Stunning wallpaper with CorelDRAW! 7.0
By Zatni Arbi
JAKARTA (JP): Quite recently I taught you how to create stunning wallpaper with CorelPHOTO-PAINT 6.0. But, have you ever seen the wallpaper on the screen of the new Hewlett-Packard Vectra computers?
It looks so gorgeous, with an embossed HP logo in the center and two spotlights flooding the screen. I was so impressed I spent hours trying to uncover how it was created. I experimented with CorelPHOTO-PAINT 6.0, which already had the lighting effects tools. I never even got close to the Vectra wallpaper.
When I had CorelDRAW! 7.0 on my system, I started experimenting again. This time it worked. You can see one of the results in the accompanying picture. Today, I'm going to share the technique with you, so you'll have a project to keep you occupied during the holidays.
By the way, CorelDRAW! 7.0 has a plethora of new great tools, and the old ones have been greatly improved. I still have so much to explore that I haven't been able to write up a review on this winner graphics suite. Give me two or three more weeks, and I'll tell you why you should immediately upgrade to it.
First step
As before, start by creating a new file. Choose Pixels as the measurement unit for the image size. If your screen is 1024 by 768, put these figures in the Width and Height box. If it's 800 by 600, put them in these boxes. Check whether the Color mode is already 24-bit RGB Color, the Paper color is white, and both Horizontal and Vertical resolutions are 72 DPI.
Now you have to decide what the background will be. In the previous case, we used Julia Explorer to create jaw-dropping wallpaper. In my project, I just use a plain bluish-green background that resembles Windows 95's original desktop color.
I set both the Paint and Fill colors to something that resembles Win 95's desktop color. It was not easy because there was no preset color in CorelPHOTO-PAINT that matched it. Anyway, this is how I did it: I double-clicked on the color box next to the label Paint, and a dialog box for choosing color appeared. I played around with the figures in the Green and Blue boxes. The closest that I could get to Windows 95's is Red 76, Green 141, and Blue 141. If you tinker some more, you might be able to get the precise color match for Win 95's desktop.
To change the fill color, I double-clicked on the color box next to the label Fill. In the dialog box that appeared, I clicked on Edit, and I set the RGB values to 76, 141, and 141 as well.
Relics
In this project, instead of my own name or a logo, I wanted to have the message The Jakarta Post wishes you all a Merry Christmas to appear on the screen. You can replace it with whatever you want on your own screen.
I created another new file in which I would work on the relics. By default, the dimension would be the same as the previous one, and it didn't really matter. I double-clicked on the Text tool in the toolbar, and the Tool Setting roll-up appeared. I chose Futura XBlk BT, one of the best fonts for this purpose. This fonts comes with CorelDRAW, so you should have it when you install the program. I set the font size to 72, because my screen was 1024 by 768. You'll need to set a lower figure if you have 800 by 600. I set the alignment to Center by clicking the clearly marked icon. Then I clicked somewhere in the middle of the blank page and start typing the sentence. Because the Paint color is already bluish green, the characters appeared in this color instead of black.
Then I clicked on the Object Picker tool, which is the top one in the tool box. A marquee appeared on the edges of the characters. That was fine. I now clicked on the Effect menu item on the menu bar, and I clicked on 3D Effects and then Emboss. I set the Emboss color to original, Depth to 4, and Level to 411.
This gave me a satisfactory result. Then I click on Edit, and Copy. A copy of the relics was now in the Windows clipboard.
Now I moved to the first file that was still blank. I pressed F4 to fit everything into the window. I clicked on Edit, and then Fill (Fill is a new command in CorelPHOTO-PAINT 7.0. You won't find it in Version 6.0). In the dialog box that appeared, the bluish-green color was already selected. I just clicked on OK, and the entire area was filled with this color. Now I clicked on Edit, Paste, and then As a new object. Bingo! The relics was already pasted there.
One thing about using the emboss tool that you should remember is that if you'd like to have the relics in the same color as the background, you have to create it in a separate file. You won't be able to create it in the same file.
Final steps
I used another brand-new tool in CorelPHOTO-PAINT 7.0 to create the leaves at the bottom of the screen. I clicked on the Image Sprayer Tool, found under the Fill Tool in the tool box. Here, the new Property Bar of CorelPHOTO-PAINT came extremely handy. If you don't have it on your screen yet, click on View and then check the Property Bar. You can drag the bar down so that it becomes a floating palette.
Now, because I had already selected the Image Sprayer Tool, I was able to select which collection of images I wanted to "spray" on the screen. I clicked on the folder icon on the far left of the bar, and selected FOLIAGE.CPT. Then I dragged the mouse across the bottom of the window with the mouse button pressed, and voila! I had all the beautiful leaves painted there for me, complete with their drop shadows. (There are other images in the collection, such as gears, arrows, butterflies. You should try them out.)
Then I clicked on Effects, Render, and Lighting Effects. This tool has been so much improved in CorelPHOTO-PAINT 7.0 and has become so easy to use. The Preview window shows the resulting effects in almost real time, so that we can adjust some of the parameters interactively. The Preview button is still there, but it has no use now. I chose Spotlight as the type of lighting for this project. You can, and should, experiment with the position of the lamp, Aperture, Brightness, Elevation, Focus and Flash expose. If you want to add another spotlight, click on the icon on the bottom right of the preview window. Now, if you ever get all messed up, don't worry. Just click on the Reset button.
Once I was happy with the what I saw in the preview screen, I clicked on OK. I waited a couple of seconds while the effect was being applied to my image. Finally my wallpaper was now ready to be saved. If I changed my mind, I could simply undo the lighting effects and do it over. No problem.
The rest is already known to you. The wallpaper file should be saved in the .BMP format -- preferably in the C:WINDOWS folder. Then you click on any blank area of the desktop with the right mouse button and select Properties from the drop-down menu list. In the dialog box that appears, Background will usually be the active tab. Under Wallpaper, you select the wallpaper file that you've just created. Click on OK, and now you have the most beautiful screen in the world to greet you each time you start your PC. Now, have a Merry Christmas!