This tutorial is written for PSP7. What you will be making is the snowman, his skates, his mittens and scarf, his cap, and his sign. If you just want a plain snowman, then you do not need to make all of the other items. This is a long tutorial, but you may consider that you are actually completing a number of different tutorials within this one. The tutorial does require that you use your vector tool.

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.

I've provided a snow fill pattern which you can save to your PSP Patterns folder. This will be used for the snowman's body. All other finishing may be done in PSP unless you prefer to use some other plugins or filters. You can download the snow fill pattern

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PART I - Creating The Vector Snowman and Sign Pole Preset Shapes

Most of the screen shots used have been resized by 75% and optimized.

OK! Time to get started. Let's open a new 450 x 450 transparent image and Save AS skating snowman. Remember to save often as this is a fairly long tutorial and it would be a shame to lose all your hard work!

First we're going to use the Preset Shapes Tool, Ellipse shape, both the foreground and the background set to white. Use the settings shown below:

Now draw an Ellipse shape in the middle of your canvas like this:

Use your Object Selector Tool and right click on the canvas and then select Node Edit (at the bottom.) Next click on the middle left node. When you see the arrow, left click on the lower point and pull it out a bit from the body. Then click on the right middle node and do the same then. Your node edited lower body will look similar to this:

While still in Node Edit, pull the lower half down a little by clicking on the bottom middle node and dragging downward, and then pull each side of the arrow out a bit as shown below:

Get your Preset Phapes tool, select the Ellipse, and use the same settings as before and lay down an ellipse for the left foot. Pull the arrow on the bottom node to the left and up a bit, then pull the middle left node to the left and up to make the rounded toe area. You may need to push the node to the right a bit, too. Then click on the right node and pull the arrow down to make the heel area. Finally, click on the top node and pull both handles out a bit.

Once you have your left leg the way you want it, with the bounding box still around it and your Selection Tool active, right click and then click on Copy. Then right click and click on Paste as New Vector Selection.

Now it looks like your snowman has two left feet. This is very easy to fix. With the bounding box still around the copied foot, click and hold your cursor on the left middle small box, and then drag the box right over to the right. You've now turned the foot to the right and you didn't have to make another one!

p align="left">Before we go any further let's start renaming our layers and then save this. Next, with your Object Selector Tool click on the left foot to get the bounding boxes around it. Then right click and click on Arrange, Send to Bottom. Then do the same with the right boot. This will move the legs/feet under the body. Now save your snowman again. Here's what mine looks like. Notice that I filled the background layer with black so I could see how they feet looked.

Get your Preset Shapes tool, Ellipse, and while holding down the sift key make a circle starting in the upper left above the body and drag it down and to the right. This is for the head. If the size is too large or too small, place your cursor on the lower left corner of the bounding box and while holding down your right mouse button either drag the box out to make it larger or in to make it smaller. By holding down the right mouse key you will make sure to keep everything in the right proportion.

Let's add some soles to those snow boots. Get your Preset shapes tool and set it to the Rounded Rectangle with the same settings as before. Change your Foreground and Background colors to #9E6F52, or any color you wish to use. Now draw a narrow Rounded Rectangle, starting a little above the bottom of the left boot to the back of the boot. It should look something like this:

Next, with the bounding boxes still around the sole, right click, Copy, right click, Paste as New Vector Selection and place that on the bottom of the right foot. You may need to node edit the foot to make it fit properly.

Now we're going to add some primitive skates for our snowman. Grab your Draw tool, change your Foreground color to black, Background null and use the settings shown. (Point to Poing; width 7; Antialias and Create as vector checked) If you want a shinier blade, try using #404040 as your Foreground color.

You will click once in the first spot and then move your cursor about 15 pixels below that and click again. (Use your grid to guide your placement.) Now right click, Copy, right click, Paste As New Vector Selection. Place the support to the right of your first support. This is what your boot should look like now:

Now we're going to add the blade. Start a little behind the end of the heel and place your first click about even with the bottom of the blade supports. Then place another node right below each of the supports, and one under the toe of the boot and then one just about even with the sole and in front of the boot and the last one just above that one, a little to the left. This is what it should now look like:

This is a bit tricky, but please follow along. Get your Vector Selection Tool, click on the blade to get the bounding box, then right click, Node Edit. Click on the top node, then while holding down your shift key, click on the two nodes below it. Then right click, Node Type, and select Symmetric. Then click on the middle one of those nodes, Node Type and select Cusp and then pull the arrow just a bit to make it curve. You may also want to click on the top node and pull the arrow a bit to the right to make it curve toward the tow. Your blade should look something like this:

To make the blade for the right boot all we need to do is copy this one. First we need to group it so it will be easier to move. Click on one of the supports, then while holding down your shift key, click on the other support, and while still holding the shift key, click on the blade. Next, right click, and then click on Group:

Next, with the bounding box still around the skate group, (you did name it that in your Layer Palette, didn't you? ), right click, Copy, then right click, Paste as New Vector Selection. You will need to click on the left middle bounding box and drag this to the right to have the blade facing the right direction. Then place skate under the right foot. This is what our snowman now looks like:

Change your foreground color to #C0C0C0 and your background color to white. We're using the foreground color so we'll be able to see the arm on the body. Later we'll add the sweater so you won't see the gray outline. It will also make seeing the snowman easier as a preset shape when you export it later.

