On the first page of PixelAlley's
Mosaics Section, you'll see the original image I used to paint
the mosaic (on the left) and the final mosaic next to it (on the
right).
The background is simply that final mosaic copied, mirrored, and
assembled
into a seamless pattern. Other pages in the Mosaics section also show
you
the original image and final mosaic so you can get an idea of how a
rather
small and mundane image can become interesting when used as the basis
for
a mosaic seamless tile.
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Original Image |
Final Mosaic |
Background,
Mosaic Seamless
Tile |
Unless you're
already familiar with
Painter's
Mosaics feature, take time to read the Painter User Guide's
chapter on Mosaics. You'll find instructions for creating
Mosaics
in the following locations in the Painter User Guides:
-
Painter 5 User
Guide: Chapter 6,
Mosaics
-
Painter 6 User
Guide: Chapter 10,
Mosaics
-
Painter 7 User
Guide: Chapter 11,
Mosaics
To create the seamless
tile, starting
with your final mosaic image, first read through these steps one time
to
get a general idea of where you're going, then begin:
1.
Open a new Canvas, twice the width and height of the final
mosaic
image, large enough to hold four final mosaic images, and
the
same
resolution. For instance, if your final mosaic image is 100 x
100
pixels at 300 ppi, open a new Canvas that's 200
x
200 pixels at 300 ppi.
2.
With the final mosaic image active, use Ctrl/Command+A to
select
the entire image, then use Ctrl/Command+C to copy it.
3.
With the new (larger) Canvas active, use Ctrl/Command+V
to
paste the copy onto a new Layer (Floater).
4.
Use Ctrl/Command+V again to paste one more copy onto a second Layer
(Floater). Now you have two Layers (Floaters).
Each
is a copy of the final mosaic.
5.
In the Layers (Floater) section, double-click one of the
Layers
(Floaters) to open the Layer Attributes (Floater
Attributes)
dialog box and change the coordinates to Top: 0
and Left:
0 then click the OK button. Now this Layer (Floater)
is perfectly aligned with the upper left corner of the
Canvas.
6.
Highlight the other Layer (Floater) and use Effects
>
Orientation > Flip Horizontal.
7.
In the following step, you'll need to have the Layer (Floater)
Marquee
turned off in order to see the Layer's (Floater's) edges
better. In the Layer (Floater) section menu, choose
Hide
Layer (Floater) Marquee.
8.
Click the Layer Adjuster (Floater Adjuster) tool and
zoom
in so you can see the pixels, then click and drag the flipped Layer
so it's aligned just to the right of the first Layer (Floater).
Use the up, down, left, and right Arrow keys to nudge the Layer
(Floater) into perfect alignment.
9.
Hold down the Shift key and, in the Layers (Floater)
section, highlight both of the Layers (Floaters). Then,
in
the Objects palette's Layers (Floater) section menu,
choose Group, then choose Collapse. Now the two Layers
(Floaters) are a single Layer (Floater), but it's
still named Group 1.
10.
Double-click Group 1 and rename it Layer 1 (Floater
1).
11.
Use Ctrl/Command+C to copy Layer 1 (Floater 1),
then use Ctrl/Command+V to paste it onto another Layer (Floater).
Now you have two Layers (Floaters) but the second one is
also named Layer 1.
12. Double-click
the second Layer (Floater) and rename it Layer 2 (Floater
2).
13.
Highlight Layer 2 (Floater 2) and use Effects >
Orientation
> Flip Vertical.
14.
Zoom in so you can see the pixels and move Layer 2 (Floater
2)
so its top edge perfectly aligns with the bottom edge of Layer 1 (Floater
1). Use the up, down, left, and right Arrow keys to nudge Layer
2 (Floater 2) into perfect alignment.
15.
When you're satisfied that the Layers (Floaters) are
aligned
correctly, hold down the Shift key and, in the Layers (Floater) list,
highlight
both Layers.
16.
In the Objects palette's Layers (Floater) section
menu,
choose Drop All.
Now your Layers
(Floaters)
are flattened to the Canvas and your seamless tile is completed.
NOTE: Depending
on your final mosaic image, you may want to arrange the pasted Layers
(Floaters) in a different order so the completed seamless tile
looks
the way you want it to look. Experiment to see what works best. You'll
notice that in my example mosaic seamless tile, I started by aligning
the
final mosaic image with the lower right corner of the Canvas.
It doesn't matter
which corner you
start with as long as the end result has the four images working
together
well, with each facing in the appropriate direction to make the
seamless
tile look best.
Please let me know
what you do. I'd
love to see your mosaic seamless tiles used as a background, either on
a web page or in an image.
Try using them
with 4-Point
Perspective Cloning!
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