Making Drapes - My Way
by Maureen Williams

This tutorial is my own creation and was first presented in January 2001
 as my contribution to a joint tutorial by
Team 2  for the Team Spirit Tutorials - Challenge 3,
 which was called "Out My Window".

Any similarity to any other tutorial on the internet is purely coincidental.

Revised and Updated 3rd February 2003
Version 8 variations added and tutorial updated 2nd March 2004.

Although I have included the the window tube and the dingbat font  in the zip file, the main use for the tutorial is to make drapes suitable for the inside of a room diorama in an egg or dolls house. The drapes could be printed out onto paper or material for this purpose. See Hints for Specialty Papers for ways to print images with minimum wastage of specialty papers.

I have used the background image (or you can use any image of your choice) to create the drapes in this tutorial,  but the same principle could also be used on a plain colour or textured tile.

These instructions have been purposely kept very simplistic for new users to Paint Shop Pro. For more advanced users, many steps such as naming layers etc could be eliminated.

I have used Paint Shop Pro - version 7 for this tutorial.
Variations for PSP 8 are shown in red.
You can download a free 30-day trial HERE.

Optional: My zip file containing the window tube and Borderbats Fleur2 font.
Unzip the file and place the tube in your tube folder and instal the font
or click on the .ttf file to open and make it accessible in PSP.
For more information in installing fonts go here.

OK - let's get started. Don't forget to save often.

If you want to use the image I have used click on the picture for a larger view. 
Right click and select Save Picture As.

" Heavenly Morning" by Michael Humphries

Step 1
Open your image in PSP.
Edit/Copy (Shift+D) to duplicate image. Close the original image.

Step 2
Edit/Copy (Shift+D) to duplicate image. Minimise Image#1 for the time being.

Making the Curtain Material

Step 3
Work on Image#2 (copy of Image # 1) for these instructions.
Image/Resize/Pixel Size 200 x 200 - Uncheck the Maintain Ration Aspect box.

Step 4
Use the Eye Dropper to select a light colour from the image for the foreground colour.
 I have chosen #E9D2A8
Effects/Artistic Effects/Brush Strokes
PSP8 - Effects/Art Media/Brush Strokes
In the Presets box select Impasto. 
Right click in the colour to bring up the Recent Colours
and select the foreground colour.

Step 5
Selections/Duplicate (Shift+D) to duplicate image
Image/Mirror. Image/Flip
Image/Arithmetic - select Image #2 & Image #3 with the following settings:
Function = Add
All Channels ticked
Divisor = 1
Bias = 0
Clip Colour checked .
Note: If the resulting image appears too bright try changing the Divisor to 2 and the Bias to 1.

Step 6
Save as Curtain-material.psp
Close Images #2 & #3 as we don't need these any more.

Step 7
Effects/Texture Effects/Blinds with the following settings
Width = 30
Opacity = 44
Color #505050 (dark brown)
Uncheck Horizontal & Light from left/top
Click OK then Save again.

Step 8
Selections/Duplicate (Shift+D) - this will give you a copy of Curtain-material.psp
Minimise Curtain-material.psp for the time being.

Making the Swags.

Step 1
Work on the copy of curtains.psp you have just made.
In the Layer Palette right click and Promote to Layer.
V8 - Promote Background Layer
Image/Rotate - Left 90 degrees
V8 - Rotate Counter-clockwise 90
Effects/Geometric Effects/Circle
V8 - set Edge Mode to Transparent.

Note: depending on the image and colours chosen you may need to rotate the image to the right
to achieve a convex or rounded appearance.

Step 2
Set Selection Tool to Rectangle
Double click on the Selection Tool icon and enter the following settings:
V8 - Click on the Custom Selection icon in the tool options window.
Left = 0
Right = 200
Top = 0
Bottom = 100
Hit Delete button to remove the top portion of the circle.
Deselect. (CTRL+D)

Step 3
Select Deformation Tool and move the swag to the top of the screen.
Choose the centre bottom handle and using the ruler on the left hand side as a guide, push the base line up to 65. Click Apply.
V8 doesn't have an Apply function. Clicking on any other tool will apply the deformation.
I usually click on the Mover Tool.

Step 4
Use the Selection Tool to draw a rectangle around the swag.
Image/Crop to Selection.

Hint: An easier way to do this step!
Left click on Layer 1 in the Layer Palette and drag it out onto a blank part on the work space.
This will appear as an arrow with a small dotted box and another small box with a plus sign inside.

Release the mouse button and you will have the neatly resized image.
This is an excellent way to resize images when making tubes.

Save As - Swag.psp

Making the Curtains
Note: If you don't want to use the window scene background open a new image
400 x 355 and flood fill with a colour of your choice.

Step 1

Open Image #1 - the copy of Heavenly Morning.
Right click on the background layer and select Convert to Raster Layer.
V8 - Promote Background Layer
Go to Image, Resize and in the Percentage of Original enter 75
Ensure the Resize all Layers is unchecked
and Maintain Aspect Ratio is checked.

