This tutorial was written for Paint Shop Photo Pro X2 (v.12)
but vector tools in versions PSP 8 and newer are very similar.
Tutorial is offered here free of charge for personal use only!
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©ArizonaKate.com 2006-2010, All rights reserved
Note: PSP 7 users go here
~ Beginner Level Tutorial ~
The EggToon tutorials are a series of Paint Shop Pro cartoon drawing tutorials written especially for those just beginning to learn about the vector tools but I hope more advanced users will enjoy the toons also.
If you're not familiar with vector tools, please review the series of posts explaining the tools and how to make the "egg" Preset Shape before starting this EggToon character tutorial.
Color settings for this tut:
Select black for stroke color and any 'bunny' color of your choice for fill.
Pick a pastel, a bright color, a realistic color...doesn't matter...this is a cartoon!!
I'll be using color #F0C5A2.
Use the Pick tool to select vector objects and the Pen tool for node editing.
Open new image 300x300 or 400x400. We'll use a large canvas, but don't make bunny so large that it fills canvas! We'll need plenty of working room
A new vector layor is automatically created when you start creating an object and 'Create as Vector' is selected on the Tool Options bar.
You can also click the 'new layer' button at the top of the Layer Palette and add a 'new vector layer'.
MAKE A SET OF SHAPES
First thing we'll do is make all the Preset Shapes needed for Honey Bunny and then edit each one by one.
Select the 'Preset Shape' option on the flyout menu for Preset Shapes Tool and then select the egg from the dropdown list in the Tool Options bar.
( Go here for step-by-step tutorial to create egg preset shape if you haven't created one already) )
Line width 1, style solid, retain style UNchecked, antialias CHECKED, vector CHECKED, colors as described above.
Draw an egg that is about 85x120 pixels in center of canvas.
Look in lower right section of PSP frame to see size of object being created or turn on rulers (View>Rulers)
Select the 'Ellipse' option on the flyout menu for Preset Shapes Tool and then select 'Draw Ellipse' on the Tool Options bar. Draw 2 ellipses, any size (same settings, same colors). Position them off to one side...anywhere on your canvas....they will become the ears, arms and legs later on.
CREATE THE EARS
Using the Pick tool, move one ellipse over to the top of the egg-shaped body (this will be the left ear).
Zoom in as much as you need to clearly see those tiny nodes.
Pull up on the center top NODE to stretch the shape into a long bunny ear.
Switch to Pen tool, select 'Edit Mode' either on the Tool Options bar or from right click menu.
Right click on the ellipse and select 'Convert to Path'. Right click again and select Node Edit. The ear turns into an object with 4 nodes.
Select the bottom node (the node will change to solid black when selected), right click and select Edit > Break. You now have 2 nodes in place of the one and the line has been broken.
Arrange those 2 new nodes to align with the bunny's head (so that it looks like ear is attached) Adjust/rotate the handles of bottom nodes to make the sides of the ear a straighter line (turn node handles so they almost line up with the line segment).
When you position the ear on the body as the left ear, the bottom nodes should line up with the outline of the body. You may have to right click, Node Edit to shorten or lengthen the lines for the ear. See screenshot of finished ears below.
Getting a smooth, gentle curve is made easier if you right click, select Node Edit, select one of the bottom nodes, right click, select Node Type>Smooth Tangent. For the bunny ear, a slight curve to the line might look best.
To soften the curve of the top of the ear slightly, select the top node of the ear, right click, select Node Type>Symmetric. Lengthen the handle of this top node very slightly to soften the curve.
If Symmetric is greyed out, that means it is already the current Node Type.
If necessary, move the nodes in the middle of the line segment outwards, just slightly, to fatten up the ear a little.
When done, right click and select 'Apply' (or select 'Apply' on Tool Options bar).
Now we need to duplicate the ear to make the right ear.
Use the Pick tool to select the ear, right click, select Copy.
Right click again, select Paste New Vector Selection.
Drag one of the side nodes to the right to reverse the object and create a mirror version of ear. See screenshot. Drag to right or to left, doesn't matter.
Use left mouse button to grab shape (anywhere) and move into position on bunny's head as right ear.
