Do you see them?

…because “Wow!” is what people usually say when I show this to them.

Artifacts from Red Dwarf, Godzilla, Star Wars, dragon lore, a giant germ, and a penguin carved out of rock by Eskimos (go figure).  Oh, also that’s a signed print by Charles Bragg on the wall – though it doesn’t actually belong to me, it’s on a kind of long term loan.

I’ve found the iPhone is perfect for sticking into crannies and taking pictures of things you normally couldn’t see.  There’s no way I could have gotten the lens of my DSLR or even my point-n-shoot in here.

1. Open your photo in Paint Shop Pro.
2. Use the selection tool to draw a shape around the subject of the photo.
3. From the menu, choose Layers > New Mask Layer > Show Selection.
4. Use Control-D to deselect all.
5. From the menu, choose Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur
6. Adjust the radius of the blur with the slider bar until it looks the way you want it.  Make sure to have “Preview on Image” checked.
7. Turn on the Layers palate (if it’s not already there) by using F8.
8. Highlight the top layer in the palate, and then — also in the palate — use the drop down menu under the icon to create a “New Raster Layer”
9. Use the Flood Fill tool to fill this layer with the desired color, texture, and/or gradient.
10. In the Layers palate, drag this new raster layer down to the bottom, so that it’s under the group.  This should put it in the background.  If you have problems doing this, drag the group up instead.
11. This new raster should now be the background of the vignette.