I used the photography of my husband John Taylor for the examples in this tutorial. Please visit his website here. We have put together 5 packages of his photography which are free to use. Each set contains the main images, close ups and masked images. You can find them here.
Open your photograph up in PSP. Hit shift and D to duplicate the picture then close the original.
In your layers palette right click on the Background Layer and hit Promote Background Layer.
Add a new raster layer and send it to the bottom. Floodfill the new layer with white.
Layers > Load / Save Mask > Load Mask from Disk.
Locate the mask I provided inthe dropdown box and apply with these settings;
Merge the group.
Add a new raster layer and send to the bottom. Floodfill with white.
Go to Image > Picture Frame.
Locate Edge Dots 2 (This is a default frame in PSP 8 I have included it in the supplies in case the version of PSP you are using does not have it, any white edged frame will look just as good so use whatever you like!)
Apply to your image with these settings;
Right click on the picture frame layer and merge down.
Image > Resize > Resize by 85% with bicubic resample, all layers unchecked.
Merge all layers visible.
Activate your selection tool.
Make sure it is set to rectangle, Add (Shift) Mode, Feather at 0 and anti alias checked.
Draw out a rectangle selection just inside the dotted frame edge.
Now, on your layers palette right click on your image layer.
Promote selection to layer and deselect.
Apply the following drop shadow to the promoted layer.
Merge all visible.
Take the selection tool again and this time select a large part of the image inside the selection you just added the shadow to.
Promote selection to layer, deselect and repeat the drop shadow.
Merge all visible.
Now select an area in the middle of your image, overlap the selection you just made to get the inlaid layered effect.
Repeat the above steps only this time apply the shadow twice. Merge all visible.
You are looking to get the overlapping effect so keep on selecting areas, promoting them then deselecting and adding the drop shadow. As you work on your image make your selections smaller and work from the outside in. Don't overdo it, look at the image and choose parts that you think look interesting to promote and remember to merge all visible after each drop shadow step.
This is how my image ended up looking like when I was making the example.
Now we need to sort out the detail on the tag. Go back to your original image and select a part you wish to use as the main focus of your tag.
Edit Copy > Edit > Paste as new image.
Image > Add Borders.
Add a symmetrical border of 3 pixels and choose a complimentary colour from your image.
Take your magic wand with these settings;
Click on your border with the magic wand and add an inner bevel.
Deselect and resize with bicubic resample, all layers checked. You want the image to be around about 100 x 100 so resize it until you get it there (There are a couple of ways to check the size, either make your Overview Palette visible or keep your eye on the image info at on the bottom right hand side of the task bar in psp).
Once you have it to a manageable size go to Edit > Copy.
Back over on your tag go to Edit > Paste > Paste as a new layer.
Repeat the Drop Shadow.
Effects > Plug-ins > Muras Meister > Copies.
Apply with the following settings;
Still on the framed row of images go to Adjust > Hue and Saturation > Colourise. Alter the colour to match the original image. (only do this if the row of frames is significantly contrasting to the main image - you might want to keep it as it is!)
Now we need to feather the row of frames.
Activate the Freehand Selection tool and set it to this;
Now select around the edge of the dotted frame at either side of the row of images, but make sure you select right up to the top and bottom edge of the canvas.
When you join your selection up it will increase in size.
Go to selections > Invert.
Make sure the row of images is the active layer and hit delete a couple of times to get this soft feathered look.
Now position your row of images either to the top or bottom of your main image. Once you are happy with the position lower the opacity of this layer to around 60 and merge all visible.
Now add the word art supplied as a new layer (or add some text of your own!) and lower the opacity to around 74 or what you feel looks best.
Finally add your name to the tag. You can add the same drop shadow or a gradient glow to your text. Lower the opacity once again so that it blends in against the background.
On this one I took a photograph of my eye and pasted it as a new layer on top of the tag.
I used the feather as described above to give it a softer edge and then lowered the opacity so that it blended with the sky. You can try all kinds of things with family photographs or pets!
