RAK | Creation Cassel

New script – Plaid 3

January 19, 2021September 11, 2014 by Cassel

Whether you are doing digital scrapbooking, or card making or any other graphic project, you can probably create your own plaid pattern but sometimes, you want something more delicate than a full color pattern.

With the Paintshop Pro script, you will be able to generate up to 25 tiles that will only be made of a few lines, without any background, so you can add your own. This will make the seamless plaid pattern less overwhelming. Adjust the opacity and the design can make for a softer paper.

Get this script in the store: Plaid 3 script.

If you prefer to create plaids from an image, you can use the Plaid script, while the Plaid 2 script will use all (or most) of the colors to fill in the pattern. It is your choice.

Do you want a chance to win this script? Add a comment below telling me the type of color palette you could imagine in a plaid pattern or what kind of project you can think of to use this script. I will announce the winner in the newsletter NEXT week.

For a sample, i created 8 plaid patterns based on the basic colors of the rainbow. For a back to school time of year, it might fit those theme projects. It also matches the curled ribbons that were available 2 weeks ago.

Those tiles are actually png files, with the colored lines but NO background color (the white on the preview is just to help display the patterns). You can use your own background color, or even use some lined papers as a background. Why not?

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

New script – Glass Marbles

January 19, 2021August 1, 2014 by Cassel

Marbles are common in games for the young and not so young. Although i never played marbles, as in the formal game, i have played with them as in lining them up, making them roll on various paths, etc.

If you want to create a “digital marble” for a kit, or a layout, where will you find it? And if you find it, will it be the right color for your project?

Maybe you can find a template where you can choose your own colors? That is good for the color, but you will be limited in the design.

This script will ask you to choose between 1 and 6 colors, so you can start with a photo, a paper, or a palette for those chosen colors. From there, it will combine those colors randomly, and create a different swirl for each of them. You will never have two identical marbles, even if you are using the same colors.

Create between 5 and 25 marbles in one run. If some of them don’t look good to you, just discard them.

You can have the script generate the marbles in size ranging from 100 to 300 pixels. And once they are done, you can also size them down if you want to use them as glass pearls.

Grab this script HERE (before you lose your marbles!)

Do you want a chance to win this script? IN THE COMMENTS BELOW, tell me what is your favorite color for marbles. Since this script is so easy to run, i will create marbles for EVERYONE who will post a comment below with their color (whether you are a PSP user or not).

Do you want to know who won the Puzzle script from last week? Check out the newsletter!

Since i didn’t have a way to determine what color would be best for anyone’s project, i decided to create a set of marbles based on basic primary colors: yellow, red and blue. It is interesting to see how those bright and vivid colors are sometimes combined into not-so-flashy swirls, don’t you think?

The set includes 20 marbles, so you have a lot of choices.

Each marble is 300 pixels wide, so they are big enough to be… marbles, but you can also resize them down if you prefer to use them as glass beads, to decorate frames, jewellery, etc. You can also export them as picture tubes if you want a quick way to put them onto a project.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

New script – Punched Confetti

January 19, 2021June 27, 2014 by Cassel

Did you ever spill all those little pieces of paper from a three-hole puncher? Those nasty little pieces are a dream for kids and crafters. But what about digital artists?

To cut out little circles out of papers can be ok if you are only doing a few, but if you want to recreate the look of a bunch of them randomly spilled (or skilfully arranged!), that will take you forever and a day.

This is a script that will do everything for you and will turn those tiny bits of papers into a tube (check out this article for more information on what can be done with Picture tubes in PSP) . This will then allow you to “spill” those pieces wherever you want, on a project.

You can embellish your pages by adding confetti as an accent in a corner, have some gold and silver confetti for a celebration project, create a border of confetti or add to a flower cluster. You can use a little confetti or a lot.

And this script will not ask you to choose a color; that would be cheating! It will ask you for PAPERS. That is what confetti are from, right? And the pieces will come from randomly selected sections of the papers, they can be rotated and even sized slightly differently if you want (but that is optional). You can work with a single paper, or a series of papers. You can just create a paper with a gradient too, if you want the colors from that gradient (or you can create a gradient from the color palette you are working on).

See other examples of confetti created with a single patterned paper and a gradient paper.

There is so much you could do. Grab this time saving script now: Punched Confetti.