Get your preset shapes tool, and with the Ellipse shape, same settings as before, on a blank area of your canvas make an Ellipse shape which we'll use for the arm. Once you have your Ellipse, move it to the body so we can work with it there. Your shape once moved to the body will look something like this:

Hold your cursor near the center of the arm until you get the arrows going in a circle. Then click and drag the arm shape down a bit. You want the outer edge to be up - and we'll make it wider there in a minute. But, for now, we want to get the general angle for the arm. Yours may look something like this now....

Click on your Vector Selection tool and place some nodes as shown in the following shot. I've already made my adjustments to the arm - and see that it looks like a pickle. That's fine for a snowman. Also, even though the hand area is more than halfway across the body, that is fine as well. That is more natural, and we're going to be adding some mittens for him, too.

Let's make a mitten for the left hand. First, select a color for the Background, or a gradient or pattern, and make the Foreground Null. I chose a multi-color gradient. Next, get your Preset Shapes tool and using the Ellipse shape, same settings, make an Ellipse over the end of the arm where the hand should be.

Add a nodes so that you can pull out a thumb. You'll also want to make sure that you have the mitten wide enough to cover the arm. Click on the left node and pull the arrows up to make it look more like the wrist of a mitten. Here's what mine looks like after I've done this....

Next we're going to add the cuff. If you're using a gradient, you will want to change the angle to 45. Get your Preset Shapes tool, Rounded Rectangle and lay down a narrow rectangle over the top of the mitten. In order to rotate the cuff so it aligns with the mitten base, you may need to grab the middle left bounding box and drag it to the left so you can grab the rotating arrows. Once you have your cuff in place, then you can push the bounding box in again to make the cuff narrow. This is what it will look like now:

Make the right arm and mitten by copying. First, with Object Selector tool, click on the left arm. Once you have the bounding box, Right Click, Copy, Right Click, Paste New Vector Selection. Turn the arm so that it is facing the right direction by clicking on the left bounding box node and dragging it to the right. Position the arm. Then do the same for the mitten. First click on the mitten base, copy and position; then click on the cuff, copy and position. Your snowman should now look like this:

Our snowman also needs a scarf. Get your Draw tool and use the following settings (Freehand Line; Width 1; Antialias, Create as vector; and Close Path, all checked):

Just draw a wavy type line around the snowman's neck and on either side sort of indent it the way your own might go in. Once you have done the base, get your Object Selector tool and right click, Node Edit and adjust any of the nodes either up or down as you like. If the edges seem a little sharp, once again get your Object Selector tool, Node Edit, then click outside the boxes and draw a box around all of the scarf. Then right click again, Node Type, and click on Symmetric. This will change all of the nodes at one time. You can then pull the arrow handles to add more curve, etc. This is what I have now:

To make the ties, change the angle of your gradient to 90, then with the Draw tool, same settings, draw the tie that will be on the bottom. Remember that it should not be a perfectly straight line. Once you like how it looks, get you Object Selector tool, with the bounding boxes around the tie, right click, Arrange, Move Down. This will place it under the part that is around the neck. Also, if you want to change the angle of the tie, just grab the circular arrow in the middle of the bounding box and rotate it a bit. Here's mine:

Next, add the other tie, but leave this one on top of the part going around the neck. And to finish the scarf, if you want some fringe, use your Draw tool, uncheck Close Path, but keep Vector checked. Change your Foreground color to one that works with your scarf and make your Background color Null. Then draw a series of short Freehand lines for the fringe.

When you have made enough on the first tie, go to your Layer Palette and click on the first fringe layer. You'll see the bounding box appear on the fringe. Then, while holding down the shift key, click on each of the fringe layers on that tie. When they are all in bold type, right click, Group, and then in the Layer Palette, right click where it says 'Group' and then click on Rename and name this fringe top (or bottom if you started with the bottom layer. If the group is for the top tie, with the bounding box around the fringe group, right click, Arrange, Move Down. Then do the same for the bottom tie fringe. For this fringe you will need to do the right click, Arrange, Move Down a couple of times until it gets down below the edge of the scarf.

Having done all that, you may decide to reposition the scarf ties. To make this easy, with your Object Selector tool, click on the top tie, and while holding down your shift key, click on the fringe group. Then right click, Group, and name this the 'tie top group' in your Layer Palette. Do the same for the bottom tie and fringe. You can then click on the tie group and rotate or move, or both, if you want. Here's what mine now looks like:

We now need to make a hat for our snowman. You could always use one that you have, but I'm going to be making a knitted cap that can be pulled down over his ears. Ok, so the snowman doesn't have any ears. You know what I mean! :) Get your Preset Shapes tool and select the Ellipse setting with the same settings we've been using. I've started mine over to the left and it now looks like this (like a football on his head!):

Begin your node editing by clicking on the left node and pulling the handle down toward the jaw line of your snowman, as shown below.

