By doing this tutorial you agree to my terms of use.

This cottage is not based on a particular building, it is completely my own creation. As the shapes were fairly complicated I do not feel able to describe how they were made so have decided to offer the selections.  If you make this cottage using my selections the result is not to be profited from. If you are comfortable working with vectors use this tut as a guide to make your very own cottage. Thankyou ;o)

Download selections here, they will extract to their own folder.
Download images here and open in PSP.

1. Open all the images needed to use as fills and the detail.psp. Open a new image 600x350 with a transparent background. Create a new layer naming it chimney l, selections/load from disc choose the chimney-l.sel. Flood fill with the brickfill at 50%. Selections/select none.

2. Create a new layer naming it chimney r, selections/load from disc choose the chimney-r.sel. Click on the brickfill image, image/flip. Go back to your cottage image, reload the brickfill as your fill and fill the selection at 50%. Selections/select none. Colours/adjust/brightness contrast, brightness -40, contrast 0.

3. Create a new layer naming it chimney top, selections/load from disc choose the chimney-top.sel. Flood fill with #B5B49B. Selections/select none. In the layer palette click the padlock on the chimney top layer to lock the transparency. Effects/3D effects/cut out, set vertical and horizontal to -2, Opacity 70, blur 10, colour #5B5A49.

4.Create a new layer naming it chimney edge, selections/load from disc choose the chimney-edge.sel. Flood fill with #B5B49B. Selections/select none. Effects/3D effects/inner bevel at these settings.

5. Create a new layer naming it chimney2, selections/load from disc choose the chimney2.sel. Flood fill with #40130C. Selections/select none.

6. Create a new layer naming it chimney, selections/load from disc choose the chimney.sel. Flood fill with #702316. Selections/select none. In the layer palette click on the padlock to lock transparency, effects/3D effects/cut out, vertical and horizontal -2, opacity 100, blur 5, colour black.

7. Create a new layer naming it l side, selections/load from disc choose the l-side.sel. Flood fill with #EBE7D9. Selections/select none.

8. Create a new layer naming it l front, selections/load from disc choose the l-front.sel. Set the foreground to #E5E0CD and background to #433F31, flood fill with a foreground/background gradient, angle 77, repeats zero. Edit the gradient, sliding the central point to 35%. Selections/select none.

9. Create a new layer naming it r front, selections/load from disc choose the r-front.sel. Reverse the foreground and background colours and fill with gradient, editing the central point so that it is at 65% and the angle to 96. Selections/select none.

10. Create a new layer naming it r side, selections/load from disc choose the r-side.sel. Flood fill with #EBE7D9. Selections/select none.

11. Create a new layer naming it detail, selections/load from disc choose the detail.sel. Flood fill with the thatch-detail image contained in the zip. Selections/select none. Or if you wish, create your own windows and doors.

12. Create a new layer naming it thatch under, selections/load from disc choose the thatch-under.sel. Flood fill with the thatchfill at 100%. Selections/select none. Effects/3D effects/drop shadow, vertical 2, horizontal -2, opacity 100, blur 10, colour black.

13. Create a new layer naming it l thatch, selections/load from disc choose the l-thatch.sel. Flood fill with the thatchfill at 100%, angle 342. Selections/select none. Colours/adjust/brightness contrast, brightness -23, contrast 0.

14. Create a new layer naming it r thatch, selections/load from disc choose the r-thatch.sel. Flood fill with the thatchfill at 100%, angle 13. Selections/select none. Colours/adjust/brightness contrast, brightness -13, contrast 0.

15. Create a new layer naming it thatch canopy, selections/load from disc choose the canopy.sel. Flood fill with the thatchfill at 100%, angle 342. Selections/select none. In the layer palette click on the padlock to lock transparency, Effects/3D effects/cut out at these settings

Effects/3D effects/cut out at these settings

Click on the padlock to unlock the transparency, Effects/3D effects/drop shadow, vertical 1, horizontal 2, opacity 100, blur 10, colour black (if you do not unlock the transparency the drop shadow will not appear).

16. Create a new layer naming it l thatch edge, selections/load from disc choose the l-thatch-edge.sel. Flood fill with the thatchfill at 100%, angle 13. Selections/select none. In the layer palette click on the padlock to lock transparency, Effects/3D effects/cut out at the same settings changing the colour to #5F3811.

17. Create a new layer naming it r thatch edge, selections/load from disc choose the r-thatch-edge.sel. Flood fill with the thatchfill at 100%, angle 342. Selections/select none. In the layer palette click on the padlock to lock transparency, Effects/3D effects/cut out at the same settings changing vertical to 2 and horizontal to -6.

18. Create a new layer naming it detail2. Selections/load from disc choosing the r-thatch-edge.sel. Effects/3d effects/drop shadow, vertical 0, horizontal 3, opacity 100, blur 10, colour black. Reapply the drop shadow changing the horizontal to -3. Selections/load from disc choosing the r-side.sel. Selections/invert, delete, this will leave you with the shadow on the right side wall only. Selections/select none.

19. Create a new layer naming it detail3. Selections/load from disc choosing the l-thatch-edge.sel. Apply the drop shadow two times as in the previous step, selections/load from disc choosing the l-side.sel, selections/invert, delete. Selections/select none.

20. Merge all your thatch layers renaming it to roof, click the padlock to lock the transparency. Selections/load from disc choosing the detail2.sel. Effects/3D effects/cutout at these settings

(if some of your thatch has disappeared, this is because you haven't locked the transparency) Effects/3D effects/drop shadow at these settings

Selections/load from disc choosing the detail1.sel. Apply the same drop shadow.

You can stop here if you are happy with the results.

or you can add some wooden beams. I have included the selections for these but feel free to make your own.

21. In the layer palette click the detail layer to make active. Create a new layer naming it beam1, selections/load from disc choosing the beam1.sel. Floodfill with the beamfill at 50%, angle 330. Selections/select none.

22. Create a new layer naming it beam2, selections/load from disc choosing the beam2.sel. Floodfill with the beamfill at 50%, angle 30. Selections/select none.

23. Create a new layer naming it beam3, selections/load from disc choosing the beam3.sel. Floodfill with the beamfill at 50%, angle 286. Selections/select none.

24. Create a new layer naming it beam4, selections/load from disc choosing the beam4.sel. Floodfill with the beamfill at 50%, angle 72. Selections/select none.

25. Create a new layer naming it beam5, selections/load from disc choosing the beam5.sel. Floodfill with the beamfill at 50%, angle 0. Selections/select none.

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