And for a chance to win this script, head over to the DST forum in THIS THREAD and tell me what you would do with those confetti. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner, which will be announced in the newsletter.

Do you want to see those confetti up close (and personal)?

Here is a set of 3 confetti spills in simple blue, white and red colors. They can be used to embellish a celebration layout (the 4th of July is around the corner and so is the 14th of July). But you can also use them for any other type of layout. Those simple colors can also go very well with a kid themed layout.

They are proportionally spilled based on a 3600x3600 pixels layout, which means that the tallest one is close to the 3600 pixels height.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

What will you do with these? Show us your masterpiece.

New script – Wrapped Frame–Round

May 3, 2014May 2, 2014 by Cassel

A few years ago, i wrote a tutorial on how to create a wrapped frame effect with Paintshop Pro. It is a fairly simple tutorial, but it is a long process, and requires precision.

Although you can surely do that yourself, using a tutorial in the Creative Scrap Course, you might also want the convenience and speed of using a script instead.

This is what i came up, when i was looking at that tutorial. You can use ANY ribbon you have, whether it is wide or thin, opaque or translucent, plain or patterned, or even if you are using a directional design on it (like that measuring tape in the preview).

But you are not limited to only one-size-fits-all type of frame. You can choose a frame from 400 pixels in diameter for a tiny photo to a 3000 pixels frame for a whole page. Furthermore, you can have a thin frame or a thick one. But you think that is all? Think again. You can also have the ribbons overlapping, to wrap the frame almost completely, or leave some obvious space between the ribbons for a totally different effect. Do you want the ribbons to look like they are around a thick base? Add a bevel. The script will also add a drop shadow to all the pieces if you want. Most of the time, that will be your choice, but in case you want to manipulate the end result more, maybe have some flipped ends, or something like that, you can skip the shadow step and add them yourself afterward.

And yes, since all the layers are left unmerged, you still have a lot of options to manipulate and tweak them to create something really custom.

The base frame is even left in there also for you to possibly use it as a template to create something else.

See what i did with the same frame:

What else could be done? Your imagination can go wild with this!

Grab this fun time saving script: the Wrapped Frame – Round script.

Did you ever wrap a frame with a ribbon like this? Tell me in this thread in the Happy Place for a chance to win it. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

This week, i wanted to give you a little challenge.

In the newsletter, i will include this layered ribbon wrapped frame, in grey scale. It will be up to you to turn this “ordinary” looking frame into a piece of art.

It is fairly big (2000 pixels wide) so you will have plenty of room to do something cool. I saved it in PSD format, so all the non-PSP users can also get into the fun of it.

What can you do with it? Here are some ideas:

- colorize the layers (all or some)

- remove some layers to make room for something else

- use the base template to create a prettier base

- add decorative elements to the whole project, like a cluster

- resize copies of the frame to layer them

What else will you do? Make sure you check the newsletter tomorrow morning so you can work on this challenge and show us your result. You can post it on our Facebook page, in a comment below, or just send it to me by email and i can post it either in the store or the newsletter.

Time to have fun!

New tubes – Wool

April 26, 2014April 25, 2014 by Cassel

Do you like the look and feel of soft woolly elements? Are you looking for those elements all over the net to add to your graphic projects? Although you can probably find strings, ropes and ribbons, wool is harder to find because of that fuzzy texture that is terribly hard to extract. And if you are lucky enough to find one, it might not be in the color you want, or the shape or size or length you want. What can you do?

If you have Paintshop Pro, you can use these fun tubes. Yes they are tubes, which means you can simply draw with them and have a wool “string” in any shape, or length you want. You can use straight lines, place the wool along a vector shape (with the Vector Tube script), or just hand draw it.

This set includes 12 different colors. They are slightly different in size and texture, which will make for something more realistic, don’t you think?

You can grab this set of Wool tubes in my store. Remember they are 25% off until Tuesday.

If you want a chance to win this set, just check out the thread in the Happy Place and add your name to the thread and give me one suggestion on how these could be used. Who knows? I might just create something from your ideas!

What can you do with those? See what i did. I used a heart shape and since it was a vector, i just ran the VectorTube script on it. Then, on a new layer, i simply wrote, freehand, the phrase “I LOVE YOU”. Simple enough, isn’t it?

