Simple PSP Calendars

*sample size*

You can use this tutorial with any version of PSP. Pictures shown are from PSP 8. You can download a trial version of PSP 8 at http://www.jasc.com

To complete this tutorial as shown, you will need the following supplies.

Calendar Grid (Should work in any PSP version)

Photographs

Remember to save often!

1. Open the file titled "calgrid.psp". This file will have two layers, a transparent bottom layer and the grid layer. It's set to 1024x768, but you can resize the image if you'd like to work a little smaller. I like to start big.

2. Duplicate the image. (Shift-D) This will give you a clean picture, keeping the original for future use.

Now comes the creative part. I like to think up a "theme" or find a message I'd like to convey. Sometimes I start with the pictures themselves, sometimes with a saying or quote. In this case, the picture of Lucy Lawless (xena1) was stunning and really showcased her natural beauty. Since she can also be a hard sword-wielding battle-hardened woman, I was struck by the difference between her beauty and her danger. I decided that I wanted to show that off with the old saying, "I'm more than just another pretty face."

For this tutorial, we'll be making the calendar reflect that feeling. If, at this point, you'd like to strike out on your own and use my instructions as a guideline, please feel free.

I usually work with the pictures first, to get an idea about what colors I'll be using. For this tutorial, I'll be doing a straight black background with a red grid, as shown in the example at top. 

3. Open the "Xena1" photograph. Copy this picture and paste it into your main image as a new layer.

With Xena1 highlighted, choose "Edit - Copy".

Highlight your grid image and choose "Edit - Paste as New Layer".

Rename the layer "Xena1" and close the photograph.

4. Move the new layer behind the grid layer. You'll notice that the grid kind of vanishes. Let's fix that. Click the little "eye" next to the Xena1 layer so you can't see it anymore.

Now the picture of Xena is out of the way, we'll change the color of the grid.

Selections - Select all.

Using the "Magic Wand", click anywhere on the picture and the grid will be selected. 

Zoom in so you can see the outlines of the grid. Flood fill with color #C00000 (the 2nd darkest red). 

Now you have a red-colored grid instead of a black-colored. Go ahead and make Xena1 visible again.

5. Flood fill the background with black. Now the picture of Xena really stands out, as does the grid. But her face is covered by the grid and the grid is kind of too high for us to add our month name. Go ahead and reposition either Xena1 layer, or the grid layer to where you want them.

I moved my grid down a ways and then moved Xena1 so she is still centered in the grid and her face clearly shows, but the bottom "line' of the picture matches the grid line.

6. Open the file named "Xena_Chakram". As you can see, this picture has a really white background and isn't usable as is.

Crop the picture a little, to wipe out some of the background and the Xena logo. I cropped mine to 780x780.

Select the Freehand Selection tool (the rope). Leave the settings as shown below.

 

Click and drag around the main part of the picture. You don't have to be perfect, so don't worry if you end up with dips or wavy lines. Try to stay close to the edge of the picture, but inside the image of Xena and away from the white background.  (IF you are disturbed by the wavy edges you are making, try using the "point to point" or "smart edge" features of the freehand tool. It takes longer, but it might save your sanity!)

When everything is selected, let go of your mouse button and the picture will become a selection.

Go to "Selections" and choose "Modify - Feather" (or ctrl-h). Feather to about 35. Click okay. Now you have a wide band around the picture. 

Edit - Copy, move to your calendar image, Edit - Paste as New Layer. Rename the layer "Xena2". Now you have your second Xena image. But there are a couple of problems with it. Let's get those white spaces out from inside the chakram.

Using the Freehand Selection tool, outline the white space inside the upper part of the chakram. (You might find it helpful to turn the grid to invisible and zoom in a little.) Selections - Modify - Feather to 35. Click "okay". This time, click your DELETE key and now the white space should vanish.

If there is still too much white for you, you can click the delete key a second or third time. When you've got it as you like, repeat it with the bottom half of the chakram. There's also a tiny space under her hand you might want to remove. You don't have to be perfect here since we'll be modifying the picture some more.

7. Make sure Xena2 is highlighted. Choose Image - Resize (shift-s)

Let's start by resizing down by half. Make sure you have your settings on "percent" (not pixels!) and put "50" in the provided box. You can resample using "smart size". Make SURE the "lock aspect" box is CHECKED, and the "Resize all layers" is UNCHECKED.

If your "resize all layers" was checked, your entire calendar probably shrunk. Undo it and remove the check so only the Xena2 image shrinks.

8. Move Xena2 to the right side of the picture, so the chakram is kind of behind the back of the Xena1 picture.

If everything is all right, close the Xena_Chakram photograph.

9. Open the Xena_Sword photograph. Again, there's a lot of background here we don't need. Using the steps outlined for the chakram picture (step 6), outline the picture of Xena, feather it about 35, and copy and paste it into your main calendar image. Rename this layer Xena3. Close the sword photograph.

10. Resize the Xena3 picture to half. Move it over to the right side of Xena1. Go ahead and make all the layers visible if they aren't. Now you have an idea of what the finished product will look like.

11. Let's add a border. Borders are simple and nice, and help set your calendar apart from the background. They're also easy to make and add a bit of your own personal creativity to the calendar.

 

Highlight the background layer.

Selections - select all

Selections - Modify - Contract 20

Selections - Invert

Now it's kind of up to you. For our example, we're going to flood fill with our grid color #C00000. But you can flood fill with wood grains, textures, or other pictures.

