Once again you need Paint Shop Pro to follow this tutorial - I'm sure it's perfectly possible to make snow globes with other graphics programs, but I always use PSP so there it is....

First of all open a new image the size you want your finished image to be (click on "file" then "new") and flood-fill with your choosen background (click on "pouring paint pot" icon, hit the "O" key to open Tool Options, Fill Style "Pattern," Pattern/New Pattern Source from list - you will need to have aleady opened your chosen gif - and then click on image backgound to flood fill with the gif) - my demo globe is on the same background as this page.

Now hit the L key on your keyboard - this will open the Layers Palette : if you click on the arrowhead in the top right corner of the layer palette it will stay open and be easier to use (you can drag/resize it like any other window.) Click on the icon (in the layer palette) which looks like two sheets of paper - this will give you another layer. Double-click on its name in the layer palette and rename it "globe." This layer should now be highlighted on the Layer Palette.

Click on the selection tool (dotted rectangle) in the left-hand tool bar and then in the Tool Options window "Selection type" "Circle." Check antialias but leave Feather at 0. Place the cursor cross-hairs in the center of your background image, hold down the left mouse button and drag a circle of the size you want on the background. Leave it selected (moving dotted line) and click on "Image" "Effects" "Cut Out," set Shadow colour to black, opacity to 45, Blur to 30 and offset - both horizontal and vertical - to 15. Make sure "Fill interior with color" is NOT checked, then click OK. Leaving the circle stil selected, click Image/effects/drop shadow and set the colour to black, opacity to 30, blur to 30, vertical offset to 5 and horizontal offset to 5 then click OK. Right-click to fix it to the layer. If you want to re-position it within the image, use the four-pointed cross "Move" tool and the left mouse button to drag it to the required position.

Open another new layer and call it "base" then go back to the Selection tool and this time set it to rectangle and use it to draw the shape of a base for your globe to sit on. Set the foreground and backgound colours (both boxes of the colour palette) to pale grey, select the flood fill "paint pot" icon, set Fill style on the options palette to "Solid Color" and fill the base in grey. Leave it selected (moving dotted outline) and click Image/effects/buttonize then set height to 1, slide the width slider all the way to the right and set opacity to 100 and check "transparent edge" then "OK." Still with it selected, click on Image/effects/inner bevel and choose "metallic" from the list of presets. Drag it into place if necessary then right-click to fix. To make the "highlight" spot on the globe, to give it depth, use the freehand selection tool (the one that looks like a lasso.) Set it to "Freehand," feather to "5" and have the antialias box checked, select white from the colour palette then draw an oval near (but not right at) the top left-hand edge. It will expand when you release it, but don't worry - it will end up the size you wanted! Make sure there are no gaps in the oval then flood-fill it with white and stand back to admire the effect!

Now to put something inside the globe : I have used a snowman (naturally!) - there is a tutorial for Snowmen elsewhere on this site (click here) - but you can use anything you like. Resize your image BEFORE you get it to the globe - it needs to be about 100 or 110 pixels high and no wider than the globe's base to fit inside the globe properly. When you are satisfied with the image you want to put inside the globe, open another new layer ("image" or "snowman" etc.) and paste the image onto that. Now, to put it INSIDE the globe, click on the name of the new layer in the Layer Palette and drag it down until it is just above the "backgound" layer and below "globe." You should now have a nice shiny globe.

Now for the snow! Add another new layer and call it "snow." Choose the paintbrush icon and set it to 3 / round on the Options palette. Use it to dot 15 - 20 snowflakes randomly on the globe. If necessary, drag the name of this layer to below "globe" but above "image /snowman." Now - you are going to SAVE all your work so far as a GIF image - hit F12, "Save As" "snowglobe1.gif" etc.

Go back to the "snow" layer and drag it a TINY bit downwards - all the snowflakes should move together. If any end up outside the globe, use the "selection" tool and "delete" to remove them and dot an equal number of new snowflakes at the top. Save this image as "snowglobe2.gif." Repeat this process twice more, moving the snowflakes a little way down each time, to make "snowglobe3.gif" and "snowglobe4.gif"

This is the REAL fun bit - making those snowflakes fall inside the globe! Open Animation Shop (don't worry, it came with PSP) - click on "File" and scroll down to "Run Animation Shop" and click on that. A new window will open. In this new window, go to "File" and click on "Animation Wizard." Click on "next" in the first three frames that open, to accept the default settings then set the time to 20 (hundredths of a second) and "indefinitely" then click "next." Now add the images you saved : snowglobe1.gif, 2, 3 and 4 by clicking "add image" - make sure you have them in the right order. Then click "Next" and "Finish."

Click on "View" and "Animation." If you are happy with your finished snow globe (and I hope you are!) click on File (in the animation shop window, NOT PSP itself) and Save As and name your gif. Click "Save" and "Next" (three times in all) and "Finish" to complete your animated snow globe.