This tutorial was written by me on June 30, 2020. The results are of my own imagination.  Any resemblance to another tutorial is purely coincidental.  

Please DO NOT claim this tutorial as your own.

This was written assuming you have a working knowledge of PSP.

Please keep in mind that I write the tutorial as I am creating it.

Sometimes I may not explain properly where to place things so please see my example if you are ever in doubt :)

Supplies needed

I am using PSP 2018 but this tutorial should work with any version.

Animation shop (optional)

PTU Tube:  I am using a beautiful tube called "Tropical Vacations" created by Verymany.  Please do not use this tube without a proper license.  

You can purchase this tube at Verymany's store here. 

PTU Kit:  I am using a gorgeous matching kit called "Tropical Vacations" created by Tiny Turtle Designs.  You can purchase the kit here.

PTU Animation:  I am using Kiya Designs animation 36 from package 12.  You can purchase her awesome animation here.

Mask:  Mask 82 by Vivienne's Paintbox. Thank you for your awesome masks.  You can download it from her blog here. I am using the jpg versions for this tutorial.  Open and minimize in PSP.

Font of choice for your name.

Plug in: None

Drop shadow of choice.

Vivienne's Paintbox has awesome drop shadow settings that I use a lot.  You can find the settings here and check out her awesome tutorials :)

Please remember to read the artists/designers TOU.

Anytime you resize an element or tube you should sharpen it.  Go to adjust, sharpness, sharpen.

Let's get started.

Remember to save your tag often in case psp crashes.  I always save my tags as a pspimage.  It keeps all the layers and if you make tags for others you will always have the template.

Open a new 750x800 transparent image.  We will resize later.

Add a new layer and flood fill with white.

Open paper of choice.  I am using paper 21, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Go to layers, new mask layer, from image and select Vivienne's mask in the drop down. Apply mask and merge group.  

Open element 104, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Move to the upper left of the mask.  Duplicate, mirror and resize 80%.  Move to the lower right of the mask.

Open element 60, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 70%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the top of the mask slightly to the right.

Open element 57, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 50%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the top right of the mask.

Open element 23, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Move slightly to the left and drop shadow.

Open element 4, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 40%, mirror, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the top of the mask slightly to the right.

Open element 116, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 60%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the right of the mask about midway.

Open element 81, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 35%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the top right of the mask.

Open element 59, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 70%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the top of the mask slightly to the left.

Open element 27, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Move slightly to the left and drop shadow.

Open element 142, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 65%, mirror, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the top center of the mask.

Open element 84, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 50%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the left of the mask about half way down.

Open element 80, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 60%, mirror, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the right just at the bottom of the grass.

Open element 118, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 60%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the left at the bottom of the flamingo flower cluster.

Copy your tube.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 40%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move up and to the left slightly.

Open element 90, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 30%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom of the tube's bending leg.

Open element 123, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 60%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom of the tube.

Open element 97, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 60%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom left of element 123.

Open element 134, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 20%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom left of element 97.

Open element 106, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 25%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom left of element 134.

Open element 76, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 20%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom of the flower cluster.

Open element 14, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 20%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom left of element 106.

Open element 94, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 20%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom left of the shell.

Open element 103, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 30%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom left of the dragon fruit.

Open element 130, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 15%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom just left of the drink.

Open element 110, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 15%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom just left of the drink.

Open element 13, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 30%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom left of the dragon fruit.

Open element 43, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 15%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move to the bottom of the pineapple.

Open element 114, copy and close the original.  Select the top layer and paste.  Resize 20%, sharpen and drop shadow.  Move down slightly.

Add any other elements you like and make any adjustments to the layers.

Crop away any extra space.  Resize 650 on the longest side, all layers checked.

Add your copyright and name.

If you do not want to animate.  Hide the white background layer Save your tag and export as png.

Animating the tag.  Make sure your tag is saved as a psp image file as you do not want to loose it if psp crashes.

Might want to grab a coffee :)

Open Kiya Designs animation 36 psd file in psp.  Shift + D to duplicate it and close the original.  Do not save any changes as a psd file will merge into one layer.  We do not want this to happen.  You will notice that there is 16 layers in this animation and it does not have the group layer.  That is ok as we are going to learn how to do this so it matches the animation layers of the tube.

We need to group all the layers.  Starting from layer 16, hold down your control key and select each layer so the next one will be 15 then 14 etc.  Once all the layers are selected (the layers will be highlighted in blue) we need to group them.  All layers selected? 

Next we need to group these layers.  Go to Layers, New layer group.  Scroll all the way to the top and you will see Group 1 with all the odd layers as sub layers.  

Select group 1, copy and close the original.  Select your tag layer and paste.  When you paste grouped layers it will always go to the top.  Standing on group one select the link icon to link all the layer.  Click the arrow beside the new group to hide all the sub layers.

Drag this group down the layer pallet to a spot you like.  I dragged it down to just just below the top flamingo.  Resize the Group 1 layer by 40% all layers not checked.  Move to the left of the tube so you see it between the tube and flamingo.  Select the group 1 layer if you have not already.

Ok we are now finished our tag and ready to animate.

Open Animation shop and go back to psp.

With only frame 1 of the animation visible, edit, copy special, copy merged.

Back to Animation shop.

Edit, paste as new animation or keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V.

**Back to psp.

Hide Frame 1 by clicking on the eyeball and unhide frame 2 by clicking on the eyeball of each animation. Edit, copy special, copy merged.

Back to Animation Shop.

We need to paste after current frame.  Go to edit, paste after current frame.  Keyboard shortcut  Shift+Ctrl+L**

Repeat from **to** until you have 16 frames in animation shop.  It will tell you on the bottom right corner how many frames you have.  

Select all, Ctrl+A on the keyboard.  Animation, Frame properties and change the animation speed to 15.

Go to file Save as, gif and click next and next until you hit finished.  I use the default settings.

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial.  I would love to see your results.