This procedure gives some very nice looking sidebar backgrounds witha minimum of effort.  Start out by opening a new file, about 300 x300 pixels, with a white background and 16 million colors.  Now playaround a bit with your filters. There are several nice pattern generatingfilters available, either in the Filter Factory Galleries, or in Krusty'sFilter collection. Here I've used one of Krusty's filters called "The Housethat Jack Rented", followed by some distortions. If you don't want to createyour own pattern, find a texture that you like, and with the Flood Filltool set to Pattern, fill the new file with the texture.
 
 

Now choose a part of your new pattern that you like. Using the ShapeSelect tool, outline a rectangle about 50 pixels high by 120 pixels wide. Smaller or larger is fine, depending on the effect you want. Go to theEdit menu, and copy the selected area to the clipboard.  Now opena new file, 200 x 200 pixels, with a white backgrond and 16 million colors.Add a new Layer (Layers: New). if you are using PSP 6, make sure that youadd a new Raster layer.  Go to the Edit menu again, and Paste as aNew Selection.  Position the rectangle near the bottom of picture.
 
 

Next, paste the selected area into your new file again. With thearea still selected, go to the Image Menu and choose Flip.  Positionthe rectangle right above the first one, so that the two patterns match.You now have a pattern that will be seamless when layed top to bottom.
 
 

Now, using the Selection tool again, draw a rectangle completelyaround your pattern, and copy it to the clipboard.  (Edit:Copy). Finally,Paste: As a New Image.
 
 

To turn your pattern into a sidebar, Go to the Image Menu: EnlargeCanvas. Take note of the height of your pattern, and fill that into theHeight Box. Make the width 1000 pixels. This will ensure that your sidebarwill be wide enough no matter what resolution your viewers have their monitorsset at. Set Top, Bottom, and Left to 0, and leave Right set to the Default.Your pattern will stay on the left side, and the rest of your canvas willbe transparent.
 
 

Now you can add a bit of color if you want. Use the Area Select Tool(Magic Wand) to select the long white area. With the Flood Fill Tool, Colorthis area with a shade complimentary to your pattern. Here I've used avery light shade of blue that appears in my sidebar. Be sure to leave thearea selected for the next step.
 
 
 

Now we add the final touch. Go to the Selections Menu, Invert. Thehighlighted area should now be your pattern. Go to Images, Special Effects:Drop Shadow. Set the shadow color to Black, the Opacity to 90, the Blurto 10, The Vertical Offset to 0, and the Horizontal Offset to 5. The shadowsets your sidebar off from the text area beautifully.
 
 
 

There is one little problem, however. if you zoom in tight on thetop and bottom edge of your shadow, you will notice that it doesn't fillcompletely at the edges. To fix this, select a rectangle of shadow a littlehigher up. Copy it to the clipboard (Edit: Copy).
 
 
 

Paste the shadow section as a New Selection. Move the section downto cover the uneven area of the shadow. Repeat for the top edge.
 

 Your Sidebar background should now tile seamlessly.