Technique to Create Your Own Borders/Shadows in PSP
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Technique to Create Your Own Borders/Shadows in PSP
by im42n8 » Mon Feb 09, 2009 9:45 am
This is an advanced level approach to creating shadows and borders when you can't use the border/shadow feature provided by photodex (such as when you mask a portrait image).
If you mask a portrait image so that you can slowly zoom in or out without changing the effective size of the screen real estate use, you have probably found that you must create the shadow and an outline yourself. Otherwise you're going to do without.
In my case, I usually duplicate the mask layer. If the mask layer has movement, it'll be likewise duplicated in the copy. If I'm going to have shadow and border, I duplicate it twice. My mask layers are typically going to alpha (transparency) layers so color / content is irrelevant. So, I can use a gradient or a solid color in this case.
The border, I change the color of the layer to the color I want and then increase the size by 1% (or so). In v4 I can increase or decrease this amount by portions of a percent (applied to all keyframes) if I can't get exactly the amount I want or need using the straight zoom %. If you're not using v4 then you start adjusting the pixel dimensions of the layer, one side at a time, until you get the layer ratio that seems to work for you at the zoom increase amount you've chosen. This layer is centered in exactly the same location as the mask and placed in the next layer below the mask set (so if the mask is layer 1 and the masked layer is 2, this border layer is 3).
The shadow, I place it below the border layer.
If you're not using v4, apply a 2 to 10% vignette. The reason for this is to take off the sharp edges. It appears that Photodex applies a corner of 1 to it's generated shadows ... that takes the sharp tip off the corner ... looks good to me (I use it sometimes too). The vignette takes the edge of the corner too but the corner = 1 flattens it a bit. Now, since the vignette in this case has reduced the apparent size of the layer I increase the shadow layer from the default size. You may have to play with it a bit but 102% to 105% is the range you'll probably use depending on how big you want the actual shadow. The larger the pixel sizes (while keeping the correct ratio, the better the control over the size and quality of the layer!)
If you're using v4, you can use the above technique or you can go right to the vignette and ONLY set the corner to 1 (but, that's an optional thing to do!). You're done with the vignetting now. Go to the adjustments and add a 10 to 20% blur to the layer. Now, offset it by 1 in each pan axis (and adjust from there!).
That's the basics of border and shadow creation the manual method!
NOTE: If you use an inverted alpha layer to create your border, you can place the border in a layer ABOVE the image because now you've cut out the center of the shadow layer (thereby letting the image show through it). Then you just resize the border layer to be bigger than the mask. You can likewise create a shadow this way. You just offset the shadow layer an appropriate amount. The portion of the shadow layer not offset is cut away and won't show.
These are advanced techniques to be sure and they do have applicability. If you do movement on these layers, if you do it right, the viewer will never know that you've done something unique. However, these approaches can allow you to do some pretty nice stuff that you can't get done using the outlines and shadows provided by Photodex (btw, their shadow is a solid layer too ... it's just hard-coded in!).
Modifiers aren't up to snuff right now for properly following other layers (position and zoom in particular ...)... particularly if that other layer is modified using modifiers! Either the timing is wrong, the sizing is wrong, or there's no real tracking or all three! They only work well with a few things right now.
There's also a bug in at least v4 (maybe earlier but it's very apparent in v4) that affects the width of your Photodex borders (i.e., the border option). If you have a border around a layer and you add a transition to that layer, during the travail through the transition the border will change . . . it can be reduced (looks like about half) while within the transition region.
On images in my shows that you know are masked, their borders and shadows are manually created using techniques described above.
Dale
If you mask a portrait image so that you can slowly zoom in or out without changing the effective size of the screen real estate use, you have probably found that you must create the shadow and an outline yourself. Otherwise you're going to do without.
In my case, I usually duplicate the mask layer. If the mask layer has movement, it'll be likewise duplicated in the copy. If I'm going to have shadow and border, I duplicate it twice. My mask layers are typically going to alpha (transparency) layers so color / content is irrelevant. So, I can use a gradient or a solid color in this case.
The border, I change the color of the layer to the color I want and then increase the size by 1% (or so). In v4 I can increase or decrease this amount by portions of a percent (applied to all keyframes) if I can't get exactly the amount I want or need using the straight zoom %. If you're not using v4 then you start adjusting the pixel dimensions of the layer, one side at a time, until you get the layer ratio that seems to work for you at the zoom increase amount you've chosen. This layer is centered in exactly the same location as the mask and placed in the next layer below the mask set (so if the mask is layer 1 and the masked layer is 2, this border layer is 3).
The shadow, I place it below the border layer.
If you're not using v4, apply a 2 to 10% vignette. The reason for this is to take off the sharp edges. It appears that Photodex applies a corner of 1 to it's generated shadows ... that takes the sharp tip off the corner ... looks good to me (I use it sometimes too). The vignette takes the edge of the corner too but the corner = 1 flattens it a bit. Now, since the vignette in this case has reduced the apparent size of the layer I increase the shadow layer from the default size. You may have to play with it a bit but 102% to 105% is the range you'll probably use depending on how big you want the actual shadow. The larger the pixel sizes (while keeping the correct ratio, the better the control over the size and quality of the layer!)
If you're using v4, you can use the above technique or you can go right to the vignette and ONLY set the corner to 1 (but, that's an optional thing to do!). You're done with the vignetting now. Go to the adjustments and add a 10 to 20% blur to the layer. Now, offset it by 1 in each pan axis (and adjust from there!).
That's the basics of border and shadow creation the manual method!
