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One of the most talked about new features of PSP is the Picture Tube. It's also the one causing the most confusion. Questions abound, "What are they?", "What are they good for?", "How do I make my own?". I don't intend to go into the last question at this time but perhaps at a future date I will add it. For now we're going to look at the Picture Tube Options and touch briefly on "What are tubes" and "What are they good for".

What Are Tubes?

Tubes are these fun little pictures that come in a "tube", so to speak. One click of your mouse button and you have an instant picture. Drag your mouse around and you've got... well... you've got lots of pictures.

Picture Tube Control Palette

Tubes may be selected from the dropdown box in the Picture Tube Control Palette. Tube size may be changed from 10% to 200% of their original size by adjusting the Scale Slider.

The Picture Tube Options Dialog Box

The Picture Tube Options dialog box is located behind the Options button on the Picture Tube Control Palette. The dialog box contains information about the selected Tube. Some of this information may be changed, some should not be.

Cell Arrangement shows how the Tube cells are arranged in the Tube file. (In English that means how many images are placed across and how many are placed down in the .tub file). These are the default settings and should not be altered.

The Placement Options Panel

• Placement Mode:
  • Continuous - Images are placed at equal intervals.
  • Random - Images are placed at random intervals.
• Step Size: Smaller numbers result in less space between images placed on the canvas; larger numbers result in more space.
• Selection Mode: Governs which Cell in a given Tube is painted to the canvas.
  • Random - Selects random images, (Cells)
  • Incremental - Starts with the first image and cycles through all of the Cells, starting over when the cycle is complete.
  • Angular - Cells are selected dependent upon which direction you drag your mouse.
  • Pressure - Used with a pressure sensitive pad. Images are selected according to the pressure applied to the pad.
  • Velocity - Images are selected according to the speed with which you drag your cursor across the canvas.

What are Tubes good for?

The main advantage to Tubes, especially if you make your own of frequently used transparencies, is that they can be dropped on any color background without their drop shadow deteriorating the way they do when you change background colors.

Currently the selection of Tubes is rather slim but even with the choices at hand a passable logo or banner could be created with little effort. I feel sure that in the not too distant future we'll find a variety of free Tube files around the Web for download. Some additional Tubes are available now at the following locations:

• Jasc Software,Inc., Additional Picture Tubes and Resources - Scroll to the bottom of the page for the link to the zip file. This file contains the Spiders, Butterflies and Leaves used in the example below.

As an example of working with tubes, I've created a quick banner using the Tubes tool. First, I opened a new window (white background) and immediately added a new layer by dragging the background button down to the New Layer button. You might as well start with a layer rather than working directly on the background. If, as you get into your image you should decide you want to adjust the Opacity or play with the Blend Modes you'll have to promote the background to a layer. It's just easier to start with one.

Using the Tube Tool, I added oak leaves and maple leaves, (Scaled to 59%), Spiders, (full size) and Butterflies, (Scaled to 59%), to the first layer. Name this layer Leaves.

Now we're ready to add our text, which is added directly to the Leaves layer rather than a new layer. Open the Add Text dialog box by selecting the "A" on the tool bar and then clicking directly in the middle of where you want your text to be positioned. Make sure the Antialias box is checked in the text effect box and the Floating is not checked. Select your Font, Size, type your text and click ok. If the text is not exactly where you want it, try again.

Once you're satisfied with the position of your text select Selections | Promote to Layer to promote the text to a layer of it's own. Name this layer Text.

Now is a good time to play with the layer opacity sliders. Open the Layer Controls dialog box and adjust the Leaves Layer Opacity. Notice how the Leaves Layer becomes opaque and the Text Layer remains the same.

To make the text stand out we'll need to apply some Cutout effects, but in order to retain the background colors inside the text we need to Float it. You'll find the Float option under Selections on the Menu Bar.

Now we're ready for the cutouts. Select Image | Effects | Cutouts... from the Menu Bar. We'll need to make two separate cutouts with the following settings:

Press CTRL + D to deselect the text.

For a finishing touch I added PSP's Buttonize effect. First, I deselected my selection by pressing Ctrl + D on my keyboard. I then changed my Color Palette colors to 255, 255, 255 foreground and 77, 251, 179 background since the button effect is directly affected by the active palette colors.

The Buttonize options were set to:

• Height & Width - 75
• Opacity - 100
• Transparent Edge

Blend Mode:
Text Layer - Luminance
Leaves Layer - Exclusion

Blend Mode:
Text Layer - Multiply
Leaves Layer - Dissolve

Gradient Fill
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Deform Tool