CRUMPLED SILK BACKGROUND

TERMS OF USE: Please Read - Thank You!

CRUMPLED SILK BACKGROUND

Before you start this tutorial please have Sandy Blair's Quick Tile filter installed in PI on your computer.

1. Open a new, white canvas 300W x 300H pixels.

2. Use the Paintbrush on the settings shown:

Shape - circle (size 15)

Trans - 0

Soft Edge - 50

Lines - Freehand

Draw some lines across the canvas as illustrated.

These do not have to be copies of mine - make yours individual!

3. Use the Retouch tools/Smudge on the settings shown:

Shape - circle (size 50)

Level - 65

Soft Edge - 10

Blend the black lines into the background as illustrated, using diagonal movements across the canvas.

Try NOT to leave any large areas of black - streaks like those shown are best. Larger areas of white are fine but will mean less folds in the the silk.

Please note - the random nature of this part meant that I had to do a number of these blends before I got exactly the effect I wanted in the final silk. So don't worry if you don't get a perfect result first time... the whole tutorial is so short you can Undo as far as your painted streaks and experiment until you succeed - that's part of the fun!

4. Now open the EasyPalette/Effect/Texture/Metal 1 - Right Click/Modify Properties & Apply.

5. Change the settings to those shown opposite:
Intensity - 60
Level - 12
Complexity - 10
Smoothing - 20
Shining - 100
Dual color - from white to black

NOTE: If you are going to make a few silk backgrounds, it might be a good idea to click on the Add button at this stage and add these settings to a gallery in your EasyPalette for future use. All you will have to do then is click on the thumbnail generated. :-)

Click OK

6. Click on Effect/Simple/Quick Tile.

7. (Optional) At this stage I sometimes find some unnatural sharp lines in the silk - if this happens click on Effect/Blur/Blur. Use the default setting - or the right-hand preset for an even softer look - and OK.

8. Now, to give a bit more shine to the silk, click on Format/Brightness & Contrast, and click on the right-hand square in the centre row about three times.

9. To colour your satin, click on Format/Color Balance and click away on the squares until you have achieved the colour of your choice (I have also slightly sharpened the finished picture using Effect/Sharpen).