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Desktop Calendar Tutorial Page 2 Let's put together our desktop calendar. So much of the rest of this is up to your liking. I will show you the basics of what I would do but please make this all your own but customizing the heck out of it! Make sure your merged layer is active. Edit > Copy. Minimize your template and bring back up your larger image. Edit > Paste > As a new layer. Now your template is centered in your larger image. Add a new layer. Selections > Select all. Selections > Modify > Contract > 50 > ok. Flood fill with a color of choice, I am using #B28D7A. I have decided to add a texture to my brown layer. Add a new layer. Set your Textures box to a pattern of choice. I am using Old
Paper. Set your fill color to either lighter or darker than your original
fill color, I am using #8A6350. Your styles and texture boxes should look
like this: Flood fill your selection with this texture. Add a new layer. Selections > Invert. Flood fill this selection with your pattern of choice. I am using the leavestile.jpg. Be sure to turn off your texture. To give it a bit of depth let's apply a cutout. Selections > Invert. Add a new layer. Effects > 3D Effects > Cutout > these settings: Add a new layer. Repeat this cutout but change the Horizontal & Vertical to -5. Selections > Select none. Turn off all layers except your leaf border and the two cutout layers. Layers > Merge > Merge visible. Rename this layer border. Turn this layer off. Turn your center background layer and texture layer back on. Leave the border layer and calendar template layer turned off. Layers > Merge > Merge visible. Rename this layer background. So now you should have three layers: If they are not in this order move the layers around now in your Layer Palette. This is how we should look now: You can change your template line color if you wish. Activate the template layer. Selections > Select all. Selections > Float. Flood fill the selection with the color of choice. I am using #4E392E. Selections > Select none. Add a new layer. Now you want to add the month, days and numbers. This part is all up to how you want it. I would suggest you add new layers as you go along so you can adjust as you go. I would start my placement of the days with Wednesday because it is the longest in length. (November starts on Friday and has 30 days.) So here is how I have done mine: Obviously you can decorate your calendar anyway you like, have fun with it! Now save it as a .jpg or .bmp in a folder or somewhere you won't be moving it from. I saved mine to My Documents as novcal.jpg. Minimize PSP. In a blank area of your desktop right click and choose Properties. Click on the Background tab at the top. Click on the Browse button and find/open your calendar image. Picture Display should be set to Center. Click Apply. Click OK. Now to update your calendar or add reminders and what not, open your calendar in PSP. Add a layer and then add your text or what ever you wish.
Save the image. Minimize PSP. Right click on a blank area of your desktop and choose Refresh. You should now see your update. Now maybe I should clean up my desktop so I can actually read my calendar! A note from Jas, one of my
testers... Would you like to donate a Desktop Calendar for others to use? Just send me the full size graphic along with your name and url to webmistress@whisperscorner.com . TY! If you are doing this tutorial for a graphics group be sure to resize a copy of your image to the specified size for your group. These images can be quite large in file size and I don't think the moderators will be too happy if we all are sending through full size images.! Page 3 for samples made by my testers. Back ~ Tutorial Index ~ Next
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