo the image or fade it into the background image.

Final word.

Even though the background you just created may seem too small as a background for your V4U presentation(s) or your photo collages, remember that this is only an example. Next time you create an image like this you are free to make it wider and higher (adjust the pixels settings when you start a new image).

I know this tutorial is rather big which is why I also recommend going through it a couple of times to learn how to work with the features. Once you get more familiar with the features the doors will begin to open for your own creations.



Have fun!

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Visualizer Image Group

"Don't judge yourself on how far you have come,
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Paddy

Yet another inspiring tutorial Darren. not only showing how versatile the Photo Studio software is, but giving ideas as to how to use the effects, the concept of the water effect for creating a background frame is something I wouldn't have thought of.

I had great fun trying out the Rose tutorial, now I will have a go at this one. Very well delivered as well by the way. I had no problems trying to re-create the Rose. Trouble is, I then spent hours trying different effect to see how it reacted instead of going to bed to get ready for work Just because you never sleep Darren doesn't mean that we can't

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