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Okay... let's wrestle this thing into some kind of shape, shall we?
15. Make Layer 1 the active layer and go to Image>Deformations>Punch using a value of 4.
16. Add a new raster layer and drag it to the top of the layers heap.
17. Change your foreground color to R 192, G 192, B 192 and set your background color to null. Choose your Preset Shapes  and set the tool options window up as follows:
18. Start in the very center of your graphic (at the 200 by 200 mark) and drag out a circle measuring 373x373. Here's what you're looking for on the coordinates thingy at the bottom of the screen... 
19. Grab the Magic Wand and click on one of the black areas (down in a corner is good)... outside of the circle you just created. Go to Selections>Invert. Go to Selections>Modify>Feather and choose a feathering of 2. Go to Selections>Invert.
20. You should still be on Layer 3 with an active selection. Now hit the delete key twice. Do not deselect. Make Layer 1 active and hit the delete key twice. Do not deselect. Make Layer 2 active and hit the delete key twice. Deselect.
21. While still on Layer 2, activate the deformation tool. This modification is very slight, but it really helps with our spheritizational effect. (Sure it's a word... isn't it?? lol!) Grab the bottom center handle, and using small increments of movement while checking your graphic between each wee shift... nudge the handle upwards until the very edges of the rings on Layer 2 match up with the corresponding rings on Layer 1. The image on the left shows what we have happening now... and the image on the right shows what we really, really want to be happening instead! It's a whole lot easier to do than it is to explain, you'll see! ;-)
 
22. Bring the opacity for Layer 2 down to 60. Still on Layer 2... choose the Selections tool  and set it up for a circle with no feather but antialias on.
23. Begin dead center (200x200) and create a circular selection 65x65. Go to Selections>Modify>Feather and set the feathering at 150. (A cautionary note here... if you are driving a 386 with 8 meg of RAM, don't even consider trying this. I like to call this move "extreme feathering"... and it is quite the resource hog. But dang... it's fun! lol!) Now hit your delete button 5 times. This will help to create the illusion of a sphere by making some of the far side wires fade away to almost invisible.
24. Make Layer 1 the active layer. Go to Layers>Duplicate. Set the blend mode for Copy of Layer 1 to Screen and drag the opacity slider for that layer to 50.
25. Hide all layers except Layer 1 and Copy of Layer 1. Go to Layers>Merge>Merge Visible. Turn on all layers again. Your merged layer now has the name Merged which is so incredibly intuitive, it calls for some wall-gazing while pondering the depletion of the ozone layer or how one can possibly be equipped with the knowledge it takes to pre-determine the "best before" date on a package of bologna. Sigh.... ;-)
25 1/2. While on the Merged layer, go to Image>Effects>Drop Shadow and choose Opacity 73, Blur 5.5, Vertical 5 and Horizontal 5.
26. Almost done. Select the Retouch Tool  with the Retouch Mode set to Soften, paper texture = none and don't check those two boxes. The settings for the tool are these:
... and drag it around the outer edge of your cage on each layer. I went around Layer 3 a few times, around Merged once and around Layer 2 once. You may find more or less softening to your liking.
27. Add a new raster layer and drag it to the top of the layers pile. Set your foreground color to R 192, G 192, B 192. Click on the Preset Shapes tool and just change the Circle to Ellipse... leave the rest of the settings as they were... and draw yourself an enchanting ellipse that, because it's on its own layer, can be deformed, moved, tweaked, softened, faded and just generally taunted into fitting nicely inside the bottom center of your cage for that delightful "my cage has a bottom so it can sit there without rolling all over the place which it no doubt would if it didn't have a bottom upon which to sit" effect. ;)
Your cage, boys and girls, is a fait accompli. But an empty cage is not very interesting. To capture something within your cage, create a new layer between Layer 2 and Merged and go nuts. I placed a Jasc Monarch tube in there for display purposes. If you want to have some of what you've captured hanging out of the wires (like the wing tip of my butterfly) just activate your Merged layer and carefully erase the bit of wire that is on top of the part you want to be doing the hanging out thing. Sometimes I even amaze myself with these well-worded destructions... lol!
My finished layer palette looks thusly:
I hope this tutorial will bring you hours of unprecedented mirth and glee, and if I wasn't as clear as mud on some of the steps just let me know and I'll try to 'splain myself a little better. :-)
< < Back to Part One
©2003 Just Mousing Around
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