Begin by opening a new file, about 500 pixels wide by 500 high, witha black background and 16 million colors. You will need lots of room forthis one. We're going to make the graphic larger than we will ever probablyneed, so that it will look good when sized down. Set your foreground colorto white. Using the shape drawing tool set to Circle, and with the styleset to Filled and Antialias off, draw a fairly good sized circle near theupper half of your window. Leave some space at the top (20 -30 pixels),but not too much because we are going to build from the top down.
 
 
 

Now set the shapes tool to Rectangle and add a rectangle to the circle.The rectangle should be well centered between the sides of the circle,have a width about half the circle's width, and the area below the circleshould be just a bit longer than it is wide.
 
 

Now we need to add the rounded areas where the round part of the bulbmeets the base. To do this we'll use the Bezier Line tool. Click on yourLine drawing tool, set the line type to Bezier, the width to 1 pixel, andmake sure antialias is Off. If you have never used the bezier tool, theconcept is simple. First you draw a straight line between two points. Inthis case, draw a line from the side of the circle about 3/4 of the waydown from the top over to about the middle of the side of the rectangle.With the Bezier line tool you can adjust the curvature of the line by clickingwhere you would like the line to go and then pulling to adjust it. Youcan choose two points to adjust. For the first, choose a point about halfwaydown the length of the line and pull toward the join of the circle andthe rectangle. Then click a bit lower down and pull again until you geta curvature you like. It may take several tries to get just the right look.When you figure out just how to do it, repeat the curve on the other side.For a good tutorial on using this feature of PSP 5, check out the one atLori'sWeb Graphics.
 
 
 
 

Now just color in those empty areas with your Flood Fill tool. If thereare any spots that don't fill well, just touch them up with the Paintbrush.The shape doesn't have to be totally perfect at this point.
 
 
 
 

Now I think the edges at this point are a bit too sharp. To smooth theshape and remove any glaring imperfections we're going to use a techniquedeveloped by Millsy of Millsy'sWebmaster Resource. First we apply a Gaussian Blur (Image, Blur: GaussianBlur). Set the radius to 6.00.
 
 
 
 

To regain the crisp clear lines we need, go to Colors, Adjust, Highlight/Midtone/Shadow.Set the Highlight to 43, the Midtone to 0, and the Shadow to 71. You shouldget a shape with nice smooth edges and rounded corners
 
 
 
 

To give depth, we need some shadows. Select the lightbulb shape withthe Magic Wand (tolerance = 10). You'll notice the the very edge is notselected. To move the selection out to the edge and still maintain a smoothlook, feather the selection by 1 pixel (Selections,Modify: Feather). Nowwe add the shadow by going to Image, Deformations: Wind. Check the boxthat says From the Left, and set the Strength to 20. if you're doing thelightbulb on a smaller scale, you may need to use lower settings to geta comparable effect. This deformation technique sometimes leves a strangesmear. Don't worry, we can adjust for that easily.
 
 
 
 

To even out the shadow and shade the rest of the bulb, we apply a seriesof blurs. First we use a Motion Blur (Image, Blur: Motion Blur) Set theangle to 0 degrees and the intensity to 20 pixels. Then apply a GaussianBlur (Image, Blur: Gaussian Blur). Use a radius of 6.00 again
 
 
 

To even out the gradient, add 6 % Uniform Noise (Image, Noise: Add.Check Uniform and set the slider to 6%).
 
 
 

The bulb shape is now done, we just need to add the metal hardware atthe bottom. First, use the Shape Selection Tool to select and copy (Edit:Copy)the very bottom of your bulb (a rectangular shape works best, Antialiasunchecked) . We'll use this as a guide for creating the metal bottom. Opena new window with the same settings as the first one. Paste the bottomof the bulb (Paste: As a New Selection) and then rotate it by 90 degreesLeft (Image, Rotate. Check Left, 90, and be sure Rotate All Layers is UNchecked.).Finally, using your Shape select tool again, this time set to ellipse,draw a narrow ellipse with almost the same height as the bottom of thebulb. Use the Flood Fill tool or Airbrush to color this in white. Whenyou're done, Copy the selected area (Edit: Copy).
 
 
 

Choose an area of your window away from the image pieces already thereand paste four of the white ellipses as shown below (Edit, Paste: Pasteas a New Selection. You want just a little room between each one.
 
 
 
 

Select a wide area around the ellipses using the shape select tool (setback to rectangle again) and apply a Gaussian blur again, still with aradius of 6.00.
 
 
 
 

To create the nice shaded threads, add a Hot Wax Coating (Image, Other:Hot Wax Coating). Be sure your foreground color is still set to white.
 
 
 

We want to work with just these threads now, so select around them ifyou have already released your last selection, and copy them (Edit: Copy).Set your background color to black and then Edit, Paste: Paste as a TransparentSelection. This removes most of the black background from the threads,as you can see from the shape of the Marquis around the selection.
 
 
 
 

Copy your newly pasted selection (Edit: Copy) and paste as a new image(Edit, Paste: As a New Image). A new window will appear with the threadson a transparent background.
 
 
 
 

Use the Shape select tool to trim the ragged black edges from the rightand left of the threads. Just select the area that you want to remaoveand then hit the delete key. When your'e done, Copy your work.
 
 
 

To add the threads to the light bulb, return to the first window andcreate a new layer (Layers: New. When the box pops up click okay). Pasteyour threads onto this new layer (Edit, PAste: Paste as a New Selection.Rotate the threads by 90 degrees right (Image, Rotate. Check the box markedRight, the box marked 90, and be sure Rotate All Layers is unchecked).Fit the threads to the bottom of the bulb. On a real bulb, the glass curvesin to meet the metal, so be sure to set the threads correctly. if yourthreads are the wrong size or not long enough, no problem. Click on theInteractive deformation Tool (   ) and stretch (or squash) the threads to fit. Don't hit the Apply buttomjust yet though.
 
 
 

The deformation tool can be used to add the slant to the threads aswell. Hold down your Shift key and grab hold of the upper right hand cornerof the deformation box. Pull up slightly. Now grab hold of the lower leftcorner and pull down.