Paint Shop Pro v7 » Create star brushes

There are a few ways of creating sparkles, depending on what you would like them look like. I will not explain how to make the picture into a brush, as I've done it in the "make brushes" tutorial.

I always make my brushes in black color, since if you use white they won't show. When they are a brush, you can choose white when you use them, the stars will then be white even if they where created as black.

Method 1

I've used a brush that already exists in psp7 as base. Since many of you use another psp program, I'll post it:

Print it once on a blank sheet. Duplicate the layer but right clicking on layer 1 in the layer palette, and choose duplicate:

Go to "image" in the top tool bar, and choose rotate:

Rotate it 45 degrees:

It now looks like this:

You can stop there, or do the next step. Choose the regular paint brush, and use the settings I've used (or similar), and make a "dot" inside the star:

Make a selection around the star, merge all visible layers and make it into a brush. My brush looks like this:

Method 2

Is simpler actually. Use a soft paint brush like this:

And make a dot on a blank sheet. You can resize it when you use it later, after you've made it into a brush. If you want more dots, like a starry sky, add more dots in different sizes. My result:

Method 3

Color a blank sheet white. Open you layer palette (click ctrl L on your key board) and set the layer property to dissolve, and the move the opacity to one. It should now look like this:

It might be difficult to see, but there are some white dots… It's a good idea to erase some of the dots, or the stars will look a bit cluttered. Now, add a new layer (layers - new raster layer) and merge them (merge visible) to make the layer blend mode "normal" instead of "dissolve". Now, we'll add a drop shadow, so go to "effects" in the top tool bar, choose "3d-effects" then "drop shadow".

Use my settings:

Repeat it three or four times. Go to "colors" in the top tool bar and choose "negative image" to make it black (or it won't show as a brush):

My result:

Make it into a brush. Used on a picture it looks like this:

I added the star brush on a new layer, then set the layer blend mode to dodge. I then duplicated the star layer, flipped it and reduced the opacity to make the reflection in the water. I also erased the star reflection where the rocks where.

Method 4

This is composed of several stars. Use the standard psp star brush in different sizes and place it randomly on the sheet:

Then use a size one paint brush and place dots all over the place. Result:

Use the different methods to make composite brushes.