NOTE: If you use an inverted alpha layer to create your border, you can place the border in a layer ABOVE the image because now you've cut out the center of the shadow layer (thereby letting the image show through it). Then you just resize the border layer to be bigger than the mask. You can likewise create a shadow this way. You just offset the shadow layer an appropriate amount. The portion of the shadow layer not offset is cut away and won't show.
These are advanced techniques to be sure and they do have applicability. If you do movement on these layers, if you do it right, the viewer will never know that you've done something unique. However, these approaches can allow you to do some pretty nice stuff that you can't get done using the outlines and shadows provided by Photodex (btw, their shadow is a solid layer too ... it's just hard-coded in!).
Modifiers aren't up to snuff right now for properly following other layers (position and zoom in particular ...)... particularly if that other layer is modified using modifiers! Either the timing is wrong, the sizing is wrong, or there's no real tracking or all three! They only work well with a few things right now.
There's also a bug in at least v4 (maybe earlier but it's very apparent in v4) that affects the width of your Photodex borders (i.e., the border option). If you have a border around a layer and you add a transition to that layer, during the travail through the transition the border will change . . . it can be reduced (looks like about half) while within the transition region.
On images in my shows that you know are masked, their borders and shadows are manually created using techniques described above.
Dale
Last edited by im42n8 on Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:44 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Technique to Create Borders/Shadows
by sheldonk » Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:03 am
Thanks Dale!
I printed it out and will give it a try on the train ride home.
Interesting that modifiers aren't really there yet! Sounds like someone could get really frustrated if they didn't know that!
Sheldon
I printed it out and will give it a try on the train ride home.
Interesting that modifiers aren't really there yet! Sounds like someone could get really frustrated if they didn't know that!
Sheldon
Re: Technique to Create Borders/Shadows
by sheldonk » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:23 pm
Hi Dale,
I tried it out tonight. This worked great!
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... 5886&alb=0
This reminds me of borders and drop shadows in a PhotoShop layer style.
Using slide styles, this should be easy to duplicate. My example doesn't have the layers move. However, isn't there a way to lock the movement of one layer to another. This way, If I make the picture move, everything else should move too. I have to look into that.
This is a great little technique to have alot of control over what frames and shadows look like. I wish Photodex could give us something more robust like layer styles in Photoshop.
Thanks Dale!
Sheldon
I tried it out tonight. This worked great!
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... 5886&alb=0
This reminds me of borders and drop shadows in a PhotoShop layer style.
Using slide styles, this should be easy to duplicate. My example doesn't have the layers move. However, isn't there a way to lock the movement of one layer to another. This way, If I make the picture move, everything else should move too. I have to look into that.
This is a great little technique to have alot of control over what frames and shadows look like. I wish Photodex could give us something more robust like layer styles in Photoshop.
Thanks Dale!
Sheldon
Re: Technique to Create Borders/Shadows
by im42n8 » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:00 pm
Sheldon,
The only thing you can lock right now is the slide time. Modifiers purport to allow one layer to follow another ... but that feature doesn't exactly work very well right now. Part of it do but it's not reliable enough. Further, modifiers won't follow a layer that's got movement created by a modifier. So, that route's out for now. Also, you can't copy keyframes from one layer to another, you have to do that manually as well as set their location manually. Then, you can copy what's on one keyframe on a layer to another layer on the same or different slide. However, modifiers won't get copied.
Styles is a great way to copy over these things ... once you have them setup. I don't bother with that unless the setup is involved. That's because the initial setup is so simple (once you've done it a few times).
Using masks, I'm creating some more complex border versions ... and, while they may look the same to the viewer, they're not. Interesting to play around a bit ... and interesting what you can create! You'll be doing that soon probably too! It's just whatever works for you that you'll end up using (inverted or straight masks with your borders and shadows!). I've used these extensively in my latest two nature shows.
You may note in these two shows a slide with a large image in the center of the screen bounded by a border and is shadowed. The background is moving and zooming. The picture in the center is expanding faster than the border is and the border and shadow are both expanding together... but the background layer is not the lowest layer! The image in the bounded box (in the center of the screen) is! There are certain potential advantages to this technique. But, I'll let you play! Enjoy!
Looks like you've got a handle on it! Glad to have helped!
Dale
The only thing you can lock right now is the slide time. Modifiers purport to allow one layer to follow another ... but that feature doesn't exactly work very well right now. Part of it do but it's not reliable enough. Further, modifiers won't follow a layer that's got movement created by a modifier. So, that route's out for now. Also, you can't copy keyframes from one layer to another, you have to do that manually as well as set their location manually. Then, you can copy what's on one keyframe on a layer to another layer on the same or different slide. However, modifiers won't get copied.
Styles is a great way to copy over these things ... once you have them setup. I don't bother with that unless the setup is involved. That's because the initial setup is so simple (once you've done it a few times).
Using masks, I'm creating some more complex border versions ... and, while they may look the same to the viewer, they're not. Interesting to play around a bit ... and interesting what you can create! You'll be doing that soon probably too! It's just whatever works for you that you'll end up using (inverted or straight masks with your borders and shadows!). I've used these extensively in my latest two nature shows.
You may note in these two shows a slide with a large image in the center of the screen bounded by a border and is shadowed. The background is moving and zooming. The picture in the center is expanding faster than the border is and the border and shadow are both expanding together... but the background layer is not the lowest layer! The image in the bounded box (in the center of the screen) is! There are certain potential advantages to this technique. But, I'll let you play! Enjoy!
Looks like you've got a handle on it! Glad to have helped!
Dale
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