This actually reminds me of a little pillow i sewed fr my husband, many years ago. I did some simple patchwork on one side and on the plain side, i put the words “I Love You” in wool, but just sewed the wool on the fabric. I think we still have that pillow somewhere as i seem to remember seeing it not long ago when we moved things around.

What would you do with those?

New script – Engraved Rocks

April 17, 2021April 18, 2014 by Cassel

Whether you want to add a date, a name, an event or simply an inspirational quote, this script will help you create these elements in just a few seconds.

You can start with any single word, phrase, number or even a design and the script will create a rock based on the size of that text (or design). You can use any size you want and the end result will be about one an a half time the width of the text. Beware that very large image will be slower to create.

Since the script will create a DIFFERENT rock every time, maybe you have some preferences for lighter rocks or darker ones, or specific shapes might look better. Ask the script to create more than one (you can ask for as many as 20) and you can pick and choose which one you want to keep.

As a bonus, for each engraved rock the script creates, it will also generate a blank version of it. This will allow you to possibly “paint” something else on the rock or just have a blank one for another project.

Grab this inspirational script of Engraved Rocks in the store.

Do you want a chance to win this script? Head over to the Happy Place and tell me of one word you would like to see in a rock that you would use. Next week, i will draw for a winner, but not only that, EVERYONE who will post with their one word, will get an inspirational rock made with that word. So, you don’t even have to be a Paintshop Pro user to get a rock!

This week, i thought i could do something traditional, yet a little different. I created a series of 3 rocks with some common words “Live”, “Love” and “Laugh”, but i thought of adding a little twist by also creating a “Scrap” rock!

Each rock is around 500-600 pixels wide.

What do you think? This set of rocks will be sent out in the newsletter this weekend. Are you subscribed yet?

If not, subscribe now.

New script – Folded Edge

April 5, 2014April 4, 2014 by Cassel

Creating a folded edge on papers, photos or mats can add a definite 3D effect, but it is not always easy to do.

If you are using templates, with each folded piece on a separate layer, you can probably get away with using a plain type of paper, however, as soon as you want to use a patterned paper, or something directional, the templates will not give a realistic result.

Creating the folds manually is one way to get the correct angles on the patterns, but it is quite tedious to match the angles whether you are using the Pick tool or the Rotate function. But, yes, it can be done.

However, using this script will make the whole process much faster and more accurate.

You can use a single paper, and have it fold on itself with both sides being identical or you can pretend you have a two-sided paper, by using two different papers layered on top of each other before you run the script.

The folds will also be custom made. You will choose how many folds you will have, where they will be and how deep they will be because you will place the dots where you want, and the script will execute the commands based on those dots. You can have as many dots as you want, anywhere you want, for a custom look.

You can get this Folded Edge script in the store.

See how this script works:

Do you want a chance to win this script? Check out this thread. Tell me how you would create a folded edge if you didn’t have the script. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

See what can be done with a photo and a slightly patterned paper as the “backing”:

What i did was open a large photo, and added a greyish paper on the layer below. I ran the script on one edge (the top one) first. Then, because it made for a lot of layers and because i was fairly happy with the default shadowing, i hid the photo and paper layers and merged the visible layers. That gave me one layer for all the top folds.

Then, i moved the photo and paper layers on top of the layer palette and ran the script for the right edge. Again, i merged all the little pieces for the right edge making sure i didn’t merge the ones from the top. This allowed me to erase the little bit that extended beyond the right edge (the script didn’t know i had run it on another edge before).

Then, i repeated the same thing for the other two edges. Finally, i just moved the photo below all the folded edge layers.

What do you think?

New script – Ribbon Tag Corners

January 19, 2021March 28, 2014 by Cassel

In traditional paper scrapbooking, what would you do with small bits and pieces of ribbons? I am sure you can think of many things you could do. In fact, i saw someone create fun little corners with ribbons and i figured it would be interesting to have a script to randomly select ribbons, cut pieces and a arrange them more or less like a corner and add a fastener.

I know, it is easy to cut two pieces of ribbons, and layer them together. But it is so much more fun to have the option to have 10 of them created in one run, all different and simply pick our favorite.

