This tutorial was written November, 2002 using PSP7.04. It is assumed that you are an advanced user of PSP7. As such, detailed explanations on how to use your vector tools will not be provided. Some settings, but not all, will be provided, as well as explanations on how I finished my sleigh. You are encouraged to finish your sleigh however you like.

If you do not already own Paint Shop Pro, you may download a trial version. If you own an earlier version of PSP, you can download or purchase the upgrade to PSP7.04. You can find and download them HERE.

OK, let's get started....

Open a transparent canvas, size 600 x 500. Do a Save As and name your image 'sleigh'. Remember to save often as you do your work.

The colors we'll be using as we create the Preset Shape sleigh are: Foreground color #CAB7AC and Background color #FFFFFF.

To make the front side, use the Preset Shape, Elipse, vector and antialias checked, line width 1 or 2. Make elipse shape and add nodes and shape as shown here:

With bounding box around the shape, Right click, Copy, Right click, Paste as New Vector Selection. Right click, Arrange, Send to Bottom. Then align the back of the sleigh as shown, lining up the back peaks.

Next, Preset Shape Rectangle, align with the bottom front edges of the sides. Use your bounding box and nodes to position it as shown.

Again, lay out a Rectangle shape and add some nodes as shown. Work with the rectangle to make it curve a bit as shown. If you add nodes to either side of the rectangle, click on one, then hold down your shift key and click on the other. Continue to hold down the shift key and move one of the nodes to the right. Both nodes will move and your shape should be aligned the same on both sides. Also, with those side nodes highlighted, right click, and change the nodes to Symmetric if they are not already Symmetric.

This next one is the tricky one - the top of that front area. Lay out another rectangle, narrow, and add nodes as shown. Again, you are trying to make this part curve over the front. Position it as shown.

To make the side area for the passenger I used an Elipse and edited the nodes. You want a slight curve to the top so change your node to Symmetric if necessary. Once it looks ok, Right Click, Arrange, Send to Bottom. Then position it as shown.

For the seat lay out a Rectangle and then use your bounding box corners to flatten the shape out and then pull on the lower left corner to align it with the side as shown. You may also need to pull on the upper right corner to move it to the right some. You can also move it around a bit by node editing and pulling the nodes. Once I did mine this way, I also decided that you could probably do the same thing by using your Draw Tool set at Point to Point with Close Path checked and draw it that way. Do it however it works best for you. OK, now you need to move it down so it's not on top of the front side. Right Click, Move Down and continue to Move Down until it's below the front side.

The edge of the seat is pretty easy. Just lay out a narrow Rectangle shape and align it with the seat. OK, that's the hard part! Then Right Click and continue to Move Down until it's under the front side.

Lay out another Rectangle for the seat back. Work with the bounding box, upper left corner, to tilt the back a bit. Then, Right Click and Move Down until you have the back under the side front.

To finish the carriage portion, lay out an Elipse shape to fit at the back of the two sides. Node edit the Elipse to make it line up with your side edges. Then Right Click and Send to Bottom.

Now for the blades.... Preset Shape, Elipse and change the line width to 7; make the background color Null, and lay out an Elipse shape, as wide as , or wider than the sleigh, but fairly narrow as shown. To get rid of the excess Elipse, add nodes where the blade attaches to the sleigh in the front and again where the blade will end on the ground. Click on each of those nodes, then click on any nodes that are in between on the part you want to eliminate. When you click on those nodes, hit your delete key and that part of the Elipse will disappear.

To make the blade for the back side, with the bounding box on the front blade, Right click, Copy, Paste as New Vector Selection. Position this blade and then Right click, Arrange, Move Down. You should only need to move this blade down one time.

Before we add the blade supports we need to add a base to the front bottom edge. With the foreground the same color, and the background turned on to white, lay out a narrow Rectangle shape as shown.

I've added three main supports to each blade and then four minor supports to each. All supports are made with the draw tool, Point to Point, background Null. For the Main supports I used a width of 5 and for the minor supports a width of 3 (I think.) Once you've added the front main supports, click on one, then with your shift key held, click on the remaining two main supports. Then Right click, Group, Right click and Move Down, two times. Once you've added the rear main supports click on them and then Right click, Group, Right click and Send to Bottom. Change the width size to three and add the minor supports as shown. When you have the ones for the front, Group them and move them down below the front blade. When you have the rear minor supports grouped, Send to Bottom.

