Once again you need PSP6 to follow this tutorial - a free download is available if you click here.

Open a new image in PSP – leave the background white for now. You can make your tree any size you like, but you will get the best effect if it is in the proportions of 2 units wide to 3 units high (for example, 120 x 180 or 200 x 300) – I have made mine 150 x 225. Click on L to open the Layer Palette and lock it open by clicking on the downward-pointing arrowhed in the top right corner. Click ob the top left icon in the layer palette to create a new layer – rename it “outline” and click OK. Select dark green (#004000) from the colour palette and draw a freehand “skeleton” tree (see diagram 1.)

Create a new layer and rename it “tree.” Open the “Tube” tool in the left-hand toolbar (the one that looks like a paintbrush with a blue pot near it) and select “spruce” in the Tube menu; scale it down to 15 for a small tree and 20 or 25 for a larger one. Dot springs of “spruce” along all the branches of your skeleton tree (diagram 2) then dot more sprigs in the larger gaps near the centre of the tree (diagram 3.)

2     3

Open another layer and call it “fill.” Choose a brighter green (#008000) and draw and fill a roughly tree-shaped triangle within the outlines of your tree – see diagram 4. Now, go to the Layer palette and drag the name “fill” to below “tree” and above “outline” and your tree will then look like diagram 5. Click on the “spectacles” next to the “background” layer title – it will disappear and be replaced by a grey checkerboard pattern. Go to “Layers” in the top toolbar and select “Merge” and “Merge visible.” You will find you now have only two layers – “background” and “merged.” Click on the name “merged” and rename it “tree.”

4     5

Open a new layer and name it “trunk.” Use the “selection” tool (dotted rectangle) and draw in the position of the trunk and flood-fill it with the green you used earlier – it doesn’t actually matter what colour it is now because it isn’t going to stay that colour for long! Leaving the trunk outlined with the dotted line, click on “Image / Rotate” and rotate it 90 degress right or left. Then (still with it outlined) click again on “Image” and then on “effects / sculpture” and choose pattern 13, size 65%, depth 20, angle 315, Intensity 50, Elevation 30 and Smoothness, Ambience and Shininess 0. Then click on “image” AGAIN and rotate it 90 degrees again (back to vertical) and right-click on the background. Drag the layer name “trunk” to between “background” and “tree” and you will have something like diagram 6. You can leave your tree like this to decorate or you can add a “pot” on a new layer if you want to.

Open a new layer for the decorations : you can use any tubes you have, but keep them small, or you can use some or all of the shapes on the extra clipart page. Put a fairy or a star on the top – to draw a star, select yellow on the colour palette, click on the “preset shape” icon (blue square/red circle) and choose “star 1” for a five-ponted star and “star 2” for a six-pointed star. Drag the cursor on your new “decorations” layer to the size you want then re-position your star to the top of the tree. Highlight it with the “magic wand” tool then select “metallic” from the presets in Image / Effects / Inner bevel then “OK.” I have decorated my tree with a mixture of standard PSP6 tubes – “Confetti” scaled down to 50, “Colored Spheres” scaled down to 10, “Candy Canes” to 25 and “Streamers” to 30. (All these tubes came with PSP6.) (Diagram 7.)

Next I have added a tinsel garland, made on a new layer from the snowflake gif on the clipart page, or you could use white “dots” with the airbrush tool set at round / size 10 / hardness, step and density all 50 and opacity 100. Now open another layer and rename it “lights 1.” Use your favourite star or sparkle tube, or one of the ones on this page, and dot in a few small “lights” (diagram 8) then open ANOTHER layer called “lights 2” and dot an equal number of “lights” on that layer, in any available spaces. (diagram 9.)

8     9

Now, switch ALL the layers off and the background ON.

You now have two choices – you can have your tree on a coloured background, or you can make the background transparent. Which you decide to do will determine how you treat the background. If you want the same background as your page, or a white or colured background, simply flood-fill it, using the “pouring paint pot” icon and, if you want a background gif or jpg, on the options palette select Fill Style Pattern, click the cross-hatched tab and select the background name from the list under “new pattern source” and use it to fill the background.

To make the background transparent you need to find a colour you HAVEN’T used in your tree image – quite a difficult task – or a pastel colour similar to your page background. I have gone with a pale blue - #B0CBF4. Use your selected colour to fill the background (make sure “background” is selected in the layer palette.) “Switch on” all the tree layers EXCEPT the lights. Now switch on ONE set of the lights – let’s say “lights 1.” Now to save your tree with a transparent background. Go to “Colors” and click on “select palette transparency” and “Yes” then “OK.” Movte the cursor to the backgrounds and it will turn into a dropper tool icon – click on the background and the colour will transfer to “set the transparency…entry” - click OK. Click back on “color” and “view palette transparency” and the background will be replaced by a checkerboard pattern. Save this image as “tree_1.gif.”

Next, click “undo” to re-open the layers and switch “lights 1” OFF and “lights 2” ON then repeat the “set transparency” to “save” process, saving this image as “tree_2.gif.”

Open the Animation Shop – click on “File” and scroll down to “Run Animation Shop.” Click on Animation Wizard in the new window. Click “Next” in all the next 3 windows to confirm the default settings, then set the display time to 33 and click “yes, repeat indefinitely” and OK. In the next window open both images – it doesn’t matter in which order – and then “next” and “finish.” You will then be shown the 2 animation frames. Click on “View” and “Animation” – you will see your tree with its lights flashing. If you are happy with it click on “File” and “Save As” – give it a name and click “save.” Click on “Next,” “Next” and “Finish” to complete saving your Christmas tree.