Blade Pro Basics Tutorial

                 Ok!!! You have dl the zipped file with the blank.q9q and the bmps we will be using and put them in your special folder for this tut...right!!?? If not, then you need to do that now before we move on.
                 As in the first page, open a new graphic with a white background, 16 million colors that is 300 by 300. When you have done this, put a rectangle in the middle leaving enough space at the top and bottom to put 72pt ding and characters in those spaces. Once you make your triangle, go to image/plugin filters/flaming pear/blade pro if you are using psp 6 or older, or to effects/plugins filters/flaming pear/blade pro if you are using psp 7. The last plugin filter you used will show up in the popdown menu of effects which is a little thing I really like.
                 Now you will see the BP window that we looked at on page 2 of the tutorial. Go to the load preset button and load in blank.q9q. You will see a big blank nothing in the preview window. This is what we want. Now click on the Texture control and load in the tutext.bmp. Now go to shape and click on the 4th shape from the top. As you see nothing is still going on. Click on the Environment control and load in ff16.bmp. We now have color. But its rather drab and flat looking so we need to so some setting changes on it. Set the settings as follows:
                 Radius                         7
                 Height                       -40
                 Texture                         2
                 Texture Zoom Slider 72
                 Reflection                 100
                 As you add each new setting make sure to note the changes in the preview.
                 Now, what you have may not be pretty, but it serves the purpose nicely. Now without changing the radius or height for now, just move the Texture Zoom Slider around slowly and watch what happens. Then put your cursor over the Texture Graphic control and slowly move that bmp around while watching the texture change in your preview. Neat huh!? Now change the setting on the Texture slide bar and watch what happens. Not that it will make much difference with the bmp we are using, but go ahead and click on the curved arrow to change the position of the bmp in the Environment control.
                 Another experiment is to set the setting for Iridescence to 20 then more the Iri slider back and forth. This lets you change the strength in the iridescence colors. Once you are done there, put the settings back to zero on these two and then move to Tarnish.
                 Click on the little white box at the end of the Tarnish control and then choose a dark noncompatible color such as icky dark red. By sliding the bar back and forth will give you an idea of what it can do. Set this back to zero when you are done. You needn't change the color back if the Tarnish's setting is zero.
                 Now lets jump up to Glassiness. Experiment with moving this around as well to get some idea of what it will do.
                 The other controls at this time will have little effect on this particular preset. But this would be a good time to check out different shapes, textures and radius for your preset. Once you find something you like, save your preset and then click OK. Now add a font with say, you two initials to see what it will look like. Then add a ding as well.
                                                  
                 The settings I used here where radius of 14, height of -89, texture at 2 reflection at 100, with the 4th shape down and tutext.bmp for texture, and ff16.bmp for color. I put drop shadow on Jo and cutout and drop shadow on my ding.
                 Open a new graphic and make your rectangle and go to BP. Now click on the little gray bmp square above the Texture control and make it the plain gray square. Using the same font and dings that you just used, apply your preset to them and compare the two results. Can you see a noticeble difference?
                 I hope you enjoyed this part of the tutorial and I hope to see your work in Lounge Lizards. For the next part of the tutorial, click on next.

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