We need to add a horse attachment bar for Old Dobbin, the horse. Use either the Rectangle or Rounded Rectangle and make a narrow bar. Position the bar as shown. Then using your Draw Tool, width of 5, Point to Point, background Null, draw a support from the sleigh to the bar. Then Right click, Send to Bottom.

Your sleigh is now ready for you to finish as a Preset Shape. Take your Object Selector tool and starting in the upper left, drag out a bounding box around the entire sleigh. Right click, Group, and in your Layer Palette, Right click on that Group layer (should be at the top), Rename, and name it. My Preset Sleigh group is named bjw_sleigh01. This way, if I use it again and make changes, all I need to do is change the name to bjw_sleigh02.

Now for all the finishing of your sleigh. First, you need to change each of the layers to raster layers. The sleigh supports may be converted as groups. Start at the top of your Layer Palette and starting with the horse bar layer, Right click, Create Raster Selection; Selections, Promote to Layer. Then go back into your Layer Palette and rename that layer. Click on each vector layer in order and continue to create your raster selections and promote them to layers. They should then be in the correct order.

For the blades and supports, including the horse bar support: Click on a layer, Selections|Select All, Selections|Float. Effects|Artistic Effects|Chrome and use the following settings:

For the horse bar and the front side base I used a wood pattern fill and then the same inner bevel. Click one of the layers, Selections|Select All, Selections|Float. Effects|Artistic Effects|Chrome and use the same settings as before.

For the seat, seat edge and seat back I used the same wood pattern fill. After each of the parts was filled, I went back to the seat edge, selected and floated it, added a layer, then with the paint brush set to 3 and the foreground color set to black, I drew a line in the middle. Then I added a Gausian blur of 3. I also added a layer above the seat back and then with the Line Tool, Vector and Close Path unchecked, drew a Point to Point line where the seat and seat back meet. I added a Gausian blur of 1 to the line.

Next, with the Line Tool and same wood pattern we need to add some edges as shown. For each edge I added a raster layer just above the layer needing the edge. Change the direction of your wood pattern based on the direction of your edge. Add the same inner bevel to each edge, but you may need to vary the settings so that you don't get too much shine at times. OK, so I don't have the steadiest hand going! I'll fix some of that with decorations, I'm sure. :)

Sleigh body: Please fee free to finish your sleigh any way that you like. For this one I've given it an aged look. For the exterior parts I highlighted each layer, selected it, then used my Paintbrush tool with a setting of 5 - 9, depending on the amount of space. Just paint back and forth but don't fill in. Then go to Effects|Blur|Gausian blur and use about a 7, or less for smaller areas. Then add a layer and make sure that you're on that layer. Change your foreground color to something darker, brown or black, and go around the edges with your paintbrush. The do a Gausian blur on this layer. Merge the layers for that part, then get your Retouch tool, Darken RGB and with a setting of about 2 start going back and forth to give some age lines to the carriage paint. When done, merge the layers for that part, along with the edges if there are any, and rename the merged layer.

For the seat you will just want to add some of that darker color on a new layer after you have selected the seat. Also apply a Gausian blur.

Interior: It should be darker inside the sleigh so darken the foreground color that you've used on the exterior. Also apply the darker color edge effect, and the Gausian blur to each of the layers. After the layers are merged, also use your Retouch Tool to Darken RGB.

Once you are done you can merge all your layers, except the vector layers, and tube your sleigh. Then, if you are going to fill it up, you will probably want to unmerge the layers and save it again in PSP format. This way you'll be able to put things behind the seat as well as on the seat, etc. This is what my finished sleigh looks like:

Here is a scene I created using the Santa created from Christina's tutorial and items in the sleigh all made based on tutorials:

Since I Exported my basic old fashioned sleigh as a Preset Shape, I was able to go back and use that shape to create a fancy sleigh. I node edited the back, back side, and front side to get my new shape. I also added a little step to this sleigh. I finished the sleigh using primarily Dream Suite Series 1 for the interior and exterior of the sleigh, PSP leather texture for the seat, a gold gradient for the banding, and Super Blade Pro on the wingding added to the side.

I hope you've enjoyed creating your old fashioned sleigh! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.