Rustic Log Cabin Tutorial
All you will need for this tutorial are the log cabin file and the patterns below.Optional: Eye Candy 4, if you want the light in the windows.
This tutorial was written with PSP 8, but should be do-able in earlier versions. It is not very hard, but quite long and uses a lot of techniques, so if you're a beginner, you may want to skip it for now!
The terms of use are here
You will need the following patterns, which you can download by right-clicking. Then just leave them open on your desktop.
The selections are in the logcabinalpha.psp file you downloaded. Open the file and click on the first layer. All the layers have the same name as the selections. To get the selections, go to:
If you want to keep the original image with the selections, you can make a copy of the logcabinalpha.psp image by pressing SHIFT-D. (Don't forget to save often, and to periodically clear the clipboard.)
1. Chimney - Click on the Flood-fill Tool (or press F) and Flood-fill with the fieldstone pattern.
2. Chimney Top - Flood-fill with gray - #808080.
3. Stove Pipe - Flood-fill with black. Go to:
4. Foundation - Flood-fill with the fieldstone pattern.
5. Addition Foundation - Flood-fill with the fieldstone.
6. Addition Chinking - Flood-fill with #400000.
7. Addition Logs - Flood-fill with #AA8A62. Keep selected and then go to:
Effects - 3D Effects - Drop Shadow
H & V 1, Opacity 50, Blur 2, Colour Black.
Repeat the Drop Shadow, changing the H & V to minus 1
Deselect (CTRL-D).
Change the Foreground colour to Black, and then click on the Airbrush Tool
(You may have to click on the Paintbrush Tool 
or the Warpbrush Tool 
to find it). (This will make a mess outside the logs, but it's easier to see the results while you're working, and we'll clean up the mess.) In the Tool Ribbon, use the following settings:
Size 100; Hardness 0; Step 10; Density 5; Thickness 100; Rotation 45; Opacity 25;
Blend Mode - Normal; Rate 0
When you've got enough stippling, just get the Addition Logs selection again, go to Selections - Invert, and hit CTRL-X to get rid of the excess.
8. Addition Ends - Flood-fill with #AA8A62, then go to
9. Addition Window - Flood-fill with Black.
10. Addition Shutters - Flood fill with Black. Go to
Flood-fill with #AA8A62.
11. Front Chinking - Flood-fill with #400000.
11a. House Shadow - On the same layer, get the House Shadow selection (It's the last one). Then, click on the Magic Wand
(You may have to click on the Selection Tool 
or the Freehand Tool 
to find it.) and go to
V 0, H 18, Opacity 53, Blur 5
Repeat the Drop Shadow, changing the H to minus 8.
The lower parts of the shadows needs some tweaking. Click on the Lasso Tool
, setting Selection Type as "Point to Point" in the Tool Ribbon. Then get rid of the excess shadow by clicking on the lower right corner of the foundation, then on the Addition foundation, and finally double-click below both foundations--as in the image below--and hit CTRL-X.
Use the same technique on the left shadow.
12. Addition Roof - Flood-fill with the Roof Shingle pattern. Then click on the Deformation Tool (or Press D)
. If you're working in PSP 8, you'll get a weird message saying that it has to be promoted to a full layer. Just say yes, but then turn off the Addition Roof layer, by clicking on the eye in the Layer Pallette, or you'll get really confused! Then go back to the newly made Promoted Selection layer. The roof will be surrounded like this:
Place your cursor on one of the top corner boxes. Then Press on the CONTROL key, keeping it down, and move the cursor towards the centre, approximately to the right side of the stove pipe. Don't worry too much, because you can always to back and change it. We'll come back to this layer at the end, to add the Drop Shadow, in case you decide to adjust it later.
To get rid of the deformation thing, just click on any other tool.
13. Front Logs - Flood-fill with #AA8A62.
Effects - 3D Effects - Drop Shadow
H & V 1, Opacity 50, Blur 2, Colour Black
Repeat the Drop Shadow, changing the H & V to minus 1.
Then set your Foreground colour to black and use the Airbrush with the same settings as before
Get the Front Logs selection again, Invert the selection and hit CTRL-X.
14. Front Ends - Flood-fill with #AA8A62 and use the same Inner Bevel as before.
15. Inside of Cabin - We'll come back to this layer later.
16. Window Bits - Flood-fill with Black.
17. Windows - Flood-fill with Black. Deselect (CTRL-D). Then click on the Magic Wand
and then, holding down the SHIFT key, click inside each window and keep selected for the next step.
18. Inside of Cabin - There's no selection for this layer.
To fill all three windows at once, keep the windows selected, then go down to the Addition Window layer, click on it, and then, holding down the SHIFT key, click inside the Addition Window.
Then go back up to the Inside of Cabin layer, click on it, and go to
Now you can fill the inside with a gray gradient, black, curtains, whatever, or for the lights use Eye Candy 4. (Whatever you do, keep selected for the next step.)
Set your Foreground colour to yellow (#FFFF00). Then click on the Paint Brush Tool (or Press B)
and in the Tool Ribbon use these settings--Round, Size 1--the other values don't matter. Make a dot in the middle of each window. Then go to
Make sure that the box for Draw Only Outside Selection is NOT checked.
Go to Selections - Invert and then hit CTRL-X to get rid of the excess.
18a. With the windows selected, if you want to add some depth, invert the selections (If you used the Eye Candy step, they're already inverted), and add the following drop shadow:
Selections - Invert
18b. While the windows are selected, we might as well get rid of the logs behind the windows. Click on the Front Logs layer and hit CTRL-X. Then click on the Addition Logs layer, and hit CTRL-X again. They're all gone.
19. Front Shutters - Click on this layer, get the selection and flood-fill with Black.
Flood-fill with #AA8A62
Effects - 3D Effects Drop Shadow
V 0, H minus 3, Opacity 63, Blur 5, Colour Black
Repeat the Drop Shadow, changing the V & H to 3.
20. Window Hinges - Flood-fill with Black. Go to
21. Roof - Flood-fill with the Roof Tile pattern. Use the Deformation Tool (D) as you did for the Addition Roof, pushing in the upper corners (holding down the CTRL key) until the left-hand corner is just a bit past the chimney. (Don't forget to turn off the original Roof layer before pulling in the roof).
Then, click on the Selection Tool (or press S)
, and draw a small rectangle, as in the image above, for the chimney cutout. Hit CTRL-X to get rid of this part of the roof.
Roof Shadow - Select the Roof:
Go to Effects - 3D Effects - Drop Shadow
V & H 12, Opacity 63, Blur 5, Colour Black
Addition Roof Shadow - Click on this layer and selecting the roof, add the same Drop Shadow, changing the Horizontal to 0.
22. Door - Flood-fill with Black, contract 3 pixels, and flood-fill with #AA8A62. Keep selected and use the Airbrush tool, with the same settings to stipple the door.
23. Door Hinges & Handle - flood-fill with Black. Use the same Inner Bevel we used for the window hinges.
24. Door & Shutter Lines - Flood-fill with Black.
Door Shadow. On the same layer, get the Door selection, invert the selection, and add these Drop Shadows
V 0, H -12, Opacity 63, Blur 5.
25. Steps - Just open the layer by clicking on the red X, and there they are.
Congratulations--this has been a long tutorial, but I hope you have enjoyed making your rustic log cabin.
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