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Step 1

Now let's apply the techniques as described by Microsoft® "Creating Windows XP Icons" to a hands-on project.

Start by creating a new image 300 by 300 pixels with a white background.

On the Tools toolbar, select the Preset Shape Tool (P) .

On the Tool Options palette, select the Callout 3 within the Shape list:

To help maintain it's default shape, hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard and draw your image as large as possible on the canvas:

On your Layers palette, click on the plus mark ("+") to expand the Vector 1 layer.

Click on the Callout 3 layer. This will bring up the Vector Property window displaying the default settings:

Now, remove the checkmark from Stroke.

Change the color under Fill to #996600:

Layers > Convert to Raster Layer.

Selections > Select All [Cntrl - A]

Selections > Float [Cntrl - F]

Selections > Defloat [Cntrl - Shift - F]

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Save Selection To Alpha Channel... > Save.

Your image should now look similar to this:

Selections > Select None

Step 2

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load.

Selections > Modify > Contract > Number of pixels: 3 > Okay.

On the Materials palette, click on the Foreground color and select the Color tab. Set the color to #cc9900.

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

On the Tools toolbar, select the Move Tool (M)

Move the image upwards just a little bit. The idea here is to determine how much of the color you want to keep. The color OUTSIDE of our selection is what we'll end up with:

Now, hit Delete on your keyboard. You should now have something like this:

Now, use the Move Tool (M) and move what's left of our piece back into the selection area:

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load

Adjust > Blur > Gaussian> Radius: 3 > Okay:

Selections > Select None

Layers > Merge > Merge Down

Step 3

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load

Selections > Modify > Contract > Number of pixels: 3 > Okay.

On the Materials palette, click on the Foreground color and select the Color tab. Set the color to #ffcc00.

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

On the Tools toolbar, select the Move Tool (M)

This time we're going to move the image downwards leaving more then we did on the top:

Now, hit Delete on your keyboard:

Use the Move Tool (M) and move the piece back into the selection area:

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load

Adjust > Blur > Gaussian> Radius: 10 > Okay:

Selections > Select None

Layers > Merge > Merge Down

Step 4

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

On the Tools toolbar, select the Selection (S)

On the Tool Options palette, Selection type: Ellipse

Draw an elliptical selection on the lower part of the image like this:

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection with the same color we used previously.

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load

Adjust > Blur > Gaussian> Radius: 20 > Okay:

Layers > Merge > Merge Down

So far so good!

Step 5

Let's add some highlights.

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load

Selections > Modify > Contract > Number of pixels: 2 > Okay.

On the Materials palette, click on the Foreground color and select the Color tab. Set the color to white or #ffffff.

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

Because the background is white, it's going to be a bit harder to see so we'll show you an easier way for our next cut.

On the Tools toolbar, select the Move Tool (M)

When your dealing with Raster layers, as long as the Move Tool (M) is selected we can use the arrow keys on our keyboard to move our image in all four directions; up/down and left/right.

On your keyboard hit the LEFT arrow key 12 times:

Now, hit Delete on your keyboard.

Let's place it back where it originally was. Hit the RIGHT arrow key on your keyboard 12 times.

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load.

Adjust > Blur > Gaussian> Radius: 4 > Okay:

Selections > Select None

Layers > Merge > Merge Down

Step 6

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

On the Tools toolbar, select the Selection (S)

On the Tool Options palette, Selection type: Ellipse

Draw an elliptical selection on the upper part of the image like this:

Now were going to remove a small portion from the bottom of the selection.

While holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, start from the bottom center of the selection and bring it upwards like this:

When you let go of the mouse you should end up with a piece similar to this:

On the Materials palette, click on the Foreground color and select the Color tab. Set the color to white or #ffffff.

Then, on the Materials palette, click on the Foreground color and select the Gradient tab. Click on the image to open the available gradients. Select Fading White and use the following settings:

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

Selections > Select None

Layers > Merge > Merge Down

Your image should now look similar to this:

Step 7

Now it's time to add the drop shadow. The article refers to using Adobe's Photoshop when adding a drop shadow using the following settings: angle at 135, distance to 2, and Size to 2. The drop shadow is black at 75% opacity.

Well, Paint Shop Pro doesn't give us the option to set the angle. What I did was open up the Materials palette, click on the Foreground color and select the Gradient tab. I then chose a gradient that I could see fairly well and applied the 135 degree angle. This is the angle:

Lets see if we can get fairly close using our image.

Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow... use the following settings:

And that gave my image the following appearance:

Not too shabby! Now go colorize, lighten up or darken your image to see what you can come up with. Remember you can apply the same techniques to web dings, winging's, fonts, your own selections, etc...

Enjoy!