**Lisette and Karin have given me their permission to translate their tuts into English for them (and us all). Thanks a lot, ladies… ((((Hugs / Knuffel)))), Croidin.**

**Croidin, thanks again for your wonderful work , hugs lisette, karin, nadia **

Preparations:

• Open an image

• Choose 2 colors from this image

• One color for your foreground color, and another for the background color

1. Open a new, transparent image, sized 1024 x 300

2. Go to Preset Shapes (icon on the left) with these settings, choose ‘square – shaded’:

3. Begin at coordinates 30/30 (top left corner), click and drag your mouse then to 308/288. The coordinate numbers change in your bottom bar, as in the next example image:

Make sure the lines are really straight, as sometimes it happens that one of them isn’t straight.

4. Layer palette – Convert this vector layer into a raster layer

5. Magic wand – Hold the Shift button and click on both the borders to select them. Select your chosen foreground color and flood fill the borders with it

6. Effects – 3D effects – Inner bevel, metallic, ok

7. Effects – Plugins – Greg’s Factory Output Volume II – Pool shadow, ok

8. Selections – Modify – Contract, 3

9. New raster layer. Change background- and foreground colors around and flood fill both selections with the darker color you had chosen. Effects – 3D Effects – Inner bevel, metallic, ok. Selections – Select none

NOTICE: Activate layer 2!!!

10. Magic wand, click inside the inner square to select it

11. Copy your chosen image and paste it into the selection

Magic wand – Click in the other area and paste again into selection.

Activate layer 1. Click with your magic wand in the empty transparent part. Paste into selection.

Two options now: Either use the plugin filter ‘Filter Factory B – Cut glass’, or if you don’t have it, or don’t want to use any plugin filters, you can go to Effects – Texture effects – Texture – Asphalt. But any other texture is also possible, of course.

Select none. Merge all layers visible.

Ready!!!

Greetings, Lisette and Karin (and their translator, Croidin).

Extra example, made by Croidin:

Picture used from Public Domain artist Jean-Leon Aagaard (“Souvenir d’Acheres”), found in the list of PD artists at Artrenewal