Puzzle Photos

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This effect will take any graphic and give it a puzzle-like appearance.The technique works best with images that have some real size to them,so choose carefully.

The first step is to download the two puzzle textures shown here.You'll need to load them up into PSP before you proceed. I made these twotiles from scratch a LONG LONG time ago...so if you see them at some othertutorial site, let them know where they came from *G*


Shadow.jpg	Hilite.jpg

Next, load your photo. Here I've used a photo quality image thatcame with my copy of Paint Shop Pro.After your image loads, take note of the size.

Now open up a new file with the same dimensions as your photo, witha white background and 16 million colors. Choose your Flood Fill tool,and select Pattern. In the options menu, select as your pattern Shadow.jpg.Next, fill the new file with the first puzzle texture. Go to the File menuand save this image as Dark.jpg. You can delete this file later, but fornow it's best that it has a name, rather than just an image number.

Repeat the procedure with another new file, but this time use Hilite.jpgas your pattern. Save the resulting image as Light.jpg.

Now we do a bit of Math. Go to the Image menu, and select Arithmetic.In the two drop-down menus, choose your photo as your first file, and Dark.jpgas your second. Just below the menus, you'll see a bunch of boxes to check.Check the one that says Darkest. If you are using PSP5 or 6 you will alsoneed to check the box that says All Channels in the Channels area. Now click OK. A new file should be created that looks similar to the oneshown here. Save this new file as Step1.jpg.

Next we repeat the same procedure, but choose as our files Step1.jpgand Light.jpg. Instead of checking Darkest, this time we select Lightest.This gives us our final picture puzzle.

If your graphic is a lot smaller than the one used here, you mayneed smaller puzzle pieces to get a good effect. The two shown here mightwork better for you.


Smallsd.jpg	Smallhl.jpg

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