With this script, you can choose to have as many starting ribbons as you want, and you can create up to 10 corners at once. You also have 3 fastener options: brads, eyelets or staples. For the brads and eyelets, you can choose the color or pattern you want so it is easy to have something that matches the actual ribbons you are using, or you can have a metallic pattern for them too. If you choose staples, there are some staples that come from Rachael’s Scraps, included in the script. Or you can also choose to have no fastener added by the script so you can add your own, like a button, a gem, stitching, or any other element you have in your stash.

You can grab this fun Ribbon Tag Corners script in my store.

You have a chance to win this script for free by adding your name to this thread in the forum. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

cass-RibbonCorner As a sample of what you can do with this script, i have this one. I started with 3 ribbons from Rachael’s and generated 5 corners. I only picked one to work with.

First, i chose the eyelet as a fastener and used a gold pattern instead of a solid color. I think it turned out pretty good.

I added shadows on separate layers for the ribbons and using the Warp Brush, i tweaked the shadows on the ends of the ribbons to give the impression that they were lifted.

For the eyelet, i thought it would be cool to imagine that the ribbons were thick and the eyelet was very tight so i selected a circle almost as large as the eyelet itself, inverted the selection and then, on the top ribbon, i added a wide inner bevel. That is what gives that impression that the ribbon is “indented” by the eyelet. Isn’t that a cool effect?

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

New brushes – Corner punches A and B

February 25, 2017March 21, 2014 by Cassel

Last week, i released a set of brushes to be used like corner punches are used in the traditional paper crafting world. Those brushes are really brush tips that can be used with the Eraser tool to punch out the design but they can also be used with the Brush tool to add a corner “stamp” to the projects.

These brushes were so well received that i thought of making a second set, using mostly circles (the first ones were using mostly squares). They work exactly in the same way.

Each set includes 12 different designs, in two sizes: 500 pixels if you are using PSPX and older and a 999 pixels if you are using a newer PSP version. Of course, you can always size them down when you use them to match your particular project. Add a rotation and you can punch all four corners.

(and there is also a set for PS and PSE users!).

You can get those sets here:Set A and Set B.

There is still another thread in the DST forum where you can add your name and have a chance to win this Set B. Check out this thread, and tell me what graphic program you are using. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

Are you unsure how to install brushes in PSP? No worries. I uploaded a short video tutorial just for you. You might also want to subscribe to this new channel so you can see the newest videos i will upload as i do.

If you are not yet subscribed to the newsletter, get on that list now! It is free to register and you get advanced notice of sales, and exclusive tips and tricks to make you more efficient with your PSP.

Register NOW

New script – Stitched Edges 2

January 19, 2021February 28, 2014 by Cassel

If you love the look of stitching around the edge of elements, letters and shapes, you will LOVE this script. It is using a simple tube to create the stitching, and another tube for the holes.

Using any vector shape, you will just run a free script (that you’ll have to download separately) and follow the steps. The script integrates various options, like the width of the edge, the puffiness, the texture of the element and even the color of the stitching as it will colorize it for you. However, in the end, you will have unmerged layers, so you can tweak the color further, or add other details to the element, like shading, stains, or other printing.

Use preset shapes or draw your own. It is also great to create alpha in a (almost) single operation.

The zip file includes the thread and hole tubes that you can also use separately, in other projects.

You can grab this Stitched Edges 2 script in my store.

If you want a chance to win this script, check out this thread in the Happy Place and tell me what element you can think would really use some stitching around. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

cass-StitchedEdge2-sample-WhiteDigits For this week, i decided to play with the idea of creating a whole alpha in one run with this script. I started with the digits (as there were fewer elements in the end). On a large image, i typed in the digits in white. I had to adjust the kerning to make sure the letters would not touch each other when the edge was added. Then, i ran the script. Everything went smoothly from there. I added the texture that came with the Clothes Label script to give a more “fabric” texture to those puffy digits.

Once the whole set of 10 digits was done, sewn and puffed, i just used the Alpha Sheet Separator script to cut out, and save all the individual files. That took less than one minute!

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

With the speed and ease of doing this set of digits, i could not help myself than repeat the process with the full alpha! And you can get it in the newsletter. If you have not yet subscribed, fill out the form on the left.

News from the Campus

This month, the live presentation will be about directional tubes. Do you know about those? Do you know what they are? Did you ever use them? Although you might know that Picture tubes are unique to Paintshop Pro, you will love to learn that the directional tubes are so much more powerful!

Join us this Sunday, March 2nd, at 5pm Eastern Time.