Next I added or worked with the nodes identified in the next screen shot. I added nodes 1 and 2 so I could keep the cap close to the chin area. I also pulled the outside arrows out a bit so the cap was not right next to the head. I raised the edge at 3, and also pulled both sides of the #3 arrow handles out so the poor guy can see. I changed nodes 4 and 5 to symmetric, and pulled them down and out on the bottom handles on both sides, and out just a bit on the top. At 6 I pushed it down a bit, and then pulled both handles out a bit to make the top a bit flatter. Finally, I added 7 and 8 and pushed them in a bit as this is a knitted cap.

To add a cuff to the cap, use your Draw tool with the Point to Point settings shown below and click all around the front part of the cap as shown to create the cuff. Right click and Node Edit. While still in the node editing mode, Righ Click, Edit, Select All. Then Right click, Node Type and select Symmetric. You will have something like the image on the right.

I've decided to add a pompom to the top of the cap. I used the Fireworks Preset Shape and used two of the colors from the cap. I made the second pompon a little higher but smaller than the first. Here's what mine looks like:

Ok, now it's time to give this guy a face and really bring him to life! Let's start with the nose. Add a vector layer at the top above the vector layer #1. Change your foreground color to a dark orange such as #FDA71F and the background color to a lighter orange such as #FEC03A. Get your Preset Shapes tool and set your shape to the red cone with the following settings: Antialias and Create as Vector=both CHECKED; Line width=1

Draw your cone starting a little to the right and drag the cone shape up and to the left a bit. If you don't like what you have you can always do Ctrl-Z to delete it and start over. Once you are satisfied with the nose size, you can move it to where you'd like it. Change your foreground color to an even darker orange, like #BC7504. Change your background color to Null. Get your Draw tool and select the Freehand Line type with a width of 1, antialias checked, create as vector checked and close path unchecked. Now draw a few lines on the carrot - you know, the creases that you see on carrots.

The eyes are next. Use your preset shapes tool set to Ellipse with the same settings as before. Change your Background color to black and your Foreground color to Null. Draw an oval to the left of the nose. When satisfied with the size, with the bounding box still on the eye, right click, Copy, right click, Paste New Vector Selection and position this eye on the right. For the highlight, change your Background color to white and draw a small Ellipse on the upper left of the eye. Copy the highlight as you did the eye and place it on the right eye.

To make the mouth change your Background color back to black and while holding down your shift key, lay out a small circle. Then copy this and keep pasting it as a new vector selection, probably in a smile positon. Here's what my vector snowman finally looks like:

Before we go further, let's export this image as a Preset Shape. Get your Object Selection tool and starting in the upper left, draw a bounding box around the entire shape. If you miss a part, it may not be included. If that happens, just Ctrl-Z and start again. OK, now that you have the bounding box around the snowman, right click, and click on Group.

Now go to your Layer Palette and right click where it says 'Group' at the top and then click on Rename. I have renamed mine 'Skating Snowman'. Then go to File, Export, Shape and you'll probably get a reminder message that only those objects selected will be exported. Since you've grouped them all, just click on OK. Then you'll see another pop up that asks you to name your Preset Shape. I always start mine with my initials so all my shapes will be together, and then I add the same name I put in the Layer Palette. My snowman is actually named: bjw_skating snowman. After you've done this, go check to make sure that it's in your Preset Shapes. If not, make sure that only the top group/Layer is highlighted in the Layer Palette.

Let's make our pole sign as another Preset Shape. We'll put it in the right place later when we 'finish' the snowman. Since we're going to export the pole as a separate Preset Shape, add a new vector layer. For the pole we're going to use Draw tool with the following settings: Foreground #404040 and Background Null. Type=Point to Point; Width=7; Antialias=CHECKED; Create as Vector=checked and Close path=UNCHECKED. Lay out a fairly long pole and position the pole as shown:

Change your Background to the telephone pole pattern at 50% and zero repeats. Make your Foreground color Null. Use your Preset Shapes tool, Rounded Rectangle, and lay out a rectangle shape for the sign. Grab the circular arrows and rotate the sign so that it lines up with the pole, and position it on the pole with just a bit of the pole showing at the top.

To make a frame for the sign, change your Foreground color to #404040 and your Background to Null. Use a line width of 4 and lay out a rectangle approximately the same size as the sign. Then use the circular arrows to rotate the frame and line it up with the sign. If it is too big, place you cursor on the lower left box, and while holding down the right key, push the box inward. Holding down the right key ensures that your changes will be proportional. Of course, if your frame is too small, instead of pushing the box inward, pull it out.

If you'd like to add a decoration to the pole as I've done, add another layer. I used the Preset Shapes Star. Change the background color to the same #404040 gray and draw your star - vector, of course. You'll need to move it over and then hold your cursor over the center area until you find the arrows in a circle. Then you can reposition the star so that the point is right on the pole. For our Preset Shape, let's not add any text. We will always be able to add it when we use the sign. Group your pole sign, name it and then export it as a Preset Shape. Here's what I have now:

Please continue on the next page; click 'NEXT' below,

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