It's possible that this mirror action will distort the size and shape of the ear some. To fix that, select the first ear, then, while holding the Shift key down, select the 2nd ear. Now right click, select Make Objects Same Size>Both.
The 2 ears should now look alike.
De-select the ears by clicking in any blank space on your canvas or Select None.
Make any final adjustments to position of ears before moving to next step.
When you position the ear on the body as the right ear, the bottom nodes should line up with the outline of the body.
THE FACE
Click the double-headed arrow by the Styles box so that black moves to the Fill position. Also change the stoke to Null.Ø (select the Nulll symbol Ø on the Styles box to remove that Style.)
Select Preset Shapes, ellipse, and then select 'Draw Circle' from the Tool Options bar. Draw one eye then duplicate it.
With Pick tool, select circle, right click, select Copy. Move your cursor slightly to the right, right click again, select Paste New Vector Selection. Copying and pasting is an easy way to make sure both circles are the exact same size.
Arrange the 2 eyes close together and close to the top of the egg body as shown in the screenshot above.
To get them to line up perfectly with each other, use Pick tool, hold Shift key down, select one eye and then the other eye, right click, select Align Objects>Vertical Center.
Make sure you de-select the eyes before next step or the fill color will change.
Next he needs a nose! Click the double-headed arrow by the color swatches to move black back to the stroke position and pick a pink color for fill. Select Preset Shapes, ellipse, then select 'Draw Circle' from the Tool Options bar and draw a small circle for nose. Approx. 8 x 8 pixels.
Make sure you de-select the nose before next step or the fill color will change.
Now for mouth and whiskers.
Black for stroke and Ø for Fill Style.
Zoom in. Select Pen tool with these settings:
Mode: Draw Point to Point
Connect Segments, Create on Vector & Show Nodes all checked.
Line Style solid, Width 1, Anti-alias checked.
Draw a line from nose to where mouth will be, select 'Apply'.
Draw an upside-down V for the mouth, connecting the point of V to the line just drawn. Click 'Apply"
Draw 3 whisker lines on each side of mouth. Click 'Apply' at end of each line, before starting next or they will be connected. (Or you can de-select 'Connect Segments'.)
See screenshot for sample.
THE FEET (PAWS)
Next we'll work on the legs and feet. (You're still working with an enlarged canvas, right? It's always easier to zoom in on the nodes when editing.)
With Pen tool, select one of the extra ellipse shapes made in step one and move it into position below the body. This will be his right leg (the one on our left). Right click, select 'Convert to Path', right click again select Node Edit. Select the top node, right click select Edit>Break. This breaks the line in 2 and creates 2 nodes where there used to be one. Move the top 2 nodes up to connect to the body for a short, fat leg. There's now 5 nodes for this object and the leg shape starts out looking something like the ellipse in this screenshot.
Next we need to do some node editing and change some NODE TYPES in order to convert this lumpy shape into a bunny's foot. You should still be in Node Edit mode...if not, select leg, right click, Node Edit.
Select top left node, right click, select Node Type>Smooth/Tangent
Turn handle vertically until you have a smooth line connecting the leg to the body.
Select the other top node, right click, select Node Type>Smooth/Tangent
Position this Node so overlaps the body and is a straight line but at a slight angle.
(You can select more than one node at a time by holding down the Shift Key.)
Select the middle right node. Right click, select Node Type>Cusp.
Create an ankle by arranging the node handles as shown above, creating a turn in the line.
Now, fine tune the shape of the foot by adjusting the angle and length of each node handle as follows:
For the node by heel: Right click, select Node Type>Cusp. Move the arrow end of the node handle til it points up and the rounded end of handle makes a turn to the right to give a little curve to the heel.
For the node by the toe: If it needs adjusting, check the node type, it should be Symmetric. Right click, select Node Type>Symmetric. If Symmetric is greyed out, it already is the selected node type. Move the node handle around and extend it's length a little to give a nice curve to the toe area.
If necessary, keep moving the nodes handles around some more until you have the shape of a chubby little leg and foot as shown in this screenshot. There will be a node at the top of each leg, a node for the heel, a node where the leg turns into the foot (ankle) and another node at the toes.
When done, select 'Apply' from Tool Options bar (or right click).
