Designing Scrollsaw Patterns
with Paint Shop ProX

Part 7b


More Tools - Cont.
We will continue to work with the Kirk Douglas photo that we cropped and saved in the last part of this tutorial, so go ahead and open PSP and that image.

The contrast between the light and dark areas in a photo are both our friend and our foe when developing a scrollsaw pattern. A friend because the contrast is what gives the pattern definition and depth; foe, because the contrast is rarely evenly balance across the image.

However, it is working with this contrast that gives patterns that have been developed by programs such as Paint Shop Pro such character. Many programs ignore this contrast and render a "photocopy" type image that is little more than an outline of the subject and the subjects features. (See image bottom right. This "pattern" took about 10 minutes to convert and clean up using another program. Fairly decent likeness, but has no depth.)

Although these type of programs are much easier to learn how to use and manipulate, all the patterns they produce all seem to look alike. That is why I call them "cookie cutter" patterns. On the other hand, one advantage of having a "cookie cutter" pattern program is sometimes a pattern can be rendered that would not be possible with PSP. So, there is a place for both programs and if you get a chance to pick up one of these, by all means do, as they do have a place in pattern design.

Please do not take these comments as an insult to other graphic programs or those that use them. This is only my perspective of the subject. I have a similar perspective on "spiral blades" also but I'm not about to go there. lol


A
B
C
D
Threshold - "128" Threshold - "170" Threshold - "135" Threshold - "60"

Above are four different test settings for the Kirk Douglas image:
  1. - is the "Default" setting of "128"
  2. - the "170" setting is close to the setting I would chose for the face
  3. - I would prefer to see the setting for the shirt at about this setting, "135"
  4. - to give the hat some depth and dimension I would like to use a setting of about "60"

We learned earlier how to use the "Threshold" to adjust the lightness and darkness for the entire image, however, varying settings can used for different areas of an image that will result in a better pattern. The balance of Part 7 will be the explanation of how to accomplish this task.

Before continuing, I would like to say that this would be a difficult image to render a good pattern from and we will not be attempting to do it. I chose this image for this portion of our study because it was one of the best I could find to convey the subject matter.

There are at least two reasons that this is not a good candidate for a pattern: One, the photo is to flat, or straight forward, which shows no profile. When this is the case areas like the nose and even the brim of the hat are difficult to convey when restricted to using only two colors (black and white). Two, if you will look closely at the photo and try to visualize the light source, you will see that the light is entering from several different directions.

Of course, rarely will you have a perfect original to work from, so many times, in fact most of the time, you will have to work around these problems. Having the capabilities to divide the image into sections, as we are about to learn to do, is just one more tool that you will have at your disposal.

Our plan is to divide the image into three sections and each sections can be manipulated independent of the other two sections.

I will show you how I have executed this plan and I would like for you to duplicate it as closely as possible. Remember that this one is just a practice run to learn the procedure. We will not necessarily be completing the pattern.

The image to the right shows the approximate outlines that I used for the three different sections:

  • Blue - Outlines the Shirt,
  • Red - the Face and
  • Green - the Hat

To begin, click "Duplicate Layer" on the "PA Bar" three (3) times.
After the background layer has been duplicated three times the "Layers Palette" should look similar to the graphic above left. (Graphics shown are from PSPX - PSP8/9 are similar excluding the thumbnails.)

Although not absolutely necessary, sometimes it is helpful to rename these duplicate layers. We will go ahead a do that just for practice as well as to make the following instructions easier to follow.

As shown in the center graphic above, right click on the layers title. From the menu that will appear click "Rename". A cursor will then appear where the title for the layer is and you can type in a new name for that layer. Repeat for the other two layers. The names match the 3 divisions that will be made to our image: Shirt - Face - Hat.

The Layers palette will be used extensively in this exercise. Remember that the layer that has the blue highlight is the active layer, that is, work that is preformed in the workspace is being preformed on the layer that is highlighted in the Layers palette. To highlight a palette just click on its title.

To turn a layer off or on click the "Visibility Toggle".

The tool that we will use to slice up the image into sections is the "Lasso" tool. We talked about and used this tool in Part 6 in the Background Removal discussion. Click here for a reminder of it's location.
First we will section off the shirt. I am going to use bullets here as each step is critical:
  • Make the "Shirt" layer the active layer.
  • Turn off all other layers
  • Pickup the "Lasso" tool from the "Tools" toolbar.
  • Following the approximate path of the Blue outline portion in the example shown above, completely encircle the shirt area being sure to connect the beginning and ending points before releasing the mouse button.
  • Important: click "Invert Selection" on the PA Bar.
  • Go to Edit > Cut
  • Click "Select None" on the PA Bar

Below is the resulting Screenshot at this point:

Now using the Lighten/Darken tools as well as any of the others we have learned about you can modify this portion of the image just as we did we the whole image in the first part of this tutorial. When you find a Threshold setting that you like, click "OK" to accept the setting then move on to the next section; the face.

The face section would done identically the same way as the shirt section.

As with the shirt layer, modify the face layer with the appropriate tools then select your threshold setting and click OK.

Repeat the steps once more for the "Hat" layer.

The graphic to the right shows a typical Layers Palette after the Threshold adjustment has been preformed on the three sections.

We will now glue all these sections back together before finishing the pattern.

  • Turn on all layers except the bottom layer "Background" - Leave it turned off (not visible)
  • Make any layer except the "Background" layer active.
  • Go to Layers>Merge>Merge Visible
  • You are now left with 2 Layers - Background and Merged
  • Make "Merged" your active layer
  • Turn on both layers
Your screen should now be looking something like this:

The pattern can now be finished with the paint brush. Don't forget that the original image is still underneath and that you can bleed it through to help pick up details by using the slider as we learned in Part 4.

Practice Project: If you would like to finish this pattern that is well and good, however, your time would probably be better spent working with a different photo. There are some great pictures on this site http://www.reelclassics.com/Contents/stars.htm that would make some super patterns and patterns of the old stars are always popular with the scroller.

Practice, Practice, Practice!!

Pattern AcademyŠ2007