I also added a bit of white to the edge, to make it stand out and look more like a frame.

 

Selections - Invert

Effects - 3D Effects - Drop Shadow

Settings are as shown below.

Repeat, changing the offset settings to -2 horizontal and -2 vertical.

11. Time to choose a font. I like to choose fancy fonts for the main title and the quote or saying (If you have one.). I usually use this font for the numbers and days of the week, too. I used "Heather" for this example.

Set your background color to the red we used for the grid. #C00000. Set your foreground color to "null" (turn it off.)

Click anywhere and open your text tool. Choose your font and size for what looks good. (Mine is 48.)

 I also recommend messing around with the "Leading" feature. This puts extra space between the letters on the same line. Since we're making a calendar for "May", we can space out the letters (try setting leading to 500) and make our font look even fancier than before.

 

Move the title anywhere on the picture you like.

Layers - Convert to Raster Layer - Rename the layer "May"

 

 

Since it's hard to see this clearly on the background, add a drop shadow using the same settings as we did for the edge, using "2 horizontal" and "2 vertical". This really makes the name stand out.

 

12. Using the same font, click anywhere and type the word "Mon" or "Monday".

Resize the font to about 20-24.

Layers - Convert to Raster Layer - Rename the layer to "Mon" - Add the same drop shadow as above.

Repeat for all the days of the week.

13. Move the days around into position. Personally, I placed them just above the top line of the grid, but off to the left side of each square.

14. Our grid is looking kind of sad and lost. Let's add a drop shadow to it to bring it out. Use the same one we've been using throughout.

 

Highlight "Grid" layer.

Effects - 3D Effects - Drop Shadow

 

WOAH! Too much! Let's change the settings to the following:

 

 

That's much better.

15. Go ahead and add the numbers to the grid. You can do this a couple of different ways. Resize the numbers as needed and you can set your leading to -100 (or so) to squash them together. I set mine to 18pt, -500 Leading.

Using the text tool, place the number in the appropriate square and position it carefully. Move to the next number and continue until all the numbers are on the calendar. When finished, convert to raster layer and add the original drop shadow (white, 2, 2, 100%, 3).

 

OR

 

Using the text tool, click anywhere and type the number. Convert to Raster Layer. Add the original drop shadow (white, 2, 2, 100%, 3). Move into position. Repeat for all numbers.

 

The difference between the two is positioning. The first method creates ONE raster layer of all the numbers, where the second creates individual layers. If you want to move an individual number around, the second method is best.

16. When you get to the last line of numbers, stop. May has a couple of "split" days on the calendar. If you've done method 1 above, go ahead and close out the range of numbers now. You'll need a little more flexibility for the last line.

Go ahead and do 25 - 29 and position them.

 

Do 23, 24 and 30, 31, making each it's own raster layer and adding the shadow. Place 23 and 30 in the same square, on opposite ends from each other. Do the same for 24 and 31.

 

Create a new layer. (Layers - Create new Raster Layer)

 

Using the "pen" (line) tool set to the following settings:

 

 

 

Draw a single line diagonally across the square. Make the line a little longer than what looks good.

 

 

Convert to raster layer. Add the grid drop shadow. (White, 2, 2, 80%, 5)

 

Repeat for the next square. (Don't forget to repeat the new layer step!)

 

Zoom in on the horizontal lines. (Try about 400%). Highlight the raster layer for the horizontal line. Using the "paint" tool, color out the drop shadow that overlaps the grid square. This will clean up how it looks.

 

    

 

Don't forget to do the top part. Then repeat for the other line.

17. It's time to finish up with the pictures. While I like the effect of the three together, the sword and chakram detract from the beauty of the center one. I'm going to resize them another 80%.

Select "Xena2" layer. Resize 80%

Select "Xena3" layer. Resize 80%

Now they're a great size, but they're still overpowering my main image. Let's "fade" them out into the background.

Select "Xena3"

Layers - Layer Properties

Reduce the Opacity to 65%

 

 

Repeat for "Xena2"

 

Move the pictures into a little better position now. I like to try to keep the faces visible, as well as the weapon she's carrying, since it's part of my theme. It's a good time to zoom out a ways and look at the overall picture.

18. Add your text. My saying will be "I am more than a pretty face." A "play" on a famous quote. Since there is already a lot of numbers in the middle of the calendar, I'm going to separate the quote into two pieces and put the first half in the upper left and the second half in the bottom right. Arrange them any way you like! Don't forget the drop shadow to match the rest of the picture.

19. Change your font to Ariel 10 pt, white. This is to add the special days in the calendar. It's best to use something small for this, and Ariel is easy to read no matter how small it gets. I like to use a contrasting color for the special days, so they really show up.

20. Save your completed work as a .jpg.

File - Export - JPEG Optimizer

 

 

Choose "Use Wizard"

 

 

Set the slide to "Better Image Quality" and choose "next".

 

 

Set the "Chroma Subsampling" to "NONE" and choose "next"

 

 

Set the background color to black and choose "next".

 

View the final product as it will save. You can move the little preview window around and check your word edges as well as zoom in or out. Choose "finish" and title your calendar "May_1024" or whatever you'd like.

And you're finished making a calendar for May 2004.

Thank you for taking this tutorial. If you have questions or comments, please email me and ask!