Animations » Sparkels
These animated starry headings or pictures can be cool if you don't overuse them. Too many of them on your site would give the visitor a headache!
There are two ways to do this sparkle thing as I see it. Probably more, but I'll show you two.
Method 1
Will give you this type of image:
I started with making the base picture in PSP. It's a heading so I started with writing it:
I've used a font called champignon and I've added a butterfly. Create it as floating, and leave the floating on (don't right click). Copy the selection and paste it as a new image. Paste it as a new image two more times, so you have three identical pictures.
If you have sparkle brushes you can use them. If not, you have to create the sparkles your self. I have brushes so I add some on all the images, on different places.
As you can see I've been a bit lazy with the amount of stars. But add loads of them on different places. You can also add some black. Use different brushes on each image.
Method 2
This method is better suited than method 1 when you want to make bigger images. First, we have to create a sparkle pattern.
Open a new image in PSP. Fill it with gradient color or solid color. I'll use a silver gradient.
Duplicate the image twice.
On the fist image, click on Effects -> noise -> add
Use the settings I have used:
Now, add sparkles and stars with your sparkle brushes.
Now we are ready to make our image. Keep the three images with the sparkles open in PSP. Open a new image big enough to fit your text (or what ever you are creating). Since I'm making a heading, I use the text tool. Choose "floating". Choose the stroke color, I've used back, and for fill color we are going to use the sparkles images. So click on the little arrow in the text box (red circle) and choose pattern (green circle). Now, click inside the color square (purple circle).
A box called "pattern" pops up. Somewhere near the top, all the images you have open in PSP should be listed. Since I have she sparkle images open, I can choose them, one for each picture.
Open a new image, write on it and use pattern two, do the same with a third image (use pattern three). We now have three texts with different sparkle fillings in.
Now, open Animation Shop 3. Copy paste the first image into AS3. Paste the second image in after the first, then the third. I usually copy the first one from PSP into AS3 as a new image, then copy image two in PSP, go back to AS3 and right click on the first image I pasted in, choose "paste after current frame". I do the same with the third image.
I have a set of three images:
Click on View in the top tool bar in AS3, then animation. Your newly created animation pops up. Mine looks like this:
