Swirl / Flourish Floral Shapes

Opening swirl PDF files in Photoshop and Elements

Open the swirl vector design PDFs via the file open command and the file menu and place command (this creates the design as a layer - smart object in Photoshop)

example of swirl PDF document opened in Photoshop.

Use the swirl PDF designs as a source for patterns

Open the swirl / floral PDF document in Photoshop and then just add the design as a pattern via the edit menu followed by define pattern command. You can set the size of the document much bigger than the source PDF or vica versa - you can also create multiple layers and build more complex pattern designs

example shows a pattern created from a Photoshop opened PDF file.

Create frame design using swirl border shapes in Photoshop

1) Open a new document or existing design

2) Open the swirl shapes pack (66) via the file menu and place command

3) Select one of the border designs

example of a PDF border design

4) set the size of the border

5) click OK

6) layer menu and duplicate layer command

7) rotate border swirl design

8) repeat for all four sides of the frame

example of a PDF created frame design based on four layers of the same PDF design in Photoshop (as well as elements)

9) select the inner part of the frame using the rectangular marquee tool

10) select menu and inverse command

11) select the rectangular marquee tool and set the intersect option for the selection

12) repeat marquee outside of the frame

13) edit menu and fill command - set the opacity to 50% and color to green

example PDF design in Photoshop - frame created using four layers of the same PDF border design

Access PDF swirl / floral graphic shape files in Paint Shop Pro tutorial

1) File menu and Open command (the swirl design)

2) Enter resolution (300 DPI?)

3) Enter image type RGB

4) Bounding box

5) Click OK

6) Use image

Turning swirl / floral PDF design into a custom shape (Photoshop ) tutorial

1) Open or use the place command to open the PDF file

2) Select PDF design layer

3) Select menu and followed by load selection

4) Select channel 'transparency'

5) Click OK

6) Go to the paths palette

7) Make work path

8) Set tolerance

9) Go to the edit menu and define custom shape menu command

Some designs work better than others in a conversion via this method. A better approach would be to open in Illustrator and then copy to Photoshop as a shape layer

Opening PDF swirls in Illustrator tutorial

The PDF documents open with a very small dialog showing all the pages in the current PDF (in the case of many of the sets on this page, 100 unique pages). Not the greatest dialog in the world by any means. The dialog can't even be resized.

1) select the page via the Illustrator PDF open dialog

2) OK

3) Once opened, the design can be modified by using the standard Illustrator tools

If you want to modify a small part of the single page design - double click on that part of the path and you will (if allowed) be able to edit that single 'separate' part of the design

example changing the color of a swirl PDF document - smart object in Photoshop via Illustrator

4) Change the color of the design etc or position

5) exit isolation mode via the arrows along the gray bar at the top marked 'layer1'

The PDF design can also be modified as a group - apply transformations as well as graphic styles such as a 'neon' effect simply by selecting the design and selecting the red neon graphic style

example of swirl design with graphic style (neon) applied to the PDF swirl design in Illustrator

On finishing the modification of the design you can then just use the 'save' command

6) file menu and save command

The document then is saved to the currently open PDF file and to the correct page number. Use the 'save as' command to save the design to a totally new PDF design

Use shape PDF as a source for brush (Photoshop ) tutorial

Instead of using a size restrained JPG or PNG file, the PDF is a wonderful source for brushes. The example below is for Photoshop but you can also use the PDF files to create custom brushes in Paint Shop Pro. Use the raw PDF as a brush source or modify the brush by applying blurs or other effects or re-color the layer or applying layer effects before using the define brush command

1) File menu and open command (or place)

2) Set the size of PDF imported, say 300 DPI 1500 x 1500 etc

3) Apply effects etc or add a layer effect such as shadow etc if required

4) edit menu and define brush preset

5) Go to the brushes palette

6) Use the save command (on the brush palette) to save all the current brush designs to a Photoshop ABR brush file

Re-coloring PDF swirl document in Photoshop

Once you have opened the document, go to the layer menu and layer style command and use the color overlay option to change the color.

example the original design as opened in Photoshop

Now apply a color overlay to the PDF layer - used the hue blending mode in the layer style / color overlay

example - the document now changed using the layer style setting.

The document could also be turned into a smart object (via the convert to smart object menu command) and filters can then be applied to the PDF swirl design to change the design into a whole range of colors Added: January 2nd 2012