{"id":449,"date":"2006-02-03T11:54:06","date_gmt":"2006-02-03T19:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/?p=449"},"modified":"2006-02-03T12:02:51","modified_gmt":"2006-02-03T20:02:51","slug":"how-to-make-stereograms-part-1-creating-a-repeating-background","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/?p=449","title":{"rendered":"How To Make Stereograms, Part 1: Creating a Repeating Background"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note:<\/strong> This is the first of many installments to fulfill a promise<\/a> I made some time ago to share how I make my stereograms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First step? Create a repeating background image.<\/p>\n

Now, if you want, you can simply snag any existing repeating background image that you have available—for instance, at any of the sources mentioned in a previous tutorial<\/a>. But if you’re going for a thematic stereogram, you’ll probably want a specific kind of background. Cases in point—I created a Matrix-like pattern for my spoons stereogram<\/a>, a grass and sky pattern for my picnic table stereogram<\/a>, and a star pattern for my moon stereogram<\/a>. So, yeah, in case you want to do the same sort of thing, I’m showing you how to create your own repeating background.<\/p>\n

So here goes. Create a new document—whatever size you like, whatever color background. In this example, I have 500 x 500 pixel image with a sky blue color for the background. I have also set a group of guides (they’re the darker blue lines) in a corner so that I have a square for the shape I want to use for my pattern. To create the guides, you simply click and drag from the ruler (hit Ctrl-R or Cmd-R to view the ruler) onto the middle of the document.<\/p>\n

\"Create<\/p>\n

In the next screenshot is my Custom Shape tool options. It’s a Photoshop feature available in version 6 and above, and I have no idea if PaintShopPro has anything like it. All it does, really, is allow me to use a saved shape over and over again, and in this case I’ve chosen a bird shape, and I’ve set it to pixels (instead of path or custom shape layer).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

If you have nothing at all like the Custom Shape tool, use a custom-made paintbrush or copy and paste a selection from another image. It really doesn’t matter how you make the image, so long as it matches your theme. I use the Custom Shape tool only because it’s there, and it’s easy.<\/p>\n

In the next step, I place my chosen custom bird shape in the square of guides that I made earlier, like so:<\/p>\n

\"Bird<\/p>\n

Okay, now the really important part of this first installment is this next step. Photoshop has an Offset filter, as shown below:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I use this filter to move the bird shape a bit to the right and below the original spot, so that I can later place another bird shape in the same square of guides. Here are the settings I use:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

And here is what the image looks like as a result:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

If I place another bird shape in the original square of quides I get this:<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

And if I repeat some of the steps above over and over again (shape, offset, shape, offset), I get this<\/a>, until finally I get this:<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

From there, you can save the file or resize it, and you can use it as a pattern for whatever projects you have. See how easy it is? You’ve just finished the very first step in creating a stereogram by making your own repeating background.<\/p>\n

If you like, you can download this sample pattern here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Part 2 to come—when? I have no clue.<\/p>\nShare this post:

\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"tumblr\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"tumblr\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: This is the first of many installments to fulfill a promise I made some time ago to share how I make my stereograms. First step? Create a repeating background image. Now, if you want, you can simply snag any existing repeating background image that you have available—for instance, at any of the sources mentioned in a previous tutorial. But if you’re going for a thematic stereogram, you’ll probably want a specific kind of background. Cases in point—I created a…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stereograms","category-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprilgem.com\/log\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}