Step 2
Create a new layer and flood fill with the previously selected
 foreground or a colour of your choice.
Drag the layer to the bottom. (Layers, Arrange, Send to Bottom)

Step 3
Click on the image layer to make it active and then add a new raster layer.
Click on the Picture Tube tool and locate the window frame tube 
Open the klswindow5.tub and resize to 130.
Click in the the centre of the image to place the tube.

Don't worry too much about placement at this stage
 - it can be amended later if necessary

Step 4
Save your image as Drapes.psp

Step 5
Now to add the curtains to our window.
Restore  the Curtain-material.psp image.
Selections/Duplicate (Shift+D) to duplicate image. Close the Curtain.psp image.
Set Selection Tool to Rectangle
Double Click on the Selection Tool icon and enter the following settings:
V8 - Click on the Custom Selection icon in the tool options window.
Left = 61
Right = 140
Top = 0
Bottom = 200
Edit/Copy (Ctrl+C) to copy the selected area.

Note: These settings will select an area 79 pixels (or 4 of the blinds) wide 
and 200 pixels long, starting 61 pixels in from the left hand side.
These settings can be modified to select whatever piece of the material
 you wish to use. Alternatively, you can use the Selection tool set to rectangle
to choose your drapes.

Step 6
Click on the Drapes.psp to make it the active image and then Paste as New Layer (Ctrl+L)
Move the curtain to the top left hand corner. Rename layer - left curtain.

Step 7
While on the left curtain layer select the Deformation Tool and drag the 
bottom of the curtain down to the bottom on the image.

Step 8
Right click on left curtain layer and duplicate the layer. 
Rename new layer - right curtain.
Image/Mirror.
Save Drapes.psp and then close Curtain-material.psp image.

Step 9
Restore or open the Swag.psp image.
Edit/Copy (Crtl+C)
Click on Drapes.psp to make it the active image and then Paste as New Layer (Ctrl+L)
Move swag to the centre top of the screen, 
using the ruler to position the left hand side at 100.
Rename layer - centre swag.
Duplicate the centre swag layer and name it left swag.
Turn off this layer for the time being.

Step 10
Click on the centre swag layer to make it active.
Effects/3D Effects/Drop Shadow with the following settings:
Vertical = 10
Horizontal = 0
Opacity = 58
Blur = 21.2

Step 11
Duplicate centre swag layer and move the swag to the left 
with the right hand side positioned at 200 on the ruler.
Re-name this layer - left swag.
Click on the Deformation Tool and drag the left side of the swag
further to the left until the centre handle of the deformation frame is at the far left side.

Hint: If you would prefer the opposite side of the swag to be visible, click on Image, Mirror before dragging the swag to the left with the Deformation Tool.

Step 12
Duplicate left swag layer and re-name - right swag.
Image/Mirror.
Save then close Swag.psp

Step 13
Close all layers except the left and right swag layers by clicking on the eyeglasses.
Make sure you are on either the left or right swag layer and then right click and select Merge Visible to lock the two swags onto the same layer.
Apply a Drop Shadow using the same settings as in Step 10.
Open all other layers.

Step 14
Add new raster layer and name it curtain deco.
Select colour #BBAA72 for both foreground and background
Select Text Tool with Bold, Floating and Antialias checked.
I used Borderbats Fleur2, size 40 - letters uppercase Y, Z

Step 15
Move decoration to centre top of the swags. Keep selected.
Effects/3d Effects/Inner Bevel - choose the Round preset with the default settings.
Change the colour to # CFBE95.
Click OK.

Add a drop shadow to the curtain decoration using the settings in Step 10.
Save your file in jpeg format to share on the internet.

Printing the Curtains.
Save your finish drapes as a .psp file to preserve the layers.

Notes for Dioramas 

• The curtains could be used on the inside of an egg to highlight a window cut in the shell. If you wish to use just the curtains and swags for the inside of an egg, copy each of the relevant layers and Paste as a New Image so you can print them out separately.

• To add dimension inside and egg paste the curtains and swags onto thin cardboard and then glue the prepared pieces into position.

• A suitable finding could be used for the centre decoration.

• If you need longer curtains increase the canvas size (Image, Increase Canvas Size) and use the Deformation Tool to stretch the "curtain material" to the desired length.

• For wider curtains adjust the settings in Step 5.

• To resize the the entire window size image go to Image, Resize and click on Actual Image Size. You will notice in this tutorial the finished image is 5.5556" wide by 4.931" high (long). Adjust these measurements to suit your requirements. Resizing down to a smaller size will not effect the clarity of the image, just the physical size. However, increasing the image size will result in a degradation of the image quality.

• For internet purposes the pixel resolution is set to 72 pixels per inch. For a clearer image print you may need to adjust the resolution up to 300 dpi depending on your printer.

• To print your curtains onto material I recommend using Celcast Carrier Sheets  Use the material setting on your printer.

• As an alternative to material try printing onto 2 ply table napkins or serviettes adhered to the Carrier Sheets or double sided sticky tape. Separate the layers after printing. This will give a thin floaty type of curtain.

• For more hints & tips for printing on fabric check Bright Ideas & Facets of Egg Artistry or my Computer Awareness for Egg Artistry video available from my web site.