This tutorial is divided into 2 sections:
A. How
to create basic a torn edge effect,
B. How to create
more advanced effects
Part 1: Basic Method
1)
Creating a New Image Click ‘File/New' or click
the New icon on the Property Bar.
In the Create New Image dialogue box, use the following settings: 24 bit
RGB colour image; background colour: white, leave the No Background' box
Unselected; width 200; height 200; 72 dpi resolution.
2) Creating a new object/layer for the torn edge object:
Click ‘Object/Create/New Object' or click the ‘New Object' icon
near the bottom of the Objects Docker (note: later, we need to
make a mask of only part of the object on a layer, and so we cannot use
the background layer to create the object.).
Double-click the name of this new object on the Objects Docker to bring
up the object's properties dialogue box. Rename the object ‘Rip'.
3) Create the basic edge: for a torn edge to be realistic,
it needs a degree of randomness/chaos in the actual edge. To assist us with
this, we use Orbit feature. However a suitable effect can simply be created
using slight shakes of the mouse while drawing the initial line.
Select black as the paint colour by left-clicking on the black colour swatch
on the bottom of the colour pallet.
Select the Paint tool (brush) from the Toolbox. Make sure that the Tool
Settings Rollup is visible. Select the Art brush, type Custom Brush, paint
Normal, from the Paint Tool Settings Rollup. Click the Orbits tab on the
Paint Tools Settings Rollup.
Check the Enable Orbits box, then choose 'Dirt' from the presets
and change the radius to 8.
Use the Property Bar to select the round/oval nib shape and change the size
to 8. (Change these after you have selected the 'dirt' orbits preset otherwise
the actual nib size and shape is determined by the preset).
On the Rip object, paint a ragged line down the centre from top to bottom
. You may need to go back over the line once more to eliminate any white
holes left in the line. Also, if you prefer a nearly straight tear, you
may wish to hold the CTRL key down to help make the line straighter.
4) Fill in the gaps: uncheck the 'Enable Orbits' checkbox
on the Orbits tab of the Rollup. With the brush Paint tool still selected,
change the nib shape to square and the nib size to 40 on the Property Bar.
Paint over all of the white area to the left of the line with black. Don't
leave any gaps or holes, but don't paint over any of the right hand edge
of the original line.
5) Displacement: the torn edge
needs to be fairly rough and chaotic. I have used the displacement filter
to assist us here.
From the menu, click Effects/ 2D Effects/ Displace. Load the Sand.pcx displacement
map. Change the settings to: stretch to fit, repeat edges, horizontal=7,
vertical=0, then press OK. (You may experiment with these settings if you
wish but I found that increasing the vertical level created unwanted holes
in the black area)
The left edge of the black area may be affected by the displacement filter.
If so, repaint over this area with the black paint brush so that all of
the left hand half of the image is completely black. Also, if too high a
horizontal level has been used for the displacement, black spots may appear
in the white are. These should be erased using the eraser tool (with a small
nib size) if necessary after the displace filter: paint over any white holes
in the LHS area of the 'Rip' object. |
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6) Make the tile seamless: when using an image as a tile,
it needs to be seamless. We use the Offset filter to create a seamless tile.
It is much better to use this tool now on a relatively simple object, than
later after the fills have been added.
With a vertical tear such as the one created here we only need to ensure
that the top and bottom of the image weld together seamlessly when tiled;
we can ignore the horizontal offset level.
Click Effects/ 2D Effects/ Offset. Change the settings to: horizontal=100,
vertical=50, (when shift value as % is selected), and wrap around selected.
Click OK
After the offset filter is applied, check again that no white spots have
appeared within the black area.
If so, just paint them black. This may be a good time to save the image
as a .cpt file if desired.
7)Create the masks: this
torn edge effect requires that two masks be created from the same object.
However the second mask is offset and slightly feathered from the first.
Create the first mask as follows: with the Rip object still selected, select
Mask/ Create from Object (Ctrl M) from the Menu.
Click the Show Mask Marques icon on the main Toolbar to see it if you wish.
Save the mask as a Channel and name it Over mask.
Modify the first mask to create the second as follows: Click Mask/ Shape/
Expand from the menu and choose a width of 2. Click OK. Click Mask/ Shape/
Featherand choose width=2, direction outside, edges=curved. Click OK.
Save the second mask as a channel and name it Under mask. |
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8) Fill: adding the paper fill patterns: you may use
almost any fill you wish, including any of the auto-generated texture fills
available from the fill dialogue box. If you need to write text to the paper
later it may be best to use a relatively light coloured fill.
Add 2 new objects by clicking the New Object icon on the Objects Docker
twice. Name the uppermost one Over and the lower one Under:
these are required to give the edge a region which appears to have the top
surface of the paper separated from the lower surface within the torn region.
Make sure the second of our masks (the Under mask) is present. If you need
to load it back from the Channels, make sure that the mask merge mode is
set to normal. Click the Object Selector tool (pointer) on the Toolbox and
select the Under object in the Objects Docker.
Fill the Under object: click Edit/ Fill, select Bitmap fill and then Edit
from the Edit Fill and Transparency dialogue box. The Bitmap Fill dialogue
now appears. Click Load and then locate the fill you like, then click OK
to load the tile. Click OK again to paste the fill into the Under object's
masked area.
Remove the existing mask (Mask/Remove) and then load the Over mask (merge
mode normal). Select the Over object and then fill this object with the
same fill as before. |
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9) Drop shadow and final adjustments: Select the Under
Object and then add a drop shadow (Object/Drop Shadow). I used the following
settings: Flat, 315 degrees, Offset=3, Opacity=90%, Feather width=10, Direction=average.
Right-click on the two selected objects in the Objects Docker (the Under
object and its shadow) and ungroup them. Select the Under object (only it,
not with the drop shadow) and change the merge mode to Add and the Opacity
to 86% (all using the Objects Docker controls). With the Object Picker tool
select the Over object move it 2 pixels to the left (hit the keyboard right
arrow twice). Change the merge mode of this object to If Lighter.
(You may wish to experiment with the merge mode and the opacity of the upper
layer object, as described in more detail in the Advanced section. You can
obtain a great many variations to this effect just by tweeking these two
controls in the final step).
Web pages backgrounds: To use
same the torn edge as a background for a Web page, the width of the page
should be at least 1024 pixels. Simply choose Image/Paper size, uncheck
the Maintain aspect ratio box, change the width to 1024 and the placement
to centre-left, then click OK.
Filling the right white space:
before combining all the layers, you may wish to add a fill instead of the
right white area. Don't forget to remove any masks first!
This is best achieved by adding another object, moving it to just above
the background layer, then filling this. If you just fill the background,
you won't be able to adjust or modify many of that fill layer's properties
since it is a background object. You can even use the same fill as previously
and change the transparency or the brightness to make it more writable.
Part 2: Advance tecniques
The main emphasis on this section is to encourage exploration of the program.
Corel PhotoPaint provides an almost endless variety of means to an end.
1) Adjusting Merge Modes and Opacity One of the main methods
to create an almost infinite number of variations in the techniques described
here is to alter the merge mode, opacity settings of one or more layers/objects.
The most effective layer/object to change seems to be the 'Under' layer:
changing this layer alters the thin region between the drop shadow and the
fill used, making the tear appear as though it had several layers, or as
if some of the print had peeled off separately.
Lets call this the chaotic region: the intensity of the effect
of different modes varies according to the darkness of the original object.
Adjusting the overlay offset between the two fills (refer below) was also
important. The original 'Rip' (black object) can also be manipulated by
merge modes (or removed entirely) to also alter the overall effect.
2) Adjusting pixel offset between similar objects: the
width of the chaotic region changes as the Under and Over layers are shifted
against each other: generally, I found that a shift of 2-5 pixels created
a moderately realistic chaotic region for paper type tears, for less tearable
substances such as stone or granite, which tend to crack rather than tear,
I found that a very thin offset is better. However to make the chaotic region
appear distinct even with such a small change, the 'Under' object actually
had be be completely inverted (merge mode=invert). 3) Making
really large rips and tears: the really large rips were created by erasing
sections of the black 'Rip' object before the displacement step .
It is important to note several aspects of this method: use the eraser,
not a white paint brush. If the paint brush is used, when you create the
mask from the object, both the black and the white areas will be selected.
If you do use a white paint brush then select only the black region with
the mask magic wand tool.
Set the width of the eraser tool nib to 4/8 pixels and erase to about 1/3
of your required depth, then change the nib size to 2/3 pixels and etch
deeper with smaller strokes to give a cleft appearance. It helps to have
a slight case of the jitters to make really nice jagged edges.
If you need to set the deep rips in a specific position, remember that the
Offset filter will alter their position. To position the deep rips precisely,
add them after you have applied both the displace and offset filters. You
will probably then need to reapply the displace filter and fill in any white
holes that appear. |
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Round holes:
 One way to paint a nice round hole is to create a circular mask (mask circle
tool with shift and ctrl held down), then use the stroke mask took to place
the black paint (another method is POM, paint on mask brush, and to apply
to masks distortions with Distort/Displace and a Medium filter, Noise/Medium).
The stroke mask tool still works well even when you are using orbits.
Torn Text
1) Create a new image, white background.
2) Use the Text tool and a large chunky font to create some text on a new
layer.
3) Create a mask from the text object and save as a channel. 4) Use the
eraser tool to erase a jagged rip across one half of the object. |
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5) Create and save the second mask (half of the text, either top or bottom).
6) Load the first (complete) mask, change the mask merge mode to minus,
then load the second. You should now have a new mask which is the other
half of the original complete text mask. Save this as another channel (if
the second mask's name was 'top', then this third mask would be 'bottom'
and vice versa).
7) One word requires only two masks, if there are more words, they need
more masks, exactly two masks, a top and a bottom, for each word.
8) Load (if necessary) one of the half masks. Select the Mask Transform
tool, and change the Mode to Rotate mode. Move the centre of rotation to
one corner of the mask. Drag (rotate) the opposite corner up (about 30 degrees)
if you have loaded the top mask, or down if you have loaded the bottom mask.
Save this mask as a channel. Remove the mask.
9) Load the other half mask and repeat the rotation in the other direction.
Save as a channel.
10) Change the mask merge mode to 'Add', then load the other rotated mask.
You should now have a mask of your complete text with a tear across it which
is wider at one end than the other. Save this if you wish.
11) Create a new blank object. Fill the mask with your favourite fill and
use one or more of the effects/filters. |
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| from a tutorial by David Mutch (http://www.visionary-voyager.com.au/corel/photopaint) |
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