This tutorial was created in 2006
Any resemblance to other online tutorials is purely coincidence
©N@thy 2007

This tutorial was written using PSP 9, but can be done in other versions

~ You will need ~
The picture I used is by Antje Darling. You can find her awesome artwork at Antje's Graphics.com
Paint Shop Pro, a 30 day trial can be downloaded here
Fm Tile Tools, you can download here
Eye Candy 4000, you can download here
Mura's Seamless Filters C (Emboss at Alpha), you can download here
My supplies here. The zip includes picture and mask

Put the mask in your mask folder
Open the picture in psp
Set your Foreground color to #4C3336
Set your Background color to #A78E92

~ Step 1 ~

Change your foreground to gradient with the following settings:



~ Step 2 ~

Layers, Promote Background Layer
Image, Rotate, Free Rotate and use the following settings:
Direction: Left, Degrees: 90, All layers checked
Layers, Load/Save Mask, Load Mask from disk
Find BCedge5 mask and use the following settings:



Layers, Merge, Merge Group

~ Step 3 ~

Image, Mirror and apply the mask again with the same settings
Layers, Merge, Merge Group
Image, Mirror
Image, Rotate, Free Rotate and use the following settings:
Direction: Right, Degrees: 90, All layers checked
Effects, 3D Effects, Drop Shadow and use the following settings:



~ Step 4 ~

Image, Canvas Size
Change the height to 375 and make sure the width doesnt change (512)
Placement bottom: 25
Effects, Plugins, Mura's Seamless, Emboss at Alpha and use the following settings:



Effects, 3D Effects, Drop Shadow and use the following settings:



Repeat the Drop Shadow but change Vertical for -3

~ Step 5 ~

Layers, New Raster Layer
Layers, Arrange, Send to Bottom
Fill the layer with the gradient
Effects, Plugins, Eye Candy 4000, Swirl and use the following settings:



Effects, Plugins, FM Tile Tools, Blend Emboss and use the following settings:



~ Step 6 ~

Activate your Selection Tool and use the following settings:



Click on Custom Selection (shown by the red arrow)
And use the following settings:
Top: 355, Left: 0, Right: 512, Bottom: 365
Fill the selection with the gradient
Layers, New Raster Layer
Effects, 3D Effects, Cutout and use the following settings:



Selections, Select None

~ Step 7 ~

Activate Raster Deform Tool
Move your mouse until the white double-headed arrow appears
(like in the screen shot)



Once you see it left click on your mouse, hold and drag it past the right side of the image
(like in the screen shot)



This will extend the Cutout past the strip getting rid of any seams
Do the same thing on the left side

~ Step 8 ~

Layers, Merge, Merge Visible
Image, Canvas Size
Change the width to 1024 and the height to 900
Placement left: 512 and bottom: 525
Layers, Duplicate
Image, Mirror
Layers, Merge, Merge Visible

~ Step 9 ~

Effects, 3D Effects, Drop Shadow and use the following settings:
Make sure Shadow on new layer IS checked!



Repeat step 7
Layers, Merge, Merge Visible

~ Step 10 ~

Layers, New Raster Layer
Layers, Arrange, Send to Bottom
Fill the layer with the gradient
Effects, Plugins, Eye Candy 4000, Swirl and use the same settings as before
Effects, Image Effects, Seamless Tiling and use the following settings:



Layers, Properties and change the Opacity around 80%
Layers, Merge, Merge All (Flatten)
Save your work as jpg

Add your watermark and your tag is finished. I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.