Duplicate/copy this leg to make the other leg. . Use Pick tool, right click, select Copy.
Move cursor a little to the right, right click again, select Paste New Vector Selection.
Right click again, select Arrange>Send to Bottom.
Move the leg into a position so that it lines up with with body as shown in the image below.
THE ARMS
Bunny needs some arms!! We'll shape the arms the same way as we did the legs. Zoom in.
Use Pen tool, select the remaining oval shape that was made at step one and move it over close to the left side of the body.
Right click, select Convert to Path. Right click again, select Node Edit. Select the top node, right click select Break. This breaks the line and adds a node just like we did for the leg. Move these top 2 nodes into a position for the shoulder and the armpit. Arrange the node handles of both nodes so they create a straight line with no hook in the end. The 'shoulder' node should align with the outline for the shoulder/head.
For the arm and hand, the Node Type for all nodes should be Symmetric. Drag the mouse while holding left mouse button down to select ALL nodes in the arm shape at same time. Right click a node, select Node Type > Symmetric.
Add 2 nodes to create a thumb. Add one BELOW the node that is the armpit and add the other AFTER the next node. Counting clockwise, the new nodes will be #2 and #4. To add a node, hold the CTRL key down, hover near the line segment until +ADD appears next to your cursor and then click to add node. Zoom in as needed.
Change the Node Type on the 2 new nodes to Cusp.
Arrange the nodes as shown in the screenshot above. All nodes should make a smooth curve except for the 2 cusp nodes that create the thumb and wrist. Arrange the handles on the node that is between the thumb and hand so the 2 handles are close together and make a sharp turn. Refer to screenshot and shorten or lengthen the thumb or hand by shortening or lengthing the node handles.
Click 'Apply'.
Adjust Zoom back to normal for the following steps.
Duplicate the arm to make the other arm. Select arm on left, right click, select Copy. Move your cursor over to the right side of the body, right click, Paste New Vector Selection.
Mirror the arm by pulling it over itself....the same way we mirrored the ear! Select the center handle on the left side of the boundary box and pull/drag it toward the right. It will pull the shape over itself and mirror it.
Now put the right arm behind the body by sending layer to the bottom. Select right arm, right click, select Arrange>Send to Bottom. Adjust position of right arm behind body so just part of arm is showing.
THE TAIL
With a stroke color of black and a fill color of white, draw a bunny tail (Preset Shape>ellipse) and position it appropriately. Using Pick tool, select tail, right click, Arrange>Send to Bottom.
THE TOES
Keep stroke color black and set fill to null Ø.
Zoom in on the feet.
Use the Pen tool, select Mode: 'Draw Freehand' from Tool Options bar.
Draw a short curved line to represent the toes. See screenshot.
Click 'Apply' when done.
Only one line needs to be drawn, copy/paste all others.
Switch to Pick tool.
To make another line for 2nd toe, right click the first line, Copy>Paste as New Vector Selection.
Paste as New Vector Selection twice more for toes on other foot!
.............................
Your Honey Bunny is done!! Hope you had fun making this EggToon!
Save original in .PSPimage format. Use the Crop tool to reduce the canvas size to it's smallest possible size and export your bunny as an optimized GIF or optimized PNG.
If you want to resize your bunny, one option is to just merge layers and resize. But if you do that your vector objects will be converted to raster. The best option is to retain the vector format and resize. Keeping the drawing in vector format allows sizing larger or smaller without losing image quality. Your Honey Bunny is built from many different vector objects, so to reize them all at the same time we need to "Group" all objects in your drawing.
First thing I'd do is duplicate the PSP image and leave original untouched. Window>Duplicate
Use Pick tool, right click on any vector object in drawing, choose 'select all' and then right click again and select 'Group'.
Once grouped, a boundary box will appear around Honey Bunny. Pull or push on one of the corner nodes to resize without changing proportions. Use the other nodes to deform.
Now that you've got the vector tools all figured out ;-)
...why don't you try making your own original version of the EggToon bunny. You can make longer ears or legs, make him/her taller or fatter, add cheeks, clothes...etc. Here's an animated version of Honey Bunny with color changed, big teeth added